Scarlet and Lucy waved their goodbyes and hurried back to the hospital to check on their patients, doing their final rounds on those that were yet to be transported.
‘Come along, wife,’ Spencer teased, once they had gone, catching Ellie’s chin in his fingers and tilting her face up, dropping a soft kiss to her lips.
Ellie kissed him back, his words soothing her, making everything else leave her mind. ‘I like the sound of that, husband.’
They both laughed, then she picked up the hem of her dress so it didn’t get muddy and they went off in search of a ride to town.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
Scarlet
There was a knot of fear in her stomach that Scarlet had never felt before. She wasn’t sure if it was the fact that she was about to leave what she knew, or that she might actually find Thomas. All she’d ever wanted was to find her fiancé, it was the very reason she was here, and now it terrified her. She knew in her heart that it was because of James, that he’d changed something inside of her. She still loved Thomas, fiercely, and she would give anything to find him and take him home to his family, but her heart was pulling her towards James, making it impossible not to think about him. Sometimes she wondered if she thought of anything else at night, when it was quiet and dark and she was lost to her own thoughts.
‘I can’t believe it’s really time for me to go,’ Ellie said, tears in her eyes as she enveloped Scarlet in a big hug.
Scarlet snapped out of her daydream and hugged Ellie back. Her friend was leaving, and come morning she and Spencer would have left, too. Everything was changing, and she had a feeling nothing would ever be the same again. Normandy might have been dreadful in so many ways, but they’d been a team. She’d spent the past months glued to Ellie, sleeping side by side, working side by side, sharing everything together, and then Lucy had come along and become part of their little unit, a friend she’d never forget. She’d been so cool and capable, as if she didn’t need them, but in the end Scarlet had become as close to her as she had to Ellie.
‘Tell me exactly when you’re embarking,’ Scarlet asked, wanting to know all the details, not ready to let Ellie go even though she knew it was the right thing. ‘Surely there must be some additional supplies you need to take with you.’
Ellie’s smile was sweet, tears still filling her eyes. ‘Stop worrying about me. I’ll be absolutely fine. It’s you lot staying behind I’m worried about.’
Scarlet touched her arm, knowing she needed to give Spencer and Ellie a moment alone but needing to say one last thing to her friend before she left. She kept wondering if this was the last time they’d see one another again – if this was it. Ellie might not make it home; she herself could be killed working, or on her own way home one day.
‘I promise I’ll keep your letter for you. Until this blasted war is over,’ Scarlet said in a low voice. It didn’t matter who heard; it wasn’t so much a secret as something that for some reason felt private between them.
‘Thank you.’ Ellie pressed a quick kiss to her cheek and gave her a hug. ‘I’m pleased you’ll have something of mine tucked against your body every day. It’ll be a little bit of me still here with you.’
Scarlet hugged her back, not wanting to let go. ‘You’ll keep mine? In case of the worst?’ she asked.
Ellie squeezed her one last time then stepped back. ‘Of course I will. I will keep it safe until the day you come looking for me. I’ll only give it back to you in person, so you’d better find me!’
‘I promise,’ Scarlet said, biting her bottom lip, not wanting to cry.
‘I’ll have tea and scones waiting,’ Ellie said, ‘or dinner bubbling away in a pot. Either way we’ll be drinking something and eating something even better. I can’t wait.’
Scarlet hoped that was true, that she could look forward to it over the months or maybe even years ahead. She longed for the day they could give their letters back, for neither of them to have to make the pilgrimage to one another’s families, to deliver the worst kind of message.
‘Stay strong and look after that baby,’ Scarlet said.
Ellie gave her a sweet little wave and Scarlet started to walk backwards, ready to give her some space and say her goodbyes to her new husband. Whoever would have thought that Ellie would be married to the doctor she’d bumped into in a hallway at their first lodgings, and expecting his baby? Certainly not her, but Scarlet was happy for her. If anyone deserved some happiness, it was Ellie. She had changed a lot from that girl she’d first met, had matured from a girl full of energy and optimism to a more mature woman. She was still Ellie, but they’d endured a lot, and Scarlet only hoped it had made her stronger in the end, even though she’d been so close to breaking.
Scarlet watched as Lucy spoke to Ellie and hugged her, and then they were both trudging back to the hospital. Saying goodbye was always hard, but this was tougher, especially after they’d both been through some hard times with Ellie, when they’d both wondered if she would pull through after being so traumatised by what she’d been seeing and doing.
‘I still can’t believe she’s pregnant,’ Lucy said as Scarlet turned back to give Ellie one last wave. ‘Imagine what they must have been up to that afternoon we left them in town!’ she quipped.
Scarlet laughed – it was impossible not to – but she didn’t exactly want to think about what Ellie and Spencer had been doing. ‘Well, the poor lovebirds didn’t get a lot of private time for starters, and other than that I don’t want to think about it.’
‘You’ve got to admit that it’s pretty funny, though, right? I mean—’
‘La-la-la-la-la,’ Scarlet started to sing loudly, elbowing Lucy in the side. She wasn’t used to talking about intimate matters, and she wasn’t about to start, no matter how much more worldly she was now than before she’d begun nursing.
Lucy poked her tongue out and they walked back into the hospital. It was going to be another long day, that was always a given, only today would end with her climbing into an army truck and heading off on an adventure that could mean finding Thomas. Her doubts were mounting. It was almost impossible to believe that after all this time it could be him.
She’d only just started to do her rounds, checking her patients, sniffing for gangrene and checking for fevers, when a hand closed on her shoulder. A strong, masculine hand that made her turn.
‘Scarlet.’
Scarlet turned and stared into the sombre face of Spencer, his eyes sad, mouth bracketed by a frown. She knew it must have been hard for him saying goodbye to Ellie, knowing she was carrying their unborn child, too.
‘I didn’t want to worry Ellie unnecessarily by mentioning this before, but we’re leaving pronto,’ he said. ‘Gather your things and be ready to depart in an hour.’
Scarlet stared up at him, incredulous, certain he was mistaken. ‘An hour from now?’ But she still had all her rounds to do. She had thought they weren’t leaving until after her shift.