The hallway of the large building was alive with chaos. Gurneys were flying down the halls; men were screaming and the stench of death and ethyl alcohol were lighting up the humid air. A pair of lace up high heeled shoes clicked down the hallway at a quick pace, sure of each step. The shoes moved up into a pair of trim legs in worn standard issue nylons, the nylon moved up into an olive drab dress, fitted and formed to the slender body it hugged tight. The girl stopped short in front of room 513 at the end of the hallway. Her light hazel eyes skimmed over the chart in her hand double checking the information.

A newly appointed Sergeant, 28 years old, multiple fractures and abrasions, the most serious of which was a badly broken leg. She tucked an unruly spiral curl behind her ear before she turned the handle on the door and stepped inside.

The man was sitting up straight in the bed, one arm in a sling tucked up against his broad chest, there were a few bandages and stitches across his arms and one stitched wound on the strong line of his jaw. He was handsome, he was very, very handsome. Not in the conventional way though, in a dark and brooding way, like the antiheroes in the romance novels the other nurses fawned over.

Just as she stepped in it looked as if he were about to say something as his eyebrows were furrowed and his mouth was open but as soon as she walked in he shut his mouth tight.

He wasn't prepared for her to walk in. He's been thinking he'd have some old crone for a nurse. He never counted on her. She was hell on heels and the most gorgeous thing he'd ever fuckin' seen. All slender curves and long curls.

"Good to see you're awake Sergeant." She stepped closer to the bed and put the chart down on the small side table next to him. "You've been out for quite a while."

He had been studying her face as she set his chart down. She had delicate features and a slightly olive complexion; her big cat slanted eyes were a strange mix of honey brown and yellow and dabs of green and framed thick with long dark lashes. He cleared his throat and finally found his voice for the first time since he'd woken up in this strange hospital this morning.

"Where am I and what the hell happened to me and why the fuck are you calling me Sergeant?" He couldn't help himself, his head was killing him and he was frustrated by his lack of memory.

She looked up into his face and her cat's eyes narrowed, "Language Sergeant, you may be a solider but I am a lady and you will speak to me as such."

He lowered his eyes sheepishly and mumbled out a half apology, he hadn't meant to be that short. "You're in Santa Marina's Ospedale in Palermo. You and your division were caught by a tank and your jeep was blown to pieces. You were wounded rather severely, your leg is broken very badly. I have heard that you and another officer pulled many of the other survivors to safety. You were appointed Sergeant while you were out. I'm sorry to not have mentioned that first off."

She spoke quickly and concisely. She was clearly American, and judging by her accent from the Northeast. She flitted towards the tall cabinet at the corner of his room and began pulling out medical supplies. She seemed to move fluidly, quick and deliberate. He couldn't help but stare a little at the line of her trim waist as it flowed down her little back to the gentle curve of her hip and the pert round ass poised at the top of her stockinged legs. It'd been months since he'd seen a woman, let alone one this pretty. He'd never seen a girl this pretty just standin' in front of him.

She turned back to his bedside and set out her supplies next to her as she perched herself on the edge of his bed. She noted how his dark eyes followed her every move as she pulled down his covers slightly to reach some of the wounds on him.

She could tell her close proximity was new for him. He cleared his throat and she could almost feel him searching for a topic for conversation as he studied her.

"What is your name?" He asked finally

"Nili Cohen." She said her voice softer as she gently swabbed one of his cuts. It stung like hell but he wouldn't let himself flinch, not in front of her.

"Nili..." He repeated her name and he seemed to contemplate it for a moment "The glory of Israel will not lie... That is a beautiful name." He knew well what her name meant.
He had the phrase it came from tattooed on the inside of his left arm, she couldn't see it now; it was well bandaged, but it was there."

"Thank you. I assumed you were Jewish when I read your chart, Sergeant Donowitz."

"I am." He said nodding "You're American, aren't you Nili? Where're you from? And call me Donny."

