"Where am I?" the young man asked groggily, his voice strained.
Katie looked over when she heard his voice. He sounded lost, as though he couldn't remember anything leading up to the moment he was in. This was the first time he had spoken since he had been admitted to the officer's hospital the night before. "Chatsworth House," she answered evenly.
"Chatsworth?" he exclaimed, his voice hoarse. "I never thought I'd end up here," he muttered to himself lowly.
In reply, Katie moved closer to his bed. The young man was one of the many officers that were being housed in her uncle's estate at the moment. She looked down at the chart that was on the end of his bed. Captain McClain. She knew of some McClains in Staffordshire. Perhaps he was somehow related to the family.
Before Katie could say anything in return, he spoke again. "Why can't I see? What's over my eyes?" he asked, a thin veil of panic laced his voice as his hands came up to touch the bandages on his face. They were coated in a sticky substance that left a thin film on his fingertips.
She could hear the distress in his voice. So much for finishing rolling these bandages.
The girl sat down in the chair next to his bed. There was enough space between his bed and the one next to him that she could comfortably seat herself without being in anyone's way.
After having the house open as a convalescence home for officers for two years, they had a lot of things figured out. "There are bandages over your eyes because you were hit by mustard gas. I put a salve on it to help them heal."
"So I'll be able to see again?" the young officer asked, excitement creeping into his tone.
"There's no guarantee, but it's very possible. I've seen cases of recovery before," she replied with a shrug. "There's no reason that you won't be the next case."
His entire expression flipped and he grinned widely. Katie had to admit to herself that he was a handsome man, with his bronzed features and wide smile. She hadn't seen his eyes yet, but she imagined that they would match the rest of his face well.
"Thank you for that, Nurse-?" he asked expectantly. His entire demeanor had changed from somber to that of an excited puppy in a matter of seconds.
Katie couldn't keep the soft smile off her face as she replied. "Holt. I'm Nurse Holt."
"Katie, are you going to be joining us for dinner tonight?" her uncle asked with his usual intense demeanor.
The girl smiled as she tugged on her gloves, adjusting them on her upper arm. "Yes, Uncle Alfor. They don't need me on staff tonight, so I thought I would join the rest of the family for dinner. Is that okay?"
"Certainly!" her uncle's voice boomed. "Coran, can you make sure that there is a place set for Miss Holt?" he called, turning to his butler.
Coran nodded. "Certainly, Your Grace. I'll set the place myself. And dinner will be ready in just a few minutes," he stated happily before bowing out and exiting the drawing room.
Katie turned her attention to her cousin. "Allura! How was your day?"
Allura flashed Katie her signature angelic smile. "It was rather lovely," she stated as she sat down next to her cousin on the sofa nearest to the fireplace. "I spent most of it reading to the officers in the hall. I can't wait until I finish my training and can treat the soldiers like you do," she told Katie enviously.
"With the war ending in just a few weeks, there isn't much of a need anymore," Alfor stated from his chair by the fire.
His daughter was ready to offer her rebuttal to her father when the door opened again, revealing Coran. "Forgive the intrusion, Your Grace, but dinner is served."
Alfor, Allura, and Katie all stood and followed Coran to the spacious dining room. The home had two formal dining rooms, and since the party was limited to family tonight, they went with the smaller room that could still easily seat twenty people.
As dinner commenced, Katie couldn't help but admire the general splendor of the room. The home had only recently been outfitted with electricity, and the chandelier was dazzling as it threw spots of light against the mirror on the wall across from her. The general feel off the room was light, with cream colored wallpaper contrasted with white trim on the walls and the dark wood of the floor.
Just like the rest of the house.
"Have you heard from Matthew?" Alfor asked suddenly, pulling Katie's attention back to her uncle.
She shook her head in dismay. "Not since last month. But his last letter said his unit isn't on the front lines right now, so unless something has changed recently, he isn't in any immediate danger."
"Oh thank heavens for that," Allura said with a sigh of relief. "I can't imagine what we would do if something happened to him."
