Hope Rising (26 page)

Evelyn tucked a few more tins and bottles into her pail and stood. “Let’s take these up. They’ll be needing them soon.”

She shadowed Teddy as he exited the tent, but once outside, Evelyn stopped. An eerie silence cloaked the hospital. Where was Sergeant Tanner? Had he finally gone up the hill with the rest of the staff and patients?

“Are you coming?” Teddy asked, turning back to look at her.

“I think we’re the last ones. Sergeant Tanner isn’t calling out instructions anymore.”

Teddy frowned and glanced up at the sky. “Probably ’cause the shellfire’s stopped.”

Wariness filled Evelyn’s stomach, but she didn’t wish to stand there and end up being left behind in the deserted hospital. Teddy started walking the tent line. Evelyn made it only a few steps after him when a horrific
boom
crashed nearby. She dropped to her knees and hunkered over her pail, her arms over her bent head. Something hot scraped her left arm. She cried out at the pain and gingerly touched her arm with her right hand. It felt sticky with blood.

Wooziness threatened to claim her captive, but Evelyn fought it off by pressing her lips as tightly together as she could and filling her lungs with full breaths of air through her nose. She hadn’t lost her arm; the shrapnel had merely grazed it. She’d be fine. They just needed to get to the woods.

Lifting her head, she looked for the orderly. Where had he gone? “Teddy?” she called out. “Teddy?” There was no response. Keeping low to the ground, now that she knew the shelling hadn’t ended as he’d predicted, she slid her bucket along the ground with her good arm. Had he left her during the shelling?

Her pail struck against something hard and she stopped. In the faint moonlight, Evelyn saw a pair of boots, toes pointed toward the sky. There was no torso attached. Shaking, she bent over the bucket and wretched into the dirt. She’d seen soldiers who were missing limbs, but never one blown to pieces in front of her.

When there was nothing left in her stomach, she drew a trembling hand over her mouth and crawled a little farther. She found Teddy’s upper body a few feet away.

“Teddy, can you hear me?” Another bang made her duck her head, but this one sounded farther down the tent line. After a long moment, Evelyn scrambled to the orderly’s side. Teddy lay face up, his eyes open wide. Evelyn checked for a pulse, though she wasn’t surprised when she didn’t find one. He’d been killed instantly.

She fought hard against the alarm clawing up her throat in the form of a scream as she closed the man’s eyes. She had to keep going. It was up to her to bring the supplies to the others.

In spite of her rattled nerves, Evelyn forced herself to search the dirt for any of Teddy’s supplies that might have survived the blast. They would need every drop of medicine and every needle. Surely someone—most likely Janet—would come along soon and help.

She scooted away from Teddy and found a tin of medicine and a bottle of something. Sliding the bucket alongside her, Evelyn inched forward, her unscathed arm outstretched. She continued to feel along the ground for any supplies, moving forward in the semidarkness, until suddenly the earth gave way beneath her. She pitched headlong into black nothingness.

A shell crater
, Evelyn thought, with horror, before she hit the muddy ground below, her right leg pinned under the rest of her body. Pain shot up from her ankle and Evelyn let out an anguished cry. She sat upright in the mud and tried to feel around her ankle. She couldn’t tell if she’d broken it or not, but judging from the ache, she guessed the ankle was sprained.

Another shell exploded, this one also sounding farther off. Still, Evelyn hunkered down in the mud to avoid the shrapnel. The pungent smell of sulfur filled her nostrils. After a long pause, she lifted her head again. She needed to get out of here—now. She trudged her way through the squishing mud on hands and knees to the side of the crater, and attempted to scramble out. Her muddy boots slid beneath her, refusing to grip the earth underfoot. For every few inches she managed to climb forward, she slid several more backward. Her ankle throbbed from the effort, but Evelyn did her best to ignore the pain.

She felt as though she’d been crawling forever, but the hole was surely no more than six feet deep. At last she was able to reach out with one hand and grip the earth near the edge of the crater. New beads of sweat formed on her forehead as she dug her knees into the crater’s side to get a better hold. After another minute of slipping and clawing with no success at freeing herself, she released her hand and slid back down the crater wall.

Once her heart rate slowed a bit, Evelyn tightened her jaw over the pain in her arm and ankle. Time for a second try. She backed up, to get a faster start, and charged at the crater’s side. Halfway up, her boots slipped out from underneath her. She landed on her stomach at the bottom of the hole again.

“Come on,” Evelyn groaned, driving a fist into the mud. She had to get out of here, but how? The despair tightening her chest became a lump in her throat, and hot tears stung her eyes.

