It’s been a full week since the evening I spent with Everett. My delusion of stumbling upon him somewhere on base hasn’t happened. There was no way I could give him my phone number, knowing the likelihood of Dad answering the call. I was in such a fog that night; I assumed we would just find each other again. However, I do not know where he might be during any hour of the day. I’m sure his schedule is much like James and Lewis’s, moving from location to location tending to different tasks and duties throughout the day. Of course, I should be thankful he hasn’t shown up at the hospital since I don’t wish to see him in those circumstances again. However, being the nurse who sutured the wound on Everett’s temple, I know it’s been a week’s time and he needs to have the sutures removed. Of course, I’m not a nurse on staff and for all I know he could have been here, had them removed and I wouldn’t be any wiser of his visit.
“Your face is going to get stuck like that if you don’t start blinking again,” Audrey whispers from the seat next to mine. “Plus, you’ll have a red splotch on your cheek all day from leaning on your hand. What could be so important to make you look like a tired ghoul?”
“It’s been a long week,” I say.
Audrey intertwines her fingers, folding them on top of her open book. “Lizzie, I warned you he was a bad idea.”
“If you’d please open your textbooks to page two-forty, we’ll begin there,” Nurse Jones instructs us.
Audrey and I both flip through the pages of our book. “He is not a bad idea. He’s indeed quite a wonderful idea,” I argue.
“We have three months left, Lizzie. You must keep your head from floating in the clouds. He’s a soldier with the Army Air Corps of all jobs. There is no way he has time to track you down.” I know she’s correct in what she’s saying, but no one can stop me from daydreaming.
The remaining hours of the day crawl by and I become dizzy while I stare at the red second hand on the clock. The last three months of our training comprise of nothing more than reviews on everything we’ve learned over the last few years. I’m certain I haven’t forgotten a thing, and I’m bored silly listening to the rookie topics.
“Okay, ladies, I will see you bright and early tomorrow. Don’t forget to review the chart on seizure and symptoms. I will quiz you tomorrow.”
I toss my bookmark between the pages we left off on and slap the cover shut.
“Do you have somewhere to be?” Audrey asks as I drop my book and notepad into my satchel.
“No, not at all, why do you ask?”
She spends a moment longer, making room in her bag for her belongings. “I haven’t seen you move this fast in a while.”
“I just need some fresh air, is all.” Being cooped up in this room all day causes me to crave the warmth of the sun on my shoulders and a chance to breathe in the scent of flowers rather than cleaning agents.
I stand from my seat, tapping my toe with eagerness while waiting for Audrey to follow. It’s almost as if she’s trying to slow me down.
“Are you feeling okay?” she asks.
“Yes, yes, why?”
“My goodness. You’re making me feel like I need air.” Audrey says, rising from her seat and draping her satchel over her shoulder.
I take the lead out into the corridor, keeping my eyes set on the sun shining through the front entrance. The moment I step outside, the fresh air calms my nerves. “It’s so stuffy in there sometimes,” I say to Audrey.
“I don’t know if I would call the air inside stuffy with the amount of ammonia the cleaning staff uses, but I can see how you might enjoy the outdoors more.”
Anytime I’m outside, I can’t help myself from glancing around the area, looking for a glimpse of Everett. I think I’m going bonkers. A man has never gotten me all worked up before. This isn’t like me. “I was thinking of stopping at the dress shop on the way home. Are you interested in joining me?” I ask Audrey.
She peers down at her wristwatch. “Sure, I have about an hour to spare. Are you shopping for anything special or do you just want to peruse the racks?”
“Yes, that,” I say, still searching the area.
“Lizzie, come over here for a moment.” Audrey lifts her satchel from her shoulder and takes a seat on the short stone wall to the side of the walkway.
I take the few steps over to her and lower my satchel to place beside hers. “What is it you want to talk about?”
Her eyes speak before her mouth. Her brows curl in toward one another and her lips twist to the side. “Sweetie, I’m worried about you. I can see the sparkles glistening in your eyes, even after an entire week has gone by, and I don’t want to see you get hurt.”
“You have goals and dreams of joining the Army Nurse Corps and you know we can’t do so unless we’re unmarried. I’m just wondering what the point to all of this is if it can’t go any further?”
