Shadows of the World » Band of Brothers

26: A Star Riding Through Clouds

"There was a star riding through clouds one night, & I said to the star, 'Consume me'." -  Virginia Woolf, The Waves

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Juliette awoke disoriented, to the best sound in the world; her friends.

"Who the bloody hell did the laundry?!"

She didn't hear what the reply was, but Martin's enraged voice soon erupted up through the floorboards once again.

"My shirt is pink, William. My white shirt. Is pink. William."

"How's it white if it's pink?" she heard Thomas call down from what sounded like the stairs. She stifled a laugh. Those were her boys alright.

After waiting a few more minutes to blink away the bleariness Juliette carefully rolled onto her side to push herself up into a seated position, and waited until her side wasn't burning anymore. It was frustrating how long it took her to hobble her way to the door, but thankfully the bathroom was the room next to hers. If it had taken her much longer to get there she wasn't sure she'd have made it; sleeping for what she assumed was a full day meant that her bladder felt full-to-bursting.

When she was finished she opened the bathroom door again to find all four men gathered in the hallway outside, waiting for her. She paused in her step and quirked an eyebrow at them. "Am I supposed to take a bow or..?"

"You shouldn't be out of bed," Alexis told her sternly.

"I needed the toilet!" she protested, throwing her arms up in her exasperation.

"Then call one of us to help you," Martin told her.

"No offence, lads, but I'd rather die."

"I don't mean in the actual toilet!" Martin exclaimed. A horrified expression appeared on his face as realisation of her assumption dawned on him. "Jesus!"

Martin guided her back to her room and helped her lay down again, making sure she was comfortable before sitting back and looking down at her.

She fidgeted slightly under his gaze. "What?"

"I'm trying to decide whether you can be trusted to be left on your own," he told her, eyebrows furrowing in concentration as he contemplated it.

She sighed. "I can. I'll get bored really quickly though," she admitted with a half-shrug. He laughed.

"Well, there's not much I can do in the way of visitors. I'll see what I can do about some books though."

She beamed. "Really?! Thank you!"

"Yeah, yeah." He brushed her away. "The yanks were looking for us whilst we were in Bordeaux, apparently," he then told her. He glanced up at the window for a moment before rising to his feet and crossing the room to open the curtains. Light came flooding in immediately and Juliette had to squint against it for a few moments whilst her eyes adjusted. Martin gazed down at the street below before coming to sit back on the bed again. "They wanted to know why we dropped off the face of the planet for a couple of days."

Juliette laughed. "I suppose they were looking to go to the pub again?"

Martin smiled and nodded. "They want us to go again tonight but Tom's declined on our behalf, for obvious reasons."

Jules frowned. "Don't miss out on my account. I'll be fine." Martin raised his eyebrows at her and she smiled, amused. "Plus, I wouldn't put it past Alex to not be wanting to go. He'll be around if I need him."

"Even so, we're not gonna go out without you, are we?"

"Why not?" she challenged, crossing her arms.