just your luck that one of the wounded soldiers I was tending is a gunner," the nurse said with a smile. "The gun itself is too broken to move anywhere, but it still fires. He'd resigned himself to leaving it there, but then a tank came along. I've never seen anyone so happy to be of use."
There was a small group of them with various injuries, and the nurse helped Dounia heft Tanya up and led the way back to their lines.
Ira couldn't believe they'd made it.
They weren't back yet, but they were in friendly territory once more. Relief swept over her in an overwhelming wave, and the tight feeling she'd had roiling in her gut and across her shoulder blades had lifted.
She picked up Meow with one arm, and he gave a plaintive mew as he tried to shake the mud off of his wet fur. She hadn't been able to see earlier, but their mad dash through the broken up terrain had soaked him right down to the skin. He wasn't the only one. She and Dounia were covered in mud from diving into the crater and even the nurse was mud encrusted up to the knee.
They slogged their way back to the front lines, but everyone was mostly in good spirit. Some of the infantrymen started singing a marching song as they went, and just as the sun started to rise over the mountains in the east, the front lines came in sight.
Everything was chaos as soon as everyone found out who they were, and how they'd managed to get back to Soviet territory all on their own.
Tanya was immediately carted off by several nurses, and Ira was forced to stay in the medical tent while her arm was looked at again. Dounia was torn between staying with Ira and going to find out if Tanya would be okay.
"Go, dear heart," she said, smiling. "Tanya needs you, and Meow will stay with me."
Ira distracted herself by cleaning the majority of the dirt off Meow's fur with a rag while she waited for a doctor to come look at her.
"This was set by a doctor," the doctor commented, and looked at Ira questioningly.
Ira smiled and didn't say anything.
Her arm would be fine, and when it healed in the next several weeks, there shouldn't be any complications. Whoever had set her arm––and the doctor gave her a significant look as he said this––had done an excellent job.
Ira had been thinking in between hiding, running and getting shot at, and the idea had finally coalesced into something concrete.
"I think I'll become a doctor," Ira said to Dounia, once she found her and Tanya again.
"A doctor?" Dounia asked, ears perking up. "Why? You said many times throughout the war that you didn't want to be a doctor. After all those times Doctor Glazova bothered you about it, and now you want to do it?"
"I keep thinking," Ira said. "If I knew how to treat wounds like mine and Tanya's, so many things would have gone so much more smoothly."
"Hey, we still made it," Dounia said, with a smile. "And Tanya is going to be fine, too. They're sending her to a hospital further back behind the lines."
"But what if I could help people like us?" Ira asked, waving one arm. "And you know, the war isn't always going to be on. One day, the war will be over, and what will I do with myself then?"
"No one said that you had to stop flying," Dounia pointed out. "There are lots of things you can do. Becoming a doctor would be hard."
"Becoming a doctor would be no means the hardest thing I've ever done," Ira pointed out.
"You're right. Basic training was definitely harder," Dounia said solemnly, but couldn't hold a straight face for long.
"Don't tease, I really am going to," Ira said, laughing. "Never mind anything that Doctor Glazova said."
With Tanya looked after, they finally got their long overdue debriefing, in which several officers asked them the same five questions over and over again, except with different wording. They couldn't seem to believe that she and Dounia had not only managed to survive the crash, but rescue Tanya from the Germans and then outrun a tank in a stolen jeep.
However, the evidence
There was a small group of them with various injuries, and the nurse helped Dounia heft Tanya up and led the way back to their lines.
Ira couldn't believe they'd made it.
They weren't back yet, but they were in friendly territory once more. Relief swept over her in an overwhelming wave, and the tight feeling she'd had roiling in her gut and across her shoulder blades had lifted.
She picked up Meow with one arm, and he gave a plaintive mew as he tried to shake the mud off of his wet fur. She hadn't been able to see earlier, but their mad dash through the broken up terrain had soaked him right down to the skin. He wasn't the only one. She and Dounia were covered in mud from diving into the crater and even the nurse was mud encrusted up to the knee.
They slogged their way back to the front lines, but everyone was mostly in good spirit. Some of the infantrymen started singing a marching song as they went, and just as the sun started to rise over the mountains in the east, the front lines came in sight.
Everything was chaos as soon as everyone found out who they were, and how they'd managed to get back to Soviet territory all on their own.
Tanya was immediately carted off by several nurses, and Ira was forced to stay in the medical tent while her arm was looked at again. Dounia was torn between staying with Ira and going to find out if Tanya would be okay.
"Go, dear heart," she said, smiling. "Tanya needs you, and Meow will stay with me."
Ira distracted herself by cleaning the majority of the dirt off Meow's fur with a rag while she waited for a doctor to come look at her.
"This was set by a doctor," the doctor commented, and looked at Ira questioningly.
Ira smiled and didn't say anything.
Her arm would be fine, and when it healed in the next several weeks, there shouldn't be any complications. Whoever had set her arm––and the doctor gave her a significant look as he said this––had done an excellent job.
Ira had been thinking in between hiding, running and getting shot at, and the idea had finally coalesced into something concrete.
"I think I'll become a doctor," Ira said to Dounia, once she found her and Tanya again.
"A doctor?" Dounia asked, ears perking up. "Why? You said many times throughout the war that you didn't want to be a doctor. After all those times Doctor Glazova bothered you about it, and now you want to do it?"
"I keep thinking," Ira said. "If I knew how to treat wounds like mine and Tanya's, so many things would have gone so much more smoothly."
"Hey, we still made it," Dounia said, with a smile. "And Tanya is going to be fine, too. They're sending her to a hospital further back behind the lines."
"But what if I could help people like us?" Ira asked, waving one arm. "And you know, the war isn't always going to be on. One day, the war will be over, and what will I do with myself then?"
"No one said that you had to stop flying," Dounia pointed out. "There are lots of things you can do. Becoming a doctor would be hard."
"Becoming a doctor would be no means the hardest thing I've ever done," Ira pointed out.
"You're right. Basic training was definitely harder," Dounia said solemnly, but couldn't hold a straight face for long.
"Don't tease, I really am going to," Ira said, laughing. "Never mind anything that Doctor Glazova said."
With Tanya looked after, they finally got their long overdue debriefing, in which several officers asked them the same five questions over and over again, except with different wording. They couldn't seem to believe that she and Dounia had not only managed to survive the crash, but rescue Tanya from the Germans and then outrun a tank in a stolen jeep.
However, the evidence
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