Chapter Twenty-Four

Kitty sat in the hotel lobby drawing on the pad she purchased at the little bookstore a few blocks away. The small section of street visible through the window gradually appeared on the paper, keeping her mind focused on the page rather than on the silent telephone.

The operator had said to wait. She had not said how long. Surely she would call back if the call couldn’t go through. Surely the long wait meant something good, meant he would be there when the telephone rang.

Her hands began to shake again, so she stopped and looked at her work. Not much of a subject. Old buildings facing a narrow cobblestone street. It could have been a scene from Charles Dickens or Jane Austen. Sometimes she felt like she had gone back in time into some story she’d read. Only she hadn’t and this wasn’t a story. It was real.

The telephone jangled. She dropped her pencil. It jangled again. For a moment she froze in place, afraid…afraid it was him, and afraid it wasn’t.

“Hello.” She spoke loud and clear into the mouthpiece.

“Miss Greenlee?” the woman’s voice echoed in her ear. “Your call to Lieutenant Kruger has come through.”

Kitty let out a breath, then nodded. “Yes. Good.” Her hands shook so that she almost dropped her bag trying to open it. She reached inside and grabbed a fist full of coins.

The voice told her how much to put in.

She forced her brain to think about the coins spread out in front of her. The crazy English money, shillings, pence, ha-pence. One after another she slipped the coins into the slots until the voice said “Go ahead.”

“Hello?”

“Hello,” Ted sounded odd, like he was shouting from down in a well.

“Ted, is that you?”

“Yes, it’s me. What’s wrong?”

“Aughhh!” The despair flooded out of her.

“Kitty?”

“It’s Milton. He’s wounded. I’m at the hospital. Oh, Ted, it’s awful.”

After an empty silence, his voice came through the receiver firm and gentle. “He’s alive. That’s what’s important.”

“I know, I know.” She paused, unable to speak. She gasped for air, hoping she wouldn’t start crying. “I just had to tell someone.” Her breath hitched again. “Someone who knows him.”

“I’m glad you called me. You scared me to death, you know.”

“I’m sorry. Just sitting here, by myself, I had to talk to someone.”

“Is he conscious? Can he talk to you?”

“Yes, he can talk a little. He asked about you.”

“Do you know what happened?”

“Not really. The nurse says it looks like an explosion.” She tried to laugh, but it came out more like a sob. “It was a battle, in Normandy. Lots of explosions.”

“Yes. I can only imagine.” His voice was soothing, calming.

“What will I tell my parents? His eye. I think he’s lost his eye. And his head. All bandaged. Don’t know how bad.”

“You tell them he’s alive. And coming home.”

“Yes. They are sending him to another hospital. Tomorrow, I think.”

“How long have you been there?”

“Two, no, three days. They don’t let me stay very long.”

“I can’t get away, or I’d come, too.”

A sob escaped. She wanted to see him. Wanted his familiar smile. Wanted to feel his arms around her. She didn’t want to break down, didn’t want to cry.

“When do you have to be back?”

She forced herself to think. “General Lake gave me a week. I’d have to think when…”

“Can you come to Norwich? After they ship Milton out.”

“Norwich?”

“It’s not far from my base.”

It hit her what he was saying. Meet him. In Norwich. After Milton shipped out.

“You can get there by train. I could meet you.”

“Yes, I guess I could.”

“You don’t have to. I just thought we could get together…talk about it. Before you have to go back.”

“Yes. I’d like that.” A calmness wrapped around her like a warm blanket.

“There’s a little hotel, The Cumberland. Not far from the train station. Take a room there, and I’ll meet you.”

Too soon he was gone. She’d agreed to meet him—in Norwich.

She raked the remaining coins into her bag, opened the booth’s door, and stepped out into the lobby. An old man sat near the window reading a newspaper. The clerk returned to the counter from the back room. All so normal, so calm.

She checked her watch. She should be able to see Milton again today, if she hurried. Afterward she’d go to the train station and check on Norwich. She’d lost all sense of direction on the flight here. She thought she must be on the south coast of England. Norwich was north and east of London, beyond Ellingham. But close enough that she could get back to headquarters in a short time.

Her mind raced as her feet hurried toward the hospital. She had to find out for sure when they would move Milton to the other hospital.

