Page 97 of The Girls of Pearl Harbor
Grace yawned and tucked lower under her blanket. ‘And you’re going to spray the air with perfume?’
She laughed. ‘No, even better, I’m going to dab perfume on a handkerchief so they can hold it to their noses while they eat.’
Grace laughed. ‘You’ve always been the smart one.’
April blew her a kiss and picked up her cream handkerchief on the way past, not hesitating even though it was one of the last things her mother had embroidered for her.
If I can save them, Mama, it’s worth sacrificing,she thought as she ran back the same way she’d come only minutes earlier.
April made her way back through the hospital, her body protesting from the unexpected run, knowing the food would be cold by now but hoping it was better cold than nothing at all. She went back to her first patient, the young man who was now lying staring at the ceiling, almost his entire body covered in dressings, and touched his shoulder.
‘I think this might work,’ she said softly, taking out her handkerchief and dabbing perfume to it before placing it over his nose.
The smile on his face and the twinkle of tears in his eyes made her heart melt, and she quickly forked some food again and held it to his mouth. This time he opened it, and she sat beside him and spoon-fed him until there wasn’t a morsel left. Then she reached for his water, holding the straw to his mouth so he could sip it.
‘Better?’ she asked.
His eyes said it all. ‘Can I keep this?’ he asked.
She shook her head. ‘I need it to get around to everyone else,’ she said, gesturing to the others in the ward. ‘But I promise I’ll try to find some squares of towel or muslin and dab perfume for each and every one of you before my shift ends.’
He shut his eyes, and she left his plate, hurrying to the next man. The smiles and quick consumption of food and water made it all worthwhile, and by the time she’d made her way to the last bed in the room, she realized that every single patient had eaten a meal. It might have taken her half of her shift, but she’d done it.
‘I would ask how everything’s going, but from those empty plates I think I know the answer,’ Harry said as he appeared in the doorway.
She shrugged. ‘Sometimes it’s about thinking creatively to solve a problem.’
He reached for the handkerchief in her hand, and she passed it to him.
‘What’s this?’
‘A way to stop them from smelling their burns so they can eat,’ she said. ‘Hardly scientific, but it seemed to work.’
Harry laughed. ‘I knew there was something about you from the moment I met you.’
She stretched, rolling her shoulders and trying to ease the tension from sitting and bending forward for so long.
‘Do you think I can get permission to take a piece of muslin for each patient in here?’
‘I’ll steal them for you myself if I have to.’
Harry disappeared, and April laughed as she turned around and then collected all the empty plates to take back to the kitchen. It had been a gamble, but one tiny thing had made a difference to every man in her ward, and it was enough to give her the courage to do whatever she needed to help her patients.
‘I thought I might find you in here.’
April clutched the plates she was holding as the deep voice seemed to curl around her. Most of the men were sleeping, and the ones who weren’t were hardly in any kind of fit state to protect her.
She turned and found Dr. Grey standing in the middle of the room. His baritone voice had once been so appealing to her, but as she stood before him, all she could think was that he was married.You have a wife at home, and you acted like you were interested in me.And that he had a cruel streak that she could never have imagined.
‘Hello, Dr. Grey. Can I help you?’ she said, trying to be brave as he glowered at her.
‘I thought you’d been sent packing, so imagine my surprise to hear your privileges had been reinstated today.’
She stood, not reacting, not wanting to antagonize him.
‘Nurses don’t get to call the shots in a hospital, April. You don’t get away with killing a man.’ He stared at her, as if daring her to defy him.
‘I did nothing of the sort, and you know it,’ she hissed, moving closer to him, not wanting the patients to hear.
