Sergeant Darling

by Bonnie Gardner

  “Why did you keep it?”

  Patsy didn’t really know. Not consciously, at least. She just had. All she knew is that though she’d taken it to the trash can more than once, she hadn’t been able to throw it away. “It just seemed important to keep it,” she said, her heart lodged in her throat.

  Ray continued to examine the sealed envelope.

  “Open it, Ray. It’s the only way you’ll believe me,” Patsy urged. “I do love you. I’ve loved you almost from that moment you first flirted with me in this very treatment room. I’m sorry I gave you reason to doubt it.”

  He looked up quickly, hope flaring briefly in his eyes behind the lenses of his dear, familiar BC glasses. But he said nothing.

  “Darn it, Ray. I went all the way to Taloom Kapoor to try to find you. You have to believe me!”

  He jerked his head up to look at her. “So it really was you!”

  “Yes, I was there. I thought I saw you, but you were going away as I was coming in.”

  “And I was coming back as you were going away,” Ray concluded. He drew in a deep breath, then detached his government issue knife from the lanyard attached to his belt, slid it under the flap and slit the envelope open. Patsy held her breath as he read.

  Please let him understand, Patsy prayed silently. He has to believe me.

  His expression lightening with every page he read, Ray finally looked up, his eyes bright, his cheeks creased with a broad grin. “You do love me.”

  “Of course I do,” Patsy replied.

  “But like I said in the letter, I was terrified that if I voiced the words out loud, it would become so much more real. As long as you didn’t know, then we’d be okay.” Patsy looked away, embarrassed at voicing the sentiment that sounded exceedingly silly, now that she’d said it. “I didn’t want you to die like my parents. Like Ace and the kids. Silly, huh?” she said, turning.

  “No, not silly at all,” Ray said, folding the letter and returning it to the envelope. He stuffed it into his pocket and took her hands. “I think I understand. And I’m sorry, once again, for not telling you how I felt earlier. I’ve never been in love before.”

  As he closed his strong, capable hands over hers, Patsy’s heart swelled with joy. She knew everything was going to be all right. She leaned toward him for a kiss.

  “Where’s my next patient?” Dr. Brantley called, and Ray and Patsy quickly stepped apart.

  “I haven’t taken your vitals, and your blood pressure will probably be through the roof,” Patsy said, groaning.

  “Yeah.” Ray opened the curtain. “But somebody else can record it later, after it has a chance to go down.”

  Patsy stepped back. “What are you here for, anyway? You’re not sick, are you?” She handed him his file.

  “No, I got accepted for OTS. This is the physical for it.”

  “Oh, no. This encounter could cost you your slot if your pressure doesn’t go down!”

  “No, Brantley will understand, and he’ll let me wait until I’ve calmed down.”

  Patsy had to hope that Ray was right. If he wasn’t she’d move Heaven and Earth to convince the doctor that it had been her fault that Ray had failed.

  Ray winked at Patsy. “Wish me luck.”

  “You’ve got it,” Patsy said, watching him confidently stride away.

  Then she whispered a little prayer and went to look for her next patient.

  “HOO-AH!” Ray cheered. “Thanks,” he said. “Now, I’ve got to go tell my girl.”

  Without waiting for a response, Ray strode down the quiet corridor to where Patsy was straightening supplies in a cabinet, grabbed her from behind and swung her into his arms.

  Startled, she gasped, but then Patsy looked up at his jubilant face, and she broke into a brilliant smile. “Did you?”

  “I did.”

  “But nobody took your vitals. The doctor didn’t fudge them, did he?”

  “Silly, silly, Patsy,” Ray said, holding her closer and tipping her chin up so he could look into her clear blue eyes. “Dr. Brantley said he wouldn’t let you within a mile of me until after Nurse Bailey took my pressure. He wanted me to pass as much as I did.”

  He glanced back over his shoulder to where Mary Bailey and Doctor Brantley stood, beaming, seeming as happy about their reunion as he was.

  “Then it’s final?” Patsy asked. “You passed? You’re going to Officer Training School? When?”

  “Next month,” Ray said. “I just need to know one thing.”

  “What?”

  “Do you want to get married before I report to OTS or after?”

  Patsy’s eyes grew wide with surprise. “Sergeant Darling, is that a proposal?”

  “Yeah, I guess it is,” he whispered, his voice strangely thick.

  Patsy blushed, her fair skin glowing with love. “Do you suppose you could do it in the good, old-fashioned way?”

