The Nurse

Chapter 9: To the Airfield

Eloise fumbled through the basket of linens, making her best attempt at hanging the white fabrics. She could not get the look of Terrell out of her mind, which had become unusually still. Her hands found their way onto her face where she held them for several seconds. No matter how hard she tried, she could not regain her hopeful mindset. Sleep was not an option for her anymore—even her dreams were plagued with hellish thoughts.

Her eyes scanned the outside carefully. Dread pitted in her stomach as she remembered that Albert was coming back for his friend, and she would have to tell him of his death. There was no sight of the captain, but she knew of his persistence—he always kept his word. How would he react? What would he say? Questions racked her tired braid but no answers surfaced. She shoved the non-happened events out of her mind and continued hanging the freshly washed cloths.

She spied in the corner of her eye, several women pointing at her and whispering. All of the power within herself did not want care, but something inside her heart wanted to know what they were saying. Word spread quickly in the nurses' ward. The gossip of the women swept like fire, consuming the reputations of many in its path. News of Terrell's death and her reaction carried from mouth to mouth until she had nothing else to hide; She was alone and breaking with no one there to care.

After she hung the last linen, she heard the commotion tearing through the inside of the building. The familiar echo of Albert's voice rang through her ears and she rushed back inside of the ward. In the middle of the walkway was Albert, looking over each man carefully as he frantically searched for the familiar face of his friend. In his clutched hand, Eloise spied a crumpled piece of paper. It contained the bitter news of his friend, she assumed.

"Where is Terrell!?" He shouted loudly at Giselle, scanning the room of wounded once again.

                Eloise slipped to the side of the room where she began to inspect a soldier's bandage. The last thing she wished to do was intervene between Albert and the matron. She began wrapping a fresh bandage around the wounded man's head, pretending as if she did not know of his presence. Giselle rested her hands upon Albert's chest, attempting to steady his brash actions. 

                "Where is Terrell Muller?" He asked again, this time calmer. He fought hard to hid back his expressions as he pointed to the corner. "He was in that corner bed yesterday and now he is gone. Where did he go?"

                Eloise glance over at him, then at the corner recalling the events that happened in the previous night. A sense of dread came over her as she knew the fate of his friend and she knew that he would have to be informed.

                Giselle shook her head, sliding her hand to rest on his shoulder. "Sir, I don't know of a man named Terrell Muller. I can try and help you look for him."

"You are the matron of these nurses and you do not know your patient." Albert remarked with annoyance. "You even met this man on my air field and you cannot recall him? What kind of a matron are you?" He quickly pushed away her hand from him and shook his head. His cold stare glanced around the unforgiving room of patients until he caught a glimpse of Eloise. "I am going to speak with her. She knows who I am talking about."

                Giselle huffed angrily as he sharply turned away from her. Eloise could hear the dreaded sound of heavy bootsteps approaching her from behind. She paused and stared down at the man she was working on. He nodded at her sympathetically, as if he could sense the dread within her.

                "Eloise," Albert's voice became soft as he placed a sturdy hand on her shoulder. "you will tell me straight, where did Terrell go?"

                Eloise looked up at him, sympathy filling her eyes as she watched the strength in his face disappear into brokenness. The knowledge of his knowing made her feel much sadness for his loss.