44

Mariana had found the strength to return to the hospital. The initial euphoria of Daniel’s expression of love helped carry her through the next two days of ceaseless labor.

Her uncle’s funeral was a struggle, even though Daniel and Philip stood by her. Ilya was buried in a graveyard with hundreds of other fallen soldiers, thousands of miles from home. Mariana tried not to think of her family, especially her grandmama, who would never be able to visit her son’s grave.

The work of the hospital continued in spite of her grief. The wounded and sick never seemed to stop coming. The deaths never got easier. They were completely out of anaesthetics, and the morphine supply was so low it could be used only on the most critical patients. In the past, Mariana had been disturbed by the plenteous amounts of vodka in the besieged city because many of the male hospital attendants were drunk all the time. Now she was thankful for it and had often sent those same attendants on black market “raids” to obtain it for hospital use.

The physical condition of the hospital staff was also deteriorating. Long shifts and poor diet had reduced most to utter exhaustion. Mariana herself, even days before her uncle’s death, had noticed bleeding in her gums—a suspicious symptom of scurvy.

Mariana, indeed, had been bolstered by her recent encounter with Daniel, but life had not improved one hundred percent, or even fifty percent. She was simply able to continue to survive—and in the present conditions, that in itself was nothing short of a miracle.

The day she returned to work after Ilya’s funeral, she met Dr. Itkinson in the corridor.

“Dr. Itkinson,” she said, “I want to thank you for attending my uncle’s funeral. It meant a great deal to me.”

“It was the least I could do, Mariana. You are certain you are ready to work?”

“What else is there to do, Doctor? It occupies my mind, and sometimes I even forget to notice the bombing.”

“I was on my way to find you,” the doctor said after a short pause. “I have a bit of a proposition to offer you.”

“Really?”

“The Japanese have offered us a small concession in return for the cease-fire we granted a few days ago.”

“That’s unusual, isn’t it?”

“Not entirely. We are fighting an honorable enemy, I suppose.”

“What is their concession?”

“They are going to allow a Red Cross boat safe passage from the harbor in order for us to evacuate some of our wounded. Stoessel has lined up a German freighter for the job. After some remodeling, it will accommodate about one hundred and fifty wounded. I know it seems a minuscule number, considering all the thousands we have, and, in my personal opinion, it is hardly worth the effort because of the accompanying personnel we will have to lose. But Stoessel is adamant that we accept the gesture. I’m in the process now of surveying all the hospitals to select the patients for the journey.”

“They won’t all be officers, will they, Dr. Itkinson?”

“Not if I have any say in the matter,” Itkinson replied with conviction. “The largest percentage will be common soldiers. Whoever goes, however, must be seriously wounded, but with a high chance of recovery. It’s not an easy selection to make. Even more difficult is staffing the boat. Choosing a physician was no problem—Vlasenko volunteered for the duty, and I saw no reason to deny him. He is the one person on the staff I can afford to do without. The nursing staff was another matter. You are all invaluable. And I know no one would volunteer to leave. But I have chosen you, Mariana, to go with the boat.”

“Dr. Itkinson, I know my work has suffered lately—”

“Don’t misunderstand me, Mariana,” Itkinson quickly interjected. “I’m not sending you away because I am unhappy with your work. You are the best nurse I have.”

“Then, why?”

“My dear, you have been through enough—and you have given enough. I am a doctor, remember? I can tell your health is suffering.”

“I am not the only one.”

“Nevertheless, I am sending you. But don’t think for a minute you are being sent on vacation. The waters between here and Vladivostok, your destination, are rife with their own dangers. And once you have turned over your patients, you’ll have orders to report by train to Mukden, where the next major battle of this war will most likely be fought. I would be reluctant to let you go, Mariana, if I didn’t believe they will soon be needing you there more than we do here.”

Mariana shrugged. “If those are my orders, what can I say?”

He gave her arm a paternal pat. “The military is wonderful in that way—making all our difficult decisions for us.”

“When will we leave?”

“As soon as the ship is refitted. A few days at best, but we want to get off before the harbor closes up with ice.”

Mariana couldn’t get away from the hospital, but she sent a message to Daniel, asking if he could come see her that evening.

She was changing a patient’s dressing when she had a visitor. It wasn’t Daniel.

“Philip, what a surprise.”

“I heard about your orders. I don’t know whether to be thrilled or depressed.”

“Let me finish here, then we can talk.”

In five minutes she led him to two vacant chairs at the nurse’s station where they sat facing each other.

“I have mixed feelings also,” Mariana said, picking up on Philip’s last comment. “A few days ago, I wanted nothing more than to get away from this place. But now I feel like I’m letting everyone down.”

“It’s not your choice, Mariana. But my feelings spring from a different source. I am glad you are leaving the dangers and privations here. I could see, though you have tried to hide it, that you have been sick for days. It’s good you are leaving before it gets worse. But—” He sighed heavily. “My selfish side wants you to stay. You have made this war bearable for me, and I don’t know what I will do without your sweet smile and your soft, dear voice.”

