"What the hell are you doing here," Annie O'Reilly said to herself in the mirror as she tried to pin that stupid nurses hat on her head for the third time. After sticking herself with the bobby pins, Annie finally got the starched, old-fashioned cap to sit straight over her bun of scarlet hair.
She was in the bathroom, or as the German's called it,
der badezimmer,
stalling before she had to go out and start her shift at the U.S. Army hospital in Landstuhl. She had only been working there two months, and wasn't sure how much longer she'd last. She missed her friends back home in Chicago, missed deep-dish pizza, and even the windy days that would chill her to the core. She especially longed for her colorful scrubs, which were so much more casual and comfortable than the itchy white dress, ugly shoes, and stupid pointed cap they made her wear here. Just a formality, Annie was told, when she arrived on her first day of work. Since she didn't have a uniform, she had to borrow one from another nurse, who only managed to grunt at her after shoving it in her hands. Annie discovered that most of the German nurses were more businesslike than American nurses, which to her meant they were meaner. After two weeks of trying to get to know them, Annie gave up and kept to herself. The doctors, on the other hand, smiled at her, but Annie knew it was probably because the uniform she borrowed was extremely tight across her chest and occasionally would pop a snap, much to Annie's embarrassment, but the doctors' delight.
Annie had a feeling that the older German nurses didn't care for her much. Part of Annie's charm was not realizing how attractive she was, but to the German nurses, she was young, pretty, and thin; everything they weren't. Annie's fiery Irish roots were evident in her wavy, naturally red hair, her brilliant green eyes, and the slight Irish lilt to her voice. Plus the fact that she didn't speak the language fluently gave the native nurses a reason to make jokes about her in German. Annie knew they were talking about her, but didn't understand what they were saying. She
did
know that if one of them ever came to Chicago to help at
her
hospital, she and her American co-workers would have been much nicer. That's just one of the differences, Annie thought, as she smoothed her dress over her backside and headed into the hallway.
Since she was still the new staffer, and couldn't communicate well, the staff didn't allow her to assist with full nursing duties, so she was relegated to handing out medication, giving sponge baths, and generally comforting the injured. Luckily, the soldiers all spoke English, and Annie felt closer to most of them than the people she worked with. A few solders were her favorites. One, Tony, had been in an ambush in Afghanistan, and had probably lost his sight, although Annie didn't meet him until after his eyes were already bandaged, and the doctors wanted to keep them covered for another month. Annie loved reading to Tony and listening to him talk about his beautiful wife Theresa and his twin boys Andrew and Rico. Tony had the most amazing spirit, Annie thought, since he never wavered from believing he would see again. It always buoyed her spirits after spending time with him, and she kept reminding herself that if Tony felt it was going to get better, she had to think the same way.
The mundane duties in Ward 4 where Annie was assigned were divided between herself and one other German nurse who was young and homely, but like the others didn't seem to like Annie. In truth, she stuck out her tongue at Annie every time she walked by. Annie knew she spoke English because she overheard her talking to her patients, but she couldn't get this girl—Ulla—to even say hello to her.
Even though she'd been nursing for two years, Annie wasn't sure this was the correct profession for her. She felt too much of the pain; her nurse friends back home said she would harden over time, but Annie just couldn't see that happening. Whenever she heard that a soldier in the hospital didn't make it, she would go to the chapel, light a candle, and say a prayer for his soul; a byproduct of her Irish Catholic upbringing.
Annie and Ulla worked the graveyard shift, mostly because they were the youngest and could be pushed around the most, but also because little happened in the middle of the night, Annie actually preferred it because the other nurses weren't around to bug her, and even Ulla stayed away from the nurses station, doing who knows what, but Annie didn't care. She did her job, and by the time 7 a.m. rolled around, she was ready to head back to her small apartment—
Wohnung
—and go to sleep.
There were 10 men in Ward 4. Most of them slept odd hours because they were on various stages of medication, so Annie sometimes would give night baths or muscle massages to help the men relax and go to sleep. She had promised Gerry, one of the more seriously wounded patients, she would give him a scalp massage, since he occasionally got bad headaches, and her massages helped keep them at bay.
It was midnight; Annie's shift had started two hours ago. She was a little hungry, and decided to eat the salad she'd brought from home before going into the ward. She had only seen Ulla once that night, about an hour ago, and didn't give it a second thought because there wasn't a thing she could do about it anyway. As far as she knew, Ulla was sleeping in a broom closet somewhere.
Annie popped open the top of her salad container and realized she'd forgotten to bring a fork. That meant she had to run over to the cafeteria and grab a plastic one. It was only a five-minute walk past Wards 2 and 3, so she walked quickly yet quietly in her crepe-soled shoes so she wouldn't disturb any of the patients who might be sleeping.