Katie couldn't help but chuckle darkly at her cousin's statement. "Yeah. You would have to find a new heir."
A look of hurt flashed across Allura's face as Katie's pointed statement hit it's mark. "Katie, that's not-"
"That's hardly fair-" Alfor interrupted.
"I know," Katie admitted glumly. "Forgive me. I know you didn't just bring Matt and I here because he is your next heir."
Allura's smile returned quickly. "All is forgiven, my dear Pidge. My father and I both care about you and Matt. You are apart of our family," she insisted sincerely.
And when it came from Allura, Katie knew that it was true. Her uncle Alfor might be another story entirely, however.
After all, Katie's late mother was the younger sister to Alfor Cavendish, Duke of Devonshire. Both Matt and Katie had always been welcome at Chatsworth House for the Holidays, but even from a young age she could sense her uncle's mild displeasure at his nephew being his heir if he never produced a son.
After his wife died, it seemed that the Duke had reconciled himself to his situation.
But the shadow of dissatisfaction lingered in the dark crevices of the old home, and even after five years of residency, Katie wondered if they would ever really dissipate.
"So, Nurse Holt . . . where are you from?"
Katie rolled her eyes at the captain next to her. When she spoke to him after coming in for her shift in the morning, he had immediately begged the girl to talk to him. He insisted that since he couldn't see yet (the bandages weren't due off for at least a week), that he had found it almost impossible to make friends in the rehabilitation ward.
After his whining and pleading had come to an end, she had finally admitted that she had bandages that needed to be rolled, and since it would take her at least half an hour, there was no harm in bringing them over to his bedside while she worked on him.
"South Yorkshire. My father bought an estate there to please my mother."
"Did it work?" he asked with a lopsided grin.
She had to admit that this patient was quickly becoming one of her favorites. He had an easy smile and an open demeanor. He took everything, including his potential blindness, in stride. The nurse could tell that he lifted the spirits of the officers around him as he asked about their families and homes. "I think so. They loved each other a lot."
"Loved?" he inquired, the grin slipping from the officer's tanned face.
Katie placed another perfectly rolled bandage on the corner of the metal tray. "Past tense. My mother passed ten years ago. My father was lost on the titanic."
"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have pried-" he tried to apologize.
"It's alright," Katie answered evenly as she could whilst completing another roll of bandages. "My parents loved me and my brother for as long as they could. That's more than a lot of people could say."
Officer McClain nodded. "It is a very good thing to know that you have been loved."
"Matt and I have been very lucky."
The officer's smile returned at the opportunity to change topics. "Matt? Is that your brother?"
"Mhmm. He's four years older. He's a Major in the Cavalry and he should be coming home soon."
"Why?"
She paused, her hand nearly slipping off the bandage as the nurse turned her attention to the officer to her right.
"Because the war is ending, ya daft ninny," the officer to her left said with a wheeze of laughter. "Haven't you heard?"
Katie quickly fixed the officer with a glare. "Thank you for your comments, Officer Plaxum, but please keep any unnecessary accolades to yourself in the future," she stated, her tone sharp enough to cut. The officer wilted back against his pillow, knowing very well that it wasn't in his best interest to fight with the woman who administered his morphine drip.
Captain McClain chuckled. "You're pretty fierce, Nurse Holt, aren't you?"
"Only when it's needed," she retorted, her attention returning to her tray. "And where are you from, Captain McClain?"
"Ah, I see you're changing the subject. If you are interested in knowing, I grew up in south Cheshire. My family owns an estate near the border and I grew up there with my brothers and sisters."
"How many?"
"Too many," he replied with a smirk. "Or, that's how it feels sometimes. I have two brothers and a sister."
Katie smiled down at her tray. She could only imagine what his sister had gone through, being raised alongside him. "And where do you fall in all this?"
"The youngest."
"Why does that not surprise me?" she answered with a giggle.