  “Like on bended knee?”

  “No, not exactly. I hate to be difficult, but a woman doesn’t get asked that question very often. I’d like to actually hear the words.”

  “In front of witnesses?” Ray grinned and glanced over his shoulders toward the doctor and nurse who weren’t even pretending to ignore what was going on.

  “Ask me, Ray,” Patsy demanded impatiently. “I can’t wait to give you my answer.”

  Ray grinned. “Aha! That must mean yes.”

  “Ra-ay! Don’t keep me waiting forever.”

  “Wouldn’t dream of it,” Ray said with a grin. Then lowered himself to the floor. Kneeling in front of her, Ray took Patsy’s hands. Her skin was soft and silky and so delicate and white against his coarse, tanned hand. He imagined how her third finger, left hand, would look wearing his ring.

  He cleared his throat. “Patsy Pritchard, I love you. Would you do me the honor of becoming my wife?”

  Though he was pretty sure he knew what the answer would be, Ray held his breath.

  Patsy smiled softly and her eyes glistened with tears. Her mouth worked, but she couldn’t seem to make any sound come out.

  “Please, Patsy. You’re killing me here,” Ray pleaded, looking up into her brimming eyes.

  She swallowed and moistened her lips, then, nodding vigorously so that there could be no doubt, she whispered the words he so eagerly wanted to hear. “Yes, Ray. Yes. I will marry you. I will be your wife.”

  Ray pulled her down into his arms and kissed her, tenderly at first, then he deepened the kiss. Nothing mattered but the beautiful, caring woman he was holding in his arms. Not even the doctor and nurse and Nancy Oakley, who’d come to investigate the noise, and who were now cheering as loudly as the spectators at any NFL game, or the smiles and applause of everyone else in the clinic.

  Finally, Ray ended the kiss. He climbed to his feet and reached down to Patsy, feeling a thrill of excitement when she took his hand. He felt as though he were standing on top of the world, as though he could leap over tall buildings. He had softened Prickly Pritchard. He felt as though he could do anything. Would he ever stop feeling like this? He hoped not.

  He helped Patsy, still smiling crookedly through her tears, to her feet and positioned her in front of him. “I asked you another question before, Patsy.” He swallowed and cleared his throat. “When will it be? Before or after I go to OTS?”

  Patsy swallowed a sob and wiped her streaming eyes with trembling hands, and Mary offered her a tissue. She wiped again, blotting away the tears. Ray wanted to shake the answer out of her, but he knew she’d tell him in her own time.

  Finally, Patsy cleared her throat. “Nothing would make me happier than to become your wife yesterday, Ray Darling, but I think we should wait until after you graduate from OTS.” She smiled another one of those endearing, lopsided smiles. “Aunt Myrtle would never forgive me if I cheated her out of planning this wedding. Will you mind very much waiting?”

  Ray smiled and shook his head. “No, Patsy. I owe your aunt a lot. After all, she was the one who brought us together by buying my servi
ces at that bachelor auction. No, I don’t mind. Just as long as it isn’t too long after I graduate,” he clarified.

  “Don’t you worry, Ray Darling,” Patsy replied with a grin. “I’m not the kind of girl who goes for long engagements. I can’t wait to become a Darling just like you.”

  Ray, who usually had something to say about everything, was at a loss for words.

  “Hoo-ah,” he finally managed. “You are a Darling now. As far as I’m concerned, you always have been.”

  “Hoo-ah,” Patsy echoed.

  Epilogue

  Fifteen months later

  Patsy Darling, still tired, but elated from giving birth, gazed lovingly down at the two tiny bundles in her arms, one wrapped in pink, the other in blue, and smiled. It was all she could do not to explode from happiness, her heart was so full of love and emotion for this double blessing she’d been given.

  The door to the hospital room creaked open and Ray, grinning broadly, peered inside. “Hello, family,” he said. “Are you ready for some other visitors?”

  “I’m ready for the media,” Patsy said, her soft smile changing to a grin of her own. “I happen to have the two most beautiful babies in the world, and I want everyone to know it.”

  Janet Darling stepped into the room. “Oh, they will. If Ray has anything to say about it. That son of mine has passed out bubble gum cigars to every single person who’s had the misfortune to cross his path since he picked us up at the airport.”

  Ray shrugged. “They didn’t seem to mind. And I still have plenty more.”

  “Heaven help us,” Patsy murmured.