Should she tell Milton where she was going? Would it worry him? Or would he approve? She wasn’t sure. He liked Ted, but he’d warned her not to get involved with him.

****

By the time she reached his floor, she had made her decision. She would not tell Milton that she was going to meet Ted. No need to worry him. Let him believe everything was just fine. She could take care of herself.

She’d already convinced Milton she had General Lake under control. All he wanted was a little female attention, some mothering from a sweet, young thing. She’d managed to avoid any physical contact beyond a pat on the shoulder or a fatherly hug. She could play the game, too. The plane ride here proved she could get what she wanted out of the old bag without compromising her principles. With luck he wouldn’t demand more when she returned.

She steeled herself against the onslaught of sights and sounds and terrible smells that emanated from the wards and went in search of her brother or what was left of him.

Milton sat in a day room down the hall from his ward. From the wheel chair, he stared into nothingness, ignoring the activity around him.

Kitty touched his hand. He flinched.

“It’s me,” she assured him.

He wore a thick cotton robe, half on and half draped over his left side and arm, still encased in a cast. They’d removed the IV tube from his arm. Bandages still covered most of his head.

She grabbed a chair and placed it to one side, the good side, so he could see her without moving his head.

“Glad to see you out of that bed.” She tried to sound cheerful.

He didn’t reply, but she could tell from his face he heard her and knew who she was.

“I’ve been doing some sketching.” She held up the unfinished street scene. “Remember when I would draw and you would critique them?”

His lips curved up slightly.

“They weren’t very good, but you’d encourage me anyway.”

“Good,” he murmured. “Always good.”

“I kept at it out of pure stubbornness.” She smiled and put the sketch pad down. “Keeps me busy, out of trouble.”

“You don’t run and hide anymore.” It wasn’t a question. It was an observation.

She shook her head and smiled. “Can’t run away in the Army.”

“You’ve grown up.” His weak, hoarse voice conveyed a sense of pride.

“I guess.” She reached out and gently touched his good hand. He turned it over, and his fingers wrapped around hers. Her throat tightened. She fought to contain herself.

He closed his eye, his head leaned back against the high back of the chair. He looked so weak, so fragile. Her strong, muscular brother reduced to a broken man, struggling to survive.

“Can’t take care of you anymore.” His simple declaration broke her heart.

“You have to take care of yourself right now.” She squeezed his hand. “I’m fine. I can take care of myself.”

Should she tell him about Ted? That she was going to meet him? How much she wanted to see him? How she felt about him?

Her free hand drew into a fist. No, she’d made that decision, and she’d stick to it.

Milton didn’t need to worry about her getting her heart broken. He’d warned her of the danger. Wait till the war’s over to fall in love. Do the smart thing and wait.

Her heart hadn’t waited. She hadn’t expected it. Tried to stop it. Now she wanted to grab hold and never let go.

****

Instead of going back to his quarters, Ted strode toward the little shack where the weather officer worked. They’d scrubbed the day’s mission due to weather. He’d only halfway listened to the rest of the report, but he vaguely remembered that there was a front coming through that could ground them for a week.

He hoped so. Bad weather meant he had a good chance of getting a few days off. A pass to Norwich—to meet Kitty.

Her pain had come through the telephone and twisted his heart. His own sorrow had escaped the tight bounds where he struggled to keep it secure and had threatened to break him. He’d desperately wanted to reach across the miles and comfort her the way he needed comfort. So he’d done the next best thing. He’d asked her to come to him. And through some miracle she had agreed.

The weather officer verified that they would be grounded for a week, maybe ten days. A slow-moving front had blown in off the Atlantic, would hover over England and the continent for an unknown period of time. Not as bad as the storms back in June, but bad enough.

Ted went directly to his commanding officer and easily obtained a pass to Norwich. Then he called the Cumberland and reserved rooms.

Kitty never left his mind. Alone, facing her brother’s devastating injuries, she had reached out to him. He’d honor her fragile state, he promised himself, even as he yearned to hold her, to make love to her.

A glimmer of hope glowed deep inside…that she cared for him, that she wanted him to live so they could be together. Ever since his buddies had died, he’d believed the only people who really knew him, who really cared about him, were dead. Did Kitty’s call mean that had changed?

Dear God, could this sweet angel save him—again?