Part 3: The Day the World Changed.
That night was filled with screams of joy, tears, laughter, and drinks all around. They had stayed up way past when they should have, and the men drank way more than was healthy.
Sandra had driven the car home, after forcing the keys from Danny's hand. Danny and Rafe walked Sandra and Evelyn into the nurses' quarters while Betty and Red stayed outside a while. Red hadn't had more than a shot or two, so he would drive back to the air base.
Rafe sat on the edge of Evelyn's bed, holding her hand tightly. She looked up at him with her head resting on her pillow.
"Its surreal having you here, I mean…back…from the dead I guess." She said
"You were the one who brought me back Ev, the very thought of you." Rafe smiled. "Now I better get going before that alcohol catches up with me."
Evelyn giggled and pushed his arm playfully. She slid her arms around his waist and sat up to hug him. "I Love you so much." She said in an almost whisper.
He combed his fingers through her hair, and kissed the top of her head. "I love you too." He kissed her then stumbled out to the front porch, resting his head on the poles as he sat on the steps to wait for Danny. Over the years, he had grown a tolerance for getting drunk, but he drank way more than usual tonight.
Danny really wasn't helping Sandra to her room, he was stumbling around, knocking over boxes. He rarely drank, and when he did, it usually was only a shot or two. It took about four drinks of hard liquor to get him drunk. Tonight he hadn't even realized he was drinking, they had gone to the bar and had a party with loud music and dancing, and he drank whatever was put in front of him.
He caught himself from falling by grabbing onto Sandra's bed. He sat down on the bed, Sandra sat next to him. "Danny, are you going to be ok?" She asked, a little concerned.
"huh…oh! Yea! I'm fine." Danny had a thick glaze over his eyes.
Sandra shook her head, suppressing a giggle. "Danny, just lie down, you can't even stand up straight, let alone walk."
"I can so stand up!" Danny stood up way too quickly, only to lose his balance and fall back on the bed. Sandra giggled and pulled a blanket over him. "Danny, just sleep here tonight, I'll sleep in Barbara's bed, she went home for her sister's wedding yesterday." Sandra stood up, and leaned over to kiss his forehead. She slid her glasses off and rubbed her eyes. "Night Danny."
Danny blindly reached out for her hand and by luck caught it. Sandra turned around and smiled. He looked up at her and smiled back. He pulled her down to sit next to him. "Danny, I'm tired." She sighed. "Just stay with me until I fall asleep…please?" He sounded like a scared little boy, she couldn't help but smile. "Allright." She gave in, and curled under the covers with him. She rested her head on the pillow next to him. He smiled at her. "Love you." She smiled back. "Love you too Danny." She closed her eyes, and as she was drifting off to sleep she thought 'well, at least tomorrow is Sunday and we can all sleep in.'
Red was the first to wake up to the sound of planes flying far too close to the ground. He looked around, he had fallen asleep in the back of the car. Betty must have gone inside a while ago. At first in the blur, he thought the planes were from the base…but then he heard a loud boom, and saw a bust of red and black clouds billowing into the air over the ocean. His half open eyes shot open and he leaped out of the car. Stumbling to get his bearings, he wasn't aware of Rafe sleeping on the steps to the porch. His boot caught on Rafe's side and he stumbled over him.
"AH!!! Damnit Red!" Rafe yelped in pain.
"Th..th..th…th..the J..the JAA.." Red tried so hard to get the words out, but he didn't have to, by then Rafe had seen the second explosion, and had lept to his feet, completely ignoring the throbbing pain in his head. He burst into the house, shoving clothes and boxes out of the way. He ran over to Danny, and started shaking his arm. "DANNY!!! GET UP NOW!"
Sandra rubbed her eyes and winced at the loud noise. She sat up. "Rafe, what's going on?" She sensed the urgency and stood up.
"Rafe…what the? It's early! Can't a guy get some sleep?" Danny half mumbled and pulled the covers over his head. Rafe clenched his jaw, nothing would get Danny out of bed…Rafe ran to the kitchen and filled a pitcher with water and ice as fast as he could manage…he knew it was extreme, but it would wake him up. He stormed back into the room and dumped the water on Danny. Danny shot up with a loud scream, waking up everyone who hadn't been woken up by Rafe and Red busting through the house.
