The war never let up. The patrols never let up. Tight curfew never let up. Restricted food rations never let up. Alexander's visits to Eliza never let up. It was a daily occurrence. He had barely known her for a week, but it felt like they had been best friends since childhood. Alexander's only way of convincing himself otherwise was due to the fact that Eliza was Jewish and Alexander's father would have never allowed his son any kind of friendship like that. Alexander scowled to himself at the thought. He recalled a fond memory of him speaking to Eliza about her studies.
Eliza smiled softly and pushed a strand of hair behind her ear. "Alexander, you know that it is highly unlikely that I will ever be able to work after this catastrophe."
"But surely you must have some idea of what you would like to do with your life, regarding studies." He pressed her.
She let out a deep breath that she didn't realize that she had been holding. "I've always been fascinated with medicine." She braced herself, waiting for his laugh, to tell her that she was ridiculous. But it never came. She glanced up, and he had a soft smile there. Not like he was mocking her, but like he was interested in what she had to say. She continued. "My parents and sist-" She stopped herself, starting to get choked up. "Some family members of mine died from a sickness when I was younger. The doctors said that it was typhoid fever. It was terrifying, really. Watching people you love slowly die off and not being able to do anything about it. So I want to help people and prevent things like unexplainable sicknesses from happening." Realizing that she was rambling, she stopped herself.
Alexander's eyes were wide. "Wow. Eliza, that's… that's absolutely amazing! I can't wait to see you become a doctor! You're going to save lives, and perform surgeries, and come up with cures, it's going to be incredible."
Eliza's eyes crinkled and she flashed a bittersweet smile. Alexander's excited mood fell and was replaced quickly with concern.
"Eliza, what's wrong?"
"You're forgetting," She replied slowly. "The Nazis are going to end up catching me." She started to breathe faster, her breaths becoming shallow and rushed. Her head filling with memories of Angelica losing it one day. Screaming that she couldn't take being holed up in the ghetto anymore. Yelling and running for the gate. Elbowing the soldier in the nose and sprinting out. The new came later in the day as a warning to everyone. That they had caught her, and that they had put a bullet through the back of her head. Thinking about this was making Eliza's head swim, her vision had black spots blocking out Alexander and the surrounding mill. She couldn't be fooled by Alexander's optimism. She couldn't help bursting out. "You do realize that they're going to kill me, don't you?" Tears pooled in her eyes, and a few dared to slip down her cheeks.
The image of the poor, damaged girl in front of him caused Alexander's heart to stutter. She had seemed so passionate and full of life just moments ago. He wiped the tears from her eyes and held her hand in his own.
"You're safe here, Eliza. I will make sure nothing ever happens to you."
Alexander sat at the dining table, a bowl of untouched, watery soup in front of him. He scribbled nonsense in his journal. The house was still. His father had left on a business trip and was scheduled to be gone for a month or so. His mother sat in the corner, sewing with light blue fabric.
"Mother?"
Her head perked up. "Yes darling?"
"What are you making?"
"Just some simple clothes for Eliza. I found this old fabric in the storage closet. You do realize that she's been wearing the same clothes since she arrived here, don't you?" Alexander's eyes widened. Eliza had been staying in the mill for long over a month now. His mother continued. "And God knows how long before that, I figured that some new garments would do her some good."
Alexander absentmindedly stirred the soup in front of him. "Do you think that she's awfully bored in there by herself? There can't be much to do. She already meticulously cleans."
His mother hummed to herself. "Do you have anything that you could take to her? Possibly a textbook? They just sit in your room collecting dust at the moment."
His eyes lit up. "That's right!" He pushed his chair back and raced to his room. He went to his shelf and pulled out the first textbook he saw having to do with medicine. He dusted off the cover with his hand and peered down at the title. British Red Cross Society. He was about to head out to mill when he began to think. I could probably read this in a day. Being all alone with nothing to do, Eliza could probably read this in a few hours. He turned back to his bookshelf and started to skim through more of the visible titles. One after the other he pulled at least fifteen books out. One caught his eye especially. He remembered Eliza talking about her family. The Treatment of Typhoid Fever. He grabbed a satchel and stuffed all of the books into it. He lugged the extremely heavy bag through the house and made it outside where he trudged through the pouring rain.
