Page 38 of The Secrets We Left Behind
Cate had the flashlight low to the ground, and Elise had to move quickly to keep up with her. She was wearing a spare coat and Cate was wearing a shirt, both of which had belonged to Elise’s brother. She hated to lend anyone her brother’s clothing; she’d kept everything as he’d left it, but she knew he’d want someone in need to have it instead of leaving it hanging and gathering dust.
“He’s through here,” Cate said, and Elise could hear the haste in her voice, didn’t doubt that the other woman was right.
She knew this land, had walked past it countless times, but after ducking through countless fences and crossing meadows, it could have been anywhere on earth. Suddenly Cate left her side and Elise rushed to keep up with her, tripping as she almost fell straight into the ditch that stretched across the field. Cate had already dropped low, on her haunches now, and Elise did the same, not wanting to twist an ankle as she scrambled on the slippery grass that made way for dirt. No wonder Cate’s uniform had been so thickly caked with mud.
“He’s here!” Cate cried out as she disappeared into the ditch, and Elise followed, the flashlight creating a small pool of brightness around the nurse. She was huddled over a body, the man’s bare shoulders and chest smeared with dirt, but it wasn’t this that made Elise stop in her tracks; it was the pain etched on his face. It was horrific, it made her shudder, made her want to turn away and run in the other direction. But she didn’t, couldn’t,wouldn’t.
She saw Cate’s hands flail, as if she didn’t know where to touch or what to do, and Elise stepped closer, dropping down and placing her hand flat to her back. She was used to being the strong one, to pushing her own fears aside to be there for someone else.
“What do you need me to do?” Elise whispered, taking in the shirt tied tightly around his waist, blood having soaked through much of the fabric. She was no nurse, but even she could see this man wasn’t going to survive without some kind of medical assistance.
Cate’s wild, pained eyes met hers, but after a moment of just staring at Elise and breathing, she seemed to find herself. Elise could see her steadying, could see the change in her as she turned back to the soldier and quickly removed the extra coat she’d been wearing to help him into it.
“We need to move him,” Cate said. “We need to move him as quickly as we can, before he loses more blood.”
“There’s no way we can carry him between us,” Elise said, studying his big frame. “I don’t know how—”
“We can’t leave him here! We have to try,” Cate cried, and attempted to haul him up herself. And then Jack grunted, eyes still half-shut as he slowly rose.
“You’re right, we can do this, we’re not going to leave him here. I wasn’t for a moment suggesting we leave him,” Elise agreed, knowing that even if they failed in the end, she had to at least try instead of giving up before they started. This man deserved better than to be left to die in a ditch; she just had no idea how two small women were supposed to haul him all the way back to her house, undetected.
“I can walk,” Jack said with a grunt as he righted himself, but Elise quickly positioned herself under one arm as Cate stood steadfast beneath the other. “Let me”—he sucked back a breath—“walk.”
“You walk as best you can, and we’ll be here for the rest of it,” Elise told him, speaking English so he could understand her, and instinctively knowing that there was no way he could even get himself out of the ditch, let alone walk. But she understood pride, and she wasn’t going to knock him down.
“Who’s she?” he groaned.
“She’s the cavalry,” Cate muttered as they propped him up and attempted to get him out of the ditch. “There’s no one else coming to save us, we’re all you’ve got.”
Elise might have been uncertain before, but now that she could see Cate’s determination, coupled with her abilities as a nurse, she was fast realizing what an asset she could be. She’d be able to tend to Harry’s injuries far better than Elise herself could, which could inadvertently save them all in the end.
A cluster of gunshots cut through the air then, far enough away not to terrify her, but close enough to remind her that they weren’talone out in the dark. As children, they’d run barefoot for miles, exploring and playing without adult supervision. They’d climbed trees and munched fruit out on the grass, staring at the sky and watching as the clouds passed by. Now, the same place she’d grown up in wasn’t safe enough for a dog to walk alone, let alone two women after dark.
“Just one foot in front of the other,” she heard Cate say, and she looped her arm more firmly around Jack as they started to walk.
He was only managing a very slow shuffle, but he was at least supporting some of his own body weight, which made it easier on them. Elise’s arm was against Cate’s now, pressed together as they walked, and it was a strange feeling to be touching someone. Again. In the past forty-eight hours, she’d had contact with four strangers, touching each of them: fingers brushing, skin colliding, tending to them, even; and it wasn’t natural for her. Two years ago, maybe even a year ago, she’d never have thought about it, but now it was as strange as could be. Although something about touching Cate felt a lot more natural than touching the men.
“You can leave me,” Jack said, grunting with every step.
“No, we can’t,” Cate snapped back. “I won’t.”
“You’re more ...” he said, before coughing and seeming to struggle to catch his breath. Elise cringed. The cough sounded wet and choking from deep in his lungs, like nothing she’d ever heard before. “... important.”
Cate seemed to ignore him, not answering him, and Elise was happy to walk in silence. Cate was clearly determined to bring him with her, and although she didn’t know if there was a romantic attachment to the man or not, Elise admired her for it. And she suddenly knew without a shadow of doubt that she’d done the right thing in coming to help her with him.
“We don’t have that far to go,” Elise said eventually. “And we’re not leaving anyone behind, not if we can help it.”
She couldn’t see Cate’s gaze in the dark, but she could feel it, and she knew that whatever happened, this woman would fight to save anyone she grew close to, and that could be more useful to Elise than anything else.
“Thank you,” Cate said, her voice cutting through the dark that had managed to swallow them all. They were following their noses home now, the sky barely giving them any light to walk by.
Elise stayed quiet, because what could she say? They all knew what a risk she was taking. But, after a moment, she found a reply. “I do have a favor to ask you in return,” she said.
There was a pause, a beat of silence between them where Elise could hear Cate breathe, as if she were biding her time before answering.
“What kind of favor?”
“I have another soldier hidden in my home, and he needs medical attention too,” Elise said. “Jack can stay, but you need to put as much energy into caring for my soldier as you are this one.”
