Chapter Thirty-Five Marion
thirty-five MARION
The plane’s door opened, and a rush of steamy air flooded in, a hot, physical pressure against Marion’s body. She was immediately bathed in perspiration and apprehensive about moving. Not Daniel. He was eager to get going. He grabbed her pack along with his own and held out his hand.
“Welcome to Vietnam, Marion. Next stop, Saigon.”
They stepped onto the disembarking ramps then the tarmac. The pavement under her boots was so hot it was sticky, and it threatened to seep through the leather soles.
Daniel spread his arms wide and inhaled. “Ah, the sweet stink of jet fuel and burning jungle.”
They made it through customs, despite unenthusiastic officials questioning every little thing. They stood by as the officers dug through their luggage, and Marion blushed as they sorted through her underthings.
“What are they looking for?” she whispered.
“Explosive devices.”
At last, the bags were closed up again. She was about to ask what was next when another man appeared.
“Please come this way.” He led them outside to a white van, clearly marked with the Red Cross symbol on the side. “Fast, please.”
In the distance, Marion heard the hammering of a machine gun. She knew the sound from television, but now it was alarmingly real. She didn’t need to be told twice. She practically leapt into the back seat of the van.
“Air-conditioning!” she exclaimed, momentarily forgetting the dangers outside.
“Hang on tight,” Daniel warned as the driver gunned the engine and tore out of the lot.
The van ploughed through deep holes in the road, eventually passing through a decimated village.
“They saw some heavy fighting here,” Daniel noted.
She scanned the devastated area, shocked by the sight. Broken buildings surrounded them, riddled by bullet holes. A child huddled in the doorway of a ruined building, his eyes huge in a skeletal face. Reflexively, she drew away from the window as a man stalked by, cradling a machine gun.
Downtown Saigon, when they finally reached it, was chaotic. It was also completely different from what had come before. The buildings were clean and modern, and the people walked unafraid, breathing air thick with diesel. Boulevards were bordered by well-tended flower beds, and throngs of people moved along wide sidewalks, selling wares, carrying packages, or cooking food. She spotted a line of children trailing behind a pair of nuns, twisting around garbage, beggars, and food stalls, laughing like any other children on a sunny afternoon. As if there was no war at all.
“This is unexpected,” she said.
Daniel was observing over her shoulder. “They call this the Paris of the East. Wherever they put us up, it’ll be nice.”
“Here is hotel,” the driver said at last, pulling up in front of a large, white, European-style building. “Is very good.”
He helped them unload, then she followed Daniel into the hotel. It was a shock to Marion’s system, walking into elegant, vintage French decor, which had carried over from the earlier French occupation. At the reception desk, the clerk handed Daniel two keys.
“We invite you to enjoy the dining room on our roof tonight,” the clerk at the desk said. “You cannot get a more exquisite meal anywhere in the country. Tonight’s dinner is a gift from the hotel, to thank you for coming to Vietnam.”
“Oh, thank you, but I don’t know,” Marion sighed with regret. “I really need to sleep.”
“Understandable; however, it would be a terrible shame if you were to miss this, mademoiselle. You are travelling with the Red Cross, and I can guarantee that there will be nothing like this where you are headed.”
Upstairs, Marion slid her key into the lock and sighed with delight when she saw the luxury within. The room was relatively small, but the furnishings were elegant. Not that it mattered. She just planned to sleep.
“It’s lovely, Daniel. Oh, uh, thank you. You can put the bag there. I’ll deal with it later.”
“Remember, there’s no rush,” he told her, setting it on the floor beside a huge armoire. “Sleep all night if you want. They’ll be here to pick us up around noon.”
“What about dinner? Do you think we’ll make it?”
“Tell you what. First one awake knocks on the other one’s door.”
Almost giddy with exhaustion, she gave him a sheepish smile. “I may sleep right through your knock.”
“That’s all right. I’ll save you some if I can.”
The bed promised oblivion. She kicked off her boots and sank happily into the crisp white sheets without getting undressed, having no idea and not caring when she might wake up. When she awoke after a few hours, it took a moment for her to recall where she was, then she flung the covers back and got to her feet, feeling refreshed and bubbling with curiosity. Marion Hart was in Saigon, Vietnam.
