The Girls of Pearl Harbor

by Lane, Soraya M.

  She shrugged, not looking at her sister. She’d never been able to lie to her and get away with it before. ‘I don’t know. Maybe it’s not so exciting being here as I first thought.’

  She felt Eva stiffen a little and knew that it was unfair making her keep her secret, but with everything April had going on right now, she didn’t want to give her something else to worry about. She could see that her sister was trying to put on a brave face despite her knock in confidence, and she wasn’t going to add to that.

  ‘You never did tell us about Peter,’ April suddenly said, and Grace knew that if she turned, her sister would be frowning, her entire face pulled down into a question. ‘I can’t believe it was weeks ago! Are you seeing him again the next time he’s on leave?’

  ‘Ah, no, I’m not,’ she said, trying not to stammer. ‘Turned out he, ah, wasn’t such great company after all.’

  ‘Turns out I was wrong to worry about you, I guess,’ April said. ‘Although I bet you took one look at Teddy and you talked his ear off all night instead of Peter’s—am I right? The poor man probably never got a word in.’

  Grace forced a smile, knowing her sister was watching her now. ‘You know me too well.’

  They walked awhile longer, past huts with roofs that looked too old and patched up to ever keep water out, and past people relieving themselves within plain sight of those around them. Grace averted her eyes, no longer as interested in their surroundings as she had been. To start with, she’d felt so alive, so energized at how different everything was and how free she felt, but right now she was craving the familiarity of home.

  ‘What’s that?’ Eva asked, pointing down the road. ‘What are they carrying?’

  There were navy men up ahead, carrying boxes, and as they got closer, they called out.

  ‘Ladies!’ one of the men shouted. ‘You hungry?’

  Grace held both Eva’s and April’s hands, one on each side of her, and they ran toward the navy boys.

  ‘What have you got?’ April yelled.

  ‘Fresh food! We’ve got fruit!’

  ‘Navy ship just came in!’ another shouted back.

  Grace’s lips tingled, and her mouth watered just thinking about fruit. Aside from the one orange they received once a month as part of their rations, she hadn’t eaten fruit since they’d left home.

  They each took apples and oranges from the boys, thanking them as they went on their way, but Grace didn’t even wait to say goodbye before she went straight ahead and crunched into her apple.

  ‘This is heaven,’ she whispered. ‘Pure heaven.’

  They all sighed and munched, walking side by side without saying a word. Soon they were at their destination, and Grace stared out at the ocean and wished it didn’t remind her so much of Hawaii. She shut her eyes as she thought about Teddy; she could almost feel his arms around her again, the steady, effortless way he’d carried her and brought her to safety, the warmth of his cheek when he’d leaned in to say goodbye.

  He won’t ever touch you again, Grace. You don’t want to tell anyone, that’s your business, not mine.

  His words washed over her, echoing in her head as she remembered the way he’d looked at her that night.

  Don’t let one guy ruin your time here, Grace. You have every right to go out and have fun on your nights off.

  But it was all very well Teddy saying that to her. Finding the courage to go out again and face the world was a different matter altogether. She touched her hip, her fingers resting gently there. The physical pain was gone, but the ugly purple bruises were a reminder of what she’d almost lost that night.

  ‘Are you thinking about home?’ April asked, coming up to stand beside her.

  ‘Yes.’ It wasn’t a complete lie; she had been wishing she were home less than an hour earlier.

  ‘Me too. Only I’m praying I don’t have to go back, not yet.’

  ‘They’ll never send a nurse like you home, April. There’s no way they’d be that stupid.’

  ‘The only stupid thing here is me, for ever trusting Dr. Grey in the first place.’ She made a noise in her throat that Grace guessed was the sound of disgust. ‘I can’t believe he led me on like that, complimenting me and kissing my cheek. It makes me feel dirty that he behaved like that when he has a wife at home.’

  They all sat down, and Grace started to slowly peel her orange. ‘It’s him who should feel dirty about that, not you.’ Just like Peter should be the one feeling awful about that night, not her. But she did feel awful, and she knew she’d always blame herself for ending up in a position for him to almost rape her.

  ‘So what are we going to do about your Dr. Grey situation?’ Eva asked.