She kept on with her workings and re-bandaged his wounds as she spoke with him. "I'm from the Bronx, Sergeant."

"You just broke my heart." He let a sly smile creep onto his face and she looked up with a questioning glance away from his arm

"Excuse me?"

"You're from New York, that means you must be a Yankees fan." For the first time since she entered the room she allowed herself to smile, she couldn't help it. The roguish smile on his face was infectious.

"Of course I am, my brother was drafted for the '41 team, at least he was before he enlisted." He noted her face darkened when she mentioned her brother. He knew what that meant, he'd seen that look before. Her brother was dead. He wanted to inquire further but decided against it.

"A pretty girl like you should be a Red Sox fan." Her smile almost returned but she quickly smoothed over her expression as she went back to tending his wounds.

"Do not try to pick me up Sergeant."

He chuckled a little at her and dropped back into his pillows "Why not? You got a man back in the Bronx? Maybe a Yankees player whackin' 'em outta the park in your name?"

His accent was so thick now she wondered how she hadn't noticed it before. She was working hard to suppress a blush and a smile for the handsome Boston boy laying in the bed next to her.

"No, but I don't want to get involved with any of you service men, your shelf life isn't particularly good."

"Well, you don't need to worry about shelf life with me, Nili Cohen. I'm from Boston, we're like fucking cockroaches."

She shot her head up and her eyes were narrowed again "Language, Sergeant."

He mumbled out another half apology and quieted down as he watched her tend him again. She was bent over him and he could see the long lines of her neck and the unruly mop of long black spiral curls. She had them pinned back in an attempt at the stylish coif the women in his pin ups wore, but her curls wouldn't seem to stay and they fell out and to the wayside framing her pretty little features.

She was working her way up his left arm and she started to unravel the bandage around his tattoo. He smiled to himself wondering what she would think when she reached it. She unraveled the last bandage and started to swab the wound with alcohol when she noticed the dark black ink above it. She reached out a finger and traced the Hebrew characters with her finger. He just watched, his breath hitching in his throat as she touched him.

"The glory of Israel shall not lie." She whispered quietly as she looked up into his dark featured face. "No wonder you knew my name. It's against the old laws for Jews to be tattooed..."

He cleared his throat and let out a slightly nervous chuckle "I know, but I got it when I enlisted. I'd heard about what those bast... Sorry, Nazis were doing to our people and I couldn't let it lie. It reminds me."

"It's beautiful." Her eyes were earnest and he noted that they shown with the first drops of tears. They held eyes for a split second and let smiles creep onto their faces before she seemed to remember herself and she quickly moved back to her work. They did not speak again for the duration of her visit, but as she rose to leave he stopped her.

"Hey, uh, thanks for takin' care of me. Will you be my nurse tomorrow too?" His eyes were expectant and there seemed to almost be the ghost of a blush on his swarthy cheek

She softened again to him, he looked almost boyish, and she couldn't help but feel flattered that he would have such an interest in her. "Yes," She allowed herself to smile just the faintest bit "I'll be your day nurse for the duration of your recovery."

At this he broke into a full roguish grin "Well then I'll see you tomorrow Nili Cohen."

She closed the door behind her and stood outside for a moment, allowing a full smile to cross her face and she exhaled slowly, the image of his handsome face grinning wide at her with a glint in his eye. She shook her head and her mind was back to business, she had 10 other patients to attend to before she could be finished for the day.

Donny Donowitz laid back in his pillows. Here he was holed up in this hospital bed, he had no idea how he got there. He racked his brain trying to remember the events that had led up to the explosion that put him in here. Last thing he remembered he and Aldo had been leading their brigade through the outskirts of Palermo on a march towards the city. They must have been ambushed. He couldn't for the life of him put anything together past that; besides him waking up here and that pretty little nurse taking care of him.

