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That morning when Dick didn’t knock on his door, Nix didn’t think too much about it. Dick finally gave up on waking him up, or Dick was probably still out running, or held up in his office, or supervising one of the baseball games. By the second week in Austria, they had settled into a routine. Nix wouldn’t get up until noon with a hangover, and Dick would knock on his door and make him climb out of bed.
But when it was past noon and Nix hadn’t seen Dick or heard from him, the antsy feeling crawled underneath his skin, despite he assured himself everything was fine.
Nix tried Dick’s office first. When Nix came in, Zielinski was placing some papers on Dick’s desk and putting some in his folder. Nix glanced around the office, no sight of Dick.
“Captain Nixon,” Zielinski greeted him, “can I help you?”
“Have you seen Major Winters?” Nix asked.
“No, sir,” Zielinski answered evenly, unfazed by Nix’s unannounced visit. “Not since this morning.”
“Do you know where he is ?”
“Major Winters told me he was going on a hiking trip, sir.”
It sounded like something Dick would do, but why didn’t Dick tell him about it? Or maybe he did. Nix tried to remember. Maybe Dick did suggest to him yesterday, and he was having a terrible hangover so he brushed him off—too early for him, and he was not exactly a mountain sports enthusiast.
“Right, did he go by himself?”
“Sergeant Talbert accompanied Major Winters.” Zielinski answered, “Maybe others joined them. I’m not certain."
“All right. Thanks,” Nix nodded, “let me know if Major Winters is back.”
“Will do, sir.” Zielinski nodded and resumed collecting paperwork.
Talbert is reliable. Nix thought as he wandered across the hallway until he found himself at the hotel lounge, now the officers’ canteen. Dick should be fine with him. He told himself, but the restless feeling didn’t go away.
Nix heard a commotion just as he emptied his third cup of coffee. A few Easy men he recognized were rushing into the hotel. Nix immediately thought of the recent automobile accident that killed Janovec. His heart sank the second when someone yelled “Winters”.
Nix stopped the first Easy man he saw, Babe Heffron. “What’s going on?” He demanded urgently.
“It’s Major Winters. He is hurt, but I think he is alright.” Heffron almost tried to throw him off before he realized it was Nixon grasping his arm. “He broke his leg. It seems.” Heffron gave him an understanding look.
“Christ,” Nix cursed under his breath, “is anyone looking after him?”
“Doc Roe is.” Heffron said, “They brought Major Winters to his room.”
“Thanks,” Nix waved Heffron off and headed quickly to Dick’s room. Dick’s room was on the second floor, not the most convenient for someone who had just broken his leg. How did it happen? How could it happen? Nix wanted to ask Dick so many questions, but he was stunned when he finally saw Dick.
Dick was lying on the bed, little cuts on his face, his head bandaged. Doc Roe hovered near the foot of the bed, wrapping a bandage around Dick’s left leg. Talbert stood in the doorway, his eyes cast down at the floor. He quietly saluted Nix when he entered.
At the corner stood Lip and Harry, throwing questions at Roe. They fell silent the moment they saw Nix. Dick saw him too. He pulled a tight smile but winced.
“What happened to your head?” Nix stared at him for a second and finally asked.
“I hit my head when I fell. It’s fine, just some bruises.”
“It’s all bloody when he got back.” Harry turned to Nix, “Doc said he might have a concussion.”
“Just being cautious. ” Roe said quickly while working on the bandage on Dick’s leg. “Someone needs to keep an eye on him, especially for tonight.” He glanced around the room and eventually fixed on Nix.
“I will.” Nix nodded. Dick looked like he still wanted to protest. “So what happened?” He turned to Dick.
“We were hiking and I saw a mountain goat. I tried to go after it and I tripped.”
“Why were you after a goat?” Nix asked in disbelief.
“I was trying to shoot it for food. I guess that didn’t go well.” Dick amused but earned a stern look from everyone in the room.
For weeks they were short of supply. It happens when you are too ahead of the front line. They had to forage and hunt for anything beyond the meager potatoes and peas. Nix could understand why Dick wanted to help, but things could go awfully wrong. Dick could fell off a cliff and die, for Christ’s sake.
“What the hell were you thinking?” For a moment the room was silent. Everyone held their breath. Dick gaped at him and only then Nix realized he raised his voice, which he rarely did.
“I’m sorry,” Dick stuttered. “I was—”
“I’m sorry.” Talbert cut him off. Only then did Nix notice how terrible Talbert looked—pale and ill. “I should have watched more closely.”
“It’s not your fault,” Dick quickly said, “I was careless, and I couldn’t get down without your help, so thank you.”