  April stood and started to peel her clothes off to reveal her undergarments beneath. ‘I have no idea. I keep trying to remember that afternoon, that particular surgery, but there were so many, and I can’t seem to get my thoughts straight.’ She sighed. ‘The only thing I’m certain about today is that we’re getting in that water and swimming until we can’t catch our breaths. Deal?’

  Grace shrugged and glanced at Eva. ‘Deal,’ she said. ‘Just as soon as I finish this orange, because it’s the best thing that’s happened to me all week.’

  They’d swum in the Mediterranean Sea for hours, floating, faces turned skyward. Grace hadn’t thought about it at the time, but they’d hardly spoken until they’d all slowly made their way back to their clothes and sat in the sun to dry off.

  ‘It’s hard to believe it’ll be cold here soon,’ Eva said as they dressed. ‘This heat has been unbearable.’

  They’d all been warned how cold it could get over winter, but until she felt it for herself, Grace couldn’t believe it.

  ‘Grace, what’s that?’

  She froze as April’s fingers closed around her wrist, forcing her arm up. She’d forgotten about her bruises as she’d slid from the water. Fortunately her sister couldn’t see the ones on her waist, but the inside of one of her arms was still a muddy brown color from the fading mark.

  ‘It’s nothing.’

  ‘It’s not nothing. How did you get a bruise like that there? Was it a patient?’

  Grace glanced at Eva, but Eva wasn’t making eye contact. She knew it was unfair to involve her; it wasn’t Eva’s fault she knew her secret.

  ‘If it was a patient, you should have reported him. They’re not allowed to hurt us.’

  ‘It wasn’t a patient,’ she said, removing her sister’s fingers from her skin. She finished putting her clothes on. ‘I’m fine.’

  ‘You’re not fine. Someone hurt you.’ April was like a dog with a bone; there was no way she was going to give up.

  ‘April, there are some things I don’t want to share with you, and this is one of them.’

  Horror passed over April’s face. ‘Oh my God, was it Teddy?’ she whispered.

  ‘No!’ Grace yelped. ‘No, it wasn’t Teddy. He would never hurt me.’

  ‘You’ve been strange ever since that night you saw him. Tell me what’s going on.’

  She stood there, like an animal who knew she’d been cornered.

  ‘April,’ Eva said gently. ‘Sometimes there are things we need to keep to ourselves. Come on; let’s go.’

  ‘You know what’s going on, don’t you? Am I the only one who’s being kept in the dark?’

  ‘Stop it!’ Grace said. ‘You promised me I could make my own decisions and that you’d stop looking over my shoulder, and this is me making a decision, April. Just let it go.’

  ‘I can’t let it go!’ April looked furious now. ‘I don’t care what I said; I’m your—’

  ‘Sister,’ Grace said, her voice low, hating how cruel the words sounded. ‘You’re my sister, April, not my mother.’

  They stood, all staring at one another, and Grace watched the heavy rise and fall of April’s chest.

  ‘Tell me one thing,’ April said. ‘Are you wishing you’d listened to me about not going out that night—is that what this is about?’
<
br />   Grace bit down on the skin inside her mouth for a moment, trying not to cry. ‘Yes,’ she said. ‘But I don’t want to talk about it.’

  April nodded. ‘It’s okay. Just know that I’m here for you, if you need me. Promise?’

  Grace sucked in a breath. ‘Promise,’ she whispered.

  She was torn; part of her desperately wanted to open up to her sister, but if she did that, then she’d be doing exactly what she’d always done before. She’d asked to stand on her own two feet without April behaving like her mother, and she needed to do it.

  They gathered up their things and slowly walked back toward the camp, skirting around the edge of the town. The sun was still hot even though it was late afternoon, and Grace had that same strange feeling she’d had the night of her attack—as if she were looking down on her body and watching from above.

  She was starting to wonder about her taste in men; at Pearl Harbor, Eva had stepped in when the soldier had been frisky with her, and then Teddy had come to her rescue here. And then there was Teddy. She was lying to herself if she didn’t admit to still being hopelessly in love with her best friend’s boyfriend, the man who’d so fondly told her she was like a little sister to him. What must he think of her now? That she was so juvenile she hadn’t even realized what trouble she was getting into, leaving a crowded place with a man she didn’t even know?

