Delia Page 10

  “Double amputee below the hip. The chart on this one just says artillery. He has four broken ribs. Says he suffers from severe migraines and had an infection that burned through him for three days before they cleared him to be transferred. He’s been sedated for the move over here.”

  “Ok, well let’s put these two closer to the back door, that way if they need anything we’ll know sooner.”

  It was a quiet morning and Alice and Delia worked the ward alone. They made their round tending to patients. Thankfully there were no major complications. The doctor came in to see the new patients; made some adjustments to the medications they were taking, and then catheterized the nameless soldier.

  “All right, you ladies have it from here?”

  “We do, sir.”

  Alice fed the nameless soldier using a feeding tube. It was a messy instrument, but there was nothing else they could do for him. He opened his eyes to watch but they were swollen and bloodshot. Delia came over as Alice was finishing up with him.

  “Need anything?” she asked Alice. Delia noticed the soldier’s beat up eyes following her. She smiled at him. “We’re going to take good care of you, soldier.” He could not, of course, respond.

  “I’m okay hon.”

  “Are you sure?” Delia asked a little playfully and bumped her hip into Alice, who was just stuffing the used feeding tube into a bag.

  “You! Are you flirting with me, Nurse Jensen?” Alice returned a playful smile.

  “It’s possible.”

  Alice glanced down the corridor then snaked a hand out to Delia’s. She pulled Delia in and then leaned up, meeting Delia’s mouth with her own. Delia smiled into the kiss. It felt right, like nectar and sunshine, pleasure and excitement. It had been almost a month since Delia had admitted to herself that she had real feelings for Alice, and that more than anything she desired her – more than success or respect or all the security in the world. Alice broke away from the kiss a moment later.

  “Ouch!” she said. She looked down as she was jerked sideways. Her hand had been resting against the edge of No-Name’s bed. The soldier who was wrapped up in bandages had a fierce hold on her wrist and was trying to drag her toward him.

  “What are you doing?” Alice wrenched her arm out of the man’s grip. “That behavior will not be tolerated!” she scolded the soldier.

  Alice rubbed her arm. There were several crescent shaped cuts where his nails had dug into her. Even though he was restrained on the bed to keep him from rolling off, he hadn’t been restrained for the purpose of security, and his arm cuffs were obviously too loose. His bloodshot eyes were glaring out at the two nurses.

  Delia shook her head at the man. “Don’t you judge us, soldier. We’re the ones that are going to be taking care of you, so you’d best learn to behave”

  Delia thought she sounded tough, though it was easy to be tough with someone who was restrained in bed. She knew they should not have been behaving the way they were at work, but she would be damned if she was going to take any shit about it. As she looked into the soldier’s eyes she started to hear whispering. She knew it could not be him but she leaned her head in closer anyway to try to hear. They were definitely coming from his direction.

  “What are you doing, Dee?”

  “Just give me a minute.” Delia listened carefully to whispers. As she leaned in close to his chest they started to change. The whispers grew louder and formed angry, indecipherable words. Delia shivered and stood back up. She had not heard the voices for a long time, but she would not be so foolish as to forget their meaning. They were a warning. Delia checked the man’s restraints to be sure he could not go anywhere.

  “What’s going on, Dee? It’s not a big deal, it was my fault really. I shouldn’t have kissed you like that. Not in front of everybody and while we’re at work. Some people get scared and violent when they see things they don’t understand. I’m sure he was just reacting to what he saw.”

  “No, we need to keep an eye on him.” Delia stared into the man’s eyes for a moment longer.

  Chapter Ten

  The crumpled up paper and envelope danced through the air in front of the group of soldiers surrounding the fire before it landed in the burning pit. Francis’s face was frozen in a state of anguish. His hand were curling and uncurling slowly and mechanically. The ring about the fire was very quiet. Except for Pig Face.

  “What was that about, Corporal?”

