“Grace, next time you try to give a new sailor a shot, make sure he’s properly sterilized.” Linda Jean Kramer scolded from behind the patient.
“It’s my fault,” The patient, Bernard Tony Palmer, said from where he was bent over. “I told her I did it right.”
“Don’t make up excuses for the lower ranked nurses.” Linda hissed. “She should have known to double check whether or not you put peroxide on right-.” Linda turned her cold stare to Grace, “A task nurses learn on the first day of the job.”
Grace smiled politely until Linda left, then let out a curse beneath her breath.
“I’m sorry, Nurse Becker. I should have followed the instructions instead of thinking I could skip it.”
Grace smiled down at Bernard. “Don’t apologize. I think Linda forgets that I’m in the same rank as she is.”
Bernard’s eyes opened. “But she’s so old.”
“Age does not equal intelligence. Take my brother, for instance. Younger than you, but a first class sailor.”
Bernard’s eyes sparkled with humor. “Proud, are you?”
Grace flushed. “Yes, I am. He arrived three weeks ago, and already he’s proven his place here.”
Bernard looked up. “How long have you been here?”
Grace looked surprised by the question. “Two years.”
Sympathy filled his eyes. “That’s a shame. You’re too pretty to be in a place like this.”
Grace’s face hardened, and her eyes glazed in a sheet of ice. With a stiff arm she stuck the long needle deep into his upper thigh and tore it away without mercy. When she spoke again, her voice was no longer humoring and soft. “You’re finished, I apologize for the inconvenience.”
Bernard held his thigh in pain. “Oh, come on darling, don’t be like that.”
Grace ignored him. She had already begun walking away to the next patient. She could hear him mumbling sexist slurs beneath his breath, but she refused to give him the satisfaction of bothering her.
“Why do you do that to them?” A strong voice came from beside Grace. She turned to see the kind eyes of Virginia Diane Wilson. She stood hardly taller than five foot five, but her hard gray eyes and straight, confident posture made her the most intimidating woman in the nursing unit. She had only been at Pearl Harbor for six months, but she had developed a reputation of a woman who should not be tampered with.
Grace faced her with a fake innocence. “Do what?”
Virginia rolled her eyes. “Whenever a boy compliments you on the way you look, you completely disregard them.”
“I don’t appreciate being complimented for traits I don’t control.” Grace smiled.
“Is that why you curl your hair and put on lipstick every morning?” Virginia’s brow curled.
Grace smiled. “I suppose so.”
Grace enjoyed Virginia’s curtness. She appreciated that there was someone ready to tell her that she was flawed and mistaken.
YOU ARE READING
The Kids Are Alright
Historical FictionGrace Becker and her brothers all had their reasons to leave home, but when they were all assigned to work at Pearl Harbor, a naval base in Hawaii, none knew what their fate had in store.
