Chapter 12 #2
Or did he think—? She knew what some men got up to together.
With as much running around as she did, it wasn’t uncommon to stumble into a quiet corner at the wrong time.
Men had been court-martialed and imprisoned for such things, though it had always appeared consensual to Ash before she slipped back out the way she’d come.
“Everything all right?” Captain Davies asked, eyeing the blood stains, when Rook took a step back.
“Gut rot,” TomTom said. “Sure as shit.”
“Poor choice of words, don’t you think, Tomasson?” the captain asked, shaking his head. “How bad is it, Ashley? Can you make it to the dressing station on your own, or do you require an escort?”
“I’d rather go alone, sir,” Ash said before either Tom or Rook could volunteer.
Davies nodded. “Very well. I expect we’ll be here when you get back. Private Rook, that was fine work from you today,” the captain continued as Ashley walked away. But when she glanced back over her shoulder, Rook was watching her, until the trench turned and they all disappeared from view.
Afraid of being discovered and sent home, Ash almost didn’t go to the forward dressing station, but she couldn’t deny it would be the easiest place to restock her supply of bandages. She dragged her feet though, trying to think up the best plan to steal some and sneak back out unseen.
After all the smoke and grime of the front line, the inside of the medical tent was dazzlingly white. Ivory linens made up snowy beds separated by milky curtains, while nurses in starched dresses changed into fresh bleached aprons and pearly caps.
“Help you?” a nurse asked, looking up from tending her patient.
For a moment, Ash was shocked to see a woman there and merely gawped at her.
“Put your eyes back in your head,” the nurse said, rolling her own. “I’m not the first girl you’ve ever seen, and God willing, I won’t be the last.”
Her speech sounded rehearsed, and Ash wondered how many times a day she said the exact same thing.
“I’m Nurse Joseph. You may call me Nurse Jo.”
Ashley couldn’t tear her eyes away. She was so very beautiful, with shiny brown hair and delicate rosy skin. She was Ashley’s idea of a fine lady from a country house, but she was more than pretty. She exuded authority and strength.
“Did you come here for medical attention?” Nurse Jo inhaled sharply. “Are you bleeding, Private?”
Ash nodded, and the nurse immediately drew her to a bed and pulled the curtain.
“Pain?” she asked.
“A little cramping,” Ash whispered.
Nurse Jo eyed her cautiously. “Show me where.”
Ash placed her hand on her lower abdomen, hoping the nurse would leave her alone long enough to nab the bandages she’d seen on a nearby tray and go.
Jo slowly peered into her face, searching for the truth and seeming to find it.
What would happen now? Would she be court-martialed? Sent home in disgrace?
“Sit.”
Ash sat, afraid to look up, but when she finally did, she saw only compassion.
“Your first time?”
“No. I got careless. Lost track of the date.”
Jo nodded. “Your commander saw the blood and sent you?”
“Yes.”
“Do you have what you need?”
“No. I ran out.”
The nurse stepped outside the curtain for a moment before returning with a canvas satchel and several rolls of bandages.
“Drink plenty of water,” she said. “And then drink some more.”
Ash licked her lips. “You won’t turn me in?”
Nurse Jo held Ash tightly for a moment, running a hand through her short-cropped hair. It was so tender, Ash almost began to blub.
“Was it your choice to come here?” Jo asked.
“Yes.”
“Then it’s your choice to stay. Besides, my directive is to ensure only the worst cases are sent back to Blighty. And I know runners are worth their weight in gold,” she added, nodding to Ashley’s arm band. “Just be careful.”
“Thank you,” Ash said, still reeling from the warm embrace.
“Tell your officers you’re anemic,” she said. “They won’t question it. As a rule, men would rather not know. I’ll scrounge up a pair of clean trousers for you,” she added, ducking through the curtain once again.
When Ashley emerged from the dressing station a few minutes later, she found Maxie waiting patiently outside.
“Did you follow me, girl?” she crooned, kneeling down to pet the blue-eyed pup who thumped her tail in answer and licked her hand before leading the way back up the line.
The lads had mostly dispersed to their evening duties by the time Ash arrived back at the trench, and those who weren’t on duty were already snoring after the long day and longer night.
Rook was on watch at his sentry post, but he let his eyes drift off No Man’s Land to look her over quickly.
“All right?” he asked, satisfied she was whole, before turning his gaze back to the abyss. “Was it dysentery then?”
“Just a mild case. And apparently I’m anemic. Sorry to have worried you.”
“Wasn’t worried.” His voice was gruff and tight. “Except dysentery’s catching.”
She smiled at his stoicism, and he gestured towards the nearby dugout where TomTom was waiting. “That one saved you some grub, if you can stomach it.”
“If I can’t, he will. Good night, Rook,” she said.
“Night, Little Bird.”
“Better?” Tom asked cautiously when she slipped into the semi-protection of their tiny dugout. “You look better,” he said, studying her too intently.
She had thought the dog would go find Stewart now Ash was safely tucked up in her place, but instead Maxie flopped down beside them, laying her warm, comforting head on Ashley’s lap.
“Thank you,” she said, still stroking Max’s ears, when Tom pushed over a tin of cold beef stew along with half a chocolate bar.
“Go on. You need the iron because you’re—”
“Anemic,” she interrupted. “I’m anemic.”
“Right. Because of that.”
She stared at him a moment, then skittered to her knees, grabbing Tom’s wrist and startling Max, who jumped up with a yip. They both froze, peering down the trench. When no one came to tell them off for having the dog with them, she whispered, “Did you follow me?”
“Course not,” he replied, and she slackened her grip just a bit. “How could I and still save you supper?” he whined.
“Then how? How’d you know I’m… anemic?”
“I have nine sisters, Ash. I’ve seen more than a fella’s share of anemic.”
Ashley glanced around once more, keenly aware of Rook’s guard post just a few meters away. “Does anyone else know? Does everyone know?”
TomTom shrugged. “Anyone else have nine sisters?” he asked, yanking his arm free and turning slightly away from her. “You could’ve told me,” he muttered, crossing his arms, feelings clearly hurt by her web of lies.
“Tom,” she whispered. “I couldn’t.”
“I would’ve helped you.”
“Not lectured me on all the ways this is no place for someone who’s anemic?”
“What would be the point?” he pouted. “It would only make you more determined.”
She grinned because that was certainly true. “Promise not to tell?” she asked, settling back down with Max on her lap once more. “Because if anyone finds out—”
“I’d sooner rat out my own sisters. And they’d slit my throat while I was sleeping.”
And for some reason, that assurance was good enough for Ash. She stuck out her hand to make him swear it, and they shook on the deal before Ash wolfed down the chocolate bar and then started on the stew.
“Besides,” he grumbled, “just like my sisters, I’m fair certain if I took off running, you would catch me up in no time and beat me black and blue.”
“Don’t ever doubt it,” she warned him, chuckling at the image. “Do you really have nine of them? How does that even happen?”
He gazed at her for a minute before answering, “In the usual way.”
“Yes, but—”
“Ash if you want pictures, you’re going to have to ask Coop.”
She burst out laughing at that. And though it seemed reckless having both Nurse Jo and TomTom in on the secret, and worse, it had hurt him to discover it for himself, she felt a little bit less alone.
A week later, Ash and the lads were writing letters home from the safety of another concrete bunker in the support line, while Max snoozed happily at Stewart’s feet, but after a few quiet minutes TomTom threw down his pencil.
“Who knew war could be so deadly dull?” he griped. “Bad enough we can’t write home about anything interesting, but nothing’s happened to not write home about for days.”