  ‘What’s going on down there?’ April asked, pointing. ‘Everyone’s watching something.’

  Grace stood on tiptoe as they all stopped and stared, hands raised against the sun. ‘We need to go look,’ she said. ‘Quickly.’

  They ran down the incline toward the town, wondering what on earth was happening that would bring everyone out of their homes, lining the streets to watch. Then she saw it—two open-top cars traveling slowly down the narrow streets.

  ‘Is that . . . ,’ she started, squinting and wondering if she was imagining the scene in front of her.

  ‘General Eisenhower and Winston Churchill,’ April finished for her. ‘Oh my lord, they’re so close we could touch them.’

  They stood and watched the procession, the men riding in the cars as if there were no danger, as if they weren’t in the middle of a world war.

  ‘That third man, who’s he?’ Grace asked.

  ‘General Charles de Gaulle,’ Eva whispered. ‘It’s unbelievable. I wonder what they’re all doing here?’

  They kept watching, laughing as the men smiled and gave a wave. But it was the much younger man standing on the roadside among the locals that caught her eye. He was laughing and talking with the villagers, but she could see that he was looking in their direction, and he wasn’t looking at her.

  She nudged April with her elbow. ‘I think someone’s trying to get your attention.’

  April gave her a funny look.

  ‘Straight ahead,’ she said. ‘A very handsome doctor.’

  She saw the smile on April’s face as she spotted him. Her sister raised her hand, and the warmth on the doctor’s face was unmistakable. He was tall, his legs eating up the ground as he strode toward them, and much younger than the other doctors. His hair reminded her of Teddy’s, pushed off his forehead and to the side, and when he smiled, she could see why her sister liked him so much.

  ‘Annnnd he’s coming this way,’ Grace whispered.

  ‘I wonder what he’s doing here with the locals?’ Eva said. ‘Looks like he knows them well, the way they’re all talking with him.’

  ‘He’s the one who helps them, the doctor that family talked about,’ Grace told her. ‘And he’s the one who’s sticking up for April over this whole suspension.’

  They waited as the crowd dispersed and Dr. Evans made his way over, his smile as bright as the sun.

  ‘Ladies,’ he said. ‘Can you believe what you just saw?’

  They all laughed, but it was Grace who spoke. It was usually April who took the lead on everything they did, but for once her sister was quiet. ‘I would have thought they’d be more safety conscious.’

  ‘It seems not.’ Dr. Evans shrugged. ‘Maybe it’s a sign; the Allies might be turning this war around after all.’

  ‘Dr. Evans,’ April suddenly said, her cheeks flushed.

  ‘Harry,’ he said with a laugh. ‘Dr. Evans is my father’s title; it never sounds right when I hear it. Please, call me Harry.’

  Grace chewed on her bottom lip to stop from laughing. There was something amusing about seeing her usually unflusterable sister looking so thoroughly flustered.

  ‘Harry, then,’ April finally said. ‘I wanted to apologize for my involvement in the death of—’

  ‘Stop right there,’ he said, his smile replaced with a frown. ‘You’re a nurse, April, and that means that you had nothing to do with that soldier’s death. The surgeon is the only person at fault in this case.’

  April looked away, and it was Eva who spoke for her.

  ‘It’s nice to hear you say that, but Dr. Grey is still practicing, and April is the one on suspension. She could be sent home any day.’

  Harry’s eyebrows shot up. ‘Suspended? Since when? I wondered why I hadn’t seen you.’

  ‘Since last week,’ April muttered. ‘I’ve been told not to return. I thought you knew?’

  ‘If I’d known, I’d have done something about it,’ he said, his voice an octave lower. ‘You leave this to me, okay? There is no way a confident, capable nurse is being sent home over this.’

  April seemed surprised. ‘You’d do that for me? You’d actually question my suspension?’

  He grinned. ‘Will you work with me in the burns unit as my nurse? The skills I teach you might come in handy when you go to medical school one day.’

  Grace laughed. ‘You told him? You actually told someone you want to be a doctor?’

