Saving Grace: A Novel (Healing Ruby Book 3)

by Jennifer H. Westall

  Matthew addressed Mike and his crew. “All right boys, let’s get that plane in the air!”

  Chapter Twenty

  Matthew

  While Mike and his crew went through the final plane checks, I organized the evacuees on the dock. Ruby hung toward the back of the line, her face still flushed from the attention. I overheard two of the other nurses talking quietly. “What in the world got into Natalie? Did you have any idea what that was about?”

  I walked up to Mr. Freeman and leaned toward him as I lowered my voice. “You didn’t really take any of that nonsense seriously, did you?”

  He looked down the line at Ruby, then back at me. “I’m always interested in a good story, son. But right now, I’m just interested in staying alive.”

  It wasn’t what I was hoping for, but it would have to do. I made my way down the line until I got to Ruby. I couldn’t help but smile. “Well, that was interesting.”

  She nodded. “It certainly was. What do you think will come of it?”

  “I think Natalie will get exactly what’s coming to her. And if the Japs catch her, so will they.”

  A sharp whistle sounded from shore, catching my attention. Colonel Franklin, who’d been keeping watch near the trees, jogged down the slope. I ran to the end of the dock to meet him.

  “We’ve got a Jap patrol,” he said. “They’re coming down the hill. Be here any moment.”

  “Let’s head ’em off,” I said. I turned and called to the group. “Anyone want to kill some Japs?”

  “I’m in!” yelled an older colonel.

  “Oh yeah!” said another.

  Two of the crew members joined them, and they ran down the dock with their rifles. From the corner of my eye I noticed Ruby coming as well. I sent the men forward to take position above the tree line, then met Ruby at the end of the dock. I could see the determination in her eyes that I’d grown to both love and detest.

  “Go back with the others,” I said.

  “What’s going on?”

  “Ruby, you promised. No matter what happens, you get on that plane.”

  Understanding dawned on her face. “I can’t…I’ll come with you!”

  “No! You get on the plane. We’ll be right behind you.” I gave her a quick kiss and ran off the dock.

  “Matthew, wait!” she cried. “Here, take this.” With that, she tossed me the pistol I’d left for her protection.

  There was no time for me to argue. “Now don’t forget your promise!” I yelled over my shoulder. “Get on that plane! I’ll be right behind you!” I glimpsed back one more time to make sure she was returning to the plane. She was, but slowly. Lord, get her on that plane.

  I found the others spreading out about fifty yards into the tree line and took a position just beneath a small ridge of rocks jutting out of the hill. To my right, Colonel Franklin and one of the crew from the plane lay on the ground behind some trees. To my left, the other crew member and the two colonels had taken up positions crouched behind foliage. I waited, my eyes darting through the trees as I held my breath.

  I saw movement about twenty yards away, but I couldn’t be sure of what it was. The trees and vines were so dense; it was difficult to see more than five yards or so. I looked down our line of defense to the left, then to the right. Everyone’s rifles were trained and ready. The entire forest seemed to go silent. Like a balloon about to burst.

  And then it did. Shots rang out, and bullets whizzed through the air past my head. I returned fire, though I still hadn’t seen the enemy. But I heard them. Shouts in Japanese. More bullets zipped past, slamming into the trees and earth around me. One of the crew members to my left took a hit and tumbled down the hill. I kept firing and firing, until I needed to reload.

  Colonel Franklin called out to me, asking if I was all right. Before I could reply, he too took a shot to the torso and dropped to his knees. He moaned and rolled over, cursing. I finished reloading and propped my rifle on the top of the ridge. A bullet hit the ground right beside it. I finally saw them. They were advancing down the hill. I hit one. Then another. They were getting too close.

  “Fall back!” I called to the crew member to my right. “Get Colonel Franklin and get to the plane!”

  He ran in a crouched position over to the colonel, propping him up beneath the arm.

  “I’ll cover you! Get to the plane!” I shouted.

