"For once I'd like to come in for my shift and not hear the halls filled with depressing news." Melody walked over to the nurse's station and set her purse down.
"We're in the middle of a war. What else are you expecting us to hear? Besides, my husband is currently over there and I'd like to hear what's going on."
Melody reached over and switched the radio to a music station. "I get it, but all you're going to do is give yourself a stress ulcer if you're constantly worried about him. I'm sure he's fine." Melody grabbed a stack of letters in front of her. "These haven't stopped, so he's still around." Melody walked over to the wing she was assigned to and leaned against the door frame, "Besides, do you really think they need a constant reminder on why they're here." She looked out among the beds and observed the patients. Some were congregating over a table to play cards while others lay in their beds nursing their wounds.
"I'm sorry; you're right. You know, you've worked here for about a year but almost sound as if you've been doing this all your life."
"You have no idea," Melody mumbled. She lifted off of the door frame and looked towards the head nurse's office. An older woman with her hair tied tightly in a bun and an overuse of makeup approached them with a furious look on her face.
"Can any of you tell me how the patients have been getting a hold of these?" The woman dropped a sack on the table and the contents of sweets and adult magazines poured out. Both nurses giggled, but quickly stifled themselves as they saw Nurse Hatchet's eyes squint.
Melody cleared her throat, "Um, no Mrs. Hatchet. I haven't the slightest clue where they got them, because as we all know all of that is contraband."
"Is that so? Then explain to me why most of it came out of your wing." Melody shrugged her shoulders, making Hatchet more furious. "Just keep better track of your wing. I'm heading home; see you girls in the morning.
"Night Mrs. Hatchet," the other nurses returned in unison, trying hard not to laugh. The ward consisted of four wings with one nurse managing each wing. Melody had control of Wing B which had a reputation of being called the "Bastard Wing". Those staying there suffered the worse injuries, some leading to their death. A lot of these individuals had no one to see them or were left behind, seeing them as a burden. Melody volunteered for this wing in hopes to make them feel better in their time of need. It was the best way Melody knew to repent for the atrocities she committed not long ago. When she was around, the soldiers would forget about their pain and feel welcomed once again.
Melody walked in and tapped her pen on one of the metal poles to get everyone's attention. Everyone let out a small cheer and welcomed her to the wing. "I just received some troubling news from the head nurse," the room filled with the sounds of disapproval. "It seems a bunch of you were found in possession of contraband. In light of this new information, I can't help but to feel disappointed with all of you. I thought you were all better than that." The whole room went quiet and they bowed their heads in shame. Melody took the bag she brought in with her and tossed it onto the card table. "Hide it better this time." The crowed let out a quick cheer before Melody placed a finger over her mouth, signaling them to hush. Everyone passed around the bag and took back what they had taken from them. All but one in the back bed showed any interest in the festivities. Melody leaned over to one sitting in a wheelchair next to her, "What's up with him."
The man looked up from the magazine and followed her gaze. "New guy. From what I heard, he took a massive hit from friendly mortar fire. Only survivor of his squad."
Melody sauntered over to the bed and introduced herself. "Hello, my name is Ms. Charm. Who might you be?" The man didn't stir and continued to stare up at the ceiling. "No matter, that's why we have these." Melody grabbed the chart and looked it over. "Corporal Stephen Denson, United States Marines. While serving in Verdun, you received severe burns and shrapnel from incoming mortar fire-."
"That you fired," the man sneered.
Melody peered over the clipboard, "Excuse me?"
The man continued to stare at the ceiling as he addressed her. "You heard me you limey prick. You're the reason my men are dead and I'm a hideous Frankenstein."
"Frankenstein was the doctor. If you're going to insult me, at least do it right. And another thing, I did no such thing to you. I haven't been to France in ages. And where do you get off on calling me a limey prick?"
"I wouldn't make her mad," announced another soldier playing solitaire. "She's usually kind, but cross her and she'll burn your soul from the inside out."
"Only you Frank, but you deserve it." Melody turned back to Stephen, "So how do you know I came from England?"