  Francis said nothing. His head was spinning wildly. Delia was his, she was his! What did she think she was doing? She could not leave him. He would just have to find her, find her and tell her that this was not going to work. Also, he would find whomever it was that she had been unfaithful with. Find him and kill him. His mind drifted to the KA-BAR at his side. Yes, that was how he would do it. He would find the person that she had slept with and slide the seven-inch blade slowly into his eye, until the hilt came to rest in his eye socket.

  “Come on now, we’ve all gotten a dear John letter before. Tell us what happened. The bitch screwing someone else why you’re away?” Pig Face was not relenting.

  Francis leapt into action before he even had time to think about what he was doing. In what seemed like half a second, he was off the ground and flying over the fire pit. Pig Face was still wearing the smug smile on his face when Francis reached him. There was no time for anyone to react - Francis drove his fist into Pig’s face.

  The large, red-faced man spattered out blood and fell to his back. As if automated, Francis whipped the KA-BAR from its sheath. It was his favorite killing weapon. He plunged the knife down toward the man’s throat. The man screamed as the knife fell toward him, and then a rifle stock came down on the back of Francis’s head. He had a brief vision of a black tunnel closing in on him, then fell into unconsciousness.

  “For fuck’s sake, gentlemen, were you going to let him kill the man?” The speaker was a young officer with a clean face and a single silver bar on his helmet.

  “We didn’t know what was happening, sir, he just lost it.”

  “Yeah I think his girl sent him a break-up letter, and Arnold over there asked him about it and the guy just flipped.”

  The officer nodded as he looked down at Francis. He rolled him over with his boot and looked with recognition at the small patch on his upper arm. “Ranger, huh? With whom?”

  “2nd battalion,” someone muttered.

  The Lieutenant regarded him intently for a moment. “They came up the ropes at Point Du Hoc. True bad-asses, those men.”

  The soldiers in the group nodded. One of them, a young, olive-skinned man, spoke up. “Couple weeks ago he was out beyond the lines and took out a heavily fortified mortar position on his own, saved a lot of lives. Sir.”

  “I remember that.”

  “Yeah, I heard that his friend Bill was with him. He didn’t make it back, though and now the Corporal is all fucked up in the head.”

  “Watch your mouth, son. This man will likely receive the Medal of Honor – if he lives. Drag him to his tent. Someone wait there with him, and when he wakes up, inform him that if there are any further altercations of any kind involving him, I will send MPs to detain him immediately. It doesn’t matter who you are, this type of behavior cannot be tolerated.”

  One of the soldiers stood up and grabbed Francis by the boots.

  The officer looked down at Pig Face. “I suggest you stay away from Corporal Marks, do you understand?”

  Pig Face nodded his understanding.

  “Let this be a lesson to all of you,” the Lieutenant said to them. “This man was a bona fide hero. Look at him now. This is what you happens when you lose focus out here.”

  Then the Lieutenant turned to Pig Face. “And change your fucking pants. I can smell the piss on you from here.”

  Pig Face flushed red and looked as if he wanted to say something smart to the officer, but by the time he thought of something the Lieutenant had walked away.

  *****

  Francis woke up
with a screaming headache. A young, tired-looking soldier was sitting alongside him.

  “What are you doing here?”

  “Delivering a message from the Lieutenant. If there are any more problems from you they’re going to lock you up.”

  Francis snorted. “We’re already in prison out here aren’t we? And I just lost the one thing I had to look forward to.”

  The soldier looked at him blankly for a moment, and then spoke. “I also received a letter recently.”

  Francis looked away, not caring. He didn’t give a shit what this peon had to say.

  “The letter said that the hospital staff was sorry, but they couldn’t save my wife after giving birth to my son. She bled to death after delivering him. Now the boy is in an orphanage until I get home.”

  The soldier paused as if to reflect on his own words.

  “We’re all dealing with shit man, pull it together and be the soldier everyone used to talk about.”

  Francis said nothing, but nodded in the young man’s direction.

  The soldier got up and left Francis in the tent alone.