  He nodded and began moving down the hill. I fired into the woods at the approaching Japanese, forcing them to take cover. But the line to my left was still moving forward. Soon they’d have me surrounded. I swung my rifle to the left and fired again, halting that side of the line.

  “Get to the plane!” I yelled at the two remaining men.

  The one closest to me ran to a nearby tree, dropped into a crouch and fired into the line of Japanese to my right. “You can’t hold them off by yourself!” he said.

  I paused to reload my rifle one last time, because I would have no more ammunition after that. Then I unloaded into the line, dropping two more soldiers. Only a handful remained. “Go!” I yelled at him again. “I need you to give my wife a message!”

  Ruby

  I watched the end of the dock anxiously for Matthew to return. When the gunfire broke out, I nearly dropped to my knees. “Lord,” I cried. “Put a hedge of protection around him. Bring him back! Bring him back!”

  “Grace!”

  I took a few steps toward the end of the dock. Two men were running out of the woods and through the clearing. One was supporting the other.

  “Grace!”

  I turned to the voice calling my name. It was Captain Beckett, the older nurse I’d helped when she’d stumbled. She waved her hand, signaling for me to get on the plane. I turned away. The two men were running down the dock now. Neither of them was Matthew.

  Get on the plane. I’ll be right behind you.

  “Grace!” Mrs. Beckett called again. “Get on the plane!”

  The two men had nearly reached me. “Where’s Matthew?” I yelled.

  The soldier helped his injured comrade into the plane. Then he turned to me with an outstretched hand. “It’s time to go!”

  “Where’s Matthew?”

  “He’s right behind us. Come on!”

  I looked at the end of the dock. No one was coming. Get on the plane.

  “Grace! Come on!” Several people were yelling at me now. I took the crew member’s hand and stepped aboard, my heart thundering. I hurried to the front of the fuselage where a small hole opened into the cockpit. “Mike! Wait for Matthew! He’s coming!”

  “Grace, we have to go!” Mike yelled over the roar of the engine.

  “Please! Just wait!”

  “We have incoming!” the co-pilot shouted.

  I looked ahead and saw two planes heading directly for us from the other side of the lake. I ran back to the door of the plane. One of the crew was about to close it. I grabbed his arm. “Wait! Give him one more minute!”

  “Grace!” The desperation in Mike’s voice chilled me to the bone. “We have to go now!”

  “One more minute! Or I am getting off this plane!” I thought my heart would come right out of my chest. I looked out the side door at the end of the dock. “There’s two more coming!” I shouted.

  “Stay inside, ma’am,” the crew member at the door said. He stepped out onto the dock to help the others inside.

  I darted to the front again. The Japanese planes were lower now, coming straight at us. The men handed the body of an injured crew member through the door. The nurses took him to the back with the other injured colonel and began working on him. Then two more men came through the door. Neither one was Matthew.

  “Everyone take cover, now!” Mike yelled.

  The zeros roared over us as bullets streaked through the fuselage. I jumped up as soon as they passed and flew to the door again, looking to the end of the dock. One last figure was running toward us. It had to be Matthew, but I could see from his build that it wasn’t. I looked past
him to the woods. Nothing. Lord, he said You’d always bring us back together. Do it again. Bring him down that dock!

  The plane began to move, sending a surge of panic through me. “No! Wait for Matthew!”

  The next man through the door jumped in as the plane was already moving. I flew to him and grabbed his shirt. “Where is Matthew?”

  “He told me to give you a message!”

  My heart thudded. I felt dizzy.

  “He said to tell you that you promised him something, and that I was not, under any circumstances to let you get off this plane.”

  I couldn’t breathe. “But he’s coming,” I choked out. “Mike! Don’t leave him here!”

  “The zeros are coming for another pass. We have to go!”

  My throat tightened. My chest ached. I went to the door again. We were moving steadily along the dock now. The colonel near the door put a hand on my arm, as if to remind me of his orders. I stretched my neck to look once more. He would be there. He would be coming. I knew it.

