Day of Infamy

Chapter 13 – The US Officially Enters WWII

December 7, 1941

Jane Rizzoli and her fiancé, Dr. Maura Isles, had just finished breakfast and were getting dressed for work. Jane, known as James at work, was a US Navy pilot stationed at Pearl Harbor. Dr. Isles worked at the Naval Hospital on base.

They were starting a twelve-hour shift at 8 AM. They had arranged their work week so that they had Tuesday and Wednesday off each week, allowing them to avoid all of the tourists that came to Hawaii on the weekends. Today was one of the days that they needed to pick up Joey and take him to work.

Their relationship wasn't a secret, but Jane's true gender was because Jane was in the US Navy. She was a pilot and had been with the Navy for a number of years. When she was in her uniform she easily passed as a man. They only place she could be Jane was in their shared quarters on base with all the windows closed. Otherwise, she was always dressed as a man. Only three people in the Navy knew of her true gender, herself, Joey and now Maura. Jane liked it that way.

Jane and Joey had been promoted to Lieutenant Commander (O-4) on December 1, 1941. Maura had been promoted to Commander (O-5) September 1, 1940, so she out ranked both Jane and Joey. They hated working 12-hour days but it was necessary from time to time. They thought today was going to be like any other day, but it wasn't.

Jane and Joey saw the planes as soon as they dropped Maura off, they could tell by the wings that they were Japanese planes. They sped to the nearest airfield only to see the planes on fire. They then drove to the next airfield about ten minutes away so they could get up in an airplane as soon as possible.

Jane told Joey, "We need to get to some planes and get up in the air."

"No shit J, drive faster." Joey told her as he watched the bombs drop from the planes. After a few minutes they arrived at the other airfield and jumped into the cockpits of the airplanes the ground crew had just finished arming. They quickly ran through their checklists mentally, skipping over somethings in an effort to get the planes in the air to fight back.

The attack lasted just under two hours. Jane and Joey and a few other pilots were able to take out a few of the Japanese planes before they retreated. They landed their planes and went to help retrieve any survivors from the attack. It was night time before Jane and Joey made their way to the hospital. Jane was anxious to find Maura.

Jane was covered with blood, dust and dirt from digging through debris to find survivors when she arrived at the hospital. Maura was covered in blood from head to toe but she smiled so widely when she saw Jane. She didn't know if Jane was alive or dead just as Jane didn't know if Maura was dead or alive. They hugged each other for a minute without speaking.

When Jane pulled away from the hug, she kissed Maura deeply. Maura broke the kiss and pulled Jane away from the middle of the treatment area to somewhere a little more private. Maura didn't waste any time telling her, "Jane, I am so happy that you are okay. I have treated so many people today, quite a few of them died. There was nothing I could do to help them except hold their hand as they passed away." Maura had tears running down her face. Jane held her tighter and just let her talk and release some of the pain she had been holding on to.

"Maur, look at me." Jane said as she tilted Maura's face up to hers. "We are alive and I am here for you. I'm not sure what is going to happen but just sit down and take a few minutes to yourself. I know they are still trying to find more people buried in the debris and for now I don't have to fly so I will stay with you. The damage outside the walls of the hospital is severe. The damage to the hospital is bad also, but we are still here and we are alive. I love you. We will have to continue to do our jobs. In a few minutes I will have to leave to go see what condition are planes are in and find out the condition of my squadron. I am sure we lost some pilots today."

"Oh, Jane, I am so thankful you came to let me know that you are okay. I was so worried."

"I know babe, and I was worried about you, especially when someone told me that the hospital had been hit and that several doctors and nurses had died."

"I tried not to think about that and just did the best I could to save anybody and everybody that I could. I tried the best I could to keep calm as the bombs were exploding. I am a trauma doctor and I was needed."

"Yes, you are and you were needed, just as I was needed as a fighter pilot. I must go now. I will try and come back as soon as I can. I love you." Jane said as she kissed Maura again and grabbed Joey and drove back to base operations, or rather what was left of it.

It wasn't until late the next afternoon that Jane made it back to the hospital. She found Maura cuddled up in a chair outside the trauma bay. One of the nurses told Jane that Maura had just fallen asleep. Jane looked at the nurse and told her, "I am going to take her home and let her sleep in our bed, if it is still intact. I will bring her back tomorrow morning."

"Thank you, she has been on her feet all this time, she needs a break." The nurse informed her as she picked Maura up and carried her out to the car where Joey was waiting. Joey had to dodge debris while driving them back to their house. Jane was happy when she found that their house was still intact. Joey had accompanied them as his room was no more, his building had been destroyed in the attack. Jane placed Maura down on the bed as Joey found his way to the guest room and fell down on the bed fully dressed. He was exhausted.

Jane stripped Maura down to her underwear and put her in the bed and then took a quick shower and climbed in beside her and fell asleep. They would deal with additional aftermath when they woke up. She made sure the alarm was not set. They all needed sleep.

While they were dealing with the aftermath from the bombing, President Franklin D. Roosevelt gave a speech on December 8, 1941, announcing that the Japanese had bombed Pearl Harbor. Within an hour of the conclusion of his speech, Congress passed a formal declaration of war against Japan, entering the United States into World War II. When they awoke the following morning, they found out the US was at war and immediately reported for duty.