“Philip—”

“Please, let me finish. I love you, Mariana, and I want you to be my wife. I know wartime sometimes breeds fickle hearts, but I am certain you are the woman for me.”

“Please, Philip, I can’t let you go on.”

“I know you don’t love me in the same way,” he continued in a rush. “But that doesn’t bother me as long as I can be with you always, caring for you, protecting you. I can think of nothing else but spending the rest of my life with you.”

“Philip, you are such a dear man, and the depth of your affection does me great honor—”

“As I would do for all of our days together.”

“But, Philip, you deserve more. You deserve a woman who can love you with all the passion you yourself can give. You deserve to be unreservedly adored—and I know you will find her one day.”

“But it is not you?”

“Not when I love another.”

He shook his head, disappointed but not crushed. “Ah, I see. Daniel Trent.”

She nodded in reply. And, to avoid hurting Philip too much, she tried to subdue her joy at simply hearing Daniel’s name. But she knew her feelings were evident on her face.

“To be honest,” Philip said, “I thought I saw it the first time I saw the two of you together. But, as neither of you indicated anything to me, I hoped it was my imagination, and I might still have a chance with you.”

“We only just discovered it a few days ago ourselves—I think it was brewing for a long time, though. I hope I didn’t do anything to lead you on.”

“Only by being your natural, angelic self.”

“I’m sorry, Philip.”

He chuckled warmly. “Thank you for saying so, anyway. I’ll recover in time.”

“When you return to Russia, a decorated war hero, there will be dozens of women ready to fall madly in love with you. And, if it hadn’t been for Daniel, doubtless I would have been one of them.”

At that moment, she glanced up to see Daniel approaching. Philip rose immediately and held out his hand, grinning at a somewhat bemused Daniel.

“You are a lucky man,” Philip said, giving Daniel’s hand a vigorous shake.

“What’s this?” Daniel glanced back and forth between Philip and Mariana.

“Mariana has just turned down my marriage proposal in favor of a certain American correspondent.”

“Daniel and I haven’t discussed marriage yet,” Mariana said quickly.

“What?” Philip turned toward Daniel with shock, partly feigned, partly genuine. “My dear fellow, what are you waiting for? Do you realize what you have in this girl? A priceless gem, an incalculable treasure! Don’t risk letting her get away.” He gave Mariana a wink. “She won’t have far to go.”

For one of the few times in his life, Daniel was nearly speechless. Mariana laughed. She felt bad for him, but it was a sight to behold. Nevertheless, she came to his rescue.

“Philip, you’ll scare the poor man away,” she said lightly. “You know how Americans are, fiercely independent. I thought we’d ease gently into the subject of marriage.”

Philip and Mariana laughed, and even Daniel managed a chuckle or two.

At last he was able to speak. “You are taking this quite well, Philip.”

“Above all, I want Mariana’s happiness, and I know she would never be happy with me as long as she loved you.” Philip paused and became serious. “In that vein, Daniel, I would make a request of you.”

“Say on.”

“You must accompany Mariana to Vladivostok—”

“Where?”

“Daniel, that’s why I asked you to come this evening,” Mariana said. “I’ve been ordered to accompany a Red Cross ship to Vladivostok. The Japanese are going to allow this in return for the cease-fire we granted. I’ll leave in a few days.”

“And we cannot let her go without protection,” Philip put in.

“Of course I’m going with her.” Daniel spoke without a moment’s hesitation.

Mariana nearly protested the idea that she needed protection. But the prospect of having Daniel along on the journey was too attractive to resist.

“Now, I must return to my duties,” said Philip. Before departing, however, he asked Daniel, “May I give Mariana a parting farewell, in the Russian style? She did, after all, save my life and I shall be forever in her debt for that.”

Daniel nodded his approval, and Philip gave Mariana an enthusiastic hug.

When Philip was gone, Daniel smiled. “Imagine him asking me for permission to hug you. He is a bit old fashioned, isn’t he?”

“Just a little.”

“Did he really propose to you?”

“Practically on bended knee.”

“I may not be able to top that.”

“You don’t need to, Daniel. And I don’t expect you to propose marriage to me this instant, either.”

“But someday . . . ?”

“What do you think?”

“I definitely plan to, Mariana.”

She smiled and nodded. “But first, let’s just get used to this idea of being in love. It’s quite a big enough step from being friends—for the time being.”

He gazed at her with open love. He seemed ready to sweep her into his arms with far more than a Russian-style embrace. Mariana felt the romantic tension and diverted their attention to another matter.

“I’m glad you’re going with me, Daniel, even if I don’t really need protection. On second thought, Karl Vlasenko will be along, so perhaps I might need protection after all.”

“Now I’m more sure than ever!”

“Daniel, you won’t mind leaving the action to accompany me?”

“You know me, Mariana, I can find news wherever I go. But I came here in the first place to be with you, so there’s no reason for me to stay if you’re gone. And, when I see you safely ashore, I can always return to the war.”

“I’m to be assigned to Mukden afterward.”

“Then we can go there together.”