Page 48 of The Girls of Pearl Harbor
There was no way Grace was going to be able to get on that train even if she tried, but she’d do anything for a coffee, especially a milky, sugary one.
‘You got any sugar over there?’ she asked in her sweetest voice.
‘Like you need sweetening up,’ one of the men replied with a laugh.
‘What happened to shy Grace?’ Eva whispered.
Grace laughed. ‘Oh, she’s long gone. This Grace is living each day like it’s her last.’ As the words came out, she wished she could take them back. Why had she said that when Eva had lost her Charlie? When she’d lost Poppy? ‘I’m sorry—that was insensitive—I ...’
Eva’s hand was warm on her shoulder. ‘It’s fine. Actually, it’s nice to hear you laugh and have fun.’
Grace looked into her friend’s eyes, wishing there was more she could do to help her. ‘Really?’
Eva smiled. ‘Really. Now quickly, get our cups so we can pass them over to those soldiers before one of these trains starts moving! You’ve turned into quite the flirt!’
‘Boys, start filling these cups, and fill them fast!’ she said with a wink and a big smile, leaning forward and laughing as the men ogled her as if they hadn’t ever seen a woman before. ‘Stop gawking and start pouring!’
CHAPTER TWELVE
APRIL
‘So this is it?’ April asked, looking first at her sister and then at Eva. They both stared back at her, looking as shocked as she was.
She hadn’t expected anything luxurious, but she’d thought basic things like a roof might be guaranteed. It seemed not. The building in front of them looked like it might have been mangled during the war, and she would have thought exactly that if they hadn’t just been told it was an unfinished building abandoned for years.
‘I was dreading sleeping in tents, but working in this might actually be worse,’ Grace muttered beside her.
‘Will we even be safe in there?’ Eva asked. ‘What if there’s fighting close by?’
April looked back at the other nurses, who were all in groups and chatting, while their matron stood beside a general, their heads together as they studied something on her clipboard.
‘Ladies, listen up!’ the general announced.
They all turned, packs at their feet now, and April took the opportunity to pull at her jacket and try to let some air against her skin. She’d never been so hot and uncomfortable in all her life.
‘Welcome to the 114th Station Hospital! This is where you will be stationed for the foreseeable future. Sleeping quarters for nurses will be in tents in the adjoining field area up the hill there, with eight women permitted per tent,’ he said. ‘You will make yourselves comfortable shortly, and then you will be given a tour of the hospital and expected to prepare it immediately for incoming patients.’
April found herself nodding as she listened to him, wondering what it would be like inside. And she also found herself craning her neck to see if she could spot Dr. Grey. They’d been mostly segregated by gender on the ship, other than sneaking out to play cards sometimes with the boys, and she’d only been able to wave to him at mealtimes. She was anxious to talk to him again and ask if she could remain on his service.
She frowned when Grace nudged her in the side. ‘Come on—let’s go choose a decent tent.’
After what had happened to them in Pearl Harbor, she’d thought nothing would bother her and that she’d just be grateful to be alive, but her heart sank when she saw where they’d be living. It wasn’t the sleeping in tents she cared about—they all had blankets and enough clothes to make their beds comfortable—it was the flies filling the air around them. April slapped at her arm and cringed. The mosquitos were going to love her, and she knew she’d have tiny red welts all over her within days.
‘Keep walking,’ Eva said, prodding her from behind.
April looked back at her but only received a shake of the head in response, and even Grace was following without asking. Eva marched them as far away as possible and then pointed.
‘That one will do.’
‘Allthis way from the hospital? We’re going to have the farthest to walk each day after our shifts!’ Grace complained. ‘Seriously, we’ll be sweaty before we even start working.’
‘You see the tent all the way back over there? The one with the makeshift wooden structure next to it?’
April nodded and followed Eva’s point.
‘So?’ Grace asked.
‘That’s the toilet block,’ Eva said. ‘Imagine what the flies will be like after a few days or weeks of us all using it. And the smell will be horrible.’