  ‘Hold on; April wants to be a doctor?’ Eva spluttered.

  April groaned. ‘So much for my secret.’

  ‘You’ll be a great doctor one day,’ Grace said, liking the fact that Harry didn’t seem outwardly fazed by the idea at all.

  ‘Thanks for the vote of confidence,’ April said. ‘But there’s this little issue of Dr. Grey and my suspension, not to mention that the last time I worked closely with a doctor, it didn’t work out so well.’

  Grace’s heart broke for her sister. It wasn’t something she was used to, seeing anything get her down like that, but the suspension had almost broken her.

  ‘Can I walk you ladies back?’ Harry asked. ‘Perhaps I can convince you that I’m trustworthy on the way?’

  Grace grinned and watched as April sighed and then nodded.

  ‘Of course,’ April said.

  Grace stood back and let April and Harry walk off together, taking up the rear with Eva. They both smiled, and she wondered what Eva was thinking. She’d never really talked about losing her fiancé, seeming to prefer keeping it to herself, and Grace wished she’d been a better friend. Had she been so caught up in herself, in her own grief over Poppy and then the excitement of traveling halfway around the world, that she’d somehow forgotten how to be a good friend?

  ‘Eva, you seem more like your old self,’ she said, cringing as she heard the way her words sounded. ‘Sorry—that came out wrong. I just mean that after Charlie . . .’ Her voice trailed off.

  ‘I actually feel more like the old me, so it’s okay—you don’t have to apologize for noticing,’ Eva said. ‘I don’t know why, because I still miss him and think about what I’ll do when the war is over, but I don’t feel so dark anymore.’

  She slung her arm around Eva’s shoulders as they walked. ‘I’m so happy to hear that, and if there’s anything you ever need to talk to me about, I’m here. You’ve been so good to me when I’ve needed you.’

  Eva leaned into her, and Grace wondered how long it would be before her friend actually confided in her what she was so scared of, what it was about home that terrified her so much. She could almost feel Eva’s words trapped inside of her, waiting to spill out, but Eva never said a
thing, and Grace wasn’t going to ask her again. When she was ready, she’d tell her.

  ‘Thank you for not telling April—about that night, I mean.’

  Eva’s whisper was barely audible. ‘We all have secrets, Grace. Sometimes we share them, and sometimes we just learn to live life without ever telling a soul.’

  CHAPTER NINETEEN

  EVA

  ‘Good morning, Arthur,’ Eva said, forcing a smile as she came past his bed, calling out brightly as she always did, as if he were a regular patient pleased to see his nurse. She hadn’t told anyone, but today would have been Charlie’s birthday, and all she wanted was to get on with her day and keep busy so she didn’t have to think about it.

  As usual, Arthur didn’t even bother to grunt a reply, but she was used to it by now. So long as he let her do her job, she was happy to just do her best with him.

  ‘I see you haven’t eaten your breakfast again today,’ she said, deciding not to ignore the untouched plate. ‘I bet there’s a lot of soldiers who’d love to be served that on the front line.’

  That at least got a reaction; he glared at her as if he were trying to murder her with his stare alone.

  ‘The doctors have reprimanded me for not getting you mobile yet, so today we’re going to get you out of this bed and outside for some fresh air.’

  He stared at the wall. Heat traveled the length of Eva’s body; it didn’t come naturally to her to boss him around, but she had to do it. Instead of letting him ignore her this time, she walked around to the foot of the bed, folding her arms and giving him a tight smile.

  ‘Ah, there you are. So nice to actually make eye contact for once,’ she said. ‘If you’d prefer another nurse, please let me know; otherwise you and I are—’

  ‘I don’t want any damn nurse,’ he muttered. ‘Unless there’s one better equipped at listening to me when I say to get the hell away from my bed!’

  She recoiled, his anger so raw she could feel it radiating from him.

  ‘You don’t want anyone to help you?’ She seethed, digging her nails deep into her palms as she balled them even tighter. ‘You want to sit here all on your own? You want your skin to fester as sores spread across your body from being stuck in here? Your stomach to scream out in hunger when no one brings you food? To suffer here, alone?’