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Chapter 23

Over the next few days, Elena found out as much as she could about becoming a nurse. She was determined that she had to do something to help, and hated feeling so useless in the shop every day.

It wasn’t just a matter of strolling in to the local hospital and offering her services, which would’ve been a lot simpler in her opinion. The hospital administrator Elena spoke to suggested she do some volunteer work for the First Aid and Rescue before committing herself to the nurse training course, which would likely take a couple of years to complete. So many girls started the course full of good intentions, but the reality was that only half of them actually finished. Nursing wasn’t an easy job to do, and certainly wasn’t as glamorous as the big screen made it out to be. In fact, it wasn’t glamorous at all. Elena didn’t expect it to be though; she wasn’t naïve enough to believe everything she saw on screen. She knew that plenty of men and women had died or suffered horrific injuries whilst serving their country. Given the chance, she wanted to do something for those brave people.

So with her newfound knowledge, Elena became a volunteer up at the Army base where there was a first aid station, offering her help a couple of evenings a week after a full day at the shop.

Her first evening consisted of being shown around, and also being issued with a steel helmet and an arm band with the words ‘First Aid’ printed on it. But after that first night, Elena learned all sorts of useful skills, and even how to drive an ambulance.

The long days in the shop, and then the evenings at the First Aid and Rescue could be both physically and mentally draining, but Elena was almost glad of the distraction. Whilst she was busy, she was less likely to wonder how Nick and the rest of the men she knew were getting on. With hardly any correspondence from the man she loved, every unoccupied hour meant extra time to worry.

“I pray he’s safe” Elena often caught herself saying out loud.

~*~

The sun had just disappeared from the horizon and the temperature was beginning to fall as the group of men approached the outskirts of Ramelle.

“I think this is it” Kevin announced, he could only just make out movement in the distance but felt confident that they were where they were supposed to be.

“I sure hope so” Brian said. He was still cold from the previous day, when they’d got soaked to their skin in the torrential rain. He desperately wanted to get warm by a fire, and fill his stomach with more than just water and measly rations.

Everyone else echoed Brian’s words.

They walked a short distance and then were stopped by a couple of men with guns. Luckily they turned out to be American soldiers and soon the men were cleared to pass and join what was left of the 1st Infantry.

The men were welcomed like old friends and were soon enjoying hot food and drink, as well as clean clothes. Keeping clean whilst being on the road had been a huge problem, none of them could remember the last time they’d had a proper wash, but it hadn‘t really occurred to them much whilst they were just trying to survive. Had it really been when they were still in England? Or had they managed here in France? So much had happened that things like that slipped their minds.

That night, they slept easy, feeling safe at last in the knowledge that there was safety in numbers.

The following day, the men sought out the mail. None of them had received anything since the boat ride over due to being cut off from the rest of the group after the events on the beach when they landed. The letters they’d received before arriving in France had become cherished possessions, their only link to the real world. So everyone was keen to see what was waiting for them.

Before the war, if anyone had told them they’d tear up over a letter, they wouldn’t have believed them. But now as each of them sat reading letters from home, there wasn’t a dry eye in sight.

Nick smiled between tears as he began to read the first in the bundle of letters from Elena.

My Dearest Nick,

I know you’ve only just left, but I’m going to write to you as often as I can and hope that my letters will bring you some joy in an otherwise joyless environment…

That had been part of the first letter, and there were many more.

Nick gasped with shock when he got to the letter where Elena told him that Jeremy was dead.

“Jeremy’s dead!” he said out loud.

Alex looked up from his own letter “Elena’s Jeremy?”

“Yeah”

“Fuck”

“Yeah” was all Nick could say and Alex went back to reading his letters.

Obviously Nick wanted Elena, but not at the cost of another man’s life. He was deeply saddened to hear the news. It brought back to him just how fragile life was and that every moment of happiness should be grabbed with both hands.

But the smile was soon back on Nick’s face when he got to the letter which contained a photo of himself with Elena. He gazed at it, wanting to memorise every tiny detail of it. She was just as pretty as he remembered, if not prettier.

Before long he reached the last letter.

Mr Dearest Nick,

I hope wherever you are, you are safe and will eventually get my letters and have a chance to scribble a quick letter back to me to let me know you are alright. Louise told me how she sometimes has to wait weeks to hear from Daniel, and that it can take months sometimes for him to receive her letters, so I know I’m not going to receive letters regularly.

I just pray you haven’t forgotten about me because I love and miss you so much. Here’s another photo, just so you don’t forgot me.

My volunteer work at the First Aid and Rescue centre is going well, they let me drive the ambulance today and I was told I’m a very good driver. Perhaps that’s what I could do rather than become a nurse. I’m still not sure what will happen with that as the training is so long and I would have to go away to do it. I don’t think I could leave my sister to run the shop on her own as mother hasn’t been too well recently.

Have I already mentioned how much I love and miss you? I dream of the day when we‘ll be together again.

All my love

Elena

X

Nick folded the last letter up and placed it back in the envelope, but kept the photo of Elena smiling into the camera (which he knew was a smile just for him) in his hand. He couldn’t help grinning at the thought of Elena dreaming of him. He knew from the moment he met her that she wasn’t like Emily - who’d run off with the first available man after Nick had left - and see it in writing, time after time, that she loved him and missed him made his heart swell. He just hoped that he made it back to her in one piece.

Chapter End Notes:

Sorry for the huge delay in updating, but I hope you're still enjoying the story!