The Girls of Pearl Harbor

by Lane, Soraya M.

  ‘It takes some getting used to.’

  She wasn’t going to lie to him. ‘Yes, it does.’ The smell was one thing on a single patient, but on so many in a small space, it was beyond overwhelming, especially with such poor ventilation.

  ‘I’d like you to become familiar with the patients, gain their trust and talk to them, and then I’ll walk you through changing their dressings correctly.’

  April surveyed the room. ‘I’ve completed many dressing changes, so I—’

  ‘This is different, April,’ he said, keeping his voice low. ‘These men, they might not live through their burns, they’re so severe. It’s why I won’t let them be released into a general ward.’

  She nodded.

  ‘Infection is our enemy,’ he said with a grimace, ‘among a hundred other things, and we don’t exactly have the best working conditions.’

  She looked around the room again and decided to start with the closest patient. But as Harry started to walk away, she stopped him.

  ‘Why me?’ she asked. ‘Why did you ask me to work with you?’

  His smile spread slowly across his face, and she saw a kindness reflected in his eyes that she was now realizing had been missing from Dr. Grey’s gaze. She’d just been too awed by the other doctor to notice what he was lacking.

  ‘Because I don’t want to see a dedicated, ambitious nurse sent home. I already told you that.’

  ‘It’s honestly as simple as that, then?’ she asked, finding it hard to trust anyone after what had happened to her.

  ‘Yes, it is.’ He laughed as he turned. ‘And maybe, just maybe, I’d like to spend more time with you.’

  April spun around and headed to her first patient before Harry could see how flushed her cheeks were. Part of her was mortified that he’d said that out loud, but another part of her was tingling with excitement that a doctor like Harry would even want to give her the time of day.

  After hours of walking the ward and assisting Harry with his checkups, April was struggling to stop her hands from shaking. And he’d been right; even the strongest of stomachs would be capable of balking in the burn ward. They were full, too, with not a bed vacant as she looked up and down the rows.

  Dr. Evans had left to perform surgeries, and she’d been left in charge of getting lunch out to all the men, but she was starting to see why no other nurses were quick to put their hands up to transfer into the ward. She touched the shoulder of a patient, a young man who’d openly cried as his dressings had been changed. She held out his food.

  ‘No,’ he croaked. ‘I can’t eat.’

  She sat beside him and forked some of the potato for him. ‘I’ll feed you,’ she said. ‘All you have to do is open your mouth.’

  Tears slid down his cheeks, and she had to fight her own tears just looking at him. This poor boy, maybe eighteen or nineteen, had burns to most of his body—he’d have red, scarred skin for life if he even managed to heal before an infection set in, and she bet all he wanted was to go home to his mother. It was like reliving Pearl Harbor all over again, except on land they hadn’t seen the extent of burn injuries like the nurses on the USS Solace had. Yet another reason, she knew, why Eva had suffered worse than they had through those first few days after the bombing.

  ‘It’s okay,’ she whispered.

  ‘I’m so hungry,’ he choked out. ‘But I can’t eat with the smell.’

  She set the fork down. Why hadn’t she thought of that? The smell must have been so much worse for the men living in their freshly charred bodies than for her walking through the ward.

  ‘That’s why no one is eating here?’ she asked. ‘It’s not the pain; it’s the smell?’

  He slowly nodded. ‘Most of us can deal with the pain.’

  April stood and looked at all the men, seeing that only one of them was picking at food. The rest were either refusing or waiting for her to help.

  In a split second that she knew could result in suspension again, she left the ward and hurried through the hallways to get outside and race all the way back to her tent. She should have told someone where she was going, although she knew she’d be reprimanded and told to return to her ward, and there was no point if the poor men she was trying to nurse couldn’t stomach any food or water.

  ‘Nurse! Slow down!’ an older nurse ordered. ‘Where are you going?’

  ‘Sorry—doctor’s orders,’ she lied as she slowed to a fast walk, running again only when she was outside.