"AHHHHHHHHH!!!!!! WHAT DO YOU WANT RAFE?!?" Danny screamed his face feeling numb from the ice.
"PEARL HARBOR IS BEING BOMBED DANNY!!! There are Zeros all over the place now get your ass out of bed and in the car!" Rafe yelled back.
With that, everyone was in a frenzy, running out of the house as fast as they could, and leaping into the small car. Betty was shaking and had flushed white. Red held her on his lap tightly. Rafe sped all the way to the hospital at the demand of Evelyn, who was trying so hard to stay as collected as she could. He pulled up to the hospital and the girls jumped out of the car, each turning to lock eyes with the man they loved so much.
Sandra already had tears in her eyes, she wrapped her arms tightly around Danny's neck, knowing she didn't have time for a long goodbye.
"Be careful Danny, please."
"Don't worry Sandy, I'll be allright. YOU be careful. I love you." Danny cupped her face in his hands and kissed her.
"I love you too Danny." With that, she slid out of his arms, and pulled Betty and Evelyn out of Red and Rafe's arms, as they all ran into the hospital, afraid to look back.
~*~
Hours passed, that seemed like days. Scarred, pained, and burnt bodies scattered the once serene and beautiful Pearl Harbor. Evelyn, Sandra, and Betty had seen far too much that anyone should ever have to see in their lives. They had seen bodies of strangers, and friends, including Billy, the young, cocky friend of theirs, Barbara's boyfriend. Now she would have to come back to find he wouldn't be here.
Each body they sorted into the critical, fatal, dead piles, a part of their hearts broke…for most of these young boys wouldn't get to see their parents…their wives…their children ever again. These were not just soldiers, these were innocent sons, husbands, fathers, friends.
It almost surprised them how well they all kept it together. Not a tear was shed, even though a dark cloud hung over each of them, nagging them that the next dead body could be Red, or Rafe, or Danny.
~*~
Rafe held the joy stick back as hard as he could, forcing his plane against gravity as he sailed after a zero. "HAMMERDOWN." He commanded himself, and he his plane shot bullets out, clanking against the metal of the plane. He shot out the engine and the plane burst into flames, and fell like a stone. "Got one Danny!"
"Rafe, I'm running out of fuel, we gotta get back. I don't see anymore zeros around…I hope they're done." Danny was almost out of breath, the adrenaline pumped through his body. He had shot down 4 planes, half with the aid of Rafe. "All right Danny, lets head back." Rafe radioed back.
The two landed, one after the other and shut down their engines. The climbed out and slid to the ground, both exhausted. Earl, the burly tough guy who ran the small air field had a proud smile on his face as the two pilots came up to him. "Good Flyin' boys." They both nodded their thanks. They looked around and found Red. "Lets go Red." They all went to the car and drove to the hospital.
The hospital was only somewhat quieter, the ambulance loads of men had slowed, as most were dead by now. Rafe led the other two down the hall, they found Betty, Evelyn, and Sandra together in the supply room, unharmed on the outside, but deeply pained on the inside. The three girls looked up from what they were working on at the sound of heavy shoes on the tile.
In each of their eyes was relief, joy, exhaustion, and pain.
"Can we help?" Rafe asked.
"We need blood." Sandra replied.
Of course one of them could have attended to all three of them, but they each wanted to spend every moment possible with each other.
Danny didn't even flinch when Sandra stuck the needle into his arm. She slid the end of the tube into an empty coke bottle. She twisted the switch, as did Evelyn and Betty for Rafe and Red, and almost simultaneously the blood flowed into each coke bottle.
Danny grabbed Sandra's hand in his. "Hey are you ok?" He asked. Sandra half-heartedly smiled. "I'm ok now that you are here, and I don't have to worry about you being out there…in all that." She sighed and rested her forehead against his. "I was really scared for you Danny." Danny slid his hand to her cheek. "Sandy I'm right here, Don't ever worry about me not coming back. Wild Horses couldn't keep me away from you. I'm here for forever." He smiled.
