Haguenau, France785Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcXnSfYknI8
1945
The medical scissors gleamed by the sink. Cate picked them up without looking at her reflection in the cracked cabinet mirror. The lightbulb buzzed as she pulled the cord hanging from the ceiling.
She trembled from the chill in her threadbare slip. Gripping the brown braid off her shoulder, she worked the dull bladed end through the heavy strands. It came off at the base of her neck. Bare feet numb from the tile floor, she let the braid fall from her fingers into the sink.
She finished with the layers around her face. The deadened pieces drifted to the floor. Cate tossed the scissors with a resounding clang into the porcelain sink and ran her fingers through her shorn locks. Uneven strands framed her face like the toothed branches outside framed the dove grey sky.
"Catie?"
She shuddered out of her thoughts and glanced over at the door as Mira appeared. She was holding the letter. Mira's broad face blanched as she surveyed what Cate had done to herself.
"Why?" The young nurse sighed, unfolding the paper to read it.
Cate's shoulder slumped in a numb shrug, "You are holding the reason."
785Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmk2f4bBK23
Aldbourne, England785Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtZqgNcWEUz
May 1944
Broad shouldered and of short stature, the two paratroopers surprised the nurse as they broke into easy conversation with her. The other girls she had arrived with at the pub were flirty with red lips and pin-up curves. Catie Doyle couldn't imagine why they were still talking to her.
"A nice New England Catholic girl like you over here to nurse the wolves?" Private David Finch teased, "Doesn't make much sense. How did your parents take it?"
Catie grinned down at the brimming stein of beer, "Well, my mother wasn't too keen on it."
"How about your father?" Ted McNeil leaned against the cherry wood bar.
"He's dead actually."
Catie winced, wishing she hadn't been so blunt with the fact. David shifted uncomfortably and looked towards the dart game. But Ted met her eyes, waiting for her to continue. He wasn't handsome as she wasn't really beautiful. He had a receding chin and a hawkish nose but his eyes were kind. They calmed her nerves.
"It's nothing," Catie sputtered with a causal shrug, "I barely remember him. It was polio when I was two years old."
"You still haven't said why you joined the Nurse Corps. Boyfriend over here or something?" David stirred and turned back to their conversation, arching a heavy eyebrow in Ted's direction.
"Nothing that interesting. My three older brothers enlisted and I had hoped to be close to them. It's that simple."
"Where are they stationed?"
She took a sip from her beer, "The Pacific. They all fought at Guadalcanal."
The men grew silent again. She made a mental note to ask Mira later on appropriate subjects for small talk. Yet red headed Sergeant Ted McNeil still watched her, patiently waiting to listen. She broke eye contact with him and tucked a strand of mousy hair behind her ear.
"They must be some tough bast- … men," David Finch commented, facing the room with a droll expression.
"They've got nerve like our dad, at least that's what my mother has told me. He fought in the Great War," Catie rambled, her eyes focused on her poorly manicured nails.
"Sounds like you take after him a bit as well, Catie Doyle." Ted McNeil motioned the bartender over, "Otherwise you'd be home taking your ma to mass right now and not having a pint with us."
Catie brought the glass to her mouth. She considered Ted for a moment until he peeked back to her with a tentative smile. Catie's eyes fell as she set down the pint. She had never been good at flirting. And yet, Sergeant McNeil stayed and listened to her. Even after David Finch got bored and joined the dart game.
One pint was enough. Her heated blood thrummed with the first alcohol she had ever drank. Catie and her friends were escorted back from town by a few of the paratroopers training in the small English village.
One hand twisted a coin in her coat pocket. She absently tried to remember if it was called a sixpence or shilling. Anything to distract her from feeling nervous as Ted sauntered next to her.
"So these brothers of yours, they wouldn't happen to be big guys, would they?" Ted asked as the others hooted and hollered down the lane ahead.
"You could say that I suppose."
"So are we talking six feet tall? A little over?" He bumped into her shoulder amiably.
"My eldest brother James is six foot and five inches."
Ted let out a low whistle, adjusting his cap, "I'm scared to ask about the other."
"James is the tallest. Though Patrick was the burliest offensive tackle our high school ever saw," she chuckled, enjoying the chance to brag about her hero big brothers.
"So it's safe to say most of the guys in your hometown were scared to ask you out for a soda."
Catie rolled her eyes as he sped up and walked backwards to face her, "There were no boys I wanted to get a soda with. We grew up in a very small pond."
Ted peered down the country road towards the village, "I can understand that. After all, what do those guys from New England have on us pioneers from the wild Northwest?"
"Quit trying to impress the girl, McNeil. I'd wouldn't call Astoria, Oregon the frontier,” David Finch squawked from nearby, his arm around Joan's slender shoulders and a half smoked cigarette hanging from his mouth.
"Shut up, Dave," Ted replied without looking over.
“I didn't notice the guys because school was too important to me. I joined the Nurse Corps for more than just trying to be close to my brothers," Catie cupped her hands in front of her with a half nod.
"What is that then?" Ted pressed.
Their pace slowed as he moved to walk beside her again. Catie let out a nervous laugh. She couldn't believe what she was about to tell him. Only her oldest brother James knew her secret. She wondered if it was just naivety, but there was something about Ted that made her feel like she had known him for years.
"There is a medical school down in Pennsylvania that accepts women."
"Medical school? You want to be what...a doctor?"
Catie's cheeks tingled as she nodded mutely.
Ted was quiet a moment, "Well… that's something."
"Did I just offend you? Or terrify you?"
"Neither actually. I'm just very impressed." Ted studied his shoes.
"I know it's kind of a pipe dream. If my mother knew, she'd probably faint dead away. She has her heart set on me giving her plenty of grandchildren," Catie bit her lip to stop her babbling.
"I think that's what most Irish Catholic mothers expect, mine included," Ted offered, "But why can't you do both? Have a family and become a doctor?"
Before Catie could answer, she was struck silent as he reached out for her fingers. His hand was warm as he grasped hers completely.
"I don’t see why not," she managed, trying to organize her fuzzy thoughts.
Author's Note: Here's the storyboard for this piece if you are interested in checking it out, just images that have inspired the story and characters, https://www.pinterest.com/pennylynnie/out-of-a-vacant-heart/
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