As she was walking between 3 and 4, she heard a moaning noise. She didn't see anyone at the nurse's station there, and wasn't sure if she should check on the sound, since this wasn't her assigned area. But being the conscientious nurse she was, Annie peeked inside the ward and barely stopped herself from screaming out loud. She discovered where the noise was coming from, and was shocked at what she saw. It was Ulla, on her knees, giving one of the soldiers a blow job. That slut! Annie was stunned, disbelieving what she was seeing. Now I know what she does all night, Annie thought, shaking her head back in forth in disapproval. She looked around to see if the other patients were seeing this, but the rest of the ward was asleep. Probably drugged by Ulla, thought Annie.
At this point she didn't know what to do. Break it up? Tell on Ulla? Mostly what she did was watch, frozen in her steps. Ulla had the sheet pulled down on the bed, and the soldier, who had both arms in casts and in traction, was arching his back and licking his lips. His cock was huge; even in the shadows Annie could see he was bigger than any man she had ever been with. Ulla was licking him up and down like an excited kid enjoying a lollipop. It reminded Annie of summers when she was younger. She and her girlfriends would buy those multi-flavored big stick popsicles, licking and sucking the juices, pretending they were cocks. Sometimes they'd let the sweet, sticky concoction melt just enough to get runny and drippy, which they'd then lick off their faces slowly with their tongues. The teenage boys would watch them, their mouths hanging open, and the obvious bulge (although little ones) in their pants.
What Annie was seeing now wasn't pretend at all. Ulla took that enormous cock in her mouth and pushed it in and out at a speed Annie could hardly believe. Ulla stopped abruptly, pulled her tits out of her uniform, and began rubbing his cock between her breasts. The soldier was moaning so loudly now, Annie was stunned he didn't wake up everyone else. You could see the frustration in his face that he couldn't use his hands to touch Ulla, which probably only teased him more. Finally, Ulla stuck his cock in her mouth and grabbed his dick with her right hand, running it up and down the shaft at the same time she sucked on him. The patient bucked a few times, and Annie could tell he was cumming in Ulla's mouth. Shit! Annie back out the door and headed back to the nurse's station, forgetting all about the fork for her salad. When she got back to her ward, she was so shaken from what she'd just witnessed that she began pacing the hallway trying to think what to do next.
About an hour later, Ulla walked by, first smiling at Annie (who had finally regained her composure—but not her appetite—enough to sit back down at the nurses station) then sticking her tongue out like she always did, unaware of what Annie had seen.
"What a cunt," Annie muttered under her breath, making sure Ulla was out of earshot. Annie finally decided she wasn't going to say anything. Maybe it was a one-time event, maybe the two of them were a couple, and since she couldn't prove anything, and the other nurses weren't going to believe what she said anyway, what was the point. As usual, Annie finished her shift and went home, but slept fitfully, dreaming of giant penises chasing her through a dense forest.
For the next five nights Annie followed Ulla around and watched her service at least 18 other men, sometimes one right after the other. It was unbelievable to Annie. Sometimes Ulla would give them head, other times she'd let them feel her up and lick her tits, and one guy she even climbed on top of and fucked him, even though he wasn't as responsive as the rest.
On the fifth night, she saw Ulla go into Ward 4. Annie didn't want to get caught, but she just had to know what, or who, Ulla was doing. When she saw Ulla with her tongue down Tony's mouth, and Tony grabbing Ulla's ass and fingering her pussy, Annie almost threw up. All that bullshit Tony fed her about how much he loved Theresa and the kids; it was all crap. He was fucking that slut Ulla just like the rest of the guys. As Annie started to close the door she'd been peeking through, she caught a glimpse of the guy in the bed across from Tony. His name was Chris, Annie thought, and then she panicked because he caught her eye; damn; Chris caught her watching Ulla and Tony.
Now Annie had two problems: Ulla the whore, and Chris, who could rat her out. Annie didn't know much about Chris, just that he had been injured in one of the raids in the war, and had a leg that was broken and in traction. She never really noticed him before, but she was sure he would say something to someone about both her and Ulla.
Maybe it was just time to pack up and move back to the States, thought Annie, as she hid out at the nurse's station and hoped nobody needed anything before the morning shift came around.
After a couple more nights, no one reprimanded or fired Annie, so she assumed that Chris was going to keep quiet. She felt uncomfortable when she was in the ward because she knew he watched her. Once she caught his eye, and he just smiled at her. Thinking about Chris when she was safe at her apartment, she realized his smile wasn't a creepy one, but kind of nice and innocent. Maybe she would confront him and get the air cleared so she didn't have to feel so self-conscious every night.
What did change drastically was the time she spent with Tony. Although she felt bad at first that she wasn't keeping him company as much, and couldn't tell him the truth when he asked her why, he seemed to get over it, since Ulla was spending more time with him now.
Around 2 a.m. of her shift, Annie went into the ward to make a quick bed check, and when she got to Chris, she saw that he was awake. Annie went over to his bed, and began fluffing his pillow and making sure he had enough water on his bedside table.
