Eloise fumbled through the basket of linens, making her best attempt at hanging the white fabrics. She could not get the look of Terrell out of her mind, which had become unusually still. Her hands found their way onto her face where she held them for several seconds. No matter how hard she tried, she could not regain her hopeful mindset. Sleep was not an option for her anymore—even her dreams were plagued with hellish thoughts.

Her eyes scanned the outside carefully. Dread pitted in her stomach as she remembered that Albert was coming back for his friend, and she would have to tell him of his death. There was no sight of the captain, but she knew of his persistence—he always kept his word. How would he react? What would he say? Questions racked her tired braid but no answers surfaced. She shoved the non-happened events out of her mind and continued hanging the freshly washed cloths.

She spied in the corner of her eye, several women pointing at her and whispering. All of the power within herself did not want care, but something inside her heart wanted to know what they were saying. Word spread quickly in the nurses' ward. The gossip of the women swept like fire, consuming the reputations of many in its path. News of Terrell's death and her reaction carried from mouth to mouth until she had nothing else to hide; She was alone and breaking with no one there to care.

After she hung the last linen, she heard the commotion tearing through the inside of the building. The familiar echo of Albert's voice rang through her ears and she rushed back inside of the ward. In the middle of the walkway was Albert, looking over each man carefully as he frantically searched for the familiar face of his friend. In his clutched hand, Eloise spied a crumpled piece of paper. It contained the bitter news of his friend, she assumed.

"Where is Terrell!?" He shouted loudly at Giselle, scanning the room of wounded once again.

Eloise slipped to the side of the room where she began to inspect a soldier's bandage. The last thing she wished to do was intervene between Albert and the matron. She began wrapping a fresh bandage around the wounded man's head, pretending as if she did not know of his presence. Giselle rested her hands upon Albert's chest, attempting to steady his brash actions.

"Where is Terrell Muller?" He asked again, this time calmer. He fought hard to hid back his expressions as he pointed to the corner. "He was in that corner bed yesterday and now he is gone. Where did he go?"

Eloise glance over at him, then at the corner recalling the events that happened in the previous night. A sense of dread came over her as she knew the fate of his friend and she knew that he would have to be informed.

Giselle shook her head, sliding her hand to rest on his shoulder. "Sir, I don't know of a man named Terrell Muller. I can try and help you look for him."

"You are the matron of these nurses and you do not know your patient." Albert remarked with annoyance. "You even met this man on my air field and you cannot recall him? What kind of a matron are you?" He quickly pushed away her hand from him and shook his head. His cold stare glanced around the unforgiving room of patients until he caught a glimpse of Eloise. "I am going to speak with her. She knows who I am talking about."

Giselle huffed angrily as he sharply turned away from her. Eloise could hear the dreaded sound of heavy bootsteps approaching her from behind. She paused and stared down at the man she was working on. He nodded at her sympathetically, as if he could sense the dread within her.

"Eloise," Albert's voice became soft as he placed a sturdy hand on her shoulder. "you will tell me straight, where did Terrell go?"

Eloise looked up at him, sympathy filling her eyes as she watched the strength in his face disappear into brokenness. The knowledge of his knowing made her feel much sadness for his loss.

"It can't be true, Eloise," he shook his head. "please tell me it isn't true."

Eloise rose from the patient's side, checking on his state one last time before leaving the bedside. She intertwined her arm into Albert's. "I think we should talk elsewhere, Captain." Her words were calming as they strolled silently through the room.

The hallway they stopped in was empty. The several doors were closed and the few that were open rang silence. Her eyes scanned the dimly lit area in search of other people but they were alone.

"There is no easy way to tell you, sir." She began sympathetically, stepping away from him to allow him his space. "Terrell passed on last night." She paused momentarily, giving him time to process the unwanted information. "I know what he meant to you and I tried to save him, but there was nothing more I could do for him."

Tears welled in Albert's eyes as he let the words sink into his mind. "How did it happen?"

Eloise shook her head. "We speculate that the trauma he sustained during the crash caused him to have internal injuries elsewhere in his body. He collapsed so quickly with no real injuries we didn't know what else to do." She glanced up at Albert, who fought back the tears that pricked his eyes.

"Was he alone?" He asked, looking down at the ground to hide his emotions. "His greatest fear in this war was to die alone."

"No, captain, he was not alone." Eloise answered softly. "I stayed by his side until he drew his last breath."

Albert closed his eyes and became completely silent. Eloise dared not to pry anymore into the situation. The brokenness was written along his face and she didn't need to know any more about how he felt, for she saw enough. She could see faint tears rolling down his cheeks. Throughout her time spent with Albert, she had never seen him cry. In fact, she had never seen him truly show any emotion. She did not condemn him like others might have for showing tears, instead she pulled him into a comforting embrace—just as she had done for many other men in the same situation.