The question feels accusatory, and I hate to be reminded of silly rules. I cross my arms over my chest, feeling like I must defend myself. “Well, first, my father has forbidden me from joining the Army Nurse Corps. Therefore, I shouldn’t concern myself with the Army’s rule, correct? And if I’m not mistaken, women get married so they can start a family, have children. Since raising a family is quite far from my mind, there isn’t a need to get married despite my feelings for someone. The Army wouldn’t be able to tell me who I can love. Therefore, if I chose to enlist, being unwed is not an issue I need to be concerned with, right?”
“When did you decide to follow your father’s wishes? I thought you were still contemplating the Army Nurse Corps?”
I have gone back and forth on my thoughts many times, but a plan requires me to know what will happen weeks or months from now, and I’m not interested in thinking that far ahead. Life might take me in a completely different direction for all I know. “Well, who knows what will happen three months from now. I will not live as if I’m dying tomorrow. That’s absurd.”
“Your vision is blurry, Lizzie. These words don’t even sound as if they are your own. What has happened to you?”
I don’t have an answer because I see nothing wrong with what I’m saying. It’s true, neither of us knows what the future holds. Why should I make so many assumptions when nothing in life has ever gone as planned? My gaze drifts up toward the clouds in the sky, taking inventory of the shapes and patterns. A mere look into the blue oblivion will set my thoughts free, like a clenched fist releasing the string of a weightless balloon. Mom would often tell me this when upset over fickle things.
“Well, if you ask me, I say it looks like a flying elephant.”
I lower my head at the sound of a voice different from Audrey’s. First, I see my very best friend tenting her fingers on her forehead. I turn toward a voice that jolts my heart, finding another set of eyes gazing into the sky alongside me. “Everett,” I say, sounding more enthusiastic than I should reveal after one date. My cheeks burn in response to his dimpled smile.
“You are a hard woman to track down.”
“That’s because her father is Commander Salzberg,” Audrey replies before I find the right words to respond with.
“Audrey, right?” Everett offers his hand to her. “It’s lovely to see you again.”
I’m surprised to see Audrey shake his hand and respond with a smile. “I’m sure Lizzie feels the same about you,” she responds.
“Pardon me if I’m interrupting you, ladies. It’s not my intention.” There isn’t a need to feel that way, but Audrey is making this encounter far more intense than it needs to be.
“Don’t be silly,” Audrey says. “In fact, I was just about to find my bicycle. Lizzie, will you be joining me or—”
It’s as if I’ve forgotten how to speak or lost my tongue as I look between Audrey and Everett. “I—well—”
“Would you mind if I steal your friend for an hour?” Everett asks Audrey.
I can hear the word, yes, without her so much as uttering a peep. “Of course not. By all means, see if you can’t do something about this girl with her head lost in the clouds.”
I shoot Audrey a disagreeing look, wondering why she’s being so rude to Everett and embarrassing me at the same time. “I wish you would listen to me,” she mutters while leaning in for a hug. “Please protect your heart, Lizzie. You’re my best friend and I can’t bear to witness you go through any more pain than you’ve already been through.”
I squeeze her arms a little tighter than necessary. “I will be just fine. No need to worry, sweetie.”
“All right, then. Maybe I’ll stop by after dinner for some tea.”
“That sounds wonderful. I’ll see you then.”
“Everett, I hope you have a pleasant night,” she says, hopping down from the wall with her bag.
Neither of us speak until Audrey is out of sight. “Did I say something to upset her?” Everett asks.
“Oh, no. It’s not that.”
“Gosh. Then, what is it?”
“It’s nothing, I promise.”
Everett inhales a lungful of the floral filled air. “Well, then. Today is the first day I haven’t had training at this hour, and I thought I might catch you leaving class.”
I take my satchel from the wall and place it over my shoulder. “I suppose I didn’t think about how hard it might be to run into each other again. Although it looks as if you still haven’t had those sutures removed.”
“You said seven to ten days, if I’m not mistaken,” he responds.
“Most people show up on the seventh day.”
“Well, truth be told, I’ve become quite attached to them.”
His words take a quick moment to resonate when I realize the humor within his response. I place the back of my hand against my mouth, trying to suppress a heavier laugh than a lady should offer this man. “You’re quite comical.”