"I just spent two years in the trenches with those from France and Britain, and I hear both out of you; so you were either that or a frog. And it was a Brit that fired that mortar that killed my men and did this to me. So I want to hear from you the least as possible."
Melody leaned against the bed post and stared into Stephen's eyes. "Hate to break it to you, but this is my wing. So whether you like it or not you're stuck with me, until discharge or death do us part; and just so you know, I'm hard to kill."
It was at that moment she decided to make Stephen her new pet project. Every time she would come, she would take some time out of her day to pester him. She would talk endlessly about her childhood, her old hobbies, or some random boring facts about her neighbor. When she was sick of talking, she would break out a deck of cards and play a few games of poker, though she would do all of the work while he ignored her. After his third week here, Melody stopped by with her deck of cards and a smile on her face.
"Good evening Stephen, how are you doing today?" Melody was met with a groan and him looking away. "Now now, Corporal; that's not what I want to hear from you. If I read your chart correctly, someone is getting their bandages off tomorrow. Then the charmer you are will hit the streets and go back to being a lady killer, unless there is already a Mrs. Denson waiting."
Stephen sighed, accepting his defeat, "Yeah, maybe."
Melody let out a sarcastic gasp, "It speaks. And what do you mean 'maybe'? Either you do or you don't."
"My last letter to her was six months ago. Since then, I haven't had a chance to write to her. It's not like we are married or anything, only engaged before I left for boot camp."
"You're telling me you have left the love of your life in the dark this whole time? She's probably worried sick about you. Wouldn't it be great to let her know you're back stateside so she can come see you?" Melody pulled out a notepad and her pen, shaking it to get the ink to come out. "Tell me her name and leave the rest to me. I'll have her quaking in her knickers and running to your side." Stephen raised his head and cocked his visible eyebrow. "Sorry, I meant panties."
"I can't."
"Sure you can. All I need is a name, and an address, and I'll do the rest of the work. You can trust met." Melody turned to look at another patient reading a book, "Hey Daniels, how did your wife like the letter I sent her for you?"
The man closed the book and peered over his glasses, "Thanks to you, she said I'm not going to leave the bed until I give her enough children to start my own baseball team."
"I'll ignore the spite in your voice and focus more on the 'thank' and 'you' that was sprinkled in that sentence." Melody turned back to Stephen and hovered the pen over the paper, "So, how about it."
"You don't get it. I was the most handsome man in our school. All the girls always hung around me, but I wanted no one else but her; and she wanted no one else but me. Now most of me probably looks like a walking piece of beef jerky. Someone as flawless as you wouldn't understand"
Melody set the pad and pen down and started to shuffle the cards. "Sounds to me there's more there and all that's holding you back is your vanity. I think it's time you stopped thinking with your head and start feeling with your heart."
"You're quite the romantic, aren't you Nurse Charm."
"Once upon a dream." Melody dealt out a hand for both and placed his cards in his fingers. "One hand, winner takes all."
Stephen raised his arm as far as he could and looked his cards over. "What are the stakes?"
"You win, I leave you alone for the remainder of your stay. I win, you contact your fiancé. Just so you know, when I am all-in, I'm a cut-throat card player."
Stephen looked at his cards again and thought hard. "Take cards two, four, and five." Melody grabbed the cards and discarded, giving Stephen three new cards. "Place card four in position two, and one in position five." Melody did as she was told.
"Sound like you think you have a hot hand." Melody took two of her cards and exchanged them for two new ones. She readjusted them and a smile crossed her face, staring at three queens. "Don't worry, if the pen runs dry, I have more in my purse." Melody slapped her cards hard on the desk, "Beat that!"
Stephen gave his cards another look and then back into Melody's gleeful expression. He smiled and placed them face down on the bed. "You win, I'll contact her."
"Yes!" Melody collected the cards and leapt from her chair. "You think of what you want to say and I'll be back after I make my rounds." She walked back to the station to put the cards away. Before she did, she pulled the top five cards that consisted of Stephen's hand. She laid them out and shook her head. What showed back to her was a six-ten straight heart flush. "Who's the romantic now?"