She cradled his head in the nape of her neck as she rubbed his back calmingly. She could feel the dampness of his tears seeping into her clothes. Time was not of the essence as they stood there, both in different worlds apart. He quickly pulled away and regained his regal posture. His hands trembled as they straightened the bottom of his uniform coat. Eloise reached into her pocked, pulling out a handkerchief. He stared blankly at the white linen in her hand and graciously took it.

"Thank you for being with him, Eloise. It means more to me than you will ever know. He was like a brother to me." He spoke with a gracious nod. "In fact, Terrell was more of a brother to me than my own brother." He paused and stared at the quiet Eloise. A smile came onto his face as he studied her carefully. "You are a great woman. I know when we left the forest, you doubted what was going to happen to you, but I believe you are now where you truly belong."

Eloise stared down at her feet. "I hope so, sir." She shook her head as she stared up at him. "Because sometimes I don't feel like I belong here."

He reached her handkerchief back to her. "I believe that this belongs to you."

"Keep it, Captain." She waved the object away and smiled pleasingly. "I fear that this will not be last time you need a handkerchief."

He carefully folded the linen square and tucked it carefully into his pocket. His eyes surveyed the area again, looking over the dimly lit stone hallway. The darkness could not bring peace to anyone—no matter who looked upon it. He pulled out a silver engraved pocket watch, flicking it open to observe the time. Just as he closed the flap he graciously bowed to Eloise.

"I want to thank you again for your services to Terrell." His words flowed eloquently as he took her by the hand. "I hope we will never have to see each other in these such circumstances again, but yet again we are in war." He placed a tender kiss upon the back of her hand. His gaze never leaving hers. "If I get back soon, I will still have time to go into the air."

Eloise felt her heart sink at his comment. A sense of dread came over her as she knew what could come from the air. She did not want to see him go like his friend; but she knew that every time he went up it was a possibility that could happen. She immediately pushed those thoughts from her mind and offered him a kind smile.

"Take care of yourself, Captain."

He turned with poise and spoke, "I intend to do so, Miss Eloise."

With the click of his heels he left. She could only watch his disappearance with sadness pitting in her soul. She didn't realize how much she needed him in her life until he was gone—and she would have to live with constant unknowing on how long he would remain alive. No matter how hard she tried to forget them, thoughts of such tore her apart inside.

She quickly regained herself and continued on with her tasks.

The days passed by slowly, bring the same daily tasks: Tend the men. Wash the linens. Feed the men. Try to sleep. Wake up and begin the tenacious routine process again. She was beginning to feel the sleepless days taking their toll on her body. The once energetic, cheery lady had turned into a worn, moody woman.

Her fingers worked diligently at unwrapping the face of a man. Just as she cut the last bandage rage sparked through his eyes. She had exposed his mangled face, horribly disfigured from close combat fighting. She began to clean the wounded areas and inspected the fresh stiches that lined his cheeks.

"Give me a hand mirror!" he cried out, reaching up to touch his visible wounds.

Eloise rested her hand on his shoulder and continued working, ignoring his request. She knew that any reaction he could have would not be beneficial to anyone around, especially to her.

He forcefully grabbed her wrist and squeezed it tightly. She squirmed her arm in his grasp, wincing slightly at the pain. "I want to see my face without the bandages."

Eloise gritted her teeth, showing now fear to the angered man. "Loose me and I will fetch your mirror." Her tone was stern as was her gaze.

He released her hand and began to stare blankly at the ceiling. Straightening herself upright, she borrowed a mirror from a nearby nurse and returned to his side. She calmly places the handle into his hand and steadied it as he looked into the glass. His eyes immediately sank with despair. The mirror fell back against his chest as if the life had been drained from his body. What anger he once had had now disappeared into sorrow.

"Look at me," the man whispered sorrowfully. His hands touching his face. "and tell me what you see." Eloise glanced up at him, staring at him kindly. She rested her hand upon his mangled cheek without speaking. "Tell me, miss, what you see! I can only see a monster."

"I see a man who survived something far worse than one can imagine. You are lucky to have your life, sir." She respectfully replied, straightening her posture. Her hands took the mirror from him and slipped it into her pocket. She did not want him to stare at himself for too long—fearing that it would send him into insanity just as it had done some men. "You are no monster. You are a man." As she turned to leave she remarked, "only you see a monster, sir. I do not. Iwill be returning in about thirty minutes to re-bandage your face. If you happento need me before then, do not hesitate to call."

