The Lieutenant's Nurse

by Sara Ackerman

  “She came in with Jack.”

  Don’s face had gone from pained to smiling in one second flat as Brandy lay by his side and thumped the bed with her tail. “This here is our mascot at Hickam, Brandy. Smartest dog this side of the Pacific.”

  “They let you have dogs in the barracks?” Grace said, doubtful.

  “Not at first, but she kept coming back. I think it was because Jack and Henry gave her sardines, and she was hooked. I was damn sure the bombs had got her. Thank You, Jesus, for keeping her safe.”

  He touched his forehead and chest.

  “I’m happy she’s alive, but she has to go. We can’t have dogs,” Grace said.

  Eva disagreed. “We had a dog at the hospital back home and everyone loved her. I say we keep her until someone tells us not to.”

  “Dogs carry germs.”

  “We can wash her. She’ll be a big boost to morale in here, you’ll see.”

  Don looked concerned. “Our barracks were hit pretty bad. Where else will she go?”

  Grace sighed. “Do what you want. I have to go get some more supplies. But don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

  Once Grace left, Eva searched around for a place to keep Brandy hidden from the doctors. In truth, it was only a matter of time. But you did what you could. The best solution ended up being to hang an extra sheet off the side of Jack’s bed. Washing the dog would have to wait, but she wetted down a towel with warm water and wiped all the dirt and blood and ash from her fur. Most of the black came away, leaving only one big spot remaining on Brandy’s side. Brandy made no fuss, even letting Eva get between her toes. She could see why the boys at Hickam had kept her.

  Once she was cleaned off, they visited the other men in the warm and stuffy room. Eva was impressed at how Brandy approached each man differently. For one in traction, she stayed off the bed, for another with both legs bandaged, she stood near his upper body. And with another, who was sitting cross-legged and seemed fine, she jumped right into his lap.

  “I think the little fella likes me,” he said, beaming.

  Not everyone knew her, but every single one of them wanted to pet her and rub her. Brandy couldn’t have been happier. After the rounds, she sat by Jack’s side, staring up at him as though she could will him better with enough love.

  If only they could have one little fella for each man in here.

  * * *

  In the midafternoon, Eva finally took a break. Her movements had begun to feel leaden. She needed fresh air. No one objected; everyone was too busy tending the injured. Cars and ambulances were still pulling in, and she circled behind the hospital to seek space and a place to just be for a minute. She sat beneath a sprawling tree and watched a trail of ants move a leaf, oblivious to the madness around them.

  That’s just the way of the world. It keeps on spinning, her father would have said.

  For the first time that day, she had time to think about her own troubles. There had been no word from Billy and no sign of Clark. Word had been coming in that the bases on the north and east ends of the island had been hit, which was where Billy had been going to play golf, and while she had concern for him, Clark was the one she ached to hear from. There was also the matter of Ruby. Surely news of the attack would have made it to the mainland by now, and her sister would be worrying herself half to death. Eva would send word as soon as she could, but for now, these men took priority.

  A loud banging noise erupted from the front of the hospital and she headed back to see what it was. Inside the main entry, two men in uniform were nailing a piece of wood over the picture window and another hung heavy army blankets on the smaller ones. Blackouts had been ordered and no one was taking any chances. The night would be a long one.

  On the way upstairs, Eva bumped into Judy, whose eyes were rimmed in red. Her expression was stone.

  “Are you all right?” Eva asked.

  Judy fell into her arms and buried her face in Eva’s neck. “They got Sid. He’s gone, Eva.”

  “Oh, honey, no!”

  “My beautiful Sid, strafed in his plane before he even got off the ground.”

  Judy let out a moan that was so raw, so gut splitting, that Eva felt it reverberate through her bones. All she could do was hold Judy tight. There were no words. By the time they separated, the left upper half of her dress was soaking wet with Judy’s tears and snot.