Moving quickly and hoping she hadn’t missed Daniel’s knock, she washed up then pulled a simple dress and shoes from her suitcase. She stopped in front of the mirror, checking her hair and makeup, and wondered for the hundredth time what she was doing there. She didn’t even know what time it was, either here or in Toronto. What would she be doing right now at home, assuming it was sometime after work? Probably sitting on the couch with Chester, reading one of Sassy’s books. Maybe Sassy was sitting with him now instead. She’d been very happy to welcome the cat to her apartment, and he had seemed satisfied as well. The two had always gotten along well.
There was a knock on her door, and Marion’s heart jumped. Daniel waited in the hallway, dressed plainly in brown trousers and a white shirt. He’d cleaned up and slicked his hair back.
“Good. You’re awake. Ready?”
“You’re just in time,” she said. “I’m famished.”
They stepped into the hallway, and she locked her door behind her. When she turned, he was standing with his hands in his pockets, smiling down at her.
“We’ve never had dinner together before,” he said.
“This is definitely the farthest I have ever gone for a date.”
He opened his elbow with invitation, and she slipped her arm through, failing to contain her wide grin as they made their way to the restaurant. The opulence of the room was beyond anything she could have imagined, and she smiled with thanks as the ma?tre d’ slid in her chair.
“This is incredible,” she said, taking everything in. “I’m so glad he recommended we come for dinner.”
Daniel nodded, leaning back in his chair. He looked completely relaxed. For a moment, she couldn’t look away. How far he had come from that furious, trapped animal, shackled to his bed in that tiny hospital cell. On the day he’d rescued Sassy from Big John, she had been concerned by how dirty and withdrawn he was. Today, he was strong and alive, almost youthful in his contentment.
“You look so happy,” she marvelled.
“How could I be anything but? For the longest time I thought my life was over. Now look at me.” His gaze was direct enough to melt her. “I have everything I want.”
Heat rushed up her neck, and she fumbled for the menu. “Lobster thermidor!” she cried, changing the subject as fast as she could. “I’ve never had lobster!”
“I used to fish for lobster.” He shuddered. “I do not miss the Atlantic. In that water, you freeze before you get a chance to drown.”
“That’s awful.”
“You should get the lobster. Get whatever you want, Marion. Like the man said, we’re not going to see food like this for a long time.”
“Do you want to get some wine?”
His brow lifted. “Why not? A bottle of white, to go with your lobster?”
Her nerves began to calm while she was eating her salad. “I am still stunned that I’m here. And that you’re with me.”
“Here in Vietnam? You’re living life in a big way, Doc.”
“A lot of it is because of you.”
He grinned again. “Not true.”
“Yes, it is.”
He took a sip of his wine, studying her. “So now that we’re here, I want something from you.”
A thrill raced through her. “What’s that?”
“You got to ask me questions before, but I never got a turn. A lot of the time, we talked about what scared me. I want to know what scares you, Marion Hart.”
“Oh, I don’t know if I want to talk about that.”
“It’s only fair. Besides, how am I supposed to protect you if I don’t know what to watch for?”
“Okay,” she said reluctantly, “but let’s order first.”
The lobster thermidor, the wine, and the need for more sleep lulled her into a state of deep contentment, and Marion let herself relax into the moment. So she told him about the day on the lake when she’d almost drowned.
“I was just a kid, and I shouldn’t have been out there. I guess most people would have been smart and taken swimming lessons after that. I did the opposite. I decided never to go near water again in my life. Shortsighted, I guess, and stubborn.”
“Got it. No swimming for you.”
They talked comfortably through dinner, getting to know a bit about who they were before they’d met, but the conversation inevitably returned to the war.
“Do you think you’ll see your unit out here?”
His face fell slightly. “I doubt it. Tex is gone.” His nostrils flared with the memory. “I know that for sure. Joey is MIA, but I don’t know anything about the others. It’s been months, so they would have sent in replacements. Young kids.”
