Timeless

Chapter 11

It wasn't always easy being the women on base. It wasn't always easy having a smile on your face as you attended to wounds that were life-threatening and it certainly wasn't easy speaking in a gentle and calming tone—especially when you knew that there wasn't any other way for the whole thing to end.

Nor was it easy when some days just seemed to stretch into forever. But for Kathryn Egan, she could keep her head up. She could keep a smile on her face. And if that's what she had to do to keep herself going, to keep other people going, then that is exactly what she was going to do.

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The group of nurses lay in a circle on the grass—they were only a few minutes into their lunch break for the day, but there was something really inherently beautiful about the sisterhood that each of them felt for one another.

At first, they had been pointing out clouds as the fog had lifted—finding shapes and finding ways to smile and laugh and distract themselves. Anything to pass the time was better than just sitting in silence or trying to make up some sort of conversation that just felt hollow above anything else.

"What do you think Africa is like?" Poppy questioned, turning on her side to glance at the other girls.

"Hot," Laura deadpanned. "And probably dry."

"Well yeah!" Poppy rolled her eyes. "I know that!"

"I bet...." Kathryn started, gaze not moving from the clouds. "I bet their sky just turns this really pretty orange color. Not burnt, but like it's coming to life and that it's soft. And the wind whispers against skin like a promise in the summer."

"You can smell the ocean breeze on the coast," Annika added, flashing a shy smile as she added onto Kathryn's description.

"And the sand probably gets everywhere—but sometimes it's soft and it's like when you're playing with it as a kid," Laura added.

"Damn," Becky exclaimed, rolling over onto her stomach and looking at all of them. "It's like you've been there."

"Just a good imagination, I guess," Kathryn started.

Before anyone could respond to that, Becky's face had whitened and she turned to the side, abruptly throwing up and heaving into the grass. Almost instantly, the crowd of nurses had converged on poor Becky—with Laura holding up Becky's loose curls and Annika rubbing her back.

"Honey, are you sick?" Poppy questioned, eyes wide at her.

"Not exactly," Becky mumbled.

A heavy beat of silence fell between the nurses and Kathryn's gaze fell on the people passing by their picnic—she grabbed Becky's wrist and forced the girls further out into the field as they all just took in the meaning behind her words.

Becky—beautiful and perfect Becky—looked like she wanted to be sick again. Her hands were curled into her sides and her lip quivered as she looked at the group. "Beck—" Laura started in a gentle tone, taking her by the elbow.

"I'm—" Becky's voice cracked as she looked at the girls, tears spilling out of her eyes. "I'm pregnant ," she whispered in total horror.

No one quite knew what to say—because the simple fact of the matter was that this was a complicated situation. It was one thing to be a woman overseas and to get pregnant by a pilot or a soldier. It was quite another to be a nurse on a base full of men during a time of war and to now suddenly have this decision thrust into your lap.

"Do you..." Poppy started, unsure of how to phrase it.

Becky let out a hot huff of air, nearly scowling. "Of course I know whose it is!"