  *****

  The ward was dark, and Delia sat in a corner, knitting. She was on-call that night, which really just meant she had to stay up all night in case there was an emergency with one of the patients. All of the patients were asleep by eleven. All but the mute soldier with the bandaged face. When Delia walked through the ward checking on patients his eyes followed her. It was unnerving, to say the least. What was more concerning to Delia were the dark whispers that seemed to emanate from him. Every time she had heard those whispers in her life, something bad had happened, or someone was threatening her in some way.

  Eventually even the creepy soldier fell asleep, and Delia knitted in silence. Then she heard the soft swoosh of one of the double doors being pushed open and saw Alice walk in. Delia smiled at her and cocked her head curiously. Alice quietly strode across the long corridor.

  "What are you doing?" Delia whispered. "You should be sleeping, you have the early shift tomorrow."

  "I know, I'll suffer in the morning."

  "But why?"

  "I can't stop thinking about you."

  Delia blushed a little; thankful it was dark in the room.

  "I just wanted to come and see you. " Alice leaned in close to her face. "I wanted to smell your hair," she said as she brushed against Delia's cheek, "and I wanted to taste your lips."

  Alice pressed her mouth against Delia's and Delia dropped her knitting. The needles hit the ground with a muted clang. She knew this was very inappropriate, especially after the incident earlier, but she did not care. It was late and there was no one up to see them now. Delia met Alice’s lips with intense longing. She pulled Alice’s soft body on top of hers in the chair and squeezed her tightly. Blood was rushing in her ears and she could feel her heart beating madly.

  Then she heard something else. She heard the whispering. It was clear, and angry. For a moment Delia tried to block out the sound, but now it was filling her head with its dark warning. She broke off the kiss and peered over Alice's shoulder behind them. The bandaged soldier was sitting up in his bed. Delia shivered. He looked like a mummy over there, only partially illuminated by the light from the door.

  "My God, Alice, look." Delia pointed behind her. Alice unsaddled herself from Delia's lap. Then she gasped when she turned around.

  "Sir!" she whispered loudly. "Lie back down sir. You are going to tear through your new skin!"

  Alice started to advance toward the man but Delia held her back. The dark rushing sounds were still sending out their warnings. This man was filled with hatred. Maybe malice toward them, she did not know, but for now he should be avoided.

  Delia spoke to the man. "Would you like a sedative to help you rest?" He did not answer. "Sitting must be very painful, but if that's what you would like to do, you may."

  "What is going on with that one?" Alice mumbled.

  "I don't know, but I want you to stay clear of him."

  Alice made a snorting noise. "Humph, I can take care of myself, farm girl."

  "I'm serious. Be careful around him."

  "I am too, I know how to handle myself!"

  Delia sighed. "Fine, but go away now, I don't want any more of them waking up and seeing us in a compromised position. Some of them can talk."

  "But I like putting you in a compromised position." Alice pulled Delia tight to her and kissed her once more. "I'll be dreaming of you."

  Delia blushed again in the dark, then let Alice's hand drop as she walked away. When Alice had left through the double doors, Delia stayed standing and staring at the bandaged man. The silent judgment from the wounded man reminded her that even though this felt good, what she was doing with Alice would seem wrong to the rest of the world. What was she going to do once they left the cloistered atmosphere of the hospital? Everything will have to be different. What would she do when she saw Francis again?

  A shiver ran through her at the thought of Francis, as she remembered him telling her that she was all his. She wasn’t afraid of Francis, was she? Delia sighed into the dark, staring at the nameless soldier. He eventually lay back down, but the angry rushing did not subside. Delia was worried…about everything.

  Chapter Eleven

  Delia went up to her apartment as the sun rose. The nurses were fortunate that medical housing was available to all staff on-site. The three-story building was connected to the hospital itself by way of a narrow brick hallway. The style was unusual, but made it very easy for the doctors and nurses. A doctor had come down a few minutes earlier to relieve her. She did not pass Alice on the stairwell on the way up. She probably overslept after her late night foray into the hospital. Alice got away with murder. It must be one of the perks of being so classically beautiful.

