The Girls of Pearl Harbor

by Lane, Soraya M.

  Eva blinked away tears, wishing she knew how to tell the handsome, strong man in front of her how wrong he was. ‘I wouldn’t have cared if my Charlie had come home with no legs, Art. I still would have loved him with all my heart.’

  His tear-filled eyes met hers. ‘But I wasn’t someone’s Charlie before the war, Eva,’ he said sadly. ‘You loved him already for the man he was. No one is ever going to look at me now and want to love me, are they?’

  ‘You’re wrong. You can’t think like that, Art,’ she said, quickly wiping at her eyes when he looked away. ‘After everything we’ve all been through, everything we’ve seen, I think everyone will be more, I don’t know, open minded when we return home.’

  He shook his head. ‘Flying is all I’ve ever known, but I’ll be useless when I get back.’

  They sat in silence for a while, Eva lost in her own thoughts as she sat on the ground in front of Art. He seemed happy soaking in the sun’s rays, and although she was hot, with sweat slowly spreading across the back of her neck, she never complained. The nights were already getting cooler now, and she had no idea how warm the days would stay, and she wanted him to enjoy it for as long as he could.

  ‘When will I be sent home?’ he suddenly asked.

  ‘I’m not sure. Soon, I suspect.’

  ‘You’ll help me get used to this chair before then?’ he asked. ‘I’m still terrified I’m going to fall out of it.’

  She smiled. ‘Of course I will. And you’ll get used to using it on your own soon enough, once you’ve built up your strength again and figured out your balance.’

  Art looked at her for a long moment. ‘Thank you. For sticking with me even though I was so rude to you.’

  Eva went to reply, but his softly spoken words stopped her.

  ‘I remember that day, Eva. I remember looking into your eyes as you carried me; the pain was so bad, but I stared into your eyes and listened to your words, and I wondered if I’d died already. I knew it was you.’

  Eva moved closer to him and reached for his hand, holding it as he spoke, knowing how hard the words must be for him.

  ‘I remember waking, slipping in and out of sleep, and seeing you sitting by my bed. I was even going to ask you out—I kept thinking that there was no way I’d let a pretty girl like you get away without asking you out—but then when I found out my leg was gone, I realized you’d only been sitting with me because you felt sorry for me.’

  ‘That wasn’t why!’ she gasped. ‘Art, I wasn’t sitting with you because I felt sorry for you.’

  ‘Why, then?’ he rasped. ‘For what other reason would you be sitting with a cripple?’

  She shut her eyes, not wanting to look at him as she admitted why. ‘Because you reminded me of Charlie, and all I could think was that if he’d survived, I’d have wanted someone to care for him,’ she whispered. ‘For him to wake up and have someone with him so he didn’t have to face it all alone.’

  ‘You honestly think you’d have loved him if he’d ended up like this?’ Art’s voice was gruff now, his eyes searching hers.

  ‘I’d have loved Charlie no matter what happened to him,’ she said. ‘He was everything to me. I’ve got nothing left now.’

  He frowned. ‘You’re the one telling me to feel grateful for being alive, and now you’re saying you’ve got nothing left?’

  She smiled. ‘I’ve said too much.’ Something about him made her want to open up, to share with him when she was usually so good at being guarded.

  ‘Tell me why you’ve got nothing to live for?’ he asked.

  Eva shook her head. ‘The last thing you want is to hear about my troubles. I’m the one supposed to be fixing you.’

  Art planted his hands on the armrests and leaned forward. ‘I think maybe you spend too much time trying to fix other people. But if I’m going to trust you, you need to trust me,’ he said. ‘I’ll make you a deal. You tell me why you’re so sure you’ve got nothing to live for, and I’ll promise to do all the physical therapy you’ve been trying to get me to do.’

  She raised her eyes. She never talked about her life, about what she was going home to, why she was afraid, not with anyone. She hadn’t even opened up to April and Grace, not entirely.

  ‘Charlie protected me,’ she finally said, deciding to put the same trust in Art as he was willing to put into her. ‘He looked after me, and his family opened their arms to me. I was finally going to be safe.’

