Skittish

After about an hour a search party of Gene and Malarky found Flo with tear stained cheeks and a indifference in her eyes.

"Floz thank goodness, never do that again!" Gene said collapsing next to her and hugging her tightly.

"Yeah Floss how many times do I have to say it, our hearts can't take it" Malark said with an easy smile and pulled her into his own tight hug.

"Sorry guys, I'm fine now" she smiled weakly, they didn't believe it for a second.

"Flo no your not. You don't have to tell us but know that our ears are always open" Gene said as she stood up with their arms around her. She just smiled and nodded at them.

As they plodded back Flo asked almost scared "How are the injured?".

"Their all fine Fizz, I promise you it wasn't your fault what happened to you patient with Park". Flo shook her head "Thats where your wrong Gene it was my fault, he went into fatal anaphylaxis because I gave him morphine which he is allergic to. I deserve to be struck off".

Gene nodded his head to Malark over her head and Malark left the two to it. Gene led Flo over to an empty bunk in one of the barracks. "Flo believe me when I say it wasn't your fault. None of us knew he was allergic. His medical band warning us had fallen off, he couldn't and no one did tell us. There was no way of you knowing, you were just completing the routine procedure for that surgery. So please do not blame yourself because we all need you so much". As Gene finished his speech Flo simply nodded and then said "I understand your reasoning Gene, but I don't think I will ever stop feeling guilty. But I can move on from it" she said at the end smiling slightly.

"that's all we need you to do cherie, now I slept while you were in surgery, it's your turn"

"Shouldn't I just check in at the aid sta"

"No" Gene said firmly.

She nodded and took her boots, webbing and helmet it off. She took out her plaits to release the pressure on her scalp and she finally took a rest.

She could have slept for a week but she was woken 2 hours later by shouting. She thought she could hear someone shouting "Stop it's Moose" but she couldn't be sure. She picked up her med satchel, stuffed her feet in her boots and ran out the door. Her hair down and bouncing on her shoulders as she ran to where the commotion was coming from.

When she arrived Gene was bent over Moose with Winters, "Flo thank god, help me" gene said as they moved him.

Flo immediately got to work and asked "He had morphine?" she would normally just have given it as there was no M on his forehead, but after the last experience she checked. It was lucky she did because Winters said "yeah he's had 2,3 syrettes  maybe". Flo stopped looking through her med satchel, "2 or 3 syrettes, were you trying to kill him!". She checked Mooses airway and breathing which luckily were normal. Gene, Flo, Winters and the sentry who shot him were carrying Moose towards the evac truck which Nix had called for. When Moose was safely in the truck and Spina was updated as Flo had written 3 M's and a question mark on his forehead, the truck left. Flo turned to look at Winters "Sir, what were you thinking? I know your not medical but in the crash course I gave you, I said 1 syrette of morphine in the opposite leg, your lucky he's still alive. I don't care if you panicked, you tell the men to get a grip on the battlefield, well now I'm telling you to get a grip" she said firmly. She then said to Gene "Your turn to sleep Gene, just come and give me an update" and with that she turned and walked back to the aid station.

She sat there thinking for a minute about all those they had lost since they dropped into Holland and some of them stupid deaths or injuries. Like Lt Brewer, Moose and Dukeman. Accidents that could have so easily been prevented had they just taken their time or warned people. She put her head in her hands and only looked up when Gene came in to giver her a situation report.

"Are you sure you've had enough sleep Flo?" he looked at her concerned.

"Yes Gene, I need you to have more rest. You are the ranking medic after all" she smiled.

He rolled his eyes but came and sat next to her and put his arm around her. "Everythings fine for the minute in the station. All the men have had morphine and other meds that they needed. The evac trucks should be arriving soon to take them all away from the front" she nodded and then pushed Gene away so he could have some rest. She redid her braids, tighter this time so they wouldn't fall out.

She was about an hour into her shift when Buck came in. "Hi Buck, you okay you need anything?" she smiled as he walked in.

"I just wanted to have a chat Fizz, I'm a bit shaken about Moose" he said sitting down on a little upturned bucket.

She knelt down next to him and put her hand on his shoulder "Of course, fire away"

"Well I have always believed we can trust our own men. I never doubted anyone but for Moose to be shot by one of our own? How can we survive this war if we can't trust each other" Buck mused put his head in his hands.

"Bucky, I know you and Moose were friends, if you want to cry you can. I won't tell. But there are always things you can't trust, like I know I can't trust Luz not to make a joke or Nix to not have a flask on him. But these are little things and at the end of the day I know they have my back. Think about Garcia and Babe when they first arrived they were a little skittish just like the replacement sentry was tonight, the difference was it was dark and he panicked. But Moose will be fine I'm sure of it. At the end of the day we all live and learn and you can trust us cause we're your brothers and in my case sister" she laughed at that and he joined in.