-o-O-o-
Melody returned the next day to the sounds of yelling coming from her wing. She ran over and was stopped by two male orderlies.
"I'm sorry miss, you can't go in there. Not until the patient has calmed down."
Melody looked pass the orderlies and saw the ward was disheveled. All the other patients had been moved to other wings and only Stephen remained. She stomped on one of the orderly's foot and brushed pass the other one. "Stephen, what are you doing? Why are you acting like a maniac?" He turned and Melody gasped at the sight. Charred spots riddled his body along with the entire left side of his face.
"That's why. The look you just gave is the same look I have been given by everyone. The doctors said the bandages would keep this from happening and injuries would look like a massive sunburn. And you want me to show this to Susanne?" He grabbed a chair and threw it across the room.
Melody slowly approached, ignoring the protests from the others behind her. "Yes, I do want you to show Susanne; but not with this attitude. You may be burned and damaged, but you are alive. You can come back to her, and I'm sure that's all that matters." She tried to lay a comforting hand on his shoulder, failing to see his arm flailing back towards her. He made contact with the right side of her chest and she fell back, hitting her head on the metal bed post. Stephen stopped his erratic movements and stared down at Melody in horror. Blood began to trickle down the side of her head. More orderlies arrived and rushed the room, but stopped when Melody raised her hand. "Stop, I'm alright." Melody struggled to get up while the room continued to spin. Stephen offered her his hand, but she smacked it away. "I'm sorry I reacted the way I did. I didn't mean anything personal by it, I just didn't know what to expect. I never thought of you as a monster…until you started to act like one." Melody pushed past the orderlies and stumbled her way to the doctor's office.
She knew it would be pointless, but she allowed the on call doctors to patch up her wound so as to keep up appearances. They wrapped her head in a bandage and urged her to take the night off. She refused, saying it'd be the same no matter where she was, and returned to her post. By the time she had made it back, the wing had been returned to normal and the patients returned to their bunks. Melody took count and stopped at an empty bunk. "Where's Stephen?"
The nurse assisting with count leaned in and whispered, "He was sent to the high security ward."
Melody's eyes went wide with concern and anger. She turned on her heels and made her way out of the ward and across the courtyard to the high security ward, designed for the violent and mentally unstable. Melody barged in the door and made her way to the front desk. "Corporal Stephen Denson, where is he?"
The desk clerk never looked up from his book, "Wing 3, Cell 12. Hey, wait!" The man tried to stop Melody, and paged the wing officer when he was unsuccessful.
Melody walked into Wing Three and grabbed a set of keys hanging on the wall. She opened up Cell 12, walked in, and slammed the door closed behind her. Stephen sat up in bed and scooted against the wall.
"Nurse Charm, what are you doing in here? Look, I'm sorry for what happened. I didn't mean to hurt you." Melody placed a hand over his mouth until he stopped rambling. When he stopped, Melody backed away and began to remove her stockings. "Nurse Charm, what-."
"Shut up! No more talking out of you." Melody went back to removing more articles of clothing. "You sit and talk about how important outward appearances are, and then you tell me I don't know anything because of the way I look." Melody unhooked the last button and stripped off her shirt. With nothing left but her underwear on, she slowly turned to reveal the numerous scars across her body. "You know nothing about me. I didn't just leave Europe because I wanted a change of scenery. My life was nothing but hardships and despair as long as I remained there." Melody got onto the bed and pinned Stephen to the wall. "I took a look at your medical file and found all of your contacts, including your bride to be. When I leave this cell, I'm going to contact her. Your decision to make is does she find you in here, or back in a standard room?"
"Current situations are making it very hard to think." Melody glared at Stephen. "Fine, I want to be back in the main building."
"That's the right choice. I'll talk with the doctor and see if I can get you moved back to my wing. I'm taking a big risk, so you need to be on your best behavior." She hopped off of the bed and put her clothes back on. As she was snapping the last button, the door swung open with the wing officer and head doctor trying to catch their breath. "I want this man returned to his bed at the main ward. We have come to an understanding and agree his best chance of recovery is under my direct supervision." Melody grabbed her shoes and walked back to her post.
