Madison was silent, taking in Bull's words. He was basically telling her that she was stubborn, which she did have to agree with. He also admitted that he wasn't as observant as some of the others, not realizing how young she really was, until she had brought it up. He also said that she was so tough that most of the men who had gone through the training as young adults, would not have been able to do it like she had? That...that made a spark ignite within her.
Madison never responded to his compliment. For the rest of the night, the two stayed silent. Neither one of them had said anything, but now the sun was coming up. Light was shining in on them. It was quiet outside. The Germans were long gone by now.
"We should go find the others," Bull merely said as he got up. He stuck his hand out for Madison to grab. She did, and he pulled her up. "Do you need any help?"
Madison shook her head. She may be sore as hell, but she was sure that she would be able to walk. (She barely could, but still refused Bull's offer.)
Together, the two friends walked through the town Eindhoven. Once beautiful and charming in its own little way, it was now destroyed by the destruction of war.
There weren't too many casualties. Sure, there were many injuries that the men on both sides alike had received, but the death toll was not too high. The only body Madison saw was the body of Private James Miller, one of the replacements that was in Bull's squad. Madison could only stare at Miller, while Bull went into the trench and removed the dog tags. Madison wanted to tell Bull that she was sorry about Miller, but she couldn't find her voice or words. That German soldier really banged her up more than she would admit.
Out of the corner of her eye, Madison noticed a jeep was driving towards them. She looked in its direction and noticed that it was a U.S. military jeep. Her eyes widened and her mouth gaped open. In a slow but swift manner, she raised one of her arms up, trying to catch their attention. Bull had noticed too, and he raised his rifle up. The men in the jeep saw them and they stopped. Madison let Bull do all the talking and, in the end, she found herself getting a ride back to the rest of the men. She couldn't help but think that her friends were going to kick her ass for going missing.
* * * * *
Hoobler was leading the patrol. As soon as he heard the sound of an engine, he signaled the others to duck into the grass. They all got into position, ready for anything that came in their way. As soon as Hoobler saw that U.S. Army jeep coming their way, he got up and raised his rifle. The men in it saw and the driver pulled in towards them. Bull leaned out from his seat and damn, was he a sight for sore eyes!
Hoobler and the others—Webster, Cobb, Hashey, and Garcia—ran over. Hoobler stopped in front of Bull.
"Where the fuck you've been?" he demanded. Then he saw Madison was right behind him and—-
"What the fuck happened to you?"
"It's nice to see you too, Donny," Madison said, a small smirk etched upon her face. Hoobler couldn't help but grin back. Sure, his friend had clearly gone through hell, but she was okay. That's all that mattered.
* * * * *
The men were all able to get a ride back to where the rest of the company was. The first thing that Madison had first heard was Johnny Martin's voice.
"Bull!"
Bull jumped out of the jeep and shook his friend's hand. "Hey, Johnny."
While the other men were able to climb out of their transportation, Madison had, in her words, gracefully fallen out.
"Fuck," Madison groaned. She didn't realize the severity of her wounds until she smacked down in the grass. She felt like she wanted to die.
"Maddie!"
Madison barely looked up, mainly because she was pulled up from the ground and then she was being squished. No, not squished, hugged. Someone was hugging her. When the person finally loosened their hold on her, she was able to look up: it was Liebgott!
"Lieb!" Madison cried, as she threw her arms around him. "Oh my God, I missed you so much!"
"Are you kidding me? We were worried sick about you!" Madison turned around to see a fuming Guarnere. He was not happy with how his friend was looking. He could see the bumps, bruises, and blood stains. She looked like absolute hell.
"Bill!" Madison shoved Liebgott (who laughed at her antics) and ran into Bill, who had picked her up and swung her around as if she was his own child.
"What the fuck happened to you?" he demanded of her once he had set her down. "Jesus, we gotta get you to Roe. You're gonna be out for a few weeks, kid."
Madison's eyes widened. She hadn't thought about that!
"Oh, no!" Madison cried. "I can't—"
"Oh, you will," Bill growled as he dragged her up the hill and onto the road. "You can barely even walk!"
"Yes, I can!"
"No!"
"But Bill—"
"Shut up, will you? You're—"
"Maddie!"
"Madison!"
Madison and Bull stopped in their tracks and they both turned around. Many of their friends had seen Madison, and they were all running up to meet her. They were all talking at once, it was hard for Madison to keep up.
"You're back!" Luz said.
"You look like absolute shit," Skip commented. "Did you get hit by a tank or something?"
"Your uniform is ripped to shreds!" Frank Perconte added.
"Where'd you get those bruises from?" Malarkey asked her, touching her neck, which she recoiled from.
"Are you leaving us?" Shifty asked.
"No—"
"Oh, she's going to be out for a couple of weeks," Roe had finally entered the scene, pushing them all out of the way. "Come on, Maddie, let's get you into one of the trucks."
Madison whined as Bill carried her to the, what Madison dubbed it as, the wounded truck. Roe had stepped in and Bill handed the young girl to him. He sat her down and examined his friend. His interrogation was so intense, and Roe looked so terrified as Madison answered his questions (she could never lie to him), it practically broke both medics' hearts.
"You'll be gone for a while," Doc told her.
"But I just got back," Madison frowned, feeling disappointed in herself.
"And you will come back, once you recover. Don't argue about it."
Madison looked down. "Okay."
Roe smiled. "You're a good girl. Be good for us, alright?"
"Only for you," Madison promised. The engines of various vehicles started to come to life, and Madison knew that they were moving out. Roe hopped off the truck.
"We'll see you soon," Roe said, as the truck started to move. Madison stared at him and the rest of the men, who became smaller as she moved farther away. Her next stop would be the hospital.
* * * * *
A/N: OMG, Madison went through so much in this chapter, though. I feel bad. She's going to be away from her friends for awhile, and it makes both her and I sad. :( But never fear, they will reunite once again in episode 5: Crossroads! We're halfway there, people!
* * * * *
Translations:
Papa, kijk! Ze is gewond: Papa, look! She's hurt
Je bent gekwetst: You're hurt
Sprechen Niederländisch? Duits? Englisch?: Do you speak Dutch? German? English?
Nederlands: Dutch
Danke, danke: Thank you, thank you
Hallo: Hello
Ist jemand da?: Is someone there?
Sie!: You!
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