The Spirit of the Corps » Band of Brothers

49: The Beginning of the Next

The men who'd been wounded in the battle in Nuenen all looked like they'd seen ghosts. Those of them with wounds severe enough to be taken off the line sat in their beds in the field hospital. Dead silent. Staring into the space ahead of them. Haunted by whatever they'd seen.

From the ditch where she'd experienced the battle, Charlie hadn't realised it had been so bad. The artillery fire had been intense, yes, but it had seemed to her like more of a tank battle than an infantry one.

The way the men all sat looking like they'd been drained of life told a different story.

After the retreat from Nuenen, Easy had ended up somewhere on the outskirts of Eindhoven. The officers had ordered everyone to set up tents for the night, which Charlie supposed was better than foxholes. There was still no sign of the surgeons. When asked, Henry explained that they had been sent to work with another company while everyone else had been sent back to England, so they were likely delayed in getting back to them from there. As soon as she heard this Charlie regretted every bad word she'd said about them not being there for the battle; she couldn't imagine going straight from Normandy to another combat unit with no break in between.

And, really, the nurses hadn't much needed the extra help. While they'd struggled to get to everyone in the immediate aftermath of the battle, the field hospital tent had quickly grown quiet. The majority of the wounds were minor - cuts from rubble, gunshot wounds to arms, burns from fallen telephone poles - and had been easy to stabilise.

Charlie just worried about the man named Private First Class Robert Van Klinken. He'd been wounded during the battle in a burst of machine gun fire while hiding in a hedgerow.

She wasn't sure whether he'd make it through the night.

The nurses took it in turns watching over him, cradling his head while he coughed up phlegm and spots of blood, cleaning up and rebandaging his wounds, speaking to him softly to keep him feeling comfortable and safe. Charlie was sitting with him now, holding his hand and reading to him at his request. The book was Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky, James' favourite book, and though she was nearing the end now, Robert hadn't minded. He'd said he just wanted to listen to her talk.

As she turned from the end of one chapter to the beginning of the next, Charlie lifted her eyes to check on Robert and knew. He wouldn't be seeing the sunrise. He'd be lucky to make it to midnight.

"Autumn," Charlie called over her shoulder, her voice quiet so as not to wake any of the napping soldiers.

Autumn appeared at her side from where she'd been washing bandages and leaned in close to let Charlie whisper to her.

"Will you go and get Hoobs and David Webster?" Hazarding a glance back at Robert, with his eyes half lidded and his head tilted back to look at the top of the tent, Charlie sighed. Careful to keep her voice so quiet it was nearly silent, she explained, "They might want to say goodbye."

Autumn dropped her chin to process the news, shutting her eyes tight, before giving Charlie a nod. A moment later she was out of the tent and lost to the night, seeking out Robert's two closest friends in the company.

The men of the company weren't set up very far away from the field hospital, but even still Charlie hadn't had a chance to see any of them after the battle. She took comfort in the fact that none of the wounded who had been brought to her had been anyone she held dear. All of her favourite boys were still in one piece, at least.

Charlie carried on reading to Robert, keeping her voice soft to keep him calm but giving his hand a gentle squeeze every now and again to keep him awake. Autumn returned when she was in the middle of a sentence, Don Hoobler and David Webster right behind her, both looking crestfallen, and Charlie finished the sentence with a wobbly voice.