After dinner, Stephen was returned to the main facility. Melody was at the front desk reading the newspaper. She addressed him without looking up from the paper as he approached the desk. "Corporal, I suggest you get some sleep. Your fiancé said she will be here tomorrow evening." Stephen nodded his head and followed the orderlies back to his bed.
-o-O-o-
Melody came in the next day a couple hours early and rushed over to the nurse's desk, "Has she come yet?" The nurse looked at her with a hint of confusion. "Corporal Denson's fiancé; has she come yet?"
"I'm Stephan's fiancé."
Melody turned around and saw a slim built woman with long jet black hair standing in the doorway. She wore a red dress that that lay loosely upon her shoulders, matched with her red lipstick that popped out against her alabaster skin. "What a lucky guy," Melody said louder than she intended.
The woman blushed and tucked part of her hair behind her ear. "Thank you miss, but I like to think I'm the lucky one."
"Let me see if he's awake and I'll come to get you." Melody turned but was stopped by the on duty nurse.
She pulled Melody closer and whispered, "You're shift doesn't start for another three hours."
"Do not take this from me," Melody snarled under her breath. She yanked her arm away and walked back to Stephen's bed. He was sitting up eating a cup of pudding when Melody grabbed him and shook him violently. "What are you doing? You look like a mess." Melody straightened his collar and attempted to smooth his hair.
He lightly pushed her away and stared at her. "What is your problem? You already broke me yesterday, now you're just torturing me for kicks."
"Your fiancé is here in the lobby." He shot out of bed and began to finish what Melody had started. Once he was fixed as much as he could be in medical garb, Melody ran back to the lobby and ushered Susanne in. "He's the last bed on the left." Susanne walked over to the bed as Melody went over to a nearby bed and grabbed the chart.
The man in the other bed woke up from the sound of Melody approaching and rubbed his eyes. "What are you doing here? We only just had lunch an hour ago."
"Shut it, I want to watch."
The guy looked over at Stephen's bed and smiled. "That's kind of evil, Nurse. You can't just let a train wreck happen on its own, you have to watch it leap the track too?"
"Do you always have to be a pessimist? I think you'll be quite surprised. They're going to talk, hug, kiss, and fall even deeper in love."
"You are now no longer allowed to read all those romance novels the other nurses leave at the desk."
"I have a Hershey bar that says I'm right and you're wrong." The man accepted the bet and played along with the exam as they both listened in. Stephen and Susanne talked for roughly ten minutes before she gave Stephen a hug. Melody turned to the guy and stuck out her tongue, "Told you so."
The man pointed at the couple, "Look again."
Melody turned back and saw Susanne hugging Stephen, but Stephen not returning the favor. This was when she started to hear sniffling and small whimpers. Susanne stood up and made her way over to Melody. Melody quickly looked away and buried her nose into the clipboard, "Well Sergeant, it looks like you're doing well on your physical therapy. Oh, hello there miss. I'm glad you two could finally catch up. He would talk so much about you and-," Susanne took Melody's hand and placed a ring in it. "What's this?"
"I can't. I just can't. From what he tells me, you are a much stronger woman than I am. If only I could be as good as you." She closed Melody's hand and walked away trying not to cry.
Melody looked between the ring and Stephen and she became enraged. She walked out into the walkway and yelled across the room. "You have got to be kidding me. The whole time he's been away he's been thinking of you, and you drop him over a couple of little burns? You know what, good ridden. He deserves better anyways."
"It's alright, Nurse Charm." Melody looked over at Stephen with his head sunk down and staring at the floor. "It's not like I wasn't expecting it."
"No, it's not alright. I spend all this time telling you looks don't matter and this happens. I feel like I failed you." Melody sat on the bed next to Stephen and laid her head on his shoulder. "Bitch."
Stephen reached over and patted Melody on the head, "It's fine. At least I found out early in the relationship instead of a couple years and kids later."
"Maybe your next love will be a looker like her, but also have the brains to keep from making stupid decisions." Melody handed over the ring, "On the bright side, at least you get a severance package."