“You’re all younger than I am.” She tilted her head. “But I know the war aged you. The adrenaline. The risks. You were close to death so many times.”
“They say you’re never so alive as when you’re looking death in the eye,” he said softly. “I must have been pretty damn close. I looked it in the eye, and it took mine.”
At noon the next day, they were back in the van, bumping along cratered roads. The view kept changing the closer they got to Camp Bao Thinh, where they would learn where she and Daniel were to be stationed. When they arrived, the feel of the place was more military, with sentries standing outside buildings, and high defensive walls topped with razor wire.
Every one of Marion’s muscles was so stiff when they finally parked and got out of the van, she had to force herself not to gasp.
Daniel pointed at a sign nearby. “See that? Skull and crossbones? Indicates a possible minefield. Remember that.”
“Got it. Why are they moving a mirror under our van?”
“In case the Vietcong attached explosives to the undercarriage.”
Her jaw dropped. “Of our van?”
“If there’s anything there, they’d set it off remotely once it arrived. They’d want it to happen where it could do the most damage. Like here,” he said, matter-of-fact. He gestured toward a small group of Vietnamese men in suits and military uniforms standing by a building. “Looks like those are the people we’re meeting with.”
She followed him toward the men, who were saying something like “Gam un! Gam un!”
“ Kh?ng có gì, ” Daniel replied, startling her.
“What’s that? What’s ‘com koy ay’?” she asked.
“They’re thanking us for coming, so I just said, ‘You’re welcome.’ Lucky you. You wanted a bodyguard, and I threw in a translator for free.”
Marion had brought a little book to help her translate, but since the Vietnamese alphabet was nothing like the English one, she had been at a loss for how to handle conversations. She had assumed—or, rather, hoped that people at the hospital would understand her needs once she got there, but Daniel’s knowledge made everything much simpler. Some of the officials, she discovered, were fairly fluent in English as well. One of them ushered them toward a map on the wall.
“Dr. Hart,” he said, looking reluctant, “I am very sorry. Because you are a woman, I wanted to send you to a hospital in Saigon. Here.” He tapped the map near the southernmost tip of South Vietnam, then he slid his pointer up, up, up. “But we had an accident happen to a surgeon in Qu?ng Nam, and they need urgent help in Da Nang. In I Corps.”
Daniel stepped up, shaking his head. “ Quá nguy hi?m .”
“Nig yem?” Marion asked.
“I don’t want them to send you that far north. I Corps is the divider between North and South. The Vietcong are strong there. The closer you get to the border, the worse things get.”
“Excuse me,” the man said, bowing to Daniel. “Is modern, up-to-date surgical hospital. You are safe with marines.”
“Marines?” He stood a little straighter, towering over the official. “Which battalion?”
“Number one is at I Corps.”
Marion stared at him. “That’s your battalion.”
Daniel grinned. “It sure is. This trip keeps getting better.”
“How do we get to this place, this I Corps?” she asked.
“In the morning we’ll fly to Hue, then a chopper will take us to Da Nang.” He laughed at her stricken expression. “Sorry. I neglected to say there’s a lot of flying in this journey.”
“You did.”
“Beats walking. Oh, I also forgot to tell you that Da Nang’s nickname is Rocket City, because they’re always under attack. Now you see why I didn’t want you stationed up there? But the First Battalion will be there. We’ll be all right.”
She stared at the map, trying to squeeze all her doubts into a box in her brain so she could lock it away. She was here now, so she was going to have to deal with whatever came at her. No one had said this would be fun. No one had promised it would be safe. No one had guaranteed anything at all.
“I can do this. I can handle a chopper,” she said to herself. She turned to Daniel. “Can I handle a chopper?”
“Marion, you busted out of your safe life, and you flew halfway around the world to a war zone. Honestly, I never expected you’d do any of it. If this was two weeks ago, I’d never take you up there. But it’s today. You are in Vietnam. This is a different world, and so far, you’re handling it great.” He gave her a smile that held her deep inside. “Yeah. You can handle it, Marion. I’ll be right beside you.”