  She hurried across the field and then up the hill toward their campsite, not stopping until she reached their tent. She dashed inside and went straight to her toiletries, then grabbed the little glass bottle of perfume she’d brought with her.

  ‘Why are you panting like that? Aren’t you supposed to be in the middle of a shift?’

  ‘Grace!’ she gasped. ‘You scared the life from me!’

  ‘I was sound asleep and woke to heavy panting, and you’re the one who got a fright?’

  April held out the bottle, trying to catch her breath. ‘I needed this. I’m trying to get the burns patients to eat.’

  Grace yawned and tucked lower under her blanket. ‘And you’re going to spray the air with perfume?’

  She laughed. ‘No, even better, I’m going to dab perfume on a handkerchief so they can hold it to their noses while they eat.’

  Grace laughed. ‘You’ve always been the smart one.’

  April blew her a kiss and picked up her cream handkerchief on the way past, not hesitating even though it was one of the last things her mother had embroidered for her.

  If I can save them, Mama, it’s worth sacrificing, she thought as she ran back the same way she’d come only minutes earlier.

  April made her way back through the hospital, her body protesting from the unexpected run, knowing the food would be cold by now but hoping it was better cold than nothing at all. She went back to her first patient, the young man who was now lying staring at the ceiling, almost his entire body covered in dressings, and touched his shoulder.

  ‘I think this might work,’ she said softly, taking out her handkerchief and dabbing perfume to it before placing it over his nose.

  The smile on his face and the twinkle of tears in his eyes made her heart melt, and she quickly forked some food again and held it to his mouth. This time he opened it, and she sat beside him and spoon-fed him until there wasn’t a morsel left. Then she reached for his water, holding the straw to his mouth so he could sip it.

  ‘Better?’ she asked.

  His eyes said it all. ‘Can I keep this?’ he asked.

  She shook her head. ‘I need it to get around to everyone else,’ she said, gesturing to the others in the ward. ‘But I promise I’ll try to find some squares of towel or muslin and dab perfume for each and every one of you before my shift ends.’

  He shut his eyes, and she left his plate, hurrying to the next man. The smiles and quick consumption of food and water made it all worthwhile, and by the time she’d made her way to the last bed in the room, she realized that every single patient had eaten a meal. It might have taken her half of her shift, but she’d done it.

  ‘I would ask how everything’s going, but from those empty plates I think I know the answer,’ Harry said as he appeared in the doorway.

  She shrugged. ‘Sometimes it’s about thinking creatively to solve a problem.’

  He reached for the handkerchief in her hand, and she passed it to him.

  ‘What’s this?’

  ‘A way to stop them from smelling their burns so they can eat,’ she said. ‘Hardly scientific, but it seemed to work.’

  Harry laughed. ‘I knew there was something about you from the moment I met you.’

  She stretched, rolling her shoulders and trying to ease the tension from sitting and bending forward for so long.

  ‘Do you think I can get permission to take a piece of muslin for each patient in here?’

  ‘I’ll steal them for you myself if I have to.’

  Harry dis
appeared, and April laughed as she turned around and then collected all the empty plates to take back to the kitchen. It had been a gamble, but one tiny thing had made a difference to every man in her ward, and it was enough to give her the courage to do whatever she needed to help her patients.

  ‘I thought I might find you in here.’

  April clutched the plates she was holding as the deep voice seemed to curl around her. Most of the men were sleeping, and the ones who weren’t were hardly in any kind of fit state to protect her.

  She turned and found Dr. Grey standing in the middle of the room. His baritone voice had once been so appealing to her, but as she stood before him, all she could think was that he was married. You have a wife at home, and you acted like you were interested in me. And that he had a cruel streak that she could never have imagined.

  ‘Hello, Dr. Grey. Can I help you?’ she said, trying to be brave as he glowered at her.

  ‘I thought you’d been sent packing, so imagine my surprise to hear your privileges had been reinstated today.’

  She stood, not reacting, not wanting to antagonize him.

  ‘Nurses don’t get to call the shots in a hospital, April. You don’t get away with killing a man.’ He stared at her, as if daring her to defy him.