He let his mind wander to her as he laughed a little and smiled. She was something' else. She was like a pin-up come to life and living color. She was sweet as pie and sharp. He could see himeslf falling hard for a girl like her. She was somethin' that even Mama Donowitz couldn't say no to; as overbearing as she was. She'd been trying to marry him off ever since he graduated, to the Stutz girl, the Braun girl, the Greenberg girl, really any nice little Jewish girl. Instead her son brought home shiska after shiska. Tall and blonde, short and red headed, always big busted and slim waisted. Each one of them had "killed his poor mother." As soon as he saw her he'd made up his mind that Nili Cohen was it, and when all of this was over he'd be taking her home to Boston and making a Red Sox fan out of her. He could picture waking up with her every morning and going to bed with her every night. They'd live in one of those nice brownstones on the Back Bay and he'd come home to a fresh cooked meal every night. She'd give him a few kids, a couple of sons and a little girl that looked just like her that he could spoil rotten. He'd never much figured himself for a man that wanted something like that, but now it seemed to make sense.

He was wrestled from his thoughts by the door to his room opening and shutting and a real ruckus coming from outside. He chuckled when he noted who was quickly locking the door and calling out in horrible Italian "Scah-you-sa-me"

"You know Aldo, most of these nurses are American."

The rough looking soldier moseyed himself over to the chair by Donny's bedside and flopped down into the seat putting his old boots up on the clean white sheets. Donny could see the evidence of the blast on Aldo too, his arm was in a sling and he had a few cuts and bruises, Donny's eyes inadvertently travelled to the mean scar that slit across his neck. He's never had the chance to ask about, and he figured it was a sore subject, but it intruiged him. He felt like Aldo Raine was a man full of secrets.

"Sure as shit I know that but I was tryin' to play like I waddn't. I waddn't goin' to listen when they kept shoutin' "No visitors!" at me. How yah doin' Donny Boy?"

"A little roughed up Sarg." Donny said honestly "But I'll be back to wreckin' havoc on those bastards in a few weeks. I bet I'll have some catchin' up to do in the body count."

"You sure will Donowitz m'boy, and I'm a fuckin' Lieutenant now, you're the Sarg for Christ's sake"

"Shit I forgot. What the hell happened to us Aldo?" He asked crossing his arms and sitting up a little in his bed.

"We were ambushed, those fuckers blew the shit out of the jeep and damn near killed everyone in the platoon. You an' I pulled out a few stragglers, even with your damn leg about ready to fall off. You passed out after we pulled the last man out and I got you here. You've been out for 3 days."

"Well, fuck me." Donny muttered to himself as he took in the gravity of what had gotten him here. His entire platoon was dead. He tried not to remember the faces of those boys, they had been together since boot camp and damn if he wasn't going to miss every single one of 'em. "Who got out?" He asked as his voice thickened

"Smith, Balboni and Reacker."

"Everyone else is gone?"

"Yes sir." Aldo's own face betrayed a little of his sadness over losing his boys. He blamed himself tremendously, but he could never show it.

"Well, what now Aldo? Our platoon's gone, are we going to be reassigned?"

At this question Aldo moved to lean close to Donny's bed "Yes, I've gut word from the brass that they have somethin' very special in mind for you and I."

"What do they want us to do Aldo?" Donny asking eyeing his commanding officer hard.

"We're gonna be mercenaries." Aldo said leaning back in his chair again and kicking his feet back up.

"Mercenaries?" Donny questioned shaking his head. "Why the hell do they want us for that?"

"The brass was very impressed by yours and my par-tick-que-lar brand of revenge, and they decided to find a very specific channel for us, muh boy. As soon as you're out of here you and I will be hand selectin' a group of soldiers, specifically Jewish American soldiers. We'll be dropped into France with one goal and one goal only; to kill as many of those kraut mother fuckers as we can as brutally as we can. We're going to be forming an Apache resistance based on fear and good old urban legend. We're gunna be the monster under Uncle Adolph's bed."