~*~
The next few weeks were absolute torture, sorting out bodies, sending out telegrams to nervous families, everything was like throwing salt into an open wound. The hospital was full, but once again sparkled clean due to the work of many dedicated nurses who would rather focus on work rather than deal with what had happened.
Everything was all too much for Betty to take in. Every night she would cry herself to sleep, and wake up in a cold sweat from the nightmares brought on by the horrors she had seen. Evelyn was open about how she felt. She and Rafe would talk all the time about what had happened, and how they felt, she never held anything back from him. They would go for long walks and just talk for hours. Sandra was a completely different story.
Anytime the war was mentioned around her, Sandra would go completely silent. She worked extra long hours at the hospital, and put on a fake front all the time, smiling and always saying "Everything's fine!" when asked how she was. They all knew she was lying, but no one would take her defense away from her.
One day, there was nothing to do at the hospital, Danny came by, to find her organizing the already immaculate supply closed. "Sandy?" He entered cautiously.
"Oh Danny! Hi!" She put on that fake smile he was so used to seeing.
"Sandy, we need to talk." He sat on a chair.
"We do?" Sandra rose an eyebrow. "Ok." She put her clipboard down and leaned against the counter. "Lets talk." She smiled.
Danny took in a deep breath, knowing he had to approach this cautiously.
"Sandy…I…I know you don't want to talk about this, but…but you can't keep shutting everything out. Sandy, what happened is horrible, and huge, and you…you can't deal with it alone. Danny looked at her.
Sandra tossed her arms up. "Danny! I'm fine!! I've just been working a lot, and there is still a lot to do, and…and…I can't…I can't…" Sandra's eyes teard up as she fought back her emotions. "I can't deal with it all!" Her body shook as she broke into sobs, her back turned to Danny. Danny stood and pulled her into his arms, letting her cry on his shoulder.
"Danny…its all so horrible! How could someone do this to us?!" She sobbed.
He shook his head and combed his fingers through her hair. "I don't know Sandy…I don't know."
After a while she had calmed down, after letting all her emotions out through crying. Danny took in a breath and looked deeply into her eyes.
"Sandy…there is something else I have to tell you."
That night was filled with screams of joy, tears, laughter, and drinks all around. They had stayed up way past when they should have, and the men drank way more than was healthy.
Sandra had driven the car home, after forcing the keys from Danny's hand. Danny and Rafe walked Sandra and Evelyn into the nurses' quarters while Betty and Red stayed outside a while. Red hadn't had more than a shot or two, so he would drive back to the air base.
Rafe sat on the edge of Evelyn's bed, holding her hand tightly. She looked up at him with her head resting on her pillow.
"Its surreal having you here, I mean…back…from the dead I guess." She said
"You were the one who brought me back Ev, the very thought of you." Rafe smiled. "Now I better get going before that alcohol catches up with me."
Evelyn giggled and pushed his arm playfully. She slid her arms around his waist and sat up to hug him. "I Love you so much." She said in an almost whisper.
He combed his fingers through her hair, and kissed the top of her head. "I love you too." He kissed her then stumbled out to the front porch, resting his head on the poles as he sat on the steps to wait for Danny. Over the years, he had grown a tolerance for getting drunk, but he drank way more than usual tonight.
Danny really wasn't helping Sandra to her room, he was stumbling around, knocking over boxes. He rarely drank, and when he did, it usually was only a shot or two. It took about four drinks of hard liquor to get him drunk. Tonight he hadn't even realized he was drinking, they had gone to the bar and had a party with loud music and dancing, and he drank whatever was put in front of him.
He caught himself from falling by grabbing onto Sandra's bed. He sat down on the bed, Sandra sat next to him. "Danny, are you going to be ok?" She asked, a little concerned.
"huh…oh! Yea! I'm fine." Danny had a thick glaze over his eyes.
Sandra shook her head, suppressing a giggle. "Danny, just lie down, you can't even stand up straight, let alone walk."
"I can so stand up!" Danny stood up way too quickly, only to lose his balance and fall back on the bed. Sandra giggled and pulled a blanket over him. "Danny, just sleep here tonight, I'll sleep in Barbara's bed, she went home for her sister's wedding yesterday." Sandra stood up, and leaned over to kiss his forehead. She slid her glasses off and rubbed her eyes. "Night Danny."