  ‘I did nothing of the sort, and you know it,’ she hissed, moving closer to him, not wanting the patients to hear.

  ‘You won’t get away with this,’ he said, chuckling as he looked down at her. ‘You killed that man, April; you just don’t remember. I stepped out of the theater for a bathroom break, and you pretended you were a real little doctor and tried to finish my work for me. You think you can open your legs for a doctor and . . .’

  Thwack.

  Out of nowhere Harry appeared, swinging his fist so fast at Dr. Grey’s nose that none of them saw it coming. Blood spurted instantly as Grey staggered back, and April clamped her hand over her mouth as she watched the scene unfold. Harry stood in front of her and waited for Grey to leave the room.

  No one said a word, not even Grey.

  ‘You all right?’ Harry asked, turning once they were alone and studying her face, his eyes searching hers.

  ‘Yes, I think so.’ Other than the fact my entire body is convulsing from fear.

  ‘No one gets to speak to you or any other nurse like that—you hear me? It’s unacceptable.’

  April stood immobile as his hands rubbed her shoulders and trailed down her arms before falling away.

  ‘You did great here today. Are you staying on my service?’

  April nodded. ‘Yes.’

  ‘Good. Now dab your perfume on those muslins I dropped on my way in, and go take a well-deserved rest.’

  ‘But Harry, I just . . .’ She tried to process her thoughts, Dr. Grey’s words repeating over and over through her mind.

  ‘What is it? Did he hurt you before I got here?’

  ‘No.’ She stared at Harry and then laughed. ‘It just came back to me, that day—I remember! He said before about leaving to go on a bathroom break, that he left me with the patient alone, but it wasn’t him! He left me alone with a different patient, one we were doing a cast on. And the man had already stirred, so he heard Dr. Grey say he needed to relieve himself; he wasn’t unconscious. I remember!’

  ‘That’s your proof, then,’ Harry said. ‘Good work. I knew it would come back to you.’

  April walked on shaky legs, wishing she could thank Harry but struggling to make even a squeak in reply as she tried to process what she’d remembered.

  ‘April?’

  She looked back at him, seeing a flicker across his face, something about the way he was looking at her telling her that there was something he was uncomfortable about.

  ‘Some of us surgeons, we’re going to the front line. The boys at the battalion aid station can’t handle the casualties, and we need to help. It’s taking the wounded too long to receive medical care, and it’s the only thing they can think of to try.’

  April swallowed a stone in her throat as she listened to him.

  ‘We need three nurses to come with us,’ he said. ‘Others will be coming ashore with soldiers as they land, but we need a few from here to join them.’

  ‘I’ll go,’ she said, without even thinking. ‘I’ll go with you.’

  He stepped forward, his eyes almost sorrowful. ‘You’ll have nothing more than a helmet to protect you and a pack on your back. We’ll have to crawl low across the sand and—’

  ‘I’m here to save lives, Harry. Tell me when you need me, and I’ll go with you.’

  His smile was reserved, and she wondered what it all meant, if there was something more developing between them.

  Harry’s hand closed over her shoulder, and he smiled down at her.

  ‘You’re the bravest nurse I know,’ he whispered.

  She laughed. ‘Or maybe the stupidest.’

  ‘How about you be the cleverest then?’

  April stared back at him. ‘What do you mean?’

  ‘Find a way to get Grey to confess,’ he said. ‘The man has a big ego, and if you ask to see him and pretend like you want to take the fall for it, maybe he’ll admit his error. You know what happened—now you just need to make the truth work for you.’

  ‘What use is that if only I hear it? I already know what happened that day.’

  ‘You leave that to me. Just tell me where you’re meeting him, and I’ll make sure it’s overheard by the right person.’

  April’s heart picked up a beat. ‘You really think this is a good idea?’

  Harry’s smile told her everything she needed to know.

  April was starting to have second thoughts. She tried to steady her breathing, knowing that at any moment Grey would arrive, and she’d only have a short window to execute her plan.

