Hyperfixation Station

And that was a whole lot of background for how we're gonna make Kasserine worse.

For whatever reason (Leadership inexperience, surname mix-up, wrong place/wrong time) she ends up on the frontlines with them. Maybe Pierson knows at first, and both he and Turner argue to get her sent back to the field hospitals where she should've been when the first wave of artillery happens.

She ends up deeper in the Pass, I'm on the fence if Pierson/Turner are aware of it when the conflict starts up or if they think she's safely back with the rest of the reinforcements waiting.

Option A. They find out during the conflict that the transport she was on went the wrong way, maybe they find out her assignment in general was closer to the frontlines. Either way - part of the reason why Pierson attempted to hold the position is not just because he thought he could rescue the rest of his men but also because his wife was there. Turner has to fight much harder to get Pierson to retreat.

Or Option B. They think she's back with the rest of the nurses at the far line. Pierson doesn't want to give up ground both because of the squads trapped in the Pass, but also because giving up ground would bring the Italian tanks and German Artillery within range of the field hospitals. Turner can use the "I won't let you /You can't make her a widow" as leverage to try and get Pierson to retreat.

Ultimately, it's Kasserine so everything goes to absolute hell. I'm thinking Pierson ends up shot and gets carted off by Turner and wakes up in a field hospital. New gunshot wound that's already cleaned and stitched up, probably a fractured bone or two from the force of the shot. Takes a few seconds for the memories to hit him again.

Most of the camp won't look at him and the handful that do(mostly medics/nurses/doctors) are a little haunted behind the eyes. He think's its all related to the ambush and failure in the Pass at first, figures the medical teams are just being run ragged trying to clean up after the attacks. Most of his wife's gear is still piled up on a desk which didn't ring any alarms since he always ended up tossed in whichever ward she was working because she was the only one who could deal with him.

The fact something is really wrong doesn't really hit him until Turner walks in. He didn't expect a warm reception, he remembered arguing in the Pass about whether they fell back or waited for reinforcements. But Turner didn't look disappointed - he looked haunted. The kind of haggard look you get when you're trying to keep it together but struggle to. Turner wouldn't even need to open his mouth before Pierson was already jumping to the same conclusion.

He'd notice that the gear piled up on the desk had a layer of dust on it, that the other nurses hadn't just been exhausted they'd looked devastated. That the one or two that had approached him hadn't been able to meet his eye and had hurried off after checking vitals. That the papers stacked on the chair next to his bed were mission reports and not patient files or sketch pages. All the little things that should've been there that weren't would start to add up.

Turner would struggle to find the words, because how would you tell your best friend that his wife of 14 years was presumed dead. That by the time they'd regrouped, the teams that had been trapped in the Pass were either captured or killed.

Pierson would ask the question anyway, knowing the answer but risking the hope that he was wrong. Knowing that Turner wouldn't hesitate the same way if it was just about the ambush. There was only one thing that Turner wouldn't know how to approach and only one reason why they'd be alone in an empty ward. He didn't need to see what Turner was holding to confirm what he already knew - he'd recognize the sound of rings scraping against dog tags anywhere.

Pierson would know - and they'd both know that he knew.

But Turner would drop into the chair next to him anyway, haunted apologies offered as he handed the battered sketchbook over. Pages crinkled and water stained with a chain wrapped through the middle of the book. Two silver tags and two gold rings tucked between the pages - freshly cleaned though he wouldn't risk thinking about what had prompted someone to clean them.

"...They couldn't find her, Will."