Angels of Mercy

Chapter Seven

The girls formed a line as they followed Sister Marie down the rows of wounded soldiers. The moans of the wounded soldiers rang in Ruth's ears. The men were in mud soaked clothing and covered in bandages. They walked past a nurse rewrapping a man's mangled leg with a bandage.

"Each of you will be assigned to a station," Sister Marie said, her words were thick with a French accent. "More men are here than we expected. This has required each sister to take on more soldiers into her care."

Marie came to an abrupt stop and spun on her heels. Ruth bit down on her lip as Marie's beady eyes peered at the them. Ruth glanced up to see Birdie's lips pressed into a line.

She had noticed how the girl had stuck around her most of the time. Ruth did not mind it, but her face felt like it was on fire. Any time she looked at Birdie the heat would rush up to her cheeks. Birdie was beautiful, and Ruth loved spending time around her. She was afraid that Birdie was befriending her like Ellen had done. Ruth knew that she would probably not spend much time around Birdie. In a few weeks, she knew that one of them could be deployed to somewhere new. If Ruth did spend time around Birdie, the girl would eventually talk about some boy back in Toronto. Birdie did mention that she was recently a widow. Ruth believed that Birdie could not reciprocate her feelings.

"Are any of you surgical nurses?" Sister Marie asked.

The girls all looked around at each other. Marie raise one of her thin eyebrows. Ruth's hand shook as she raised it. All of the girl's turned to stare at Ruth. Birdie's jaw dropped for a second, but she was able to regain her composure. Marie snapped her fingers, monitoring for her to come forward. Ruth stepped past the girls and stood in front of Marie.

"What is your name?" Marie asked.

"Ruth Beecroft," she said.

"Thank you for coming forward, Ruth," Marie said. "You will skip the tour and go straight to work. We have two amputations scheduled for today. Ladies, we do not have enough surgical nurses at this station. You will all do rotations in surgery."

There were murmurs among the girls. Marie cleared her throat, and the girls silenced. Ruth struggled to swallow because of the lump forming in her throat.

"Go to the room in the back," Marie said. "Sister Ida will show you what you need to know."

Ruth nodded her head. Marie stepped to the side and extended her arm. Ruth looked over her shoulder to see Birdie give her a soft smile. Ruth walked down the aisle of beds toward the back. She wandered around the hall. It was empty, but she could hear the flow of water. She peered into what appeared to be a bathroom. A woman was washing her hands at the sink. Blood was rushing off of her fingers and swirling down the drain. Her blonde hair was tied back under her white cap. Her uniform looked a lot like Ruth's, but it was solid white. A mask was pushed down and sitting around her neck.

"Hello," Ruth said. The woman looked up from scrubbing her hands. "I'm looking for Ida."

"I'm Ida," she said as she wiped her hands on a towel. "Did Marie send you?"

"She did."

"Perfect, I'll get you a uniform."

She stepped out of the bathroom. Ruth followed beside her as she made her way down the hallway. Ida walked with both of her hands behind her back. Her pace was quick, and Ruth struggled to keep up.

"I have not seen you before," Ida said. "When did you come to the station?"

"About thirty minutes ago," Ruth said.

Ida stopped and spun around. Her brows were furrowed together.

"Marie is already putting you to work?" she asked. "I know she is not a fan of easing people into war, but this is a bit extreme. Are you a surgical nurse? You seem so young."