A Memory Between Us
A MEMORY
BETWEEN US
Also by Sarah Sundin
W
INGS OF
G
LORY SERIES
A Distant Melody
© 2010 by Sarah Sundin
Published by Revell
a division of Baker Publishing Group
P.O. Box 6287, Grand Rapids, MI 49516-6287
www.revellbooks.com
E-book edition created 2011
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means—for example, electronic, photocopy, recording—without the prior written permission of the publisher. The only exception is brief quotations in printed reviews.
ISBN 978-1-4412-1354-9
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is on file at the Library of Congress, Washington, DC.
Published in association with the literary agency Books & Such, 52 Mission Circle #122 PMB 170, Santa Rosa, California 95409.
“The U.S. Air Force” by Robert Crawford. Copyright © 1939 by Carl Fischer, Inc. Copyright renewed. All rights assigned to Carl Fischer, LLC. All rights reserved.
“Der Fuehrer’s Face” by Oliver Wallace. Used by permission of Southern Music Publishing Co., Inc. All rights reserved.
“I Can’t Get Started.” Words by Ira Gershwin. Music by Vernon Duke. © 1935 (renewed) Ira Gershwin Music and Chappell & Co., Inc. All rights for Ira Gershwin Music administered by WB Music Corp. All rights reserved. Used by permission of Alfred Publishing Co. Inc.
“Comin’ in on a Wing and a Prayer.” Music by Jimmy McHugh. Words by Harold Adamson. © 1943 (renewed) EMI Robbins Catalog Inc. and Jimmy McHugh Music. Rights for the extended term of copyright in the U.S. assigned to Cotton Club Publishing (administered by Universal-MCA Music Publishing, a division of Universal Studios Inc.) and Harold Adamson Music (administered by the Songwriters Guild of America). All rights reserved. Used by permission.
“Comin’ in on a Wing and a Prayer.” Words and music by Jimmy McHugh and Harold Adamson. © 1943 (renewed 1971) Cotton Club Publishing and Robbins Music Corp. All rights for Cotton Club Publishing in the United States controlled and administered by EMI April Music Inc. Rights for Robbins Music Corp. assigned to EMI Catalogue Partnership. All rights for EMI Catalogue Partnership controlled and administered by EMI Robbins Catalog Inc. All rights reserved. International copyright secured. Used by permission. Reprinted by permission of Hal Leonard Corporation.
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.
The internet addresses, email addresses, and phone numbers in this book are accurate at the time of publication. They are provided as a resource. Baker Publishing Group does not endorse them or vouch for their content or permanence.
In loving memory of Roderick M. Stewart, my great-uncle, who served in the squadron of B-17s flying into Pearl Harbor during the attack, commanded a squadron with the 94th Bombardment Group, and piloted a Flying Fortress under the Golden Gate Bridge.
Contents
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Acknowledgments
Discussion Question
2nd Evacuation Hospital; Diddington,
Huntingdonshire, England
March 3, 1943
Lt. Penelope Ruth Doherty braced open the window and drank in cool air to settle her stomach. “There, gentlemen. Isn’t it nice to have fresh air in here?”
In the bed next to the window, Lieutenant Lumley snorted. “Ma’am, I’m from Arizona. To me, this soggy English air is more lethal than Nazi bullets.”
Ruth smiled at her patient, who had broken an ankle when his P-38 Lightning crashed on landing. “Good air circulation is important for wound healing.” And for clearing the nauseating smell of breakfast sausage from the tin can of a ward.
“Say, Red, you know what would heal my wounds?” The new patient, Lieutenant Holmes, pointed to his lips and dropped Ruth a wink.
Ruth gave him a sweet smile. “You’d like another dose of castor oil?”
“And it’s Lieutenant Doherty to you.” Ruth’s medic, Technical Sergeant Giovanni, set his supply tray next to Lieutenant Holmes’s bed. “Now, time to swab your wounds.” A German shell had filled the navigator’s back with shrapnel.
“Besides, her hair is more auburn than red.” Lieutenant Lumley’s gaze had a softer cast than usual. Thank goodness, he was due to be discharged.
“I’ll be back with the morning meds.” Ruth passed one of the potbellied coal stoves in the aisle.
“Ouch!” Lieutenant Holmes cried out.
“Whatza matter? Does it sting the widdle baby?” Sergeant Giovanni’s voice oozed fake sympathy.
“Better not be iodine. Makes my throat swell up something fierce.”
Ruth’s feet stopped along with her heart, and she slowly turned to her medic. Sergeant Giovanni’s burly face stretched long in horror. Of course he was using iodine.
Anaphylaxis. She needed to act quickly without alerting her patient, keep a level head, and control her emotions as she had been trained. Panic would make his condition worse.
She returned to Lieutenant Holmes’s bed and put on her cheeriest smile and voice. “What would feel good on those wounds would be a nice rinse with cool water. Sergeant, would you please fetch Dr. Sinclair? I’d like to discuss Lieutenant Lumley’s discharge with him.” She locked her gaze on her medic. “Now,” she mouthed.
“Sure thing, boss.” The sergeant strode for the door.
Ruth grabbed towels from the drawer in the bedside table and braced them on either side of her patient’s torso, and then gently poured water over the brown stains and dabbed them with another towel. Too late, but she wanted to reduce the amount of iodine in the poor man’s system. “Now, doesn’t that feel nice?”