  Raymond Darling Senior followed his wife into the room. “Sure are small,” he said gruffly, but Patsy could tell that he was doing all he could to disguise the overwhelming emotion he felt. As much as he and Ray protested it, they were so much alike it was uncanny, right down to the identical reactions they’d both had when they’d gotten their first looks at the twins.

  “Do you want to hold them, Grandma and Grandpa?” Patsy lifted the boy toward Grandma Janet who leaned in to take him. She balanced him comfortably into the crook of her arm.

  Ray’s father reached for the other baby, gingerly picking up the pink bundle of joy. He held her carefully away from him as though she were a bomb about to explode. “Hello, little one,” he whispered, his voice thick, his expression goofy with unconditional love. Then he shifted her closer and held her against his heart. “I’m your Grandpa.”

  The baby wriggled and waved her arms reflexively, and Raymond touched a finger to her tiny hand. He grinned when her little fingers closed around it. “Look how strong she is!”

  “That’s my daughter,” Ray said, chest swelling with pride.

  “Your son’s a real charmer, too,” Janet said as the baby yawned and stretched as though he were accustomed to all the attention. “Don’t forget him.”

  “How could I? I still can’t believe we ended up with two babies for the price of one.”

  “I don’t know why, Ray,” Patsy said. “We had several months to get used to the idea.”

  “But it wasn’t real until they were actually here,” Ray said.

  Suddenly, the hospital door flew open and one more visitor burst in, looking like a bouquet of fresh flowers in a brightly colored pantsuit next to Ray in his drab uniform, and his parents, in conservative grays. “Do my great-grandniece and nephew have names yet?” Aunt Myrtle demanded without preamble.

  “They are almost twenty-four hours old and they are still nameless!” She fluttered to a halt at the foot of the hospital bed and looked from baby to baby in the Darlings’ arms.

  “Hello,” she said. “I’m Myrtle Carter, Patsy’s great aunt.”

  As if there could be any doubt, Patsy thought with a chuckle. “Aunt Myrtle, these are Ray’s parents: Janet and Raymond Darling.”

  “Charmed,” Myrtle said, not removing her gaze from the babies. “Well, as I said, I can’t call them boy and girl. And it isn’t as if I have forever to wait to learn their names.”

  “Aunt Myrtle, you will be around forever,” Patsy said, meaning it.

  Ray chuckled. “Patsy and I never really had a chance to settle on names since they came three weeks early, but I got to thinking about it in the car on the way to pick up my folks at the airport.”

  “Oh?” Patsy asked, wondering if she should be miffed at not being consulted.

  “I was thinking about Carter and Janet,” Ray said softly. “How about Carter Raymond and Janet Myrtle? That way they’ll be named for both our families. After Myrtle for bringing us together and for my parents because if it weren’t for them, I wouldn’t be here in the first place. What do you think?”

  Patsy’s heart swelled and her eyes filled with tears. It was obvious that Aunt Myrtle and Janet were thrilled with the suggestion, too. Smiles of pleasure crossed each face. “Let me hold my babies,” Patsy whispered.

  Ray frowned as his parents passed the twins over to their mother. “Does that mean you don’t want to use those names?”

  Patsy shook her head as she settled the babies into her arms. Then, her heart overflowing with love, she looked down at them. “Hello, Carter and Jannie,” she whispered, her voice thick with emotion. She kissed each baby on the top of its fuzzy head. “I’m your mother.”

  Aunt Myrtle clapped her hands, bangle bracelets on her wrists jangling. “Wonderful. What perfect names for two perfect little babies.” She swooped in to hover over them. “Hello, little ones. I’m your Aunt Myrtle. If it hadn’t been for me,” she twittered proudly, “you wouldn’t be here.”

  Janet and Raymond Darling looked at each other with questioning expressions.

  “It’s a long story, Mom, Dad.”

  “No, it isn’t,” Aunt Myrtle protested. “I purchased your son at a charity bachelor auction and gave him to my niece.”

  “And then you all lived happily ever after?” Janet asked.

  “Not exactly, Mom, but we will from now on,” Ray replied. “We ran into a few bumps along the way,” he explained.

  “But it all worked out for the best,” Patsy agreed. “And we certainly will be happy from now on and forever.”

  “Yes, they will,” Aunt Myrtle agreed. “I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

  “Hoo-ah,” Ray said.

  ISBN: 978-1-4603-6904-3

  SERGEANT DARLING

  Copyright © 2004 by Bonnie Gardner.

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