Page 114 of The Girls of Pearl Harbor
‘He what?’ April gasped. ‘How many days ago? I can’t believe you’ve kept it a secret!’
‘Three days ago,’ Eva whispered.
April shut her eyes, smiling to herself as she thought about Eva and Arthur. He’d been such an ass in the beginning, but she’d seen for herself the way he looked at her friend now, the way he cared about her.
‘Congratulations,’ she finally said. ‘I’m so happy for you. Will you marry before he leaves?’
Silence greeted her for a moment before Eva answered. ‘I think so. He knows about my father, about how complicated it is for me.’
April nodded despite the dark, wondering if she would be the only one of the three of them to move on to the new hospital. It would be strange without her sister and Eva, but she wasn’t going to dwell on it. Since they’d plunged headfirst into the war, she’d come to realize that nothing ever turned out as she expected.
As she shut her eyes and tried to sleep, she heard Grace sniffling quietly to herself and recognized the sound of her crying. After their mother had passed, Grace had cried every night, and April had always done her best to comfort her, preferring to look after someone else rather than give in to her own emotion. For so long she’d blamed Grace for the burden of having to mother her, but she knew the truth was that she’d taken on the role as much for herself as her sister.
April pushed her covers back and rose, then slipped into bed beside Grace, ready to resume that role again, and scooted her body tight against her sister’s warm frame, wrapping her arms around her as her slender body shook.
She didn’t know if Grace’s tears were for Teddy or what they’d been through or who they’d lost, but it didn’t matter. Her sister needed her, and she would hold her all night if she had to.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
GRACE
‘Grace, is that you?’
Grace leaped to her feet and leaned over Teddy, grabbing his hand as he spoke.
‘Yes! Teddy, can you see me?’
He blinked, and she watched as he turned his head, frowning slightly. ‘I can see you, but you’re very blurry. It’s like I’m looking through thick glass or peering through rain or something.’
She let out a breath she hadn’t even known she was holding. ‘You’ve been in and out of consciousness for over a week, Teddy,’ she said, still standing close and squeezing his hand. ‘Your eyes were so filled with debris, but I sat and removed every piece myself.’
He grunted. ‘I know. I kept waking and hearing you, but I couldn’t see you.’
‘The doctor was worried you’d never regain your sight.’
He pushed himself up, and she quickly rearranged his pillows, trying to make him comfortable; then she reached for his water and helped him with the straw. She’d surprised even herself with how strong she’d been, determined to tend to Teddy herself no matter how gory the procedure.
‘Do you want food? You must be so hungry, and I’ll get the doctor to come and check you to—’
Teddy’s hand closed around her wrist, and she stopped talking, her heart racing at his touch.
‘Thank you, Grace,’ he said, his unsteady eyes searching hers. ‘Thank you for saving me. I’d have died that day without you.’
Grace opened her mouth, wanting to tell him he was wrong, to pretend like it wasn’t a big deal, but the second she did, her throat clogged and she could only sob, tears falling down her cheeks in big ugly plops as she collapsed over him, crying as he held her, his arms warm and firm around her shoulders.
‘I couldn’t lose you, Teddy. It was like being back there; all I could think of was Poppy and that day, that day ...’ Her voice trailed off, and she tried to catch her breath.
‘Shhh,’ he whispered. ‘You were so brave. You saved me, Grace. No one else would have come for me.’
She knew she’d saved him, because she’d been determined not to leave that beach without him no matter what happened, but hearing the words, knowing how grateful he was, only amplified her emotion.
‘You’re not just little Grace Bellamy anymore, are you?’ He chuckled. ‘You’ve become quite a fine nurse.’
She laughed and finally raised her head. ‘Only it wasn’t me; it was my sister who stitched you back together that day on the beach.’
His smile melted something inside of her. ‘But it wasn’t your sister who held me and stopped me from bleeding out while shells whizzed past our heads, was it?’
Grace stared down at him, wiping the tears from her cheeks as she studied Teddy’s face.