  Art frowned. ‘Safe from who? Who did Charlie need to protect you from?’

  A big breath shuddered from her. In her mind’s eye, hands choked her throat; his breath was bitter, but his boot was the worst part. The thud of the steel cap connected with her thigh, making her leg buckle, but his grip around her neck, her back against the wall, kept her from slipping to the floor. ‘My father,’ she said, pushing the memories away. ‘He has a special way of showing his love for me.’ She looked up and saw that Art was staring at her still.

  ‘When you say “special—”’

  ‘I mean that I know what it feels like to have his fingers so tightly laced around my throat that I don’t know if I’m going to survive the night,’ she said, relief surging through her as the words came out, as she finally admitted to someone what she’d had to live with. ‘I mean that his friend is a bottle, and that friend has become his constant companion, so that no day living under his roof is a good one anymore. Sometimes I could be asleep in my bed when he came home, when he wanted someone to take his anger out on; other times I could be standing in the kitchen doing the dishes when he snapped.’

  ‘I see.’ Art had a vein bulging on his forehead, and he was tightly clenching and unclenching his fists.

  ‘I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said anything,’ she muttered. ‘The last thing you need is to know why I’m all broken.’

  ‘You think you’re broken?’ he asked, his eyebrows shooting up. ‘Because what I see is a strong, incredible nurse in front of me. I don’t see anything broken.’

  ‘You’re just saying that because you need my help to get back to your bed.’

  He grunted. ‘No. I still couldn’t give a damn whether you left me out here to die or not. I just didn’t want to keep seeing that hurt look on your face all the time.’

  She smiled, not sure what to say to him and not used to the kind expression on his face.

  ‘Will you go home to your Charlie’s family after the war?’ he asked.

  ‘No.’ Eva shrugged. ‘Why would they want a reminder of the son they lost? We weren’t even married yet. I’ll just have to find my own way in the world.’

  She thought Art was going to tip out of his chair then, and she scrambled to her feet.

  ‘Your own way in the world?’ he spluttered. ‘What does that mean? What about your mother?’

  She laughed, but it was only because if she didn’t laugh, she’d cry. ‘Well, my mother won’t stand up to my father, and my father has cut me off financially. She’d be terrified of the same happening to her. When I accepted Charlie’s proposal and then decided to leave home to be a nurse, he made it clear I was never welcome back in his house again.’

  Art’s hand lifted and hovered, before gently resting over hers. ‘Want to hear what my mother wrote to tell me?’ he asked. ‘Since we’re talking about family?’

  She was staring at his hand, wishing it would stay there. His palm was so warm, the contact such a relief after feeling alone for so long. Eva shut her eyes and thought of Charlie, hated that she couldn’t make out his face as clearly as she’d once been able to, hoping that he didn’t think she was betraying him if he was looking down on them. Art was her patient, but he was also a man—a very handsome man with a much bigger heart than she’d realized.

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘A letter arrived from her last week, and it said she’d been notified that I’d been injured in the line of duty,’ Art said. ‘And she said that whenever I was feeling sorry for myself, I was to tie my shoelaces as tight as could be and walk around,
and then I’d forget all about my sorrows.’ He laughed, and she kept her eyes shut, squeezing back tears. ‘I haven’t the heart to tell her that I’d do anything to have two pairs of laces to tighten.’

  They stayed connected, her leaning into his chair and him holding her hand.

  ‘We’re a good pair then, aren’t we.’

  Art looked up at her, and she smiled down at him.

  ‘Yeah, we are,’ she whispered.

  They stayed like that until Eva noticed the sky swirling darker and realized how long they’d been gone.

  ‘I’m going to get in so much trouble for being out here so long. Come on; let’s go.’

  ‘Anyone tells you off, you tell them to come find me,’ he said.

  Eva resisted a sudden urge to kiss the top of his head as she stood up straight and took hold of the wheelchair. ‘You know, I might just do that.’

  ‘Thank you,’ he said as she pushed him.

  ‘For what?’

  ‘For saving my life. Twice over.’

