glanced at Caroline, who turned away, her back to them. âIâ¦â
âI know the war is over, and that your husbandâIâm sorry,
fiancéâ
will return and youâll probably want to think about your family, and Sadie, of course. But with all the injured soldiers returning every day, we need nursing superintendents to help manage the staff, to assist our boys as they get back to their lives. Think about it, Esther. You already make an excellent scrub nurse, and you display great calm in an emergency. Madison is only a few hours by trainâyou might be able to return here on weekends, occasionally. Mercy Hospital could certainly use your skills.â
She opened her mouth, not sure what she might say. But he picked up his cup, glanced at Caroline. âI have rounds. Iâll be back.â âYes, doctor.â Esther watched him leave, unable to look at Caroline. âOpen the letter, Esther.â
CHAPTER 5
June 1945
Markesan, Wisconsin
Dear Miss Esther,
I should have guessed that you were a nurse, proved by the compassion of writing this poor sot, who too much had hoped youâd receive my not-so-subtle hint. With joy I stepped forward during mail call, and your letter became the light in a sunless, rainy day. Indeed, for a week now, the sky has refused to cooperate, and I drag back to camp each night, soaked to my pores, anxious for a cup of joe, and today, to reply to your kind note.
As to what I look like? Better to ask my bunkmates, although they would probably reply that you are better off not knowing. My ego would like to suggest that I resemble the dashing Errol Flynn, although Iâm not nearly as good-hearted as Robin Hood. Perhaps a biography would serve best. I am around six feet tall. Have unremarkable muddy blond hair, blue eyes, and a scar on my chin where my cousin once tried to spear me with a pitchfork. He has a similar scar on his upper arm. If I were at a dance, I fearyou might rebuff me for some other chap, and worse, I am cursed with two feet that seem to have their own minds. I am a fan of literature rather than sports, although I played point guard for our basketball team in Conroy, Iowa until my junior year.
I will admit some envy that you are pressing forward with your studies to become a nursing superintendent. I remember standing at my own crossroads, my commitments behind me, my future before me. I sat in a café beside the Elbe, drinking a bracer of espresso, the scent of marigolds in the air, watching ferries and excursion boats parting the undulating shadows of the opera house in the theaterplatz. At that moment I could taste the wideness of my future as surely as if I were lying in the middle of a cornfield. Or as Huck Finn might say,
Itâs lovely to live on a raft. We had the sky up there, all speckled with stars, and we used to lay on our backs and look up at them, and discuss about whether they was made or only just happened.
It is the wideness that I miss the most, perhaps.
Unfortunately, duty called me, and while I couldnât deny the peace in it, the road left untraveled in my life haunts me. I wonder, perhaps, if I would be here today if I had stayed the course of my studies. Perhaps.
Second chances are rare, and I applaud your courage to leap out and grasp yours. I am praying for my own second chance. Regrets are not easily digested when one lies in his bunk at night, only the chill and old porridge in his gut for comfort.
I am returning this note to the hospital, as you requested. I hope it finds you studying, and well. And although you did not mention it, I hope your efforts to find your friendâs fate resulted in happy news. He is in my prayers daily, as are you.
With warm regard,
Peter
âItâs from him, isnât it?â Caroline sat at the round pine table, setting a bowl of freshly washed strawberries between them.
Esther slid the letter into the chapter entitled âSterilization and Care of
âI know the war is over, and that your husbandâIâm sorry,
fiancéâ
will return and youâll probably want to think about your family, and Sadie, of course. But with all the injured soldiers returning every day, we need nursing superintendents to help manage the staff, to assist our boys as they get back to their lives. Think about it, Esther. You already make an excellent scrub nurse, and you display great calm in an emergency. Madison is only a few hours by trainâyou might be able to return here on weekends, occasionally. Mercy Hospital could certainly use your skills.â
She opened her mouth, not sure what she might say. But he picked up his cup, glanced at Caroline. âI have rounds. Iâll be back.â âYes, doctor.â Esther watched him leave, unable to look at Caroline. âOpen the letter, Esther.â
CHAPTER 5
June 1945
Markesan, Wisconsin
Dear Miss Esther,
I should have guessed that you were a nurse, proved by the compassion of writing this poor sot, who too much had hoped youâd receive my not-so-subtle hint. With joy I stepped forward during mail call, and your letter became the light in a sunless, rainy day. Indeed, for a week now, the sky has refused to cooperate, and I drag back to camp each night, soaked to my pores, anxious for a cup of joe, and today, to reply to your kind note.
As to what I look like? Better to ask my bunkmates, although they would probably reply that you are better off not knowing. My ego would like to suggest that I resemble the dashing Errol Flynn, although Iâm not nearly as good-hearted as Robin Hood. Perhaps a biography would serve best. I am around six feet tall. Have unremarkable muddy blond hair, blue eyes, and a scar on my chin where my cousin once tried to spear me with a pitchfork. He has a similar scar on his upper arm. If I were at a dance, I fearyou might rebuff me for some other chap, and worse, I am cursed with two feet that seem to have their own minds. I am a fan of literature rather than sports, although I played point guard for our basketball team in Conroy, Iowa until my junior year.
I will admit some envy that you are pressing forward with your studies to become a nursing superintendent. I remember standing at my own crossroads, my commitments behind me, my future before me. I sat in a café beside the Elbe, drinking a bracer of espresso, the scent of marigolds in the air, watching ferries and excursion boats parting the undulating shadows of the opera house in the theaterplatz. At that moment I could taste the wideness of my future as surely as if I were lying in the middle of a cornfield. Or as Huck Finn might say,
Itâs lovely to live on a raft. We had the sky up there, all speckled with stars, and we used to lay on our backs and look up at them, and discuss about whether they was made or only just happened.
It is the wideness that I miss the most, perhaps.
Unfortunately, duty called me, and while I couldnât deny the peace in it, the road left untraveled in my life haunts me. I wonder, perhaps, if I would be here today if I had stayed the course of my studies. Perhaps.
Second chances are rare, and I applaud your courage to leap out and grasp yours. I am praying for my own second chance. Regrets are not easily digested when one lies in his bunk at night, only the chill and old porridge in his gut for comfort.
I am returning this note to the hospital, as you requested. I hope it finds you studying, and well. And although you did not mention it, I hope your efforts to find your friendâs fate resulted in happy news. He is in my prayers daily, as are you.
With warm regard,
Peter
âItâs from him, isnât it?â Caroline sat at the round pine table, setting a bowl of freshly washed strawberries between them.
Esther slid the letter into the chapter entitled âSterilization and Care of
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