Jing-Mei woke up once in the night and had trouble falling back asleep. Her mind kept traveling to the conversations she'd had with the Italian soldier. The curves of his smile, the depths of his eyes, his sense of humor. She smiled as she remembered what they had spoken about. She felt a strange urge to walk into the medical tent to be with him. He was probably asleep, but for some reason she couldn't wait to speak with him again. She just enjoyed his company, she figured. But she knew in her heart that there was something more, something deeper. She had felt an immediate connection with him, and knew that he felt it, too. Maybe it was the stillness of night that was making her think this way, but she couldn't help but smile when thinking of him. She couldn't go back to sleep and looked at her wristwatch. It was three in the morning. The sun wouldn't come up for another three hours or more, yet she couldn't wait for dawn.
Eventually her eyes ached to close and she relaxed onto her pillow, giving into the blue hues of night. She dreamt dreams of emotions and when she awoke next her heart was alight with hope.
She fixed her hair and washed her face, anticipating a new day. When she walked into the medical tent her eyes immediately went to Dave's cot. Her breath caught in her chest and her heart skipped a beat when she saw that it was empty. She quickly ran back outside and looked at the barbed wire enclosure. No one was there.
"They left," she heard Elizabeth behind her.
"Where'd they go?" she tried to sound unaffected by her shock.
"To another camp. Half the boys went with them. We're clearing out. This war will soon be over."
Jing-Mei turned to face her British friend. "When did they leave?"
"At sunup."
"Oh," she cleared her throat. "I suppose we will be leaving then, too?"
"Yes. We've been ordered to pack. You'll be going stateside soon."
She looked around, trying to hide the turmoil of emotions inside her.
"How's Mark?" She tried to change the subject and act normal.
"He's doing well. He walked today…with crutches. But at least he tried." Her voice was woeful.
Jing-Mei smiled sadly. "That's good."
Elizabeth nodded. "Yes."
After a few more moments of silence they Elizabeth put her hand on Jing-Mei's shoulder. "You should pack now. We'll be leaving soon."
Chen nodded and turned back to her tent.
Dave was back in the bed of a truck with the other prisoners, his hands on the back of his head. They'd removed the binds on their hands out of decency and had been driving for two hours. His frustration showed in his silence. He never even got to say goodbye to Jing-Mei. But who was he kidding? He tried to reason with himself. She didn't really care for him. She couldn't. She was just being nice. Maybe that's what nurses are taught. To be nice. Whether this was the truth or not he still felt a longing to see her again. He wondered if she felt the same.
Jing-Mei hated the way these trucks took to the roads here in Europe. Always bouncing and noisy as heck. She clutched her bag of belongings to her chest as she sat next to Elizabeth who's thoughts were obviously on Mark.
Dave, Luka, Sven and Doug were lead, hands on their heads, to their new residence. To Dave's surprise they were to join about twenty other prisoners of war in a more sophisticated fenced-in area. The air was cold and their breath came in puffs of white heat. Still weak from his fever and partially starved Dave sat down in a corner, pulling his uniform jacket tight around him for warmth. Luka, as always sat beside him as he and Doug began to converse quietly until one of the American soldiers yelled at them to shut-up.
The prisoners had received some food and Dave felt his body relaxing, thankful for the much-needed nourishment, even if it was stale bread and cold beans.
Jing-Mei strolled through the new camp, noticing the some of the Allied soldiers elbowing each other and nodding in her direction. Some of these men had obviously been deprived of the grace of the female for too long now. As she passed the prisoners section her eyes quickly searched through the crowd, trying to pretend she wasn't looking for someone. Dave saw her, yet made no move to reveal himself. When she caught sight of his face she momentarily paused. They locked eyes and exchanged an emotion-filled stare, desperately trying to communicate to each other their feelings. She heard someone cough and quickly looked away, pretending to not have noticed the Italian. She quickly resumed her pace again, pretending as if nothing had happened, but giving Dave a meaningful glance over her shoulder that read "I have not forgotten you."
