Page 98 of The Girls of Pearl Harbor
‘You won’t get away with this,’ he said, chuckling as he looked down at her. ‘You killed that man, April; you just don’t remember. I stepped out of the theater for a bathroom break, and you pretended you were a real little doctor and tried to finish my work for me. You think you can open your legs for a doctor and ...’
Thwack.
Out of nowhere Harry appeared, swinging his fist so fast at Dr. Grey’s nose that none of them saw it coming. Blood spurted instantly as Grey staggered back, and April clamped her hand over her mouth as she watched the scene unfold. Harry stood in front of her and waited for Grey to leave the room.
No one said a word, not even Grey.
‘You all right?’ Harry asked, turning once they were alone and studying her face, his eyes searching hers.
‘Yes, I think so.’Other than the fact my entire body is convulsing from fear.
‘No one gets to speak to you or any other nurse like that—you hear me? It’s unacceptable.’
April stood immobile as his hands rubbed her shoulders and trailed down her arms before falling away.
‘You did great here today. Are you staying on my service?’
April nodded. ‘Yes.’
‘Good. Now dab your perfume on those muslins I dropped on my way in, and go take a well-deserved rest.’
‘But Harry, I just ...’ She tried to process her thoughts, Dr. Grey’s words repeating over and over through her mind.
‘What is it? Did he hurt you before I got here?’
‘No.’ She stared at Harry and then laughed. ‘It just came back to me, that day—I remember! He said before about leaving to go on a bathroom break, that he left me with the patient alone, but it wasn’t him! He left me alone with a different patient, one we were doing a cast on. And the man had already stirred, so he heard Dr. Grey say he needed to relieve himself; he wasn’t unconscious. I remember!’
‘That’s your proof, then,’ Harry said. ‘Good work. I knew it would come back to you.’
April walked on shaky legs, wishing she could thank Harry but struggling to make even a squeak in reply as she tried to process what she’d remembered.
‘April?’
She looked back at him, seeing a flicker across his face, something about the way he was looking at her telling her that there was something he was uncomfortable about.
‘Some of us surgeons, we’re going to the front line. The boys at the battalion aid station can’t handle the casualties, and we need to help. It’s taking the wounded too long to receive medical care, and it’s the only thing they can think of to try.’
April swallowed a stone in her throat as she listened to him.
‘We need three nurses to come with us,’ he said. ‘Others will be coming ashore with soldiers as they land, but we need a few from here to join them.’
‘I’ll go,’ she said, without even thinking. ‘I’ll go with you.’
He stepped forward, his eyes almost sorrowful. ‘You’ll have nothing more than a helmet to protect you and a pack on your back. We’ll have to crawl low across the sand and—’
‘I’m here to save lives, Harry. Tell me when you need me, and I’ll go with you.’
His smile was reserved, and she wondered what it all meant, if there was something more developing between them.
Harry’s hand closed over her shoulder, and he smiled down at her.
‘You’re the bravest nurse I know,’ he whispered.
She laughed. ‘Or maybe the stupidest.’
‘How about you be the cleverest then?’
April stared back at him. ‘What do you mean?’