  And then I saw him. He was running along the dock. I screamed at Mike. “I see him! He’s coming! Slow down!”

  I pulled my arm away from the colonel’s grip, and leaned out the door. But it wasn’t Matthew running along the dock. It was Natalie. And my heart dropped.

  She waved her arms frantically, crying for us to wait for her. The plane continued picking up speed. I saw the terror in her eyes, and I had just a moment’s thought of reaching up and closing the door. I’d stared into those cold eyes as she’d let the bus pull away from me. Now was my chance to finally be rid of her. Her steps pounded on the dock. The Zeros were turning in the sky behind us.

  Grace.

  I stretched my arm out toward her. “Come on! You can make it!”

  She pumped her skinny arms and ran harder. The zeros straightened out and headed for us again. Natalie was close enough now. I reached out as far as I could without falling out of the plane. “Come on! You have to jump!”

  “I can’t!” she screamed.

  “Jump! I’ll catch you!” We’d nearly reached the end of the dock. “Jump!”

  She leaped into the air from the dock, getting her right foot to the plane, but she didn’t quite get her upper body there, and the left half of her torso slammed into the side. I grabbed her right arm, slipping as I did. I fell to my bottom, and her leg slipped out the door and into the water. She screamed and grasped the side of the door and my hand.

  Someone from inside the plane grabbed onto my waist and hauled me back into the plane. I tugged on Natalie until she was finally inside as well. The crew member slammed the door, and the plane began to taxi in earnest. I sat on the floor in shock as the others around me attended to Natalie and the injured men who’d been with Matthew. Then most of the passengers moved to the front of the fuselage to balance the weight and once again took cover.

  I could barely move. Could hardly breathe. My chest felt like it was cracked wide open. Matthew was still back there.

  ***

  As we soared further away from Mindanao and Matthew, it felt like my heart was unraveling, as if it were a line anchored to him. If I could just turn the plane around somehow. He was right there. Right there. I should have jumped out of the plane. I should’ve broken my promise. Because keeping it was breaking me into a thousand pieces.

  When we were clear of the zeros, and everyone found a place to sit, I went over to the colonel who’d been the last to see Matthew. He looked up at me with sympathetic eyes and gestured for me to take a seat next to him.

  It took everything within me to keep my composure. “Was he alive when you left him?”

  “Yes.”

  “Why didn’t he come?”

  “He was holding off the Japanese patrol so we could take off. He made an incredible sacrifice to save all of us.”

  Sacrifice. Would they capture him, or kill him, or worse? “Do you think…was there even a chance he got away?”

  “Of course,” he said, at least his mouth did. But his eyes darted away from mine.

  I dropped my head, unable to stop my tears. The colonel’s heavy hand rested on my back. Lord, please protect him. Send Your angels, send Your Holy Spirit over him. Give him strength. And then my words ran out, and all I could manage were groans of gut-wrenching heartache.

  ***

  When we landed on the waters of Port Darwin, I set my mind to getting back in the air immediately. I stood by the door as we approached the docks, shifting my weight from right to left. As soon as everyone was off the plane, I’d get Mike to fly back for Matthew and the others left behind. But it was taking an eternity to get into position.

  When the hatch finally opened, I plowed out of the plane and immediately began pacing along the dock. The nurses came after me, and were greeted by high-ranking officials. I marveled at how everyone could so calmly salute and shake hands while Matthew and the others in our group were in mortal danger.

  When Mike finally showed himself, he sighed as our eyes met. I rushed over to him, and he immediately put his hands up in defense. “Now, Grace—”

  “When can we go back for them?” I demanded.

  “I have to get orders for that mission first—”

  “How could you just leave him there?” I shouted, barely giving him a moment to answer before I blasted him again. “He was…he was in danger! And you just left him there!”

  “He told me to, Grace.”