  She gripped the handles as warmth spread through her body, realizing how long she’d been waiting for him to acknowledge what she’d done. ‘You’re welcome.’

  CHAPTER TWENTY

  APRIL

  April glanced over at Dr. Evans and wondered if she had rocks in her head. She was still suspended on tenterhooks waiting to see if she was going to be dismissed entirely and sent home, but Dr. Evans had convinced her to come and help him in the village. Part of her wanted to hide away and wallow in her misery, and she certainly didn’t want to trust another doctor, but the moment he’d mentioned children needing help, she hadn’t been able to say no.

  ‘There’s not many nurses who would have said yes to coming with me,’ he said, breaking the silence as they trekked across the dirt.

  ‘I think you’re wrong. One mention of kids and you’d have nurses flocking to help.’

  He laughed. ‘Will you turn around and leave me if I confess that you’re not the first nurse I’ve asked?’

  April laughed with him, liking his honesty. ‘If I’m the first to say yes, then it’s still something, right?’

  She adjusted the bag on her shoulder, and they walked quickly, the sun beating down so hot that her neck was already slick with sweat and her forehead too.

  ‘It’s just up there, not far now,’ he said.

  ‘Dr. Evans, how did you start helping them? Did someone ask you?’

  ‘Harry,’ he said with a grin. ‘And no, no one asked me. I just noticed how basic some of the living conditions were and made a few trips around the village on my first day off.’

  ‘So while the rest of us were enjoying extra sleep or socializing, you were volunteering.’ She shook her head. ‘Great way to make the rest of us feel bad!’

  They reached the house then, and she stood back as Harry knocked on the door, taking the time to study him, taking in his easy smile and open expression as the door was answered. In his white coat at the hospital, he seemed no different from the other doctors, but like this, it was obvious that he was a different kind of man.

  ‘This is my nurse,’ he said, gesturing toward her. ‘April.’ She quickly stepped forward and smiled, trying to be as natural and friendly as he was.

  ‘Come in, please, come in.’

  April went to follow, but she paused when Harry’s hand fell over her arm. ‘I hope you don’t mind me using first names; I think it’s easier for them.’

  ‘Not at all.’

  As soon as they entered, she could smell the telltale aroma of sickness, and she wished she’d brought a mask. But Harry didn’t even flinch, following the mother through the house and into a crude bedroom with mats on the floor. There were three children, two of them lying, another sitting against the wall.

  ‘Tell me, what’s wrong?’ Harry asked, and April bent to check them, reaching out and then waiting for their mother to nod before touching them. Their skin was clammy, and she could tell from the way they were holding their stomachs that they were in pain.

  ‘You need to make sure you all wash your hands well,’ he said, holding up his hands and showing the mother. ‘This spreads by touching. And keep them cool—cold cloths on their foreheads and a lot of water to drink.’

  April did her best to make them comfortable. She took out some food from her bag as well and left it for the mother as Harry felt their stomachs. And when they were finally ready to go, she was surprised to see a short line of villagers at the door, waiting in the hot sun for them.

  ‘They’re here for us?’ she asked, unable to believe what she was seeing.

  ‘We feed you,’ the woman said. ‘And you help them.’

  April swapped glances with Harry, but it was clear that neither of them would leave until they’d helped those waiting.

  ‘One at a time,’ Harry said, waving toward the door. ‘But no food. You don’t have enough to share, and we are very full.’ He patted at his stomach as if to make his point, and April hoped no one heard hers rumble. But of course he was right; she didn’t want them to share what little they had either.

  The first villager to walk through the door was a boy cradling his arm, and April prayed that Harry had something in his bag to set a break with. Although from seeing him work, she was starting to realize that even if he didn’t, he’d probably find a way to improvise.

  ‘Come with me,’ Dr. Evans said, beckoning to April.

  She shook her head. ‘I can’t. I was told to meet Matron Johnson here this morning.’

  He frowned. ‘To discuss being cleared to work again?’