The flight officer huffed indignantly. "What is that supposed to mean, exactly, Nurse Holt?"
"Don't worry about it, Captain McClain," she replied, stifling a laugh. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to put these bandages away."
"And then you're coming back, right?"
The laugh that she had been suppressing for the last half hour finally bubbled out. "Heavens above, you're needy," Katie teased gently, rolling her eyes in reply.
"Just when it comes to you, Nurse Holt," he replied breezily as he leaned back into his pillow.
"So you were a fighter pilot?"
The officer nodded. "Still am, actually. Flight Captain Lance McClain, at your service m'lady," he replied with a suggestive smirk.
While Katie rolled her eyes at his antics, she could help but smile at him. If nothing else, he was her easiest patient. Captain McClain was cheerful and optimistic. He had no need for rehabilitation just yet, so he mostly just wanted someone to talk to. It was only his third day in the ward and he was already one of the most popular officers on his floor. "What kind of plane?" she asked, her interest piqued.
Katie had a great interest in technology, something that those closest to her new about. She loved discovering what the next new thing was to be. As a child, she remembered her father showing her newspaper clips about the two Americans who had managed to fly an airplane successfully. Ever since then, her interest in modern technology had only increased.
"Armstrong Whitworth F.K.10. There are only a few of them manufactured, actually. It's a two-seat quadruplane Fighter. It can go up to 135 kilometers an hour. She was a beauty, my blue. I named her after my dog!"
"So if you were the pilot, who was your gunner?"
The pilot's face fell at Katie's question. "Griffin. He was new." He paused for a moment, as if lost in thought. His demeanor shifted as he contemplated just how much he wanted to tell the nurse that was treating him. "We were just over the border in Germany when we were shot down."
Katie leaned forward, noticing the wistfulness in his tone, as though he were sharing someone else's experience and not a horrific memory of his own.
"We both ejected. I was just grateful that the engine didn't explode and kill us immediately," he admitted.
She could hear the guilt in his voice as he spoke. The horror of the experience must have taken a toll on him. She wondered, not for the first time, what his time in the field hospital had been like. Had he cried? Had he called out for his comrade when he was unable to see anything as the sores grew too painful to bear?
"I don't even know if he ever made it to the trench. And I was blinded by mustard gas so quickly . . ." he trailed off quietly.
Katie waited, unsure if she should speak or not.
The officer seemed to shake himself out of it, reminding Katie of a dog shaking off bathwater. "Then I woke up in a medic unit and they shipped me off here to see if I'll recover."
"You will recover, Captain McClain. And in five days, we'll pull the bandages off and we can deal with whatever happens."
"Will you be here when that happens?" he asked.
Katie laughed. "Probably. I'm here every day."
"Sorry, that came out wrong. Will you be here when they take the bandages off?"
The nurse paused thoughtfully. She could hear the pleading in his voice as he spoke. Katie swallowed thickly as she felt color rise to her cheeks in embarrassment. She was grateful that he couldn't see her blush.
"I promise that I will be there."
Katie grimaced as she downed her morning coffee quickly. She had been working every day from six in the morning until nearly midnight for the past three weeks. She had always loved sleeping and had a tendency to sleep through breakfast when she was growing up. The last few weeks had hardly even left her time to check her stocks in the papers. If her solicitor hadn't been sending her weekly updates on her accounts and investments then she would be completely clueless as to where she stood financially.
As she began her morning shift, relieving one of the night nurses in the process, she made her rounds on her patients.
"Nurse Holt, is that you?"
Katie paused at the familiar voice. "And a good morning to you, Captain McClain. Three days until the bandages come off. How are you feeling?"
"Much better, now that you're here, Nurse Holt," he threw back at her with a wolfish grin.
"Have you always been such a flirt?" Katie threw back good-naturedly. She could tell by watching him that his cheerful disposition probably contributed greatly to his flirtatious tendencies.
His grin only broadened. "Only when it comes to you."
Katie couldn't help the blush that dusted her cheeks and she prayed that none of her other patients noticed her appearance.