Danny blindly reached out for her hand and by luck caught it. Sandra turned around and smiled. He looked up at her and smiled back. He pulled her down to sit next to him. "Danny, I'm tired." She sighed. "Just stay with me until I fall asleep…please?" He sounded like a scared little boy, she couldn't help but smile. "Allright." She gave in, and curled under the covers with him. She rested her head on the pillow next to him. He smiled at her. "Love you." She smiled back. "Love you too Danny." She closed her eyes, and as she was drifting off to sleep she thought 'well, at least tomorrow is Sunday and we can all sleep in.'
Red was the first to wake up to the sound of planes flying far too close to the ground. He looked around, he had fallen asleep in the back of the car. Betty must have gone inside a while ago. At first in the blur, he thought the planes were from the base…but then he heard a loud boom, and saw a bust of red and black clouds billowing into the air over the ocean. His half open eyes shot open and he leaped out of the car. Stumbling to get his bearings, he wasn't aware of Rafe sleeping on the steps to the porch. His boot caught on Rafe's side and he stumbled over him.
"AH!!! Damnit Red!" Rafe yelped in pain.
"Th..th..th…th..the J..the JAA.." Red tried so hard to get the words out, but he didn't have to, by then Rafe had seen the second explosion, and had lept to his feet, completely ignoring the throbbing pain in his head. He burst into the house, shoving clothes and boxes out of the way. He ran over to Danny, and started shaking his arm. "DANNY!!! GET UP NOW!"
Sandra rubbed her eyes and winced at the loud noise. She sat up. "Rafe, what's going on?" She sensed the urgency and stood up.
"Rafe…what the? It's early! Can't a guy get some sleep?" Danny half mumbled and pulled the covers over his head. Rafe clenched his jaw, nothing would get Danny out of bed…Rafe ran to the kitchen and filled a pitcher with water and ice as fast as he could manage…he knew it was extreme, but it would wake him up. He stormed back into the room and dumped the water on Danny. Danny shot up with a loud scream, waking up everyone who hadn't been woken up by Rafe and Red busting through the house.
"AHHHHHHHHH!!!!!! WHAT DO YOU WANT RAFE?!?" Danny screamed his face feeling numb from the ice.
"PEARL HARBOR IS BEING BOMBED DANNY!!! There are Zeros all over the place now get your ass out of bed and in the car!" Rafe yelled back.
With that, everyone was in a frenzy, running out of the house as fast as they could, and leaping into the small car. Betty was shaking and had flushed white. Red held her on his lap tightly. Rafe sped all the way to the hospital at the demand of Evelyn, who was trying so hard to stay as collected as she could. He pulled up to the hospital and the girls jumped out of the car, each turning to lock eyes with the man they loved so much.
Sandra already had tears in her eyes, she wrapped her arms tightly around Danny's neck, knowing she didn't have time for a long goodbye.
"Be careful Danny, please."
"Don't worry Sandy, I'll be allright. YOU be careful. I love you." Danny cupped her face in his hands and kissed her.
"I love you too Danny." With that, she slid out of his arms, and pulled Betty and Evelyn out of Red and Rafe's arms, as they all ran into the hospital, afraid to look back.
~*~
Hours passed, that seemed like days. Scarred, pained, and burnt bodies scattered the once serene and beautiful Pearl Harbor. Evelyn, Sandra, and Betty had seen far too much that anyone should ever have to see in their lives. They had seen bodies of strangers, and friends, including Billy, the young, cocky friend of theirs, Barbara's boyfriend. Now she would have to come back to find he wouldn't be here.
Each body they sorted into the critical, fatal, dead piles, a part of their hearts broke…for most of these young boys wouldn't get to see their parents…their wives…their children ever again. These were not just soldiers, these were innocent sons, husbands, fathers, friends.
It almost surprised them how well they all kept it together. Not a tear was shed, even though a dark cloud hung over each of them, nagging them that the next dead body could be Red, or Rafe, or Danny.