Nix couldn’t imagine how difficult it was to help a six-foot man down from the mountain. He doubted he could do that himself.
Talbert’s eyes reddened. Nix couldn’t help feeling sorry for him, but then grateful for what he had done for Dick.
“You’ve done what you could,” Nix said, his anger gone. “I blamed the rear echelon.” He grinned, and the others chuckled in agreement.
The room cleared out gradually after Roe ordered Dick to rest, except Nix, who stayed to keep an eye on him.
“You gave me a fright.” Nix sat down on the other side of the bed. He pulled off his boots and leaned back against the headboard.
“I’m sorry. Nix, I was just trying to help,” Dick said sheepishly. He felt like a heel, raising his voice to Dick like that.
“I know.” Nix leaned closer, examining the bandage around Dick’s head. “Does it hurt?”
Dick shook his head, “It’s alright.” Which meant it hurt. Nix just knew, but he didn’t press further.
“You should get some rest.”
“You’ll stay here, right?”
“Yeah, Doc’s order,” Nix patted down Dick’s shoulder, “I won’t go anywhere else.”
“Thanks, Lew.”
“Yeah, yeah, now go to sleep.”
Dick woke up realizing the other side of the bed was empty. He glanced up and saw Nix perched at the small round table, the one that was in the balcony before. A lamp was placed near the edge, probably taken from the writing desk. The balcony door was half open, Dick figured maybe the wind woke him.
“What are you doing?”
Nix shuddered and looked up, his face illuminated by the warm yellow light.
“How are you feeling?”
“Alright.”
“How was your head?”
“I feel I have the worst hangover.”
Nix looked concerned, “I thought you don’t drink.”
“I don’t.” Dick smiled, “it’s fine.”
Nix wasn’t satisfied, “do you need me to find Roe?”
“No, let him sleep. I can manage.”
“Alright, “ Nix nodded, “you need anything, water?”
“Water will be great.”
Dick followed Nix’s movement. He watched Nix get up and went to the end of the hallway. He couldn’t see Nix, but he guessed Nix was looking for the water pitcher. When Nix reappeared, he had a glass of water in his hand.
“Thanks.” Dick took the glass Nix handed him. “What were you doing?” He gestured at the table.
“Oh, that, some kind of reports.”
“Battalion’s?” Dick realized he hadn’t seen Zielinski since he was back, “Were you doing the work for me?”
Nix sighed and sat down at Dick’s bedside, “Zielinski dropped by, said Sink needed it in the morning. I told him you had a concussion and Colonel Sink can wait.”
“And?” Dick was intrigued. He didn’t think Sink would take it too well.
“Zielinski came back and said Sink expected the reports by the end of tomorrow.” Nix shrugged. “The war might be over but we are still in the army.”
Dick winced, “You could have asked Harry for help.”
“Nah, I figured since I had nothing to do except watching you sleep, I could kill time with it.”
Odd it might sound, sometimes Dick didn’t know what he was going to do if Nix wasn’t there for the past three years. Nix had given him so much—but he couldn’t say with confidence he had done the same thing for Nix.
“Thanks, Lew,” Dick said, and hesitated, weighing his words. “I almost fell off the cliff. I couldn’t stop sliding. I thought this was it. This was how I was going to die, after all things, but I stopped.”
Dick looked up and found Nix stiffened.
“What a hell way to die.” Nix scoffed finally, “taken out by a goat when the bullets didn’t kill you, and the artillery, and the cold.” Nix’s voice trembled.
“Yeah. It wouldn’t look good.” Dick nodded.
“Go back to sleep. It’s still early.”
Nix watched Dick lie down and close his eyes. He stayed for a few seconds to make sure Dick wouldn’t just pretend to sleep. When he heard Dick’s breathing slowly settle into a steady rhythm, he got up from the bed and resumed the paperwork, repetitive and dull.
Nix woke up earlier than usual the next morning, too early for his liking. Dick was still asleep when Nix checked on him. He finished the reports Sink ordered and still did not grasp the urgency. They were on occupation duty, not on the frontline chasing enemies’ tails. But they were in the army, and the army was not known for being reasonable.
Nix decided to catch up on some sleep in his room. Dick looked fine, and he would be back in two or three hours. He decided against sharing the bed. It would definitely wake up Dick, and it still didn’t look good to anyone who happened to check on Dick. Worse thing could happen.
Nix didn’t get much sleep, though. The sunrise at 0500 hr didn’t help either. When his third attempt failed, he gave up on the thought and decided to check on Dick.