"But, anyway," the pilot continued with a cough. "I got a letter in the evening post yesterday. Would you be able to take a few minutes and read it to me?"
She looked at him thoughtfully before glancing at the table next to his bed. Indeed, there was a letter on the corner. Katie glanced at the clock. She had a few minutes extra, but only if she moved quickly.
"Sure," she answered taking the seat next to the table.
"Thank you," the pilot replied cheerfully, settling into his pillow as he waited for her to begin reading the letter. The anticipation of waiting for someone to read it, once it had arrived the evening before, had been killing him
After opening the envelope neatly, Katie pulled the paper out. "It's from your mother."
"Oh, that's good. It's been weeks since her last letter."
"Should I just start reading?"
The officer nodded. "Please, go ahead."
"My Dear Lance," Katie had to pause as she spoke his first name aloud for the first time. The blush had returned briefly and she wondered how every interaction with the young officer managed to always make her feel a little squirmy. She cleared her throat before continuing. "I hope this letter finds you well. We received word about your injury. I send you my utmost love and hope that you recover as quickly as possible."
"That's very kind of her. My mama has always been a sweetheart," he stated warmly.
"She sounds kind. Should I continue?"
The pilot waved his hand. "Of course. Sorry to interrupt," he said sheepishly.
"I have something to tell you that you might find hard to hear. Luis and Marco, your dear brothers. They are . . ." Katie trailed off, her breath catching in her throat. No. No. Not him, Not them. No.
"My brothers? What happened, Nurse Holt?" There was an edge to his voice, as if the words couldn't come out fast enough. "Nurse Holt?"
Katie's eyes welled with tears and she took a shaky breath. "Sorry. I'll keep going. They are no longer with us. Luis was struck down in the trenches a few weeks ago. He never made it to the field hospital." She stopped reading, her heart hammering in her chest.
Her mind flashed to the last time she saw Matt. He had been home for three days leave and she wondered if she would ever see him again. The fear had settled in her heart at the thought of losing the last member of her family.
The pilot's entire body was tense and his hands were shaking. When he spoke, his voice was thick with emotion. "And Marco?"
Katie bit the corner of her cheek, turning her attention to the letter again. "I know this will break your heart, almost as much as it has broken mine, mijo. Marco was taken by cholera. There was an outbreak in his unit. He died only a few days later. I'm so sorry. I know that they loved you, and in every letter they wrote me, they told me how proud of you they were. I know that they are still watching over you. Be strong, my brilliant and brave son, and know that you are loved. Come back to us soon, mijo. Love, your mother."
Her hands shook as she held the letter tightly in her grip, her knuckles white. She glanced over at Captain McClain and she almost gasped in shock.
Through the bandages, a tear had coursed down his cheek. His normally sunny complexion was pale and closed off. His shoulder shook with the effort of checking his emotion.
Without thinking, Katie reached forward and grabbed his hand, resting hers on top of his. Her fingers tightened over his palm in an attempt to reassure him. Absently, his other hand came to rest on top of hers. In this moment, she felt anchored to him in his grief.
This cheerful pilot had lost two brothers in the same day. Katie was reminded of how she felt when she received the news of her father's death. It was just her and Matt after that. She wouldn't wish losing one's family on anyone, especially on the kind officer that may very well lose his sight.
Absently, her thumb stroked across the side of his hand. The silence was deafening, but she refused to be the one to break it and shatter his loss with a comment or consolation, no matter how well intended. Comfort wasn't about words; it was about actions. It didn't matter what she said to him in that moment, as his grief was unchangeable. What mattered was that she was there.
"Shouldn't you be-"
"I'll stay as long as you need me," Katie insisted. "I only know a bit about losing a loved one, but I hope it's enough. So I'll stay right here."
There was a moment of silence before the officer finally rasped out. "Thank you."
A/N: Thanks for reading my trash fic that is the direct result of me watching too much Downton Abbey.
-Star
