The next morning I was woken by a loud booming noise, it sounded almost like and explosion. I jumped out of bed and quickly threw on some clothes before running outside.
When I saw the fire and smoke billowing up from battleship row my heart stopped. Another deep boom from an explosion brought even more nurses outside to see what was happening. I could hear a few of them scream in horror at the sight and even more of them sobbing. Evelyn ran out of the house then and after seeing what was happening took charge of the situation.
"Everyone to the hospital!" she screamed and everyone took off running towards the one place that I will never forget for as long as I live. The wounded started arriving immediately and we were soon running out of room for them, and medicine to treat them as well.
One of the doctors assigned me and Evelyn the job of marking the patients as they came through the doors. The ones we could save and then the ones we couldn't. I didn't want this type of responsibility, but I had to do it. I had just marked a soldier and sent him inside when a man came over to me, a woman in his arms. I couldn't see her face but I could see the blood that was covering her shirt.
"I think she was shot, she's not breathing." He said. I checked the girl for a pulse but found none.
"No she's dead, put her over there." I told him as I brushed her blonde curls out of her face, it was Betty. He lifeless blue eyes stared back at me and I couldn't hold back the tears that escaped me then. I stood there frozen as I watched my friend's body being piled with the other fallen soldiers. What felt like hours later I was back inside the hospital helping in any way I could when one of the doctors pulled me aside.
"Find Evelyn, tell her we need that blood." He pointed me in the direction she had gone and I rushed down the hallway to find her. When I finally spotted her walking out of a room holding two coke bottles filled with blood I relayed the doctor's message to her.
"Okay, they decided to donate more so why don't you go in and help them." She told me nodding her head in the direction of the door she had just came through. I nodded and pushed the door open and walked inside. When I saw who was inside more tears threatened to spill out.
"Danny!" I said as I ran over to him and wrapped my arms around him. He wrapped his free arm around my waist pulling me closer to him before pressing his lips to mine. Someone next to us cleared their throat loudly causing me to break the kiss.
"Aren't you going to introduce us?" he friend asked, but there really wasn't any need. I knew it was Rafe. Danny just rolled his eyes slightly before speaking.
"Lindsay this is Rafe, my best friend. Rafe this is Lindsay, the love of my life." Rafe just smiled while my heart skipped a beat. Danny had never called me that before and the fact that that was the way he introduced me to his best friend had my heart soaring.
"It's nice to meet you." He told me, I smiled at him. My attention went back to Danny then. He was covered in sweat and dirt, his clothes torn and filthy. I could tell he had been through something terrible this morning but I didn't know what and right now I didn't care. All I cared about was the fact that he was safe. We held each other for another moment or two before a man came into the room.
"There are men trapped all over the harbor, we need help from anyone that can move." He said before leaving. I took the needles out of Rafe and Danny's arms and sat the blood filled bottles aside. Rafe stood and left, probably wanting to give Danny and I a moment alone. Danny hugged me once more and then pressed his lips to mine in a quick kiss.
"I love you." I told him as he headed for the door.
"I love you too." He said smiling at me once more before leaving the room.
The next two days were sort of a blur. Between the massive funeral service for all of those who fell during the attack, and Rafe and Danny being selected for a top secret mission, my life was falling apart at the seams. When I woke up on the third day after the attack on Pearl it hit me head on that Danny would be leaving tonight and would be gone for a little more than six months.
When I had heard that Danny was leaving on a mission I had made the decision not to tell him about the baby. I didn't want him to waste his time worrying about me. I just wanted him to come back alive. So I got up and got ready then drove over to the base to do one last thing that I felt I needed to do. I found Danny's building easily but when I walked in Rafe was the only one there.
"Danny's not here. He's saying goodbye to his squadron we've been reassigned." He told me. He was packing his suitcase but stopped when I took a few steps closer to him so that we were only about a foot apart.
"I wasn't looking for Danny." I told him my eyes going down to my hands as they played with my dress.
"What's going on?" Rafe asked a look of confusion flooding his face.
"I need you to do something for me Rafe."
"What?" he asked still looking slightly confused.
"I need you to make sure Danny makes it through this mission." I said, I could feel the burning sensation build behind my eyes signaling my tears forming there.
"I don't understand…" Rafe started but I cut him off.
"I'm pregnant." I said. All color drained from Rafe's face as my words sunk in.
"Does Danny know?"
"No, and I don't want him to. All he needs to worry about is how to do this mission and get back alive." I told him, still fighting off the tears threatening to spill down my face. He nodded his head as he processed what I had just told him.
"I need you to keep him safe, I need you to make sure that he comes home to me. Can you do that?" I asked him. He just looked at me silently for a moment before he spoke.
"I promise you, Lindsay. I will make sure that Danny comes home to you and your child." He said, he smiled at me then and I couldn't help but hug him. He hugged me back before I pulled away and started for the open door behind me.
"Thank you." I said simply before I walked out of the small building and into the bright afternoon sunlight.
As I drove back in the direction of my house I made a split second decision to go to the beach instead. So I turned the car in the direction of the shore. I sat in the car for about an hour before I glanced down at the small clock on the dashboard. Danny would be leaving in about an hour. So I took one last look at the waves crashing in front of me before starting the car and heading off in the direction of the airport.
When I reached the airport I had about thirty minutes left before Danny would be leaving. I rushed through the small crowd of people saying goodbye to each other, looking around for Danny.
"He's over there." I heard a familiar voice say to me. I turned around to see Evelyn standing behind me, smiling softly. I smiled back at her and walked with her in the direction she had indicated. I don't know why I was surprised to see her here, she would be here saying goodbye to Rafe just as I had to say goodbye to Danny.
When we rounded the corner of the building I saw him. He was sitting next to Rafe on a bench not to far from the large army plane they had to board in just a few minutes time. When he saw me I watched as he stood and walked towards where Evelyn and I were standing. I smiled at Evelyn as she continued on towards Rafe.
"I was afraid you weren't going to make it." Danny told me as he cupped the side of my face in his hand.
"Of course I would come to see you off. I love you." I told him. He smiled at me before he leaned down and pressed his lips to mine softly. I broke the kiss a second later. I looked deep into his warm brown eyes and spoke again.
"Danny I want you to promise me something, I want you to promise me that you will come home to me. Will you promise me that?" I asked him my voice wavering slightly as I spoke.
"I promise." He said simply.
This time I was the one that kissed him and I put every ounce of love I felt for him into it, and I could tell that he had done the same. Our kiss was interrupted by a voice over the intercom instructing the men that it was time to board the plane.
I rested my forehead against Danny's then just trying to soak in the feeling of his arms around me. He sighed as he pulled away from me slightly.
"I love you Lindsay Morgan." he told me as he looked into my eyes, smiling softly.
"I love you too Daniel Walker." I told him. He kissed my lips again before turning around and heading towards the plane. I watched as he boarded and smiled when he turned back at the last second to wave at me before disappearing inside the plane.
Evelyn walked over to where I was and we both just stood there and watched as the giant plane carried away the two most important people in our lives.