Donny was about to reply when he heard a sharp rap on the door. "Sergeant, you better open this door right now or I'm going to be very upset with you."

"Shit, open the door Aldo." Donny knew her voice and the last thing he wanted was for her to be mad at him, that would throw his plan all off kilter.

"Why the hell would you want me to do that? They'll just kick me out." Aldo said taking a bump from his snuff tin.

"It's just this nurse." Donny said shooting Aldo a look.

"Aha, the new Missus. You work fast Donny." Aldo said nodding gravely "Well fine and well then. I suppose I could just come back tomorrow with some sort of official papers from the brass." Aldo popped up in the spry way he went about all things and opened the door to reveal Nili Cohen tapping her shoe with her brow furrowed.

"Good afternoon Mrs. Donowitz." Aldo said cavalierly as he held out his arm ushering her into the room.

"My name is Miss Cohen. And, I don't care who you are but there's no visitors allowed at this particular time." She whipped her hand out towards the door and struck out her index finger "Out."

Aldo just smiled sideways and winked at the prone Sergeant "You picked a good'un Donny, I'll be seeing you tomorrow" He turned towards the little nurse next to him "With the proper paperwork, Missus." With a slight bow he was out of the room and off into the hallway.

Nili turned her eyes on Donny and she did not looked pleased. "What did you think that was?" She moved quickly up next to his bed and he noted now without the smell of the medical supplies that she smelled like lilacs.

"That was my Lieutenant." Donny said shrugging

"Well, tell him kindly that next time there won't be a next time and he better not show his face in my ward again." She let her guard down after she had said her piece and she moved over to his bedside to sit by the chair Aldo had vacated.

She didn't know why but she was drawn to this man, she had finished her rounds and she wanted to relax, and she felt like she could relax with him.

"He better not have been trying to spring you early. You're quite a bit broken Sergeant and you need time to heal." She plopped herself down in the chair and stretched her legs out in front of her. Donny's eyes followed the lines of her legs as they stretched and he couldn't help but picture wrapping those legs around his waist.

"I think you just want to keep me around." He said skimming his gaze shamelessly over her body and back up to her face.

She laughed a little and shook her head. "I knew you were that type."

"What type?" Donny was immediately on guard, readying to defend his character

"The cocky type. You're all bluster, Sergeant." She intertwined her fingers on her lap and sat back in her chair.

"I'm all bluster, I think that's you Nurse Cohen, coming in here this morning like you're all business and now you're sidled up to my bed like we're old friends." He let another one of his crooked smiles creep onto his face and he knew he was charming her.

She knew he had her pinned. She had to think quickly to get around him. "You're the only man in this place whose not blown to smithereens, I need a few minutes without a severed limb in my hand." She was being half honest. The carnage in this place was breaking her slowly, it was like every time she turned around there was another boy too young to even be away from his mama with an arm or a leg blown off.

"If that means I'm first in line to get a date with you then hell I'll take that as a compliment."

She just shook her head at him and tried not to laugh, he was making her forget about the realities of the war.

"Language, Sergeant." She reminded him yet again, Donny smiled wryly, she was only half serious.

"I'll watch my language when you start calling me Donny."

She sighed and laughed a little, her laugh was like these little silver chimes his Ma had hanging over the kitchen window. He liked it a lot.

"I better get used to you cussing then Sergeant."

"So Nili, when are you off tonight, and where can I take you dancing?" He wanted to make her laugh again, to hear those little silver chime noises.

"Fat lot of dancing you'll be doing Sergeant with a leg like that."

"I can sure as shit try. Come on, don't you want run around town with a handsome officer?" Donny even laughed at himself this time and she joined him.

"I wouldn't go out on the town with a big lug like you if you were the last man on earth." With that she got up from her chair and walked towards the door. "Goodbye Sergeant, I'll see you tomorrow."

He shook his head a little and smiled, he was winning her over. Whether she liked it or not. "I'll be waiting Nili."