Band of Brothers Imagines

In Sickness and In Health - Dick Winters x Reader

"I am not sick, Gene," you tried to look as stern as possible, but your efforts were interrupted as a deep cough took over, betraying your lie to Roe. Shivering, you pulled your ineffective coat further around yourself in a vain attempt to keep warm and Roe sighed.

"Well, you're pretty sick for someone who isn't sick. I know you're lying," he also tried to look stern, and succeeded far better than you had.

"I am not leaving the line for the goddamn flu, or whatever the fuck this is." A sharp pain spread across your chest as another cough consumed you. Your hands shook from the bitter cold as you attempted to unscrew your canteen, and Roe gently prised it from you and brought it to your lips. The icy water sated the fire in your throat and you nodded to Roe, who screwed the top back on. "Don't tell Dick, please," you begged, not wanting to add to his burdens.

Roe was about to reply when a burst of light and a loud explosion rang in your ears, shocking you both. Yet another bombardment. Roe ran off as soon as he heard the cry for a medic, and you huddled in the bottom of your foxhole, hoping it would be over soon.

The next thing you knew, you were being shaken gently awake, and you opened your eyes slowly to see your fiance's trademark ginger hair and characteristic look of concern on his tired face.

"Mmm, what happened?" You grumbled as he pulled you up into a sitting position.
"You fell asleep," Winters settled in next to you, pulling you into his side to share what little body heat he had with you. "Here," he handed you a cup with some of the most unappetising slop you'd ever seen. But it was hot, and you'd have killed for hot food in that hell of a forest. Even just feeling the warmth of the cup on your hands was bliss, and you melted into Winters' side as he put his arm around you. "You must be pretty unwell if you fell asleep in the middle of a bombardment," Winters commented as you consumed the tasteless food. You gave him a warning look and he shrugged, unwilling to push the issue in the face of your resistance.

"I'm sure I'm not the only one, given how damn tired everyone is," you snapped, and instantly regretted being so harsh. "I'm sorry, Dick. I didn't mean to be rude. I just don't wanna leave the line for a stupid case of flu," you were breathing heavily with the effort the words cost you.

"I understand," he mumbled into your hair as he pressed a kiss to your head and pulled you even closer. "Did the soup help?"

"Is that what it was?" You laughed feebly and you felt Winters smile into your matted hair. "It did, thank you," you turned to look up at him. "Please don't send me off the line?"

"I promise I won't send you off the line. As long as you take care of yourself and do what Gene tells you," Winters smiled at you now, a smile that reached his sea blue eyes that held such concern and love for you.

"I promise," you managed a pained smile in return, which was cut short by another cough. "Tell me a story?" You asked when you'd recovered, settling yourself back into Winters' side and leeching his body heat.

"Once upon a time," he grinned, "there was a beautiful young woman. Now, we're talking really beautiful, the kind of beauty that makes people stop and stare in the middle of the street. She's also incredibly brave, and she decided to join the paratroopers, even though everyone was telling her not to. There, she met this lieutenant who thought she was just the bee's knees, and he got the satisfaction of knowing that he was right the more he got to know her. Anyway, after the war, they went home together to live on a little farm, just the two of them, and they got married and lived happily ever after."

"That sounds like my kind of happy ending," you mumbled into Winters' chest and he chuckled as you slipped into a peaceful slumber, content in his arms.