  “You know, we were supposed to get married on Christmas. We were going to elope. Just he and I on Waikiki Beach. Now I can never, ever go back there,” Judy sobbed.

  What could Eva say to that? If he had known the Japanese were coming, maybe he would have been flying already and on the offensive. Eva felt a sudden, overwhelming surge of guilt. She should have marched into Admiral Kimmel’s office and told them about the ships. Demanded that something be done. Billy had dismissed her, and she had let it go too easily. Why hadn’t she pushed? Billy was turning out to be different than she remembered.

  “You’re in shock, sweetie. Do you want to go lie down?” Eva said.

  “No! I’m not a deserter.”

  “No one in their right mind would call you a deserter.”

  “They need me here.”

  “You sure?”

  Judy’s lip quivered, but she nodded bravely. “And, anyway, most of them have a woman out there somewhere. Nobody should have to go through this, and if I can keep just one man alive, well, then, I’ve done my part. I need to keep working to keep me preoccupied.”

  “If you need anything, come find me,” Eva said, squeezing her hands.

  “By the way, they brought a man in a little while ago who looked like your friend at the ball game last night,” Judy said.

  The stairway spun around her.

  THE PATIENT

  Eva started off in the burn ward, going from bed to bed looking for Clark’s familiar face. Each man waged his own battle for survival and Eva choked back the tears. Scorched skin began where the clothing had ended. Since the attack had come early on a Sunday, a white T-shirt and shorts were standard attire, leaving arms and legs to be seared.

  War’s brutal message had stamped itself across the island in big red letters. And the smell of tannic acid and burnt skin was something she would never forget.

  “I use a perfumed hankie. It’s the only way,” one of the nurses told her, seeing Eva’s hands clamped over her face.

  When Eva had finished looking there, she moved on to Orthopedics. But Clark was not there, either. Dr. Wallace was, though, checking on patients. He looked as though he’d aged thirty years since morning.

  “Have you seen Lieutenant Spencer come through?” she asked.

  “As a casualty?”

  “Yes.”

  “Not to my knowledge, but someone could easily get lost in here. How are you holding up?”

  It was the first time anyone had asked her that. “Well, I haven’t had time to consider it, really. I’m still standing, so that’s a good sign.”

  He wiped his forehead with the back of a gloved hand, clearly not acclimated to the tropical heat yet. “You nurses are doing a fine job, everyone stepping up to the plate and then some. Making me proud.”

  Why couldn’t all doctors be like this? “Thank you.”

  Once she had covered the whole second floor, she went back downstairs and made the rounds there, too. Along the way, she held some hands and said a few prayers. Clark was nowhere to be found. The last place to search was the morgue. She stood in front of the steel door trying to summon the strength. Do you really want to know? In the end, she couldn’t bring herself to go in. Her job was with the living.

  While downstairs, Eva made herself useful and grabbed several pails of water. Instructions had been given to fill all containers to capacity because the local Japanese sympathizers were poisoning the water sources. Who knew if it was true or not, but she didn’t want to fin
d out the hard way.

  A few more cots had been crammed into the ward, and Grace and Judy were monitoring the new patients. One of them was begging for a cigarette, another wanted to hear the twenty-third psalm over and over. When Eva neared Jack’s bed, she heard a tail thump.

  “There you are. Willa said someone was asking after you on the operating table,” Grace said.

  Eva’s knees almost buckled. She had just finished convincing herself that Judy had been mistaken, and Clark was working cracking codes in his secret office. She squeaked out, “Where?”

  “She didn’t say.”

  Eva flew out of the room and down the hallway, barging in on more than one surprised doctor. “Sorry, wrong room,” she said.

  In the third room on the right, Dr. Newcastle was hunched over a large man. She didn’t know the nurse assisting. If he noticed Eva, he didn’t show it.

  “Nurse, can you shine the light this way? I can’t see what I’m doing,” he said.