"Maybe I'll sell it and use the money to take that special girl out to a nice dinner."
Melody reached over and grabbed the chart, "That's going to be one lucky girl a week from now." She handed the chart to Stephen and stood up. "As for me, I'm going to take a small nap. I woke up early to be here and my shift doesn't start for a couple of hours."
-o-O-o-
A week had passed and Melody started her shift with count as usual. She made it to the end and stopped at an empty bed with neatly folded linens. Melody looked down at the clipboard with the unfiled paperwork and her shoulders dropped. Stephen had been released an hour before she arrived to work. "He didn't even stick around to say goodbye." She removed the paper and placed it into his file that was placed in a pile for storage.
Melody sat at the desk working on a crossword puzzle when she heard someone enter the door. "Visiting hours are over. Please come again tomorrow." The person stepped up to the desk and dropped a rose on the counter. Melody picked it up and raised her head. A smile plastered across her face as she saw Stephen standing above her. She stood up and gave him a massive hug. "I knew you couldn't leave without saying goodbye."
"Actually, that's not why I came. The moment I left I tried doing what you said. I looked around to try to find that special someone with the perfect mixture of brains and beauty, but I couldn't find anything out there."
Melody looked at the clock on the wall, "You've been gone for six hours. You have to give it more time than that."
"What I mean is, I couldn't find it out there because I already found it in here."
Melody picked up the rose and examined it. It took a couple of moments for her to process the information before the lightbulb flickered on. "Whoa, wait a second. Don't get me wrong, I'm flattered, but I think you're getting my role as caregiver confused with infatuation."
"So what you're saying is I may have misjudged things. It's alright, I apologize."
Melody grabbed him by the arm, preventing him from leaving, "No, that's not what I meant. All I'm saying is if we are going to go forward with this, then I want to be sure this is what you want and not just something to fill a void."
"Ms. Charm, you are the only person to look pass the new outside me and still see who I am on the inside. You are no patch job in my eye."
Melody put the rose up to her face and took in its scent. "Okay, I'll give you a shot. I don't work tomorrow, so you can take me to dinner. It'll make a nice way to celebrate the new year. And I'm not your nurse anymore. You can call me Melody."
Stephan picked Melody up at her apartment and brought her to the Lockout Lounge, a club that sat on the coast of the Chesapeake Bay. The inside was crowded, so they found a table out on the deck near a fire pit.
"So what are your future plans, Mr. Denson?" Melody eyed him down while sipping her champagne.
"I was thinking of working at an auto shop downtown. A friend of mine from boot camp runs one with his family, so I can probably ask him for a job there. Besides, I used to work on the trucks when I wasn't crawling through the trenches. After that, thought I'd settle down, buy a house, start a family."
Melody coughed from taking in too much champagne. "Easy there slugger, this is just the first date."
"Who said I was talking about you?" Stephen gave Melody a sly wink and she returned it by sticking out her tongue. "I'm hoping to get the job within the week, but the rest I don't see falling into place for some time. How about yourself?"
"You mean besides finding a young strapping man for myself?" Melody smiled at Stephen behind her glass. "I haven't really given it much thought lately. I did always think of going back to selling natural medicines, maybe opening up my own apothecary shop."
"That's spectacular; I didn't know you had such a skill."
"It's not one we can use much at the clinic. Self-medication is frowned upon, even if the stuff I make is better than anything that's come through those doors."
Commotion came from the inside as one of the employees got up on stage. "Alright folks, this is the last song before the new year. Grab your partner and hit the dance floor."
Stephen stood up and reached out to Melody, "May I have this dance?"
Melody grabbed his hand, "I thought you'd never ask."
Instead of heading into the crowded room, they made their way down the wooden steps and walked out onto the beach. They leaned in closer to each other and swayed to the sound of the music. The cool crisp air brushed across Melody's back, but was easily ignored by the warmth they shared. The music became quieter as they heard people starting to count down. They both stopped dancing and looked out towards the bay where a barge sat. They joined in the count once it hit five and finished the count until the bay lit up with fireworks. They both wished each other a Happy New Year and shared in the tradition of a New Year kiss.