More shellfire burst overhead, forcing Evelyn to press herself against the side of the hole. She could taste grit in her teeth, and her boots were full of mud, making her socks squish about in her shoes. The mire coated her hair, her dress, and most of her face. But she wouldn’t give up. If she stayed in this hellhole, she might not live through the remaining shellfire.

As soon as she deemed it safe, Evelyn hauled herself up again. Her sprained ankle was useless now, so she used her arms to drag the lower half of her body up the side of the crater.

A foot or so from the top, she could go no farther. Her flailing boots and scraping hands could not find ground. The exertion proved too much for her wounded arm as well. With a cry of defeat, she twisted onto her back and allowed herself to slide down into the hole.

Tears mingled with the mud on her face, but she had nothing to wipe away either one. She was good and stuck, unless someone came along.

“Help!” she screamed. “Help!”

Her only answer was an ear-shattering boom. She covered her head with her arms and closed her eyes. Who was she kidding? Certainly not herself. Everyone else was in the safety of the woods. She wasn’t even sure if Janet was still coming—something must have kept her at the kitchen tents. There was no one to help her.

She pictured Louis’s face in a few hours when she didn’t show up at the hospital for her leave. Who would care for him if she was gone? And what about Joel? She hadn’t told him yet how much she still loved him.

In that moment, with death a possibility at any second, Evelyn’s mind cleared of all her muddled thoughts and fear. She knew exactly what she wanted to do with the rest of her life, if she ever escaped this hole. A way she could still be a mother and give Joel a family, if he was willing to marry her.

“Please, God,” she whispered, her heart both troubled and hopeful. “If You see fit to let me live and keep my promise to Louis, I’ll take the path You want. I’ll live with greater faith. Please, just let me live.”

T
he closer he came to the evacuation hospital, the more pronounced the shellfire became. Not even the fearful thrumming of Joel’s own heartbeat could drown out the awful noise of the whizz bangs. Was Evelyn out of harm’s way?

He broke into a run the last quarter mile, despite the ache it brought to his leg after the drive to the front. But he ignored all thoughts except the one that pounded in his brain with each step—
Find Evelyn; find Evelyn.

As he drew near the line of tents, motion off to his right snagged his attention. There were people moving into the woods at the top of the hill. Relief rushed over him. They were evacuating; Evelyn was safe.

He changed direction to follow them. Reaching the bottom of the hill, Joel plowed upward through the mud. So much for cleaning his boots and uniform earlier. He came alongside a nurse and a soldier who’d reached the top.

“Do you know where Nurse Gray is?” he asked the nurse.

She glanced over her shoulder at him. “I haven’t seen her. But I think we’re the last to evacuate.”

He hurried past them up the trail, following the stream of people moving through the woods. As he passed each group or pair, he asked the same question. “Have you seen Nurse Gray?” No one had.

Before him, the trail widened into a clearing with half a dozen tents set up. The place was teeming with people and activity. Where would he find Evelyn? Joel moved to his left and asked a nurse kneeling beside a man on a stretcher, “Nurse Gray?” She lifted her chin to look at him and shook her head.

Joel moved to the next nurse and the next. Evelyn had to be here somewhere. He didn’t want to poke his head into the tents, but after several long minutes with no success, he gave up feeling embarrassed and entered one of the tents. Dim lantern light threw shadows against the walls. He scanned the room for Evelyn but didn’t see her. Ducking back out, Joel tried the next tent. Evelyn wasn’t in that one either. Perhaps he ought to start asking again.

No one knew where she was in the third tent, but in the fourth, a tall, blond nurse stood up at Joel’s call for, “Nurse Gray? Has anyone seen Nurse Gray?”

“I have. I’m her tent mate, Janet. She went to get some supplies from the hospital.”

“Has she come back?”

“I don’t know. I meant to go help her, but one of our patients started hemorrhaging and we had to stop the bleeding first.” Janet looked around the crowded tent. “Did you try the other tents?”

“There are two I haven’t checked.”

She frowned. “I’ll come with you.”

“Nurse Rutledge?” another nurse called out.

Janet turned. “I’ll be back in five minutes.”

Joel followed her out of the tent. “I’ll take that far one. Do you want to take that one?” He pointed to the other tent he hadn’t checked.

Janet nodded and hurried away. Joel made his way across the clearing to the farthest tent. He ducked inside, but none of the four nurses were Evelyn. They didn’t know where she’d gone either. Concern began to uncurl once more in the pit of his stomach. Maybe Janet had found her. He retraced his steps and met Janet coming out of the other tent. By the look on her face, he knew the answer to his unspoken question even before she shook her head.

“You don’t think she’s still down…” Joel let the words fade away as he turned in the direction of the evacuation hospital. Though he couldn’t see it, there was no mistaking the continuous barrage of shellfire beyond the trees.