  From this angle, Eva couldn’t see the face, and the only exposed body part was a hairy leg. Nevertheless, she knew. She tried to swallow but couldn’t. It was one thing to treat strangers, another to treat loved ones. This had become glaringly apparent when Ruby had fallen ill. Brave nurse Evelyn reduced to a panicky mess.

  “What’s wrong with him?” she heard herself asking.

  The nurse looked up. “He was shot and filled with shrapnel.”

  Dr. Newcastle glanced up. “What are you doing in here?”

  “He’s a friend.”

  Moving closer, she tried to assess what was going on, catching sight of his square jaw and the shadow of stubble against chalk-white skin. If there had been any doubt, it drained out of her then. Clark. To her horror, his breaths were shallow and he was hooked up to an IV, which meant they were using sodium thiopental on him. Her heart free-fell.

  “He looks too pale,” she commented, knowing full well that she might end up fired or found out. Or both.

  No response.

  She kept going. “Look how his chest is barely moving up and down. He’s going to go into arrest if you aren’t careful.”

  Once you had seen the signs, they were hard to miss.

  “Miss Cassidy. Out, now!” Dr. Newcastle bellowed and she was surprised he knew her name.

  The reliving of a nightmare. That was how it felt. But where she’d walked away the first time, she couldn’t bring herself to now.

  “Doctor, I’ve seen this before. I have experience in anesthesia. Bring him out now, or you’re going to lose him. It’s the sodium thiopental.”

  He stared at her. “Excuse me?”

  She stared back, ready to stick to her guns. “I said, if you keep using the sodium thiopental, he’s going to die.”

  Whatever training Dr. Newcastle had had as a surgeon, he was bound to know about the dangers, but possibly not firsthand as she did. In such a setting, and with so many men in shock, the choice to operate was a fine line.

  He gave her a look that would have brought down a Japanese plane. “Out.”

  The other nurse spoke up. “Doctor, his heart rate is dangerously high.”

  Without another word, Newcastle turned his attention to Clark. He listened with the stethoscope and took his pulse. He must not have liked what he heard, because he quickly adjusted the IV. “This chest wound is going to have to wait. Whoever he is, you may want to notify his next of kin,” he said to Eva.

  Eva remembered his last words to her. It just wasn’t our time. Her head resting on that same chest and the solid thud of his heart as they danced in the starlight. How he had held her with such tenderness. And the kiss that still simmered on her lips. What kind of fool had she been to let him slip away?

  Words poured from her mouth. “Now is not your time to die, Clark. You hear me?”

  Whatever happened to never let them see your fear? Or the bedside manner that had been drilled into her head. Always meet the patient in a cheerful and sensible manner, endeavoring to inspire confidence.

  “For the last time, get out,” Dr. Newcastle said.

  She turned and pushed through the doors, gulping down air, trying not to trip on her own feet. At least they were bringing him off the anesthesia. That meant he had a chance. But how would she be able to impress upon these doctors the need to use drop ether? Surgeons did not take orders from nurses, plain and simple.

  Back in the recovery room, Grace was sitting on one side of Jack, Brandy on the other. His eyes were open and he looked dazed but alive. Eva leaned against the wall next to them and buried her face in her hands. She slid to the floor.

  “What is it?” Grace asked.

  “It’s Clark.”

  “Your friend from the ship?”

  She had told Grace about Clark, but kept it light. Just a handsome companion to flirt with on the trip over. Nothing more.

  She nodded. “He was about to go into cardiac arrest on the table.”

  “Lieutenant Clark Spencer?” Jack said.

  “Yes. You know him?” Eva asked.

  Grace butted in, eyes wide. “Wait, you went in there?”

  “I know, I’m probably out of a job. But I couldn’t help it,” Eva said.

  “He helped a bunch of us out there. Saved my ass. Is he your sweetheart?” he said.

  Did wanting him to be count? “We spent time together on the Lurline, as friends.”

  Jack tried to sit up to get a better view of her, then winced. “Damn it to hell, that hurts. Anyway, I see it written all over your face.”