Nix sneaked into Dick’s room as he sneaked out. Dick was still asleep. He looked calm and unbothered.
He should get Dick something to eat when he woke up, Nix decided, hopefully they started serving breakfast already.
Nix was surprised to see Speirs and Lipton when he got to the canteen. He never knew when these two had breakfast, but to be fair, he never woke early enough to find out.
“How is Dick?” Lipton asked the first thing Nix sat down at the table.
“He is alright.” Nix answered, “I just checked on him. He’s asleep.”
Speirs nodded, sipping coffee. “That’s good.” Speirs wasn’t in Dick’s room yesterday. He probably learned from Lipton, which wasn’t too surprising.
“By the way, how much do you know about Dick’s training schedule?” Speirs asked.
Even though the war was over, Dick had a “training schedule” to keep the men occupied. The training entailed some PT, hiking, skiing, and occasional baseball games.
Nix didn’t know for sure what Dick’s plan was for today, but years of living and working alongside the man gave him some advantage. So he told Speirs each platoon rotated, and if there were details need to be worked out, it was up to the company CO.
“Thanks, Nixon,” Speirs said as he got up with the tray to leave. “Lipton told me you’re the best person to ask. I hope Dick is feeling better.”
The comment came as a little odd, but everyone in the Second Battalion knew Nixon was the go-to person to ask about Winters. Better not dwell on it too much, he thought.
“Thanks. I will let him know.”
Harry appeared by the time Speirs and Lipton had already left. “Once in a blue moon,” Harry exclaimed excitedly as soon as he sat down. Nix scoffed. “Morning, Harry.”
“How is Dick?”
“Alright. He told me he almost slid off a clip.”
“Jesus,” Harry gasped, “glad he didn’t. He really scared us yesterday, with blood all over his face. Tab looked he was gonna cry.”
“Yeah.” Nix thought of Talbert’s pale face. He didn’t know how much more they could take after Janovec and Grant.
“Tell them Dick is alright, will you?”
“Of course.”
Nix swiftly put some toast, egg, and an orange on the plate, and grabbed a whole pot of coffee.
“Hey Nix, you would make a great wife.” Harry grinned. Nix rolled his eyes and ignored him, but he couldn’t ignore Harry was a very observant person. Maybe Harry was right, maybe he did enjoy taking care of Dick.
Dick was sitting up when Nix made it back to his room, carrying a tray of food.
“Room service.” He announced jovially, prompting a warm smile from Dick.
Dick thanked him as he placed the tray on the bed. “Speirs asked about the training schedule,” Nix mentioned as he watched Dick pick up a toast.
“Sorry,” Dick hesitated, “I should have—”
“Relax, it’s not a big deal. I told him it’s the same as yesterday, just a different platoon.”
“Yeah, right.”
“ I think Speirs just wanted to make sure. If it’s up to me, I think the men can use a free day.” Nix quipped.
“They're sure gonna love you.”Dick quipped. “I know I do.”
Nix stilled. He didn’t know if Dick was serious or this was his attempt at humor. The latter more likely. Dick was, put nicely, succinct in expressing his feelings. He had never said things like that. Nix wasn’t sure if Dick had feelings for him, maybe, because they had kissed and more, but it could just be the physical needs.
But maybe he had known, for a while, despite his effort to overlook it. The way Dick looked at him sometimes, the desperation when they fooled around. He was not naive, but also not optimistic. He didn’t have an answer to what stopped them saying the word. Maybe it was the war having priority over their personal lives, the risks of being found out, the imminent death, fear of losing the other one, or the vulnerability of exposing yourself. Maybe it was all.
“Because I’m being nice to you.” Nix said quietly. He half expected Dick to go along with him, or explain he really hit his head hard he was saying nonsense, neither of which would make Nix feel better, oddly.
“I mean it.” Dick looked at him, his voice firm and calm, “I feel I have to tell you, while I still can."
Nix’s heart stopped. Dick Winters was making a love confession to him. He thought it was never going to happen. Now, of all times? But the war was over. The days were long and bright. They were alive.
Nix let out a shaky laugh. “It took you a near-death experience to do that?”
“Pretty much, yes.” Dick admitted, “Now, can you please come over?” He asked, slightly exasperated.
Nix didn’t know what to expect. It was like daydreaming. He walked slowly to Dick’s bedside. When he was close enough, Dick lifted his arm to him so Nix grasped his hand.
“Can you stay?” Dick’s laced their fingers together.
“I have one more report to finish,” Zielinski would be looking for him soon, “I can stay here and work on it.”
“Good.” Dick brushed a kiss on Nix’s knuckles, “Stay.”