A lot of my readers were not ready to let 1940's Arthur go. I must admit, I can't let him go either. Damn you Arthur for being so awesome!
So I'm putting this together. In this story, there is no dream. Everything is real and it picks up right after Arthur takes Ariadne to the airport after their wedding night.
When We Were Lost
1.
~ Ariadne watched her husband from her seat on the military transport plane. She knew she was lucky to even be able to evacuate out of Europe right now. The war was still raging onward and it was hard for anyone to escape the horrors of it.
Her broken leg still hurt and Arthur had made sure she had taken her pain medication before she boarded the plane that would take her from Paris to London, and then to New York. Their rapid nuptials and solitary wedding night would have to be enough to last till the end of the war.
~ "You have everything? Your medicine? Your clothes? Make sure you don't leave anything behind." He said as they waited for the plane to finish prepping. The handsome Army Major hiding his eyes form her. She knew if their eyes met, he might not be able to let her go.
"Yes, I have everything." She said numbly and gave an involuntary shudder.
"Are you cold?" He asked rubbing his war callused hands over her bare arms. Trying to warm her.
"No, I'm not cold." She said shaking like a leaf.
"It's only for a few more months. A few more months at best." he promised. "I have intelligence reports that the Russians are gaining ground and with our taking Paris back..." He sighed and looked at the injured men waiting to leave Paris for London.
His small bride looked out of place with them. Even with her leg heavily encased in a plaster cast.
"I could always stay. I could stay here in Paris." She said weakly. Her slight fingers running over the harsh fabric of his uniform. Finally straitening his medals. Finding something to do instead of leaving him.
"No." He said sharply. "I want you safe. We don't know what's going to happen now that Hitler and his thugs are so desperate." He said firmly.
She nodded and tried not to cry. Tried to remember that she was soldier's wife now. An officer's wife. She had to be strong.
He kissed her forehead and she could not hold back her tears.
"It's only a few months. Just a few months and I'll be home." He promised.
~ The flight to London was not easy. Although she was injured, and accounted for as one of the evacuating masses, she couldn't help but attend to the more seriously wounded. She had gotten better at hobbling around with her broken leg. The seating making it easier for her to hold onto something as she helped an overworked nurse with her patients.
The work felt good to her. It helped to keep her mind off of what Arthur was doing.
~ Lt. Colonel Cobb scowled down at a map and leaned into the phone.
"Confirm the order?" He asked in disbelief. A static voice barked back at him and he nodded.
"Sir, I just don't think my men are ready for another advancement. The last one was barely a week ago and we took casualties." Colonel Cobb said.
The static barking came back and Cobb sighed.
"Yes, sir." He said.
~ Arthur drove his solitary jeep back to the barracks. He wanted to be alone. Wanted no comfort from his friends or comrades in arms. He almost made it into the barracks without notice when Cobb spotted him.
"Major?" Cobb said catching up to him. Arthur stopped and saluted the Lieutenant Colonel.
"Congratulations on the promotion, Sir." Arthur told him.
Cobb nodded.
"On yours as well. War time had no shortage of promotions if your lucky enough to survive it." The Colonel said. "I take it you just saw your wife off?" he asked.
"Yes, put her on the plane myself. If I didn't make her get on that plane she would most likely be back on the front. Cast and all." Arthur said wryly.
"Come and have a drink with me." Cobb said. "Not everyday we say goodbye to our wives."
"I never drink, Sir." Arthur said stiffly.
"Tonight you do, Major." Cobb said pulling rank. "We just got new orders. We advance to Berlin."
~ "To wives and lovers." Lieutenant Eames said raising his shot glass. "May they never meet." He added to a round of laughter. Arthur couldn't help but smile at that. His head happily sedated and tipsy from his fourth shot of whiskey. He wasn't a drinker and Lieutenant Eames was the first to notice that he "wasn't able" for it.
"Why so quick to go to Berlin?" Arthur asked looking at his hands. His drink kicking in.
"Patton's orders." Cobb said making a face as he downed his own shot. Lieutenant Eames blowing cigarette smoke in the crowded pub. "The Nazis are retreating, we have to advance. Their logistics are breaking down. We expect to break them by January. You may be home to your wife before Valentine's day."
"That would be nice." Arthur said numbly. He wanted Ariadne. She had only been gone a few hours but he missed her already. Just knowing she wasn't in Paris anymore made the city seem empty for him. Knowing that he would not see her for a few months, was painful.
"Arthur?" Cobb said shaking the Major's shoulders.
"I'm alright." Arthur said shaking his head.
"I know your hurting right now. I said goodbye to my own wife and two young children over two years ago." Cobb said. "I want more then anything to go back to them." He confessed. "But we have a job to do and we can't go home until we do it. We can't have Hitler coming to the home front, Solider."
"Right you are." Eames said raising another glass. The Lieutenant could drink them all under the table. "Our ladies back home are worth it." He added.
~ Ariadne finally rested at the London hospital in the nurses quarters. There were not many women patients in the hospital and she felt more at ease among the other nurses. She had assisted the nurse on the plane ride over and once the Matron at the hospital found out she was a Red Cross nurse with battle field experience, she quickly put her to work.
"We have so many wounded, we can't treat you special just because of a broken leg." The older woman said crisply. All the nurses were dressed in pristine white caps and aprons. Putting Ariadne's war weary uniform to shame.
"Yes, Matron." Ariadne said.
She gladly sat in a wheelchair and efficiently changed dressings all day.
"Things must not be going well, if our nurses are in wheelchairs." One of the wounded men said.
Ariadne had to smile and neatly folded down his dressing.
"I hear the war will be over very soon. I was just in Paris and our boys are making ground every day." She told him.
"Wish I could be there. I was stupid enough to get wounded by a land mine. They should have let me die." The young man, barely 25, said holding back tears.
"Shh. No one would have let you die solider." She said soothingly.
"I have myself a young wife. Just as pretty as you. She won't want me now." The wounded young man said. Ariadne looked over the battle ridden body of her patient.
"Your wife loves you." Was all she said.
"She can't love me like this." He cried out. His legs had been blown off by the mine, and later, ravaged by infection. His right hand also had been disfigured by the blast. "How can I be a man with her like this?" He said angrily. "She'd be better off burying me." He cried.
"No wife want's to bury her husband." Ariadne said smoothing the soldier's hair as he cried.
~ Dear Arthur,
I know we just left each other, but I feel some sense of comfort writing to you just now. I've made it to London without incident. Things at the hospitals here are worse then when I left. So crowded as a most of the wounded are sent here.
The Matron sent me to work when she found out I was a nurse. I know, I know. Your going to say I need to stay off my feet and rest, but you know me. I like the work. It keeps my mind off things. I think my plane will not be able to take me to America for some time and this keeps me busy and not worrying about you.
I do worry about you. I attended a young man who was blown up by a land mine and my heart is breaking for him. I worry that you could be killed or captured or hurt in a horrible way. Returned to me broken and not the same man who danced with me on our wedding night.
Promise me you will be careful. It's a direct request from your wife that you return to her safe and sound. That you honor your promise to come back to her, and live a boring life with her.
All of my love,
Ariadne