  Grace laughed nervously. “That’s a pretty bold statement coming from someone as young as yourself.”

  “I am fond of him,” Eva said.

  He shrugged. “You ain’t foolin’ me none.”

  Was she that obvious? Her hands were shaking. “The point is, he’s in bad shape. Were you there when he got hit? What happened?” she asked.

  Hold it together, Eva.

  “We were hiding under a hedge. With the Japs blowing up buildings and shooting up the airstrip, it was anyone’s guess where to be safe. One of them dive-bombed us and that’s all I remember.”

  She flashed back to the gold-toothed pilot out front. The terror of it.

  “Clark is in good hands. Dr. Newcastle might be a crank at times, but he’s top-notch,” Grace said, taking Eva’s hand in hers and pulling her in for a hug. Eva rested her head on Grace’s shoulder and inhaled the faint scent of her shampoo. Falling apart now was not allowed. Brandy watched them, then jumped off the bed and approached.

  “Come here, you. Why so timid?” Eva said, pulling away and holding her hand out.

  “She was beat before we found her. I don’t know by who, but if I found out, I’d be more than happy to return the favor,” Jack said.

  Two seconds later he was snoring.

  Jack was probably Ruby’s age. Not even a proper adult, and yet here he was, full of holes and more concerned about his dog than himself. She said a silent prayer, Please, let this one live. Eva patted her leg and Brandy jumped right up. Something about the curve of fur and the warm contact soothed her immediately.

  “We have to figure out what to do with the dog. She won’t last long in here,” Grace said.

  Whenever Eva stopped petting, Brandy nudged her hand. “No one will see her under the bed. We have to keep her while Jack is here.”

  Grace kept her voice low. “Storming into the OR and keeping a dog in the recovery room are good ways to get yourself shipped right back out of here. And if you’re already here on shaky grounds, best to follow the rules. Can you tell me now?”

  No one was paying them any mind, and it would be nice to have an ally, someone who knew and she could talk to. Eva told Grace an abbreviated version of what had happened at Hollowcreek.

  Grace kept shaking her head. “Someone needs to do something abo
ut this. It’s not fair.”

  “Tell that to Jed Lemon.”

  “This is your life we’re talking about.”

  “I told Dr. Newcastle.”

  “Told him what?” Grace asked.

  “That I have anesthesia training. I wasn’t specific, but I had to. Clark was going to die. Let’s hope in all the madness he forgets,” Eva said.

  Grace groaned. “Dr. Newcastle doesn’t forget.”

  It was too much to think about. “Then I’ll be fired.”

  All the while, Ruby’s hospital bills were mounting and Eva hadn’t even received her first paycheck. Some sister she was.

  “We’ll figure something out,” Grace said.

  Eva felt like she’d just earned a new sister.

  * * *

  After pulling herself together, Eva decided it was time to make herself useful in the operating room again, only this time she would seek out someone other than Dr. Newcastle. On her way out the door, she ran smack into Billy. He looked crumpled and frantic and gathered her into his arms like a pillow.

  “Dang, I’ve been wanting to get here all day, but I was stuck out at Bellows until an hour ago. All our planes were sitting ducks—it’s a mess out there. Are you okay?” he said, holding her out and doing a once-over.

  “On the outside,” she said, meeting his concerned eyes and feeling nothing.

  His clothes carried the stench of burning fuel. “We really are at war,” he said, as though she might not have noticed. He cleared his throat. “Listen, can I talk to you in private for a minute?”

  “There is no private in here. We have patients in the hallways and storage closets, practically on top of each other.”

  Eva tried to push past him. She had no time for this. Not now. Not with Clark possibly dead on the other side of the wall.

  “What are you doing?” he asked.

  “I need to check on a patient.”

  Billy wouldn’t let go. “I want to tell you a few things. About staying safe.” He pulled her in again, this time slipping a heavy, metal object into her pocket. She knew exactly what it was.