Page 36 of The Girls of Pearl Harbor
The room was black from the blankets hanging everywhere, and the patients all looked a strange color from the blue lights they were having to use, so it was impossible for anyone to figure out what time of day it was.
‘It’s been four hours,’ she said to him, gently pushing him back down. ‘We’re not sure why you collapsed, but the doctor thinks it was probably pure exhaustion. When did you last eat or drink anything?’
‘When did anyone last eat?’ he muttered, touching his hand to his head as he eased back down. ‘My head is pounding.’
She reached for the water and passed it to him, watching as he propped himself up slightly and took a few long sips.
‘I need to get back out there. I—’
‘Youneedto eat a decent meal,’ she interrupted. ‘As soon as you’ve eaten something, I’ll let you go. And your head is pounding because you hit it on the way down when you passed out.’
Teddy looked like he was about to argue, but then he nodded and gave her back the water. ‘Fine. You’re right. But as soon as I’ve eaten, I’m leaving.’
She wanted to make up an excuse, tell him that there was a medical reason that she couldn’t let him go, but there was none. She just selfishly didn’t want him to hurt himself, couldn’t stand the thought of losing someone else.
‘The hospital food isn’t great, but we all had some fried chicken earlier. I’m going to try to find you some.’ She hesitated, touching his shoulder and then quickly removing her hand, not sure whether it was okay to comfort him like that, even though she’d touched multiple shoulders since the bombing to comfort patients without thinking anything of it. ‘Don’t leave while I’m gone. I need you to promise me.’
Teddy nodded, and Grace hovered as she saw his hands shaking and wondered if he’d even noticed.
‘Teddy?’ she asked again.
‘I promise. Just don’t take too long.’
Grace left him and hurried back to the cafeteria, hoping she hadn’t overpromised on the chicken lunch. There was nowhere to get more decent food from, and she wasn’t even sure if their cook had survived. She managed to find a couple of pieces of chicken as well as some bread, and she raced back as quickly as she could. There was no sign of April, and she was glad; the last thing she needed was to face her sister and remember how cruel she’d been to her earlier in the mess room. April would forgive her—she always did—but she shouldn’t have said such terrible things in the first place.
When she returned, Teddy was helping someone in the next bed over, holding his water for him, and she smiled at how kind he could be after everything he’d been through himself.
‘Tell me what it’s really like out there,’ she asked quietly as he sat back down and she passed him the food.
‘You don’t want to know.’
She took a deep breath. ‘Yes, Teddy, I do.’
Teddy looked unsure, then patted the spot on the bed beside him, and she hesitantly sat down. It felt too intimate, improper for her to have her leg so close to his, watching him eat and talk, but she shook the feeling off. What choice did she have?
‘It’s grim,’ he said, and she could see the pain in his eyes as he looked at her. There was something haunting about the way he stared, something in his gaze that told her he’d witnessed something dreadful. Even more dreadful than what she’d seen, or what they’d seen together. She touched his hand, holding it until it stopped shaking, before nudging the food toward him. ‘But we have good men out there,greatmen, and we’re not going to let those Japs get away with this.’
‘But was it,isit, awful out there? What did you see? How many have we lost?’
‘Grace, I’m not going to sugarcoat it. It was ...’ She’d never seen Teddy rattled before. He was usually the one laughing or telling stories, the larger-than-life personality who never seemed bothered by anything or anyone. But this had changed him. She could see that. ‘It’s horrific, but I don’t want you thinking about that. You just focus on saving lives in here and staying alive.’
She reached for his hand again and laid her fingers across his, needing to touch him, needing him to know that she was there. ‘The day before the bombing, we were all laughing and having the time of our lives. Hours before we were dancing and drinking, thinking we were so lucky to be here.’
‘Nothing will ever be the same again, Grace,’ he said quietly, setting down the bone from his chicken and sadly shaking his head. ‘We’re at war now; you could be posted anywhere, and I’ll definitely be sent away. I don’t think anyone knows what this means for us, but we’re fighting for our lives and our country now.’
Grace gulped. ‘You actually think we could be sent away?’ she asked.
Teddy nodded. ‘Yes, I do. We resisted this war for as long as we could, but now that we’re in it, there’s nowhere we won’t be sent. They’ll do everything they can to show the world what a mighty force we are.’
She chewed on her lip and withdrew her hand, folding her hands in her lap now as she watched him finish the second piece of chicken. She wished he’d chew slower so she’d have longer with him, just another hour or another night or day to see with her own eyes that he was safe.
‘When do you think you’ll go?’ she finally asked, watching as he stared at his hands before finally looking up.
‘This might be the last time I see you, Grace. I need to get back to base before they think I’ve been added to the list of casualties or deceased.’
The word hung between them, and she suddenly saw Poppy again, saw her body contorting, saw the pain and horror in her gaze.
‘I keep seeing her,’ Grace whispered, her voice wobbling as she tried to swallow her emotion.