“We’ve got to find her.” Janet’s panicked voice mirrored the trepidation churning in Joel’s gut. She started forward, but Joel stopped her with a hand to her arm.

“I’ll do it. You’re needed here. I’ll come back…” He swallowed back the rush of acid in his throat as possible scenarios flew into his mind of what awaited him below. “I’ll find her,” he announced in a firmer tone.

Without waiting for Janet’s response, Joel rushed back along the trail through the woods. He reached the brow of the hill and plowed downward through the mud. Toward the bottom, he had to put his hand out to stop his sliding descent, but once his boots hit more solid ground, he began running again.

He neared the first of the tents just as a shell exploded. Joel threw himself on the ground and waited, hating every second he wasn’t searching for Evelyn.

When he felt it was safe to move again, he jumped up and flung back the flap of the first tent. “Evelyn?” he called. There was no answer.

He sprinted to the tent opposite the first. Sticking his head inside, he yelled her name again. He couldn’t see much beyond the dark outlines of cots, but no one answered his call.

Joel darted to the next tent and repeated Evelyn’s name, with still no response. Where could she be? The tent he came to after that had caved in. He lifted the tent flap to find a jumbled mess of furniture. Could Evelyn be trapped in here? He pushed his way inside, calling for her. Another shell explosion made him wedge himself beneath a table for protection. Did Evelyn know to stay low, wherever she was, away from the shrapnel? He could only hope so.

“Please let me find her, well and safe,” he prayed in a whispered voice. “Let me have the chance to tell her what she means to me. Don’t let it be too late.”

After what felt like hours, though it couldn’t have been more than a few minutes, Joel climbed out from under the table. He did his best to explore the rest of the tent, hoping and praying his outstretched hands wouldn’t touch anything human. Once he was satisfied Evelyn wasn’t there, he left that tent and moved on to the next. Before ducking inside, though, a faint cry for “help” sounded in his ears. Joel whirled around, searching the area for the source of the sound. It came once more, but he couldn’t ascertain the direction.

“Ev-vel-lyn—” His shout was drowned out by more shellfire. Joel dove to the ground beside the tent and covered his head with his arms. He was certain he’d heard a voice. His heart beat painfully against his ribs as he waited, muscles tensed, to move again. If she was alive, why hadn’t she gone back up the hill yet? Was she hurt or trapped? He hated not knowing.

As soon as he dared, Joel scrambled to his feet and shot down the line of tents, shouting, “Evelyn? Evelyn, where are you?” He paused long enough to listen for a response. When none came, he clenched his jaw in frustration.
Help me, please, Lord.

He turned to his left to try another tent, though he didn’t think the voice had come from inside one of the canvas structures. It hadn’t sounded muffled, just weak. “Evelyn?”

“Help!”

Joel spun toward the sound. It was more distinct now and coming from somewhere ahead of him. Was it Evelyn? “Hold on,” he called out.

The person wasn’t inside a tent, so what had prevented him or her from escaping? Joel’s mind skittered away from an image of Evelyn torn up and lying in the dirt, unable to move. He strained to see better in the half-light. Twenty feet away he caught sight of a dark patch of ground, where the earth seemed to give way.

A crater!

Joel ran forward. A mud-filled crater could be a death trap. He’d heard of men drowning in them. “Evelyn?” he called again as he dropped to his knees by the hole.

“Joel? Is that you?”

Relief at hearing her voice washed over him with such intensity Joel was grateful he wasn’t standing anymore. She was alive.

Before he could help her out, another shell plummeted into a tent down the line. “Get down!” he screamed as he flattened himself against the ground. Something flew past his head, and he ducked his chin to his chest.

After a long agonizing moment of waiting, he peered down into the crater. He couldn’t see much, but below him, a dark form crouched near the side. “Evelyn, lift your arms. I’m going to pull you out.”

“What are you doing here?”

“Getting you out of this blasted hole,” he said, his voice gruff with emotion as he reached out for her. “Give me your arms.”

She obeyed at once, placing her hands in his. Joel reached for her forearms, then he set his jaw as he began pulling her up. His muscles strained, but he kept at it. Finally her head appeared, followed by her mud-covered face. He was so grateful to see her that he almost let go. Once he yanked her free from the hole, she collapsed beside him, her breath coming as hard as his.

“What happened?” he asked, hovering over her.

“I came to get supplies. There was an orderly here, too—Teddy. We left together, but he was…was killed right in front of me.” He could hear her teeth chattering.

“It’s okay.” He rubbed her arms vigorously to warm her and relieve the shock he heard in her voice, but she cried out in pain. “What’s wrong? Are you hurt?”

