Navy Girl
Chapter Thirteen
"All men man your battle stations!"
Miranda turned over in her bunk, knocking into Danny. "No." she said grumpily. She had had this nightmare too many times to believe it.
But the nightmare wasn't going the way it was supposed to. Where was Steve knocking on the door? Where was Lenny? Where were the bullet wounds in her arm and leg?
"Miranda! Wake up, wake up!" There. It was the nightmare. "MIRANDAAAAA!" someone was shaking her shoulder. Miranda opened her eyes. Danny was there, looking frantically into her eyes. "Come on, come on!"
"What?" asked Miranda, hopping out of bed. Out the porthole she saw explosions in the distance.
"Jap patrol boats. We're taking off." Danny ran to his plane.
"Ten more cans of fuel for each plane, every plane!" someone was yelling. Miranda went over and grabbed one can- she had read that pregnant women weren't supposed to do heavy lifting. But then again, Miranda thought, pregnant women aren't supposed to be in the Navy, either.
She passed the fuel into someone in a plane. Rafe looked down at her. "Miranda, we need your help! Get up here!" Miranda climbed into the plane, squatting next to Rafe.
"What is it?" she yelled over all the noise.
"We can't find him!"
"Find who?"
"The guy who lets the bombs down, we need you to do it! Just press these switches, this one for one, this one for two, and so on. Please, Miranda! When I say, just press them!"
"But, Rafe!" Rafe was already running around, replacing the tail guns with broomsticks. Miranda climbed out of the plane, running to Danny. They shared one last, frantic kiss.
"Miranda!"
"I'm coming, Rafe!" Miranda climbed into the plane, closing the hatch behind her.
"Turning on one!" came Rafe's voice from the cockpit.
"Turning on two!" said Red. The engines came to life and the plane began to move. Miranda pressed her hands down flat against the metal floor, crouching in front of the switches for the bombs. The plane jerked. Red whooped from the cockpit. Miranda felt nauseous and doubled over for a moment.
"Target in sight," said Rafe, turning around to look at Miranda for a moment. "You all right, Miranda?"
"No," she said, holding her stomach.
"That's okay," Rafe said, turning back. "Ready? Bombs away!"
Miranda reached out and pressed the buttons. "One away! Two away!" she said. "Three away! Four away!" a blast of cold wind hit her as the bomb hatch opened and the bombs dropped out of sight. There was a blinding flash of light as the friendship medals that were wired to the bomb caught the sun. Then they exploded, ripping a factory apart. Miranda sat back, her job done.
Anti-aircraft bullets began to explode outside the plane. Rafe dodged through them and the plane miraculously escaped unscathed. Red leaned back in his seat, but Rafe was tense. "Come on, come on," he muttered.
"I see the coast!" Rafe yelled suddenly into his radio. Miranda heard Danny's voice come in through static but she couldn't understand what he was staying. He was still alive, and that was enough. The baby delivered a ferocious kick and Miranda bent over, breathing heavily and moaning from the pain. Then men beside her were handing cans of fuel back and forth, and Red shouted something to Rafe. The plane lowered in the air.
"Here we go!" Rafe yelled. All of a sudden the plane seemed to flip over and slide a little bit. Miranda tumbled over. "Is everyone okay?" Rafe asked, getting out of the plane and huddling behind the wind. The other men and Miranda followed, crouching next to Rafe. A couple of men pulled out guns as Japanese troops ran towards them. They shared ammo between them, but it didn't look very hopeful. A feeling of dread crawled through Miranda's heart.
A plane flew overhead. "Danny!" Rafe said. The plane shot down the enemy troops and exploded in a fireball on the other side of the field. "NO!" Rafe shouted, getting up and running across the field. Miranda followed but she was not quick enough. One bullet entered the side of her stomach and the other hit her foot. She collapsed in the field, crying out from the pain. She crawled over to where Danny lay.
"Danny," she moaned, "I'm hit…"
"Uh," he said, "I got something in my neck…" Rafe came over and pulled a shard of glass out of Danny's neck. Danny turned to Miranda.
"Miranda," he cried, reaching out to her. She huddled close to him, feeling very cold. There was a strange sensation in her lower stomach.
"Danny!" she shouted as she realized what was happening. She looked frantically around. "The baby's coming!"
"What?" he asked, his eyes round with confusion.
"I was pregnant but I didn't want to tell you! I've been pregnant since the night you left but I didn't want to leave and now the baby's coming! Help me please!" She cried, grasping Danny's coat. Danny's face showed pain and a little anger but his eyes were filled with love. He was going to be a father.
One of the Japanese soldiers tied him to a branch. They shoved Miranda aside, thinking her already dead. Danny swelled with anger. "Don't do that!" he cried out harshly. One of the Japanese soldiers shoved him with the butt of his gun and then shot him twice in the leg. Danny coughed out blood, clutching at his wounds and falling down next to Miranda. Rafe shot the soldier just as shouts came from above. There was a helicopter flying above them. It landed in the field. Chinese soldiers spilled out, carrying stretchers.
"Over here!" Rafe yelled. "We need two stretchers!" Four soldiers ran over, scooping Miranda and Danny onto the stretchers and carrying them to the helicopter. It flew away, followed quickly by others.
Inside the helicopter, Miranda was clutching the white coat of a kindly looking Chinese doctor. Danny was staring dazedly at them. "The baby's coming!" Miranda yelled. Her face was scrunched up. "Ah!" she cried. Cries filled the helicopter as the doctor looked, shocked, at the baby. He froze for a moment, and then washed the baby off quickly. He handed the baby to Miranda. "It's a boy," he said. Miranda handed the boy to Danny, who took him in his weak arms.
"He's handsome," Danny coughed out, smiling weakly at Miranda and handing him back to her. But the smile was wiped from his face when he saw Miranda. She was limp, her eyes still open, and she wasn't breathing. "Miranda, no! You can't go! I love you too much!" Danny cried, shaking her. "No!" He combed her hair with his fingers, his tears dripping down onto her peaceful face.