  Her heart started to race, and just as she was about to run from the room, he entered.

  ‘Your message said you were ready to apologize?’ Grey said, stalking closer to her in that predatory way he had the day before in the burns unit.

  April glanced down and then slowly back up again. ‘I am.’ She hoped he couldn’t tell how nervous she was.

  ‘So go on, then; I’m waiting,’ he said impatiently.

  ‘I’m sorry if it was my fault,’ she said, trying to project her voice loud enough so Harry could hear her from wherever he was hiding. ‘I should have told Dr. Evans that it was another doctor instead of agreeing that Private Hunt was your patient.’

  ‘So you do remember it was your fault?’ Grey chuckled. ‘I knew it’d come back to you.’

  April blinked and forced herself forward, moving closer, going against her every instinct. Was this even going to work? ‘I’ll say whatever you want me to say, Dr. Grey. I just miss being with you.’

  She stopped a foot from him, eyes on his mouth, trying to be seductive even though she had no practice at what it entailed.

  ‘Ha, you miss me, do you?’ He moistened his lips, and she tried not to recoil.

  ‘That day, I remember you leaving the room, but it wasn’t with the same patient. It wasn’t with Private Hunt,’ she said. ‘I don’t care, though—I’ll take the fall. I’m only a nurse. I’ll do it for you.’

  His smile made her stomach turn.

  ‘You’re doing the right thing, April,’ he said, reaching for her. ‘I’m sorry I had to blame you, but I’m not risking my career for one stupid mistake on a half-dead soldier.’

  ‘So it wasn’t my fault?’ she asked, her voice louder this time.

  ‘Don’t be thick—of course it wasn’t.’ He grunted. ‘Come here and let me make it up to you. You’ll be sent home by the end of the week, and—’

  ‘The only person going home will be you, Grey,’ came Harry’s strong, commanding voice.

  April quickly backed away, seeing the betrayal cross Grey’s face as he took in Harry and her matron in the doorway. His scowl was directed at her as he launched forward.

  ‘You bitch! You tricked me!’ he
yelled. ‘You absolute little bitch!’

  She squeezed her eyes shut and turned her face as Harry grabbed Grey from behind, holding his hands together while he called for help. Matron Johnson’s arms shielded her, holding her away from the commotion as she whispered in her ear.

  ‘I’m so sorry, April. Please forgive me.’

  All April could do was nod. Harry’s plan had worked, and just like that he’d managed to save her job. If she hadn’t owed him before, she certainly did now.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

  GRACE

  ‘You’re doing what?’ Grace felt all the color drain from her face.

  ‘You don’t have to volunteer; I’m just telling you what I’ve decided to do.’

  Grace gripped the chair beside her and slowly lowered herself into it. They’d had a long day, and they’d both missed lunch, having only a foul-tasting cup of coffee each, and she wasn’t sure if it was the lack of food or the shock at what her sister had just told her that was making her feel light headed. She’d thought she’d be relieved when April got her job reinstated, but she hadn’t been expecting this.

  ‘The fighting has intensified, Operation Torch has begun, and too many men are dying waiting for help,’ April continued. ‘Look how many have arrived today, and we’ve lost so many of them.’

  Grace shut her eyes, letting her face fall into her palms for a second as she tried to comprehend what was going on. ‘So you’ll be on the front line? I thought women weren’t allowed to be anywhere near the fighting?’

  April’s voice dropped an octave. ‘We’ll be in the thick of it anyway if we don’t win, Grace. Have you thought about that?’

  She shuddered and opened her eyes again, seeing the pain etched on April’s face. ‘No,’ she admitted. ‘I haven’t.’

  April stood quietly, and Grace sat. Would Teddy be fighting right now, or had he moved on to somewhere else? She thought about him a lot; every night as she lay in bed, she wondered what might have happened to her if he hadn’t been there, if he hadn’t saved her.

  And it was the same reason, what had happened to her that night, that made her terrified of volunteering to go with April. But if her sister was going, how could she not go with her?