He arrived at the door of the mill and did the secret knock that Eliza had recommended to him. So you don't scare me to death, silly. The door cracked open a little bit, and a nervous looking eye peered up at him, but relaxed when she saw that it was only Alexander. She opened the door fully and ushered him into the warm room. He dropped the bag and she smiled at him, stepping forward and pulling him into a hug. She held on for a few moments, then pulled away. "Hi! I thought that you weren't coming to see me today!"
He smiled warmly at her, the corners of his eyes crinkling as he did so. "I wouldn't miss it for the world." Eliza walked over to the makeshift bed and sat. He grabbed his satchel and followed her. "So Eliza?"
"Yes?" She answered.
"Well, I was thinking earlier, about how you said that you wanted to be a doctor?" Her eyebrows knit together and she slowly nodded. He continued, a bit nervous. Why am I nervous? He thought. Why do I care so much about what she thinks of me? "So, uh, these are for you." He handed her the bag full of countless textbooks.
She carefully lifted one out, turning it over in her hands, opening it and slowly glancing at the pages. She turned her head to face Alexander, an unreadable expression on her face. "For me?" She whispered. He nodded his head and swallowed thickly. They're all for you. She lifted all of the books out of the bag and set them on the floor in front of her.
Without ever taking her eyes off of the books she spoke. "You did this, all of this for me?" She paused before looking up at him. "This is the nicest thing someone has done for me in such a long time. Thank you, thank you so much." He noticed her eyes were starting to appear glassy. Overcome with emotion, he reached forward, and pulled her into an embrace.
"It really means that much to you?" He murmured into her shoulder.
"Of course it does." She pulled away and sniffled. "When my parents died I had to live with my horrible aunt. It was just me and my sister. She was allowed to go to a regular school, because my aunt favoured her, meanwhile I was stuck at her house all day, being homeschooled." She said the word with disgust. "Which basically meant that my aunt would teach me how to be ladylike. I never got a proper education from her. It felt like I was stuck in eighteenth century! My sister, on the other hand, was-" She paused, took a deep breath, and began again. "She would sneak into my room late at night with all of her homework, textbooks, and library books. My sister was the only reason I got an education."
Alexander had always been curious about Eliza's past life and family, but had never had the courage to ask before, in case something would upset her. But now it seemed like the perfect opportunity to ask. The doors were open right now. "Eliza, forgive me for being so curious, but when you spoke of your sister you said was. Is she-"
"Yes, she's dead. We had been in the ghetto for some time when it happened. We both woke up in the flat we shared with countless other people. She was shaking me. She said, Eliza, come with me. We can make it. I can't take being here anymore, please. I can't do it alone."
Her voice started to quiver.
"I told her that it was too dangerous, and that she was acting crazy."
She started wiping her eyes more frequently now.
"She kissed me on the forehead and told me to walk with her to work. We got to our posts when she grabbed my arm and pulled me along. I told her to let go, and she stopped running."
The tears started to pool in her eyes.
"I guess that pushed her over the edge, and she just started screaming. She ran to the front gate, and the Nazi shot her. They dragged her out and onto the body cart. And they just rolled her away."
They started to roll down her cheeks.
"And I feel sorry for myself because I don't have a family. I don't have a family. I think that the entire world is against me. But then I realize that it's my fault. I told her that she was crazy. I said that I wouldn't go with her. I pulled my arm away, and if I hadn't done that, we would have made it out. Angelica wouldn't have died."
She was sobbing.
Alexander pulled her close to his chest and just held her.
"I'll be your family now." He kissed the top of her head, light as a feather.