Dave felt his heart rate begin to return to normal and sighed a little, his breath clouding before him. He felt eyes watching him and saw Luka giving him a look of amusement. He gave him a shy, crooked smile and looked down at his cold hands.
Jing-Mei sweetly greeted the nurses she was to temporarily join and requested to see the head nurse. She was letting her emotions get the best of her, she knew, but she had to try with her plan.
"Hi. I'm Kerry Weaver, head nurse. And you're…?"
"Jing-Mei Chen." The two women shook hands.
"It's nice to meet you Ms. Chen. Is there something I can help you with?"
"Yes, actually. You received four new prisoners today, one of which was under my care. I'd like to check in on him, if you don't mind."
Weaver's face grew stern. "Ms. Chen, these are prisoners of war, I'd hoped you'd take more of an interest in out wounded."
"I do, ma'am," she quickly interjected in her defense. "However I don't feel that the POW's should be neglected. They are under our care."
"I suppose you have a point… one of the guards owes me a favor. To keep the fuss down I'll have him come see you tonight so less will know."
Jing-Mei smiled. "That would be perfect, Ms. Weaver. I thank you, and my patient will thank you, also."
Jing-Mei sat on an empty cot in the deserted medical tent, her hands folded on her lap, as she had suddenly become nervous. A guard had left to get Dave and deliver him to her. What was she going to say to him? He really was recovering well and didn't need to be examined, but it was the only excuse she could think of to see him again. To be alone with his again. To talk with him again.
She heard the scuffing of shoes outside and stood stiffly. Dave walked in, hands on head, as a guard held a rifle behind him. The pairs of brown eyes found each other again. She looked at him for a moment, then remembered the guard.
"It's all right. I know him, he won't try anything."
"You sure, Miss?"
She nodded. "Yes. I'm quite capable of dealing with a beaten, half-starved prisoner."
"I'll wait outside, then." He stepped out, not wanting to anger her further.
They looked at each other's faces intensely for a moment, not knowing what to say and not really caring.
"How are you?" Jing-Mei's Italian finally broke the silence.
"Cold." Dave said truthfully, not knowing what else to say.
Jing-Mei stepped forward and put the backside of her hand to his cheek. "David, you're freezing."
"It's very cold outside."
She could see his sense of humor showing again and smiled. "Yes it is."
He caught her hand in his as she let it fall to her side. It was cold, but she welcomed his touch. They're eyes locked on each other and neither knew what to say how to express their emotions. Jing-Mei leaned in closer. He could feel her warm breath against his face and let himself lean in closer to her. Their faces inched closer until their lips met. She was so warm and he was so cold. He felt her warm hand touch his face as they continued to show their growing love for one another, passion rising within.
In his nineteen years Dave had never loved someone before, not like this. This love was powerful and threatened to overwhelm his body, heart and soul.
Jing-Mei never wanted to part from him, giving him her strength and warmth, her life. She had had many boyfriends before in her twenty-three years of life, yet none so strong of love. None so forbidden.
"David?" she unwillingly pulled her lips away from his. "I think I love you."
He looked into her eyes. "I do, too."
She felt passion rise up in her again and her lip long for his as they met once more and stayed together for quite some time. As much as both would have liked to give in to their passion at that very moment they both knew that it was not the place, and definitely not the time. Yet what Jing-Mei did know was that she now loved David Malucci more than she had loved anyone before. Dave felt the same as was prepared to give the world to her if she asked.
She rested her head on his chest as his arms wrapped around her. They hugged for a while longer, yet she had been with him for a half an hour and new he must go back. She pulled away and looked at him sadly. He also knew he had to leave.
She called the guard back in, and he led the lovesick Dave away, back into the cold, back into the night, back into the darkness from which he came. When he sat back down next to Luka in his corner the Croatian gave him an expression of warning. He knew what was happening and realized that it could very well get Dave killed.
Dave couldn't sleep, his emotions racing through him. His mind was clouded with her. Only her. The rest of the world didn't matter. Not the war. Not the cold. Not the hunger inside him. Only her. Her lovely face. Her brown eyes. The way she loved him. That was all he needed to survive.