"Thanks Fizz, do you really think Moose will be alright?"

"Yes I'm sure he's gonna live another 50 years" She smiled and patted Buck on the shoulder. She knew as he had a senior position it was harder for him to show his feelings, but she was glad he trusted her enough to do so.

***

Flo was half way through her shift when suddenly doors burst open and a man lying on his front came in on a stretcher.

"On here" she shouted pointing to an empty bed. "Wheres been hit?". Then a voice she hadn't heard in a while said "Florrie I can talk for myself, I think Ive been hit in the lower hip" he said groaning in pain, she froze for a second and started breathing heavier, she quickly looked at the wound that was in fact on his upper bum lower hip "Ron, Speirs, Lieutenant, Sir" she said flustered as he smiled but it was more of a grimace. "The bullet has come clean out which is good" she said while ripping sulpha open with her teeth and pouring it on the wound "I'm just going to bandage it and then we'll get you on a an evac truck to England". She said while wrapping the bandage around his waist. "Florrie, I am not going back to England!" he protested, while she rolled her eyes and replied "Yes you are and don't even think about trying to go AWOL, I will warn them about you" she said smiling slightly. When she had done all her checks and given morphine and finished with the badngage she kneeled in front of him with a cloth and started wiping the blood and sweat from his forehead. "Thanks Florrie" he whispered. "It's my job sir" she replied wary that they were surrounded by other soldiers.

"Care to explain what you were doing?"

He rolled his eyes and winced in pain, she quickly placed her hand over his and said "Slow movements please, I'm in charge here". He smiled at that and then told her the story of how he had swam across the river to warn the British of an attack "So it seems operation pegasus 2 didn't go as planned" he said with a sigh. She frowned then replied "But thanks to you no more men will be put in danger due to an intelligence blunder, but you are a flipping idiot to swim across a freezing river with a bullet hole in your bum. Speaking of which I don't want you catching hypothermia, we need to change you asap". As she realized what she said and why Speris had a coy smile on his face she blushed furiously and moved to where he couldn't see her. She called to the two from Dog who had brought him in and told them what to do.

As they were waiting for the evac truck once he was changed, she was still cooling his forehead when he said "You look exhausted Florrie, please get some rest soon, I won't be able to recover if I know your in danger of a melt down". She smiled softly "Well at least you've accepted your going back to England for a few weeks at least, what is it with you boys getting shot in the bum, it seems everywhere we go? " she started laughing at his facial expression and she shook her head, "I know there's no point in arguing with you" he suddenly reached out a hand and touched her necklace "I see you still wear it, and your ring keeping you safe" he smiled. She placed her hand on her necklace and said "I only wish my lucky charm had worked better" but he scoffed "I'm alive aren't I?".

When she loaded him onto the evac truck he promised her he would come back ASAP but she told him not to rush. The longer he was safe, the longer before her heart would break.

***

When Gene arrived at the aid station that morning he found the wounded laughing and chatting happily with his favourite medic.

She was laughing at something one of the men had said when she noticed him stood there, "Morning Gene" she called out, "you sleep well?".

"Yeah fine thanks Flo, once you've finished redressing that bandage go and have some sleep"

"I'm awake now, I can't sleep when there's work to be done you know" she said walking up and nudging him.

Gene rolled his eyes but couldn't refuse the puppy dog look on her face"Okay, but go and eat with the men, you need some food, you haven't eaten anything but K rations for almost a week".

She smiled and nodded and said a quick "see you later" to the wounded and then Flo made her way to the mess hut, she was holding her daisy necklace and playing with it in her hand. She closed her eyes and prayed that Speirs was okay.

"Hey Flo Flo, come and sit with us" Bull, chuck and Johnny called out. She smiled and grabbed a bowl of porridge (oats and water) and sat down next to Johnny. "We've hardly seen you, what have you been up to the last few days?" Chuck asked from across the table.

"Just been really busy with all the British soldiers in the aid station, there were a few really bad wounds" she said remembering the blood spouting at her.

"I can see that" Bull said looking at her filthy OD's, "Still at least you'll be able to wash soon".

She gave him a questioning look, "Haven't you heard? Their moving us off the line for a week" Johnny said excitedly.

Her eyes widened "Really!" and there they saw her youth shining through in excitement. "Really Fizz, all the men including officers have decided we're going on a group trip to Paris, your coming aren't you?" Chuck said hopefully.

"Are you joking, of course I'm coming".