“I twisted my ankle when I fell in the hole, and my arm…”

Joel peered at the arm she touched. He could make out her torn sleeve and something dark there. “It looks like some shrapnel grazed the skin,” he said, gently probing the area, “but it didn’t enter your arm.”

“Told you that you’d make a good nurse,” she murmured, despite everything she’d been through.

He wanted to kiss her, good and long, right then. But they weren’t out of danger yet. “I’ll settle for good soldier. Now let’s get you out of here before—”

As if reading his mind, more shellfire shattered nearby. Joel used his body to shield Evelyn. “When it’s time to move,” he whispered near her ear, “I’m going to carry you.”

“And then what?”

The stroke of her breath against his neck resurrected the rapid firing of his pulse. He swallowed, forcing himself to concentrate. “Then we run to those woods, where you’ve got some serious explaining to do, Evelyn Gray.”

He sensed more than saw her half smile, but it was enough to infuse new energy into his already complaining muscles. Shooting to his feet, Joel scooped her up into his arms and ran down the line of tents. The stiffness in his right leg increased as he sprinted as hard as he could. His steps faltered, and one knee buckled. He held tight to Evelyn to keep from dropping her as his knee hit the ground.

Using all his strength, he managed to get his feet back under him. More shellfire thundered behind him as he neared the end of the tent line. This time Joel refused to stop and wait. Praying they’d avoid the shrapnel, he carried Evelyn past the last tent and toward the hill. As if in anger at their escape, the sky opened up and the hospital was suddenly pummeled with shell after shell. If their retreat had taken even one minute longer…Joel shuddered at the thought.

He plowed up the hill, though the mud slowed his steps. Tightening his hold on Evelyn, he pushed himself toward the top. When he reached the path above, he paused to catch his breath. He glanced down at the evacuation hospital below, which now lay cloaked in silence. They were safe.

Thank you, Lord.

Tears of gratitude stung his eyes as he cradled Evelyn more snugly to his chest. “Don’t ever do that again, all right?”

She pressed her forehead into his neck and whispered back, “I won’t; I promise.” After a long moment, she lifted her chin. “You can put me down if you’d like. I can hobble from here.”

Instead of releasing her, he hoisted her higher in his arms. “Not on your life, Nurse Gray. I didn’t go through all this to let you go that easily.”

She chuckled but made no further protest. Joel carried her through the woods to the tents. Nurses and orderlies swarmed them as he strode into the lit clearing. Janet was among them, looking more than a little relieved to see the two of them alive. A barrage of questions hit them about what had happened down below.

Evelyn told them about collecting the supplies with help from Teddy. In a voice that trembled with emotion, she announced to the hushed group that the orderly had been killed when they tried to come back to the woods and she’d fallen into the shell hole.

“The supplies! I left them behind.” She glanced up at Joel, the question in her dark eyes unmistakable.

“No,” he barked. He tempered his tone to add, “Someone else can go get them, now that the shellfire is over. You need to stay here.”

Janet directed him to carry Evelyn into one of the tents. Reluctantly he released his hold on her and set her gently onto a chair.

“We need to get you cleaned off.” Janet waved a hand at Evelyn’s mud-covered face and uniform. “If you’ll wait outside,” she kindly told Joel.

He hesitated, not wanting to leave Evelyn. Being near her reassured him that she was indeed safe. Besides, now that they were out of danger, he needed to share what he’d come all this way to say.

“Why don’t you go get the two of you some coffee?” Janet suggested.

“All right.” At least it was something to do while he waited for Evelyn. He looked down at her. Even mud-splattered, she took his breath away, especially with the way she was watching him so intently.

“Thank you, Joel.” She reached out and gripped his hand.

He shrugged off her thanks. “Promise me you won’t go back down there?”

She smiled—it was the same beguiling smile that had claimed his heart the first moment he’d seen it. “I promise.”

“I’ll get that coffee.”

With that, he forced himself to exit the tent. He crossed the clearing and ducked into one of the kitchen tents. The two tables inside were half filled, despite the unearthly hour, with nurses, doctors, and a few patients who could sit.

“Corporal?”

Joel turned and saw the surgeon from St. Vincent’s hospital seated at one of the two tables. “Doctor…”

“Dupont,” the man finished. He stood and came around the table. “What brings you out here, especially on a night like this?”

Heat infused Joel’s neck. He felt as if everyone in the room were listening. Would the doctor report him for breaking the rules?

Now that he wasn’t running for his life, and Evelyn’s, exhaustion stole over him and he no longer cared what anyone else thought. The woman he loved was alive and he could finally tell her what he’d kept back all these weeks. Nothing else mattered.

Straightening to his full height, he kept his gaze trained on the doctor as he answered. “We were pulled off the line yesterday, so I thought I’d come see Nurse Gray. I arrived in time for the fire show down below.”