CHOICES …Ch 4
Evelyn slowly opened her eyes needing to focus as a face swam into view. Her nursing friend Sandra peered anxiously at her through her thick spectacles. Evelyn could see an ice pack in her hand, moving her head slightly she felt a jolt of pain in her cheek. Sandra stilled her with a hand on her shoulder;
'It isn't broken just badly bruised, you need to rest because you probably have a concussion as well.'
It all came back to her now the fight with Rafe and the last thing seeing his fist coming towards her face. What had they fought about? Evelyn couldn't remember they seemed to fight so frequently lately and over the most trivial things. She glanced around the room and saw Red and Martha there as well. How had this happened, where was Rafe? Evelyn could feel herself colouring in embarrassment, having this many people know the sordid details of her marriage. Sandra clearly read her thoughts;
'Ev, don't it's okay.'
Evelyn looked away for a moment then nodded.
'Red found Rafe wondering near the parachute hanger, he was pretty plastered, he kept mumbling he was sorry. We figured something had happened between you two so we came here and found you unconscious.' Now it was her turn to look uncomfortable.
Evelyn glanced around the room worried, 'Where's Danny?'
Her friends glanced at each other; 'Daniel is with Mrs. Parker next door he's fine,' Sandra looked down at her feet for a moment uncomfortable then met her friend's eyes again, 'Ev, we rang Danny, he's on his way.'
'You did what? I don't want Danny to see me like this,' she said struggling to sit up, Sandra grasped her arm and helped her into a sitting position. Evelyn took the ice pack from Sandra's hand and pressed it to her cheekbone that had swollen to the point of almost closing her eye. She flinched in pain, where was Rafe? Evelyn looked up and saw her friend's looking uncomfortably at each other;
'There's more isn't there?'
Finally Red sighed; 'After we found you like this, I went looking for Rafe again,' his face paled, 'Ev, I found him in the parachute hangar.'
Evelyn's memories of the parachute hanger made her suddenly uncomfortable Rafe knew it was where Evelyn and Danny had consummated their love. He had seen the way they looked at each other when both men had been folding parachutes and Evelyn arrived unexpectedly. Both coloured slightly and glanced to a spot in the centre of that hangar where parachutes hung create curtains of silk. Rafe asked Evelyn about it after they were married and she finally told him. She always felt like she should have made something up because sharing the details somehow felt like betraying a sacred memory. Evelyn finally noticed the uncomfortable silence in the room and everyone was staring at her;
'And?' she pressed wondering how Rafe explained Evelyn's bruised face.
Red glanced at the girls before continuing, 'Ev, he had hanged himself.'
Evelyn felt a sick horror course through her, she heard them calling her name as the room spun again then the world turned black.
0(0(0(0
Danny arrived the following day Red met him at the airport. Danny's face was pale and his lips compressed into a tight line. He did not waste time on pleasantries;
'How is she?'
Red placed a bracing hand on his friend's shoulder.
'She's fine Danny, but you need to prepare yourself for when you see her face, she's pretty badly bruised.'
Danny flushed in anger, how could Rafe have done something this? The question uppermost in Danny's mind was had it happened before and if so why had Evelyn not said anything particularly to him. He then remembered that Evelyn was no longer just the woman he loved but was another man's wife. Danny knew enough about abusive marriages to know women in these situations did not usually talk about it. This thought prompted him to remember what had happened to Rafe. So many memories had gone through his mind on the flight from Tennessee. Two little boys playing fighter pilots in the derelict shell of an old plane. Two friends later training as army pilots often getting into trouble for pulling some stunt that was usually Rafe's idea. The feeling of shock when Danny received the telegram telling him that Rafe was dead. Then his return, the fight in the bar followed by the horror that was the bombing of Pearl Harbour. He remembered Rafe holding him when he was shot during the Doolittle raid telling him to hang on, that he was going to be a father. What had happened to his best friend? Was it the emotional pressure of being married to a woman who had given birth to another man's child? Not just another man but his best friend. Danny couldn't help remembering the day in the parachute hangar when Evelyn had arrived unexpectedly. For a moment time had stood still and his mind had gone back to that extraordinary night they spent together. He could tell when he looked at Evelyn she was thinking about the same thing. They looked away from each other uncomfortably. That was when Danny noticed Rafe watching them, particularly watching him. Did he still feel like Danny had betrayed him? Was the feeling that he had lost his best friend and a large part of the woman he loved what drove him to end his own life? It seemed they would never know.
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Two days later Rafe McAuley was buried. A small private service was held each mourner had stood beside his grave occupied with their own thoughts and memories. Danny had stood beside Evelyn holding her hand. The bruising on her face was fading changing to that strange greenish yellow that showed it was healing. She was able to cover the area with makeup now. Although there had been lengthy yearning gazes between them neither had made a move apart from their initial hug. Both were clearly too uncomfortable with what had happened over the last few days to simply roll back the clock. Possibly both also felt it was disrespecting Rafe's memory to fall back into each other's arms so soon after his death. Yet both of them knew the feelings were still there and they both knew they would have the rest of their lives to be together. Danny had decided the moment they were re-united that nothing was going to come between them again.
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Six months later Danny and Evelyn became man and wife. The ceremony took place in the gardens behind what had been the nurse's quarters during the war. The heady fragrances of frangipani, freesia and gardenia created an intoxicating perfume. Most guests were moved to tears by the emotion shown by the couple pledging their vows. Little Daniel had just started walking and stood between his parents, one hand grasping his father's trousers, one holding the hem of his mother's skirt as his parents held hands and became one. When the minister pronounced them man and wife the newlyweds gazed at each other for several moments before coming together in a deep, lingering kiss. They finally broke apart when they felt their son tugging on their clothing. Mr. & Mrs. Walker laughed as Danny picked up his son and lightly tossed him in the air.
Much later that night after all the guests had left and little Daniel was safely tucked in bed a lone couple danced in the moonlight. No music played they danced to the internal serenade that bound their hearts and souls in a love that would sustain them through good times and bad. A love they knew would carry on after their lives were over. Finally they glanced at each other and hand in hand walked toward their new home ready to begin an extraordinary journey.
THE END.