“I’m not in the mood to become a POW with the goddamn Jerries today, Reggie, so make it good. I want to be back at the pub tonight, not at a beer garden.”
“Yeah, yeah, I know,” the pilot said, expertly handling the big plane, and they touched down on another old, abandoned runway a few minutes later. Ed and Charlie threw open the doors and lowered the ladder as Pru and Lizzie watched, at the ready. Soldiers on the ground ran toward them and handed the litters up to them. Ed and Charlie both had powerful arms, and the copilot helped them, while Reggie stayed in his seat, ready for a fast takeoff. In less than ten minutes, they had all twenty-four patients strapped in, in their litters. Pru slammed the doors and locked them, ran to her seat in the front, and they took off again. Miraculously no one followed them. They could see the German battle line from the air, and Pru left her seat immediately after takeoff to check on the men. Ed filled her in quickly, standing in a little bay where they could talk.
“We’ve got two critical chest wounds, and a serious head wound. The head wound is unconscious, dosed on morphine at the field hospital. One of the chest wounds is having trouble breathing, it could be the altitude. We have a gangrenous leg and an amputated arm.” He went down the list, including severe burns and a soldier who had lost his eyes in an explosion. There was every possible kind of serious injury, and listening to them, Lizzie stepped into the exchange.
“What can I do? I’ll check the chest wounds if you like. I can sit with the one who’s having trouble breathing and keep an eye on him.”
“That would be a help,” Ed told her as Pru went to check the man with the gangrenous leg and the soldier with the amputated arm. The one with the leg needed an amputation too, but they hadn’t felt prepared to deal with his other complications at the field hospital, and wanted it done at the base.
All four of them were busy for the rest of the flight, dealing with the wounded men they were transporting. The boy with the worst chest wound started gasping for air halfway through the flight and his heartbeat was irregular. Charlie administered a shot of Adrenalin with Pru’s permission. Lizzie watched him closely, and then moved among the other men, taking vital signs where necessary, and administering a dose of morphine IV to the boy who’d lost his arm. It was touch and go for several of them, and they had to follow a circuitous route on the way back, which took longer. By the time they reached the ground an hour and a half later, none of them had died or were worse than they had been when they were put on the plane. The ambulances were waiting for them on arrival, and in fifteen minutes, all the patients were on their way to the hospital, and the boy with the open chest wound was doing better. He was going straight into surgery when he got to the hospital. They were ready for him.
After flying her first mission with them, Lizzie could see what a difference the flying transport made. Many of the men wouldn’t have survived being moved by ambulances or military transport trucks. The planes got them to critical help faster and into operating rooms they couldn’t provide at field hospitals, for complicated surgeries.
“You guys do an incredible job,” Lizzie said, in awe of what she’d seen. And Pru was right, Ed had more advanced skills than an ordinary corpsman or medic. He had the skills of a doctor in several areas.
The pilot walked past them then. They’d just called him on the radio. “We’re going out again in twenty minutes. I’m going to refuel, and then we’ll go. You have time for a cup of coffee,” he said, and climbed down the ladder to see about refueling. Pru and Lizzie and the two corpsmen headed into the hangar to grab a cup of coffee before they took off again.
They did five flights that day, and Lizzie was deeply impressed by the variety of injuries they dealt with, and how expertly they handled each case. She followed them on their rounds among the litters and did what she could for the patients they assigned to her. By the end of the first day, she felt like part of a well-oiled machine, and a highly efficient team, and Ed looked at her with admiration.
“You’ll do,” he said to her, smiling slowly. “You’re going to do fine when you’re in charge, after you fly a few times with me and Pru. All you need are two good corpsmen, and we have some damn good ones here. And you’re a fine nurse, Lieutenant.”
“Thank you.” She smiled back at him. And as she left the plane with Pru to go back to their barracks, she knew she had made a friend. She hoped he did make it to medical school one day. She knew she never would, but he had everything it took to be an excellent doctor. With luck, maybe one day he could afford to go to medical school. As he left the plane with Charlie after they set up the beds for the next flight and restocked the supplies, he thought exactly the same thing about her.
Chapter 10
Emma wasn’t entirely convinced that she and Alex would get along when they started flying together in order to familiarize Alex with their procedures. Emma could see that Alex was a competent nurse from her reactions to the men and her assessments of their injuries, but she expected Alex to have an attitude with her, and was braced for her to express it when they were alone or working together. She was sure Alex would make some snide, snobbish comment, but much to Emma’s surprise, she never did. Instead, she was easygoing and respectful, and grateful for any advice Emma could give her about how to do the job better while they were in the air.
At the end of the first day, after their patients had all been removed to ambulances, Emma looked at Alex with surprise when Alex thanked her profusely for what an incredible day it had been. They had saved more than one life working together. And Emma had two very capable corpsmen to support her.
“You know, you’re so different than I thought you’d be,” Emma told Alex as they walked back to the barracks.
“In what way?” Alex asked her, surprised.
“You’re very modest, and open to advice, you’re a terrific team player, and a great nurse.”
“Wow! Thank you.” Alex was touched. “So are you. I loved working with you today. I hope they let me ride with you for a while. I have a lot to learn.”
“Less than you think. You would have done fine without me in any of those situations today, and the boys are very good.” The corpsmen she worked with were excellent.
“You’re all very good. Better than that, you’re amazing. All of you nurses here are like flying angels. Half of those boys wouldn’t be alive if they had tried to bring them back on the ground. The air evac really makes a difference. I can see that now. I was worried about there not being a doctor on the flight. But you don’t need one. Your knowledge and experience are way more advanced than that of most nurses.” Emma laughed in response.
“My experience,” Emma reminded her, “is as a midwife. And I’m probably losing my touch at that. I haven’t delivered a baby since I enlisted.”