  That made me pause. “What?”

  “He told me if it came down to it, he would fight off any Japanese we encountered, and I was to get everyone in the air. It was as if he knew what would happen. And he knew you’d go nuts.”

  I stepped closer and pointed my finger at him. “You haven’t even seen me go nuts yet.”

  Someone put their hands on my shoulders from behind. A soft-spoken voice tried to calm me. “Grace, honey. Come with us.”

  I turned to see Mrs. Beckett holding onto me, her weary eyes brimming with tears. “I have to go back and get him,” I pleaded.

  “Look, we’re here for you. We’re going to do everything we can to get all our friends and colleagues back. But first, first, you have to take care of yourself.”

  She pulled me into a hug, and I wept on her shoulder. Behind us, I heard some of the others trying to explain to the officials what had happened. They’d been expecting a joyful return, an occasion for celebration. But half the group was still stranded on Mindanao.

  I pulled away from Captain Beckett and approached the nearest official with an insignia that looked high enough to get something done. “When will you go back for the others?”

  “Miss…I don’t…That’s not my call,” he stuttered.

  “Well, whose call is it?” another nurse demanded.

  Several others showed their support. “Yeah! Who’s going after the rest of them?”

  “We can’t just leave them there!”

  The officials looked at each other with wide eyes and then looked back at us. “Girls, let’s get your medical needs attended to first. Then we’ll see about retrieving the others.”

  I knew we weren’t getting anywhere. They probably had no say in any decisions made. If we were going to get anything done, we’d have to get to headquarters. So even though it nearly killed me to do so, I went along with the others to the hospital to get checked out.

  ***

  I lay on a bed at the Darwin Army hospital, going through the motions of getting an exam. I knew my condition was deplorable. I didn’t need an exam to tell me I was still battling the effects of malaria, malnutrition, and dysentery. That my weight was dangerously low. That I hadn’t had my “monthlies” in months due to the stress of the ordeal I’d been through. But I supposed my body needed to tell its story.

  I’d tried to close my eyes in between visits from the doctor, but my mind was clouded with terrifying visions of Matthew alone in the woods, fighting hordes of Japanese soldiers as they closed in on him. And there I was, on a comfortable mattress with a warm bla
nket, clean water on a tray beside my bed. All of it was so enticing, so temptingly soothing. But it had come at too high a cost, and all I felt was shame. I shouldn’t be here.

  I wandered along from the physical exam to the mess hall in a daze. I had no desire for food, but my stomach cramped when the aromas hit me. I sat down at a table across from Captain Beckett, who tilted her head in sympathy. “How are you holding up?” she asked.

  “I don’t know,” I said. “I pray for mercy every moment. For Matthew, for me, for all those we left behind. For Henry. I know that the only reason I’m still breathing, is that God Himself is doing it for me.”

  She reached across the table and covered my hand with her own. “I know this is terrible. It’s heartbreaking beyond measure. But I said that we’d support you, honey, and I meant it. You’ve been right there with us all along, right in the thick of the most gruesome moments of our lives. We’re going to speak to whoever we have to in order to get our fellow nurses and your husband rescued.”

  My heart overflowed. “Thank you so much,” I said, somehow keeping myself pulled together.

  The food was served: steak and potatoes, with carrots and buttered rolls. The girls at the table gaped in amazement as it had been so long since they’d seen any food that hadn’t come out of a can, and then they fell silent as they shoveled it down. I did my best to eat, but I couldn’t seem to swallow. Everyone was so hungry; the meal was over in a few short minutes. I gave most of my steak to Roberta, who finished it off in less than two minutes.

  I was so exhausted, so spent and overwhelmed. I propped my head in my hands and closed my eyes, hoping I could make it to a quiet room of my own soon so that I could completely break down. Lord, I’m begging You once more to keep Matthew alive and safe in Your hands. Guard him with Your angels of mercy and power. Give me the strength to speak for him. Show me what to do.