~*~
Rafe held the joy stick back as hard as he could, forcing his plane against gravity as he sailed after a zero. "HAMMERDOWN." He commanded himself, and he his plane shot bullets out, clanking against the metal of the plane. He shot out the engine and the plane burst into flames, and fell like a stone. "Got one Danny!"
"Rafe, I'm running out of fuel, we gotta get back. I don't see anymore zeros around…I hope they're done." Danny was almost out of breath, the adrenaline pumped through his body. He had shot down 4 planes, half with the aid of Rafe. "All right Danny, lets head back." Rafe radioed back.
The two landed, one after the other and shut down their engines. The climbed out and slid to the ground, both exhausted. Earl, the burly tough guy who ran the small air field had a proud smile on his face as the two pilots came up to him. "Good Flyin' boys." They both nodded their thanks. They looked around and found Red. "Lets go Red." They all went to the car and drove to the hospital.
The hospital was only somewhat quieter, the ambulance loads of men had slowed, as most were dead by now. Rafe led the other two down the hall, they found Betty, Evelyn, and Sandra together in the supply room, unharmed on the outside, but deeply pained on the inside. The three girls looked up from what they were working on at the sound of heavy shoes on the tile.
In each of their eyes was relief, joy, exhaustion, and pain.
"Can we help?" Rafe asked.
"We need blood." Sandra replied.
Of course one of them could have attended to all three of them, but they each wanted to spend every moment possible with each other.
Danny didn't even flinch when Sandra stuck the needle into his arm. She slid the end of the tube into an empty coke bottle. She twisted the switch, as did Evelyn and Betty for Rafe and Red, and almost simultaneously the blood flowed into each coke bottle.
Danny grabbed Sandra's hand in his. "Hey are you ok?" He asked. Sandra half-heartedly smiled. "I'm ok now that you are here, and I don't have to worry about you being out there…in all that." She sighed and rested her forehead against his. "I was really scared for you Danny." Danny slid his hand to her cheek. "Sandy I'm right here, Don't ever worry about me not coming back. Wild Horses couldn't keep me away from you. I'm here for forever." He smiled.
~*~
The next few weeks were absolute torture, sorting out bodies, sending out telegrams to nervous families, everything was like throwing salt into an open wound. The hospital was full, but once again sparkled clean due to the work of many dedicated nurses who would rather focus on work rather than deal with what had happened.
Everything was all too much for Betty to take in. Every night she would cry herself to sleep, and wake up in a cold sweat from the nightmares brought on by the horrors she had seen. Evelyn was open about how she felt. She and Rafe would talk all the time about what had happened, and how they felt, she never held anything back from him. They would go for long walks and just talk for hours. Sandra was a completely different story.
Anytime the war was mentioned around her, Sandra would go completely silent. She worked extra long hours at the hospital, and put on a fake front all the time, smiling and always saying "Everything's fine!" when asked how she was. They all knew she was lying, but no one would take her defense away from her.
One day, there was nothing to do at the hospital, Danny came by, to find her organizing the already immaculate supply closed. "Sandy?" He entered cautiously.
"Oh Danny! Hi!" She put on that fake smile he was so used to seeing.
"Sandy, we need to talk." He sat on a chair.
"We do?" Sandra rose an eyebrow. "Ok." She put her clipboard down and leaned against the counter. "Lets talk." She smiled.
Danny took in a deep breath, knowing he had to approach this cautiously.
"Sandy…I…I know you don't want to talk about this, but…but you can't keep shutting everything out. Sandy, what happened is horrible, and huge, and you…you can't deal with it alone. Danny looked at her.
Sandra tossed her arms up. "Danny! I'm fine!! I've just been working a lot, and there is still a lot to do, and…and…I can't…I can't…" Sandra's eyes teard up as she fought back her emotions. "I can't deal with it all!" Her body shook as she broke into sobs, her back turned to Danny. Danny stood and pulled her into his arms, letting her cry on his shoulder.
"Danny…its all so horrible! How could someone do this to us?!" She sobbed.
He shook his head and combed his fingers through her hair. "I don't know Sandy…I don't know."
After a while she had calmed down, after letting all her emotions out through crying. Danny took in a breath and looked deeply into her eyes.
"Sandy…there is something else I have to tell you."