  All the doctors admired her and the patients used any excuse possible to get her attention. Delia considered herself a very odd type of lucky to be in this unusual relationship with Alice. Apart from the obvious incongruity of being with a woman instead of a man, she was perfectly happy with Alice, even more than happy, really. Alice had changed her world. In this bleak and sometimes depressing place that they worked, Alice had made it colorful. Her unending kindness and rigid confidence made her someone Delia admired greatly. Delia was confident in her abilities as a nurse, but beyond that she knew that she was a little awkward in general. She chuckled to herself.

  “Alice, if you could just give me a little of your grace we’d be so much more…even.” Delia said to the empty stairwell. She reached her floor and pushed through the large steel door. She was exhausted and flopped into bed as soon as she got into the apartment. She fell asleep with thoughts of Alice on her mind. She wanted to kiss her again and feel their bodies intertwined.

  She had not slept long before the nightmare overtook her. Delia was a young girl again, in her family home. A gunshot had rocked through the house, waking her. She could hear her father’s stomping feet on the stairs – heading for her room. Delia rolled back and forth on the bed as she slept, the memories tormenting her even in her sleep.

  She dove under her father’s legs and raced down the stairs, but she stumbled and fell into a heap at the bottom of the staircase. Her breath was knocked from her chest and her head was stuck at a strange angle, staring into the sitting room; staring into the eyes of her murdered mother. Her mother’s hazel eyes seemed cloudy, as if the light that lived within them had been literally extinguished. Then they blinked and Delia startled with hope. Her mother’s mouth moved open and closed, open and closed. She was trying to speak but Delia could hear nothing but a soft wheezing. Her father was forgotten as she crawled elbow over elbow to her mother a few feet away.

  “What are you trying to tell me, Mother?”

  Delia held her face close to her mother’s moving mouth and the faint whispers turned into words.

  “Wake up, Delia. Wake up now.”

  “What? I’m awake, mother. Father is after me! Come on, I’ll h
elp you up.”

  “No, Delia. Wake up now. She is in danger, she needs your help.”

  Delia stared at her mother, terribly confused, then a loud roar filled the room. It grew and grew until Delia screamed with the force of it. Suddenly, she startled awake with her legs writhing and sweat dripping off of her face.

  Something was wrong, she could feel it immediately. Delia sat straight up in bed, her senses alert. Then the sounds came crashing in. Just like in her dream, her head was filled with a roar of rushing voices. They were crashing through her head, echoing like waves amplified in a conch shell.

  “Oh no,” she whispered. Delia stumbled out of the apartment without even putting her shoes on. She bolted into the connective hallway and then down the stairwell. The lower she went the louder the raucous voices were in her head. Finally, she reached the ground floor and burst through the double doors of the hospital ward.

  It was lunchtime, so although it was the middle of the day, the hospital wing was empty except for the patients and the on-duty nurse. Delia knew right where to look. All the way down the hospital wing, on her knees between two beds, was Alice. The mummy-wrapped soldier was half out of bed with his hands around her neck, strangling her. Alice’s hands were on his, trying unsuccessfully to pry his giant hands from her neck.

  Delia sprinted through the ward. Mummy soldier noticed her immediately but did not stop. Alice’s hands dropped down to the floor and her eyes began to roll back into her head.

  “Let her go!” Delia screamed. “Help! Help us!”

  Delia knew that help would never come in time, though. When she reached them, she knew what she had to do. The man had both hands around Alice’s neck and was not letting go, so Delia pulled her arm back and slammed a punch into the man’s side, right where the wrappings were covering his newly grown skin. The pain must have been excruciating. His head snapped back in a silent scream (his mouth was still wired shut) and he dropped Alice. His body shuddered several times and then he blacked out into a heap on the bed.