By the time they’d been there for a month, they had been prepared for almost every situation. And for the last two weeks of the course, they had to wear heavy combat airmen’s flight gear everywhere, to get used to it and make things even more difficult.
All the women in the class felt as though they had been to hell and back, and they were proud of themselves for finishing the course. No one had dropped out or failed. At the end of the six weeks, they were as ready as they were ever going to be. They were told that they were leaving to ship out in five days. They had been given no time off during the training, which had been a relief to Louise, since she knew she would have run into rude comments and hostility by the locals in Kentucky, which was a Southern state.
They were being sent to England on a troop ship, which would be dangerous. And they were being given a three-day leave before they left. None of the four friends had boyfriends they were leaving behind, but Lizzie, Alex, and Louise had promised to visit their parents for a last time to say goodbye. Audrey declined Lizzie’s offer to go to Boston with her and decided to stay on the base. She was going to rest and do some reading before they shipped out. She didn’t want to intrude on Lizzie’s last days with her parents.
The others left as soon as they were able. It was a short trip to New York for Alex, which she undertook with trepidation. Lizzie and Louise had farther to go. They were all dreading emotional farewells with their parents, which seemed inevitable. Audrey was one of the very few who stayed at the base. The others had men or families to go to, but she had neither, and was grateful for the downtime after the intense six-week course.
* * *
—
Alex’s parents were at home having dinner when she walked into the apartment in her uniform and dropped her duffel bag in the front hall. She met them in the dining room and they were surprised to see her. She hadn’t had time to call to tell them about her leave before she came.
“I’m not here for an argument,” she warned them as she walked into the dining room. “I came to say goodbye. I’m shipping out in a few days.” She wasn’t supposed to say exactly when or to where. But she and the other nurses knew she was going to England to become one of the flying nurses in the Medical Air Evacuation Transport unit, rescuing injured men from the front.
She sat down to dinner with her parents and told them about the course she had just taken. Her father was deeply impressed. Alex had always seemed so feminine and graceful to him. He couldn’t imagine her doing a tenth of what she described to them, or even doing it himself.
“It sounds like the course was designed for men,” he said respectfully.
“Probably, but we have to be able to survive and get our patients back to the hospital at the base in any circumstances. Eighteen percent of the wounded are evacuated by air transport now, not ambulance. It’s faster and saves lives. That’s what we’re there for.” She didn’t tell them that the Germans had been making a point of shooting down planes with a red cross on them, or any planes suspected of transporting wounded men, and sinking hospital ships, killing thousands more injured men.
“I’ll be so happy when this war is over,” her mother said, looking forlorn. “When President Roosevelt declared war, I was so grateful I didn’t have any sons who would be drafted, and then you went and enlisted,” she said in a plaintive tone.
“I’m sorry, Mother. I just couldn’t see myself going to the cotillion as a spinster every year, until I died of old age. I’d rather do something useful for my country.”
“You could roll bandages, like every other woman I know. Besides, you would have found a husband eventually. You’ll be old now when the war ends.”
“I’m turning twenty-four, not forty, Mom,” Alex reminded her.
“At twenty-five, you’ll be competing with eighteen-year-olds for a husband,” her mother said, sounding discouraged.
“I’ll just have to find someone who wants an old bag like me.” Alex grinned at her, and clearly wasn’t worried about it.
“Will you give up nursing after the war?” her father asked her.
“I hope not. I doubt it. I don’t know what else I’d do. Somehow flower arranging and ladies’ lunches don’t appeal to me.” He nodded and wasn’t surprised.
“You could spend time with your sister in Greenwich, and help her with the children,” her mother suggested, and Alex didn’t comment. Jumping out of a plane with her parachute on, which had terrified her in evac training, sounded more appealing. She was a nurse, not a nanny.
“Do you know where you’ll be stationed in England?” her father asked her.
“They haven’t told us yet,” she said vaguely, as she was supposed to, and gave nothing away. “But you can write to me just like you did when I was in San Francisco. It’ll take longer, but I’ll get it eventually.”
“I wish they were sending you back there,” her mother said mournfully. And shortly after, they left the dining room and retired to their rooms.
It was nice to be home, in the luxury of their apartment with all the comforts her parents provided for her, but there was a sense of unreality to it now too, as though all the bad things happening in the world beyond these walls didn’t exist. Alex used her three-day leave to do errands and pick up things she’d need on the trip. She had the feeling that she might not have a chance like this again. She didn’t know how much time off they would get once they were in England, or how close together their missions would be.
It felt odd walking around New York in her olive uniform and khaki blouse. She saw people looking at her, wondering what branch of the service she was in. There were little gold wings on her lapel, with a maroon “N” on them, which identified her as a flight nurse, which most people didn’t recognize.
She had dinner with her parents on the last night and said goodbye to them after dinner. She would be leaving at six the next morning and didn’t want to wake them. She had to report to the troop ship that would take them to England. It was hard to find the words to say goodbye, knowing that there was always the possibility that they might not see each other again. Her parents were acutely aware of it, and Alex tried not to be. On the whole, the three days had gone smoothly, and Charlotte had come to have dinner with them on the last night to say goodbye too. And for once, she was warm when she hugged Alex.
“I wish you weren’t doing this,” she said in an emotional tone.
“I wish I didn’t have to. Hopefully, the war will end soon.”
“Maybe I should have been nicer to you,” she said, looking guilty. “Then you wouldn’t have run away and joined the circus.”