Page 38 of The Girls of Pearl Harbor
The soldier shook his head. ‘I’m just in charge of who’s permitted access, ma’am. Have you tried making contact before today?’
‘Yes, of course. I’m a nurse on the USSSolace; I’ve been treating the wounded at sea for days, but I’ve heard no news of my fiancé.’
His smile was friendly. She should have told him from the very beginning that she was a nurse, or even worn her uniform ashore. ‘Give me a minute, and I’ll try to find out some information for you. He was based here?’
She smiled back. ‘Yes. He is. Was, I mean.’
While she waited, Eva looked up, wondering how such a perfect, cloudless blue sky could ever have played host to warplanes.We’re at war.The words had circled in her mind ever since she’d stepped out of the hospital ward. Exhausted, she’d tried to sleep, her eyes burning from being open too long, but all she’d been able to do was remember the noise, smell the blood, see the burns. Even now she could recall every smell and every vibration.
‘Ma’am, someone is coming out to see you,’ the soldier said.
Eva noticed that he never met her eye this time. Was she imagining it, or was he trying to avoid her gaze?
‘Thank you,’ she managed, choking on the words. She cleared her throat as a fresh wave of tears hit. Who was coming out to see her? Why couldn’t the soldier with the clipboard tell her himself?
And then she saw a pilot in uniform appear, running his fingers through his hair. His thick brown hair seemed familiar, as did the way he kind of tugged it at the ends, his stubbled cheeks unusual for a man in uniform, although she guessed there had been much more for them to worry about than shaving these past few days.
‘Eva,’ he said, and the moment he spoke, she knew why he seemed so familiar.
‘Teddy?’ she asked.
He held out his hand and gently shook hers. His touch felt too soft, too delicate. Or maybe she was overreacting.
‘You’re Poppy’s fiancé, aren’t you?’ she said, and she could see how uncomfortable he was, shifting from side to side as he nodded.
Eva felt like the world had stopped moving as she watched Teddy look away, his face contorting for a moment before he shut his eyes for a beat. Had she said the wrong thing? Was Poppy not ...
‘I, ah,’ he started, clearing his throat before starting over. ‘Poppy, well, she didn’t survive the bombings,’ Teddy said, his voice as rough as gravel. ‘She was outside ... I, we ...’ His breath shuddered, and tears filled her eyes as she thought about beautiful, fun-loving Poppy. ‘She was gunned down. There was nothing anyone could have done to save her.’
Eva reached for him, barely able to hold herself together, but Teddy stiffened.
‘I’m sorry. I ...’
Teddy looked into her eyes then, a different kind of sadness passing across his face, a frown bracketing his mouth that had nothing to do with Poppy. This was something different, this was him looking at her differently, this was ...
‘Eva, I want you to know that I understand how you’re going to feel, how this is going to rip you into pieces,’ Teddy said softly.
‘What?’ she asked, wondering what he was trying to tell her. ‘What will you understand?’
Fear danced across her skin, and she swallowed down a lump in her throat, waiting for Teddy to speak again, but at the same time wanting to run as far away from him as she could.
‘Eva, I’m so sorry to be the one to break this to you, but Charlie died in the line of duty the day of the bombings,’ Teddy said, his voice so deep and sad as he touched her arm, as if he was worried she’d fall over. ‘We didn’t know for certain until this morning that he was among the deceased, but we can now confirm that he is no longer with us.’
‘No,’ Eva said, violently shaking her head. ‘No. No, no, no, Charlie is alive.Do you hear me?Charlie is alive!’
Teddy held on to her, but she yanked sideways, throwing his hand off as she stared back at him as if it were all his fault. As if Teddy had been the one to do this to her.
‘I’ve been calling—I’ve been told that there was no news about him, that ...’ She sobbed. ‘Let me see him! I need to see my Charlie!’
Teddy stepped closer and tried to comfort her, but she pushed at him, hands to his chest as she tried to force him away. When he reached for her again, she lashed out, thumping the heels of her hands into his chest, fighting him as if he were the enemy. As if he were responsible for everything that had happened.
‘No!’ she cried as she kept hitting him. ‘No!There must be some mistake!’
Teddy stood there and took it, not moving as she attacked him. It was only when she started to sob, when emotion cut through her and made her legs buckle as she cried, that Teddy moved, catching her in his arms and drawing her against his chest. He held her close, his big warm body cocooning her from the world as she sobbed into him.
‘Shhhh,’ he whispered, still holding her tight, as if he was scared she might collapse if he let her go.
They stayed like that for what felt like hours, until Eva finally peeled herself away from Teddy, keeping hold of his arm to steady herself. She took a deep, shuddering breath, carefully wiping her cheeks with the back of one hand as they stood together.