“What can I say? I was sure I would have you in stitches with laughter by now.”
This time I feel caught off-guard and can’t control the laughter rumbling through me. “Well, you are something else, Lieutenant Anderson—Everett.”
“Say, could I persuade you to take a stroll to the park? I’d love to spend a little time with you.”
“I’d enjoy that very much.”
Everett slips his fingers beneath the strap of my satchel and takes it from my grip. “Allow me.”
He doesn’t place the straps over his shoulder. He couldn’t, not in his starched and pressed dress pinks. In this heat, he’d have a permanent crease where he shouldn’t have one.
As we’re walking side by side, I reach for his left hand to inspect the damage from last week, seeing the minor cuts have healed up well. “Your hand looks much better.”
“It is quite nice looking, isn’t it?” he says, inspecting the pink marks left behind.
“I didn’t realize you were such a jokester last week.”
“Life without humor is like a pie with no filling. What’s the use?”
I press my lips together into a stifled smile. “Goodness, you are on a roll.”
“Just buttering you up, I suppose.”
I flap my hand against his arm. “You are bad, you know that?”
“I do, but in all seriousness, miss Lizzie, I was hoping to see if you would like to join me for another evening on the town? Of course, I’m more than happy to speak to your father first, but I respect your feelings on the matter too.”
The small park full of greenery and wooden benches peeks over the hill. As usual, the area is quite empty except for a couple of mothers with baby carriages taking their afternoon walks. “I would love to go out again, but I’m afraid it still will not be following my father’s permission.”
“Understood. Could I take you somewhere outside the base?”
“I’d like that.” No watchful stares or brothers looming around the corner.
We stop between a cluster of thick nut trees bordering the grassy area of the park. The shade lowers the temperature a few degrees, offering a welcome relief from July’s unforgiving sun. “Is it my former status your friend Audrey doesn’t like?”
I didn’t realize he was still hanging onto Audrey’s words or attitude, but I might be too if one of his friends spoke to me the way she had. It’s unlike her to be so protective or concerned for my well-being. She has no problem telling me what’s what when I’m looking for an escape she might not agree with, but I merely run off for an afternoon trip to the beach. It’s hardly something to get in a tizzy about. In fact, sometimes I feel like she’s siding with Dad in a way. It’s maddening.
“Oh, no. Of course not. Audrey doesn’t condone lying or withholding information like I am with my father. She’s also mentioned the required status of an Army Nurse needing to be unwed. It’s all a bunch of horse feathers if you ask me.”
“Well, she has a good point, but why worry about marriage when you might despise me come a month from now?”
“That was my exact thought. It’s as if you can read my mind,” I jest with him. “My father won’t change his mind on the matter, and there’s no use in arguing my point to him. Therefore, I plan to live the way I see fit and if someone would like to join me on my path to wherever I’m going, it would be splendid.”
“If I’m being honest, I have been searching through crowds downtown every night for the past week. I needed to find you. I’m quite fond of the way your mind works. It’s alluring to see a woman seeking her desires without fearing obstacles.”
“Alluring?” I repeat, lifting my brows in response. Then, I peer down to my feet after hearing the word form on my tongue. Alluring. I don’t think anyone has ever said this to me.
Everett slips his finger beneath my chin and with a gentle nudge, redirects the view of my stare up into his eyes. “And beautiful. Stunning, without a doubt. But inside—you’re magnificent, like a hypnotic melody that blacks out the world around me from anything more than your existence.” As if instinctual, my hand draws into my chest, feeling the thundering beat beneath my palm.
“You know how to make a girl blush, don’t you?”
His fern green eyes pierce my soul and I’ve all but surrendered myself to him at this point.
“I just say what is on my mind,” he says. “Tomorrow night. Can I take you out then?”
“I’d like that very much.”
Everett reaches his hand to my cheek, sweeping his thumb from the side of my nose to my ear. The touch of his fingers and the wafting aroma of soap stings me with desire, making me weak in the knees. “Why don’t we find your bicycle and put it in the backseat of my car. I’ll take you home, or to the corner of your street. Would that be okay?”
Couldn’t we just stay here until tomorrow night? I could stare into his eyes for longer than that, but I’d be okay with just a day’s time. “Thank you. I would be grateful for the ride.”