She swiftly moved on to the next patient who laid perfectly still in the adjacent bed. His eyes remained fixated on the ceiling, never blinking. She could see the blood oozing from the bandage that was taking the place of his leg. With a hushed sigh, she adverted her eyes. The sights the hospital offered got tiresome, but she constantly reminded herself that she was there to serve a purpose. After regaining herself, she approached the victim and began utilizing her soft touch upon his battered body. She began to unwrap the stump only to discover the still-fresh wound beneath the linen. With the pan of water gathered from nearby, she began cleaning the injury. The man never glanced down at her but winced in pain.

She could only imagine what filled his thoughts—the horrors he must have seen. Therewas no anesthesia there she could dispense that would ever erase those gruelingimages. There was no amount of medication that would ever bring his leg back.He would have to live forever with horrid nightmares, just like many of the menwho were in the hospital beds around him.

"Do you think that my wife will still love me when she sees me like this?"

Eloise was taken back by the sound of his voice. She hadn't heard him speak before. She pondered his question for a second before answering. "I am certain she will."

"What if she doesn't?"

His difficult questions made Eloise think. "I wouldn't worry about that, sir. I am certain that she will be completely overjoyed to see you have come home alive."

He rolled his head over to view Eloise. She looked deep into his fear-filled eyes, which were of the most vibrant green she had ever seen. With a tender hand, she began to stroke his thick black hair backwards.

"You should get some rest, sir." Eloise said as she pulled his sheet around him. "The sooner you get well, the sooner you will see your wife."

Without another word spoken, he fixated the same blank stare back onto the ceiling. Although he was still in a shocked state, Eloise was pleased that he spoke. It was a step into the right direction of becoming a whole man again.

She overlooked the room once again catching a glimpse of Bartram Beck entering into the recovery room. He rarely appeared where the nurses worked with the soldiers, alerting her of something important taking place.

"Eloise!" Bartram's voice called out in the quiet room.

She immediately perked up at the call of her name, unsure of what his need was going to be. She rose and began to approach the general. She could see that he was still wearing his operating uniform soaked with the all-too familiar crimson liquid. Upon the visual of his surgery suit, she assumed he only needed assistance with an operation, which was not an uncommon request.

Before she arrived in his vicinity, he called out across the crowd, "You and I are leaving."

The eyes of the other nurses locked onto her as she continued walking down the aisleway. She could feel the burning stare of Giselle watching her carefully as she walked toward Bartram. She dared not to reply until she was in his direct presence, hoping to avoid any further altercations or sneers from the other observing women.

"What are you talking about, sir?" she questioned, cocking her head to the side.

Without wasting another moment, he reached a brown paper to her. "Read this and it will explain everything you need to know."

Confused, she unfolded the paper and began to read the words plainly written against the thick brown paper:

Our Captain, Albert von Brandt, has sustained injury from a plane accident. We have no medics here and he is not well enough to travel. We are requesting the services of one of your medics along with the services of a nurse. The captain has requested the services of Miss Keller, but if she is not available anyone will work. It would be much appreciated if you would return to the air field to bring aid to our highly respected commanding officer. Signed, Lieutenant Gunter Fischer

Eloise read through the letter again. Her eyes grew wide as the words started to process. She did not know what exactly had happened; but she feared the worst in her mind. She ran her fingers over the script and folded it back into her hand. Her eyes looked upon Bartram and began to shake her head.

"Sir," she stated plainly. "I can't just leave. I have men to tend, as do you."

"Captain von Brandt is a highly respected man." Bartram began bluntly speaking. "There is another surgeon here to manage while I am gone. Being the medical general, I feel that it is my place to fulfill this request. I can't let the most recognized airman die from injures that we can help." He pointed at both himself and Eloise. Eloise glanced down at the ground. The death of Albert was her worst fear and she could not bear the thought of it. "You were requested as well. You should feel like it is your duty to help this man."

"I have my duties here, General Beck."

"Pardon me, General." Giselle quickly popped in between them, "I will go in her place to the airfield. She is not qualified to leave this facility, anyway."

Bartram glared at Giselle, causing her to back away. "I suggest, Matron, to worry about your other nurses. This is between Eloise and I." The stern expression on his face never left as he stared back at Eloise, "I will have the Lieutenant get our motor car ready for our departure. I suggest you get yourself ready as well. You and I are going to the airfield."

Eloise shut her eyes and rested her hand on her perspiring forehead. The familiar nervous feeling began to spiral in the pit of her stomach. She watched as Bartram began conversing with a small, uniformed man. He pointed outside the door and then glanced back at Eloise with the same stern look in his tired eyes. She knew that there was no backing out. She was going back to tend Albert once again...