  ‘I think I’m more likely to be sent home than ever be allowed to work here again,’ she replied. ‘Honestly, even some of the nurses are being hostile toward me now. I don’t know what he’s been saying, but it’s awful. Maybe they think I was having an affair with him or something. I don’t know, but whatever it is, it’s ghastly.’

  ‘Come on—let’s go and see her, then. I’m not having you face that old battle-ax alone.’

  April laughed as he gestured toward the office door she was waiting outside of. ‘Dr. Evans, I . . .’

  ‘Harry,’ he said. ‘How many times do I have to tell you to call me by my first name? I thought we’d moved past that on Sunday.’

  ‘I’m certain that’s only the second time, Harry,’ she said, wondering how he’d made her laugh when she was so anxious over her fate.

  ‘I owe you after you spent your day off helping me,’ he announced. ‘You’re the best nurse I’ve ever taken with me.’

  She tried not to laugh; he’d already told her she was the only one ever to go with him, and it had hardly been her day off. She hadn’t been allowed to work for almost two weeks now.

  Before she could stop him, he knocked on the door, beaming when the older nurse opened it. Clearly she wasn’t expecting to see a doctor waiting for her.

  ‘Can I help you?’ the matron asked, smiling at the doctor and frowning at April.

  ‘It’s come to my attention that Nurse Bellamy is still suspended, despite my insisting days ago that it was unwarranted,’ he said. ‘Have you launched an investigation into Dr. Grey yet?’

  ‘Dr. Evans, I’m sorry, but we can’t take an allegation from a nurse against a doctor, especially when it’s unfounded. We simply don’t have enough doctors as it is.’

  ‘Well, you’ll lose this doctor if you don’t reinstate Nurse Bellamy immediately,’ he said. ‘I want her on my service in the burns unit, and I insist she has full privileges in the hospital. I’m not having a good nurse take the blame for an incompetent doctor, especially when we’ve had hundreds of men to care for this past week.’ His smile made the matron blush. ‘I will personally vouch for her—I’m so confident in her abilities—and if you took the time to investigate, you’d easily discover that she’s innocent. It just so happens she’s been spending her spare time aiding villagers, so she’s hardly the type of nurse you want to send home, is she?’

  April swallowed, her palms sweaty as M
atron Johnson looked from her to Harry.

  ‘Very well, then. But there will still be a formal investigation.’

  ‘Thank you,’ he said before she could continue. ‘Come along, Nurse Bellamy.’

  April nodded and hurried after him, not daring to look back in case she was called into the office without him.

  ‘Why did you do that for me?’ she asked.

  He glanced at her as they walked. ‘Because I refuse to see a good nurse take the fall.’ He lowered his voice. ‘Especially one who wants to become a doctor one day. You’d hardly get into medical school if you were fired from nursing, would you? And like I said, I owed you.’

  She stopped walking and stared at him. ‘Are you making fun of me?’

  He shook his head. ‘No, I’m not.’

  ‘So you don’t think it’s amusing that I want to be a doctor?’

  ‘Amusing, no,’ he said, starting to walk again. ‘Ambitious? Yes.’

  ‘What if I don’t want to be on your service?’ she asked. ‘It didn’t exactly work out for me the first time, being on the service of one doctor. I never said I’d join you.’

  ‘It’s up to you if you want to join me or not, but I’m nothing like Dr. Grey, April. Nothing at all.’ He paused. ‘I thought working side by side the other day would have shown you that.’

  She hesitated, looking at him as he strode through the ward, his long legs moving him quickly away from her. Go after him. Her head screamed at her and her heart tugged, and she knew she had to go instead of hiding herself away just to stop from being hurt again.

  April ran after him, slowing only when she was at his side again.

  ‘You’re certain you have a strong stomach?’ he asked as he pushed open the door to the burns unit and held it for her.

  She gulped. ‘Yes, I’m certain.’

  ‘Good, because I need someone who can stand beside me without retching, and trust me when I say that at times it’s not easy, even for me.’

  They walked into the ward, and the first thing that struck April was the smell. The burnt-flesh aroma was unmistakable, and she tried to keep her face impassive when Harry turned to her.