The Reunion

Emily almost ran to the car. She opened the door herself and sat in the front seat so she could see out the front window. As soon as Bus took the driver's seat, he pulled away from the airfield. And Emily asked.

"Have you ever driven this road before?"

"Only the part leading from the airport to downtown London."

"Then you need to know that this area was one of those so-called-accidental bombings by the Germans. There's was nothing strategic located here. I know the road has been cleared of debris but they still have large holes. You probably can't drive as fast as you'd like to. I'll keep my eyes on the road to help you avoid them."

"Please do. I wouldn't want to break an axle."

Bus didn't encounter any holes until he was several miles beyond the boundaries of the county of London. Now both of them were concentrating on the road. Bus swerved to the left and then to right in an attempt to avoid the holes. After an hour of driving this way, the road was much better. Emily told him.

"The allies all had road crews help the British repair this section of the road in preparation for D-Day; you should be able to go faster."

"How far are we from Southampton?"

"I think about thirty miles."

"Sit back and relax, Emily. I don't need your help now; the road is actually very good. I can drive faster."

Emily took his suggestion. She rested her head on the seat back. She was trying to think of how to show some self-control when she saw Charlie. Inside she was bubbling with anticipation.

Soon she heard Bus. "I just saw the sign for the Southampton Relocation Center."

"Then we're not very far away. Bus, I never told you. I was an ambulance driver when the war began. This was where I was stationed. If I remember correctly, the hospital is about five miles away."

In a few minutes, Bus heard Emily say. "The administrative office is in that brick building ahead. You can park in front of it."

As soon as Bus stopped the car, Emily had opened her door and gotten out. Bus was right behind her. He spoke to the corpsman standing guard.

"I understand you have a Lieutenant Commander Charlie Madison waiting for transportation."

"We most certainly do."

"How is he?"

"Lucky to be alive, Miss. The bullet missed the major artery in his leg."

"Thank you God." Emily said in a whisper. The corpsman continued.

"On the hospital ship his wound was cleaned and he received the new miracle drug, Penicillin. His wound never became infected but he still has a fairly large wound to heal."

"I know all about wounds. I was an ambulance driver at the beginning of the war."

"Go on in and see if he's ready to be discharged."

"Thank you, we will."

Bus held the door and allowed Emily to enter first. Emily walked away from the door and began to pace. Bus took a seat at a desk with a telephone. He was conversing with Captain Harry Spaulding who was still in London.

Everyone in this small room heard. "Did I hear you correctly? You told the director of the public relations department Charlie was here at the receiving center."

Bus must have received an affirmative reply. He told Harry. "That's just swell. Now we'll have every correspondent in London down here."

He placed the handset on its base with authority. Under his breath he said. "Charlie's probably in no mood to speak to them."

At the same time Emily had continued to pace around the small room; she was wringing her hands. All the while she was telling herself to calm down.

The nurse noticed her when she walked close to the door which led to all the small portable buildings which housed the wounded. A sign above it said, No Admittance except hospital personnel.

The nurse was sympathetic and told Emily. "You can go outside and wait for him. Last time I checked he was putting on his uniform."

"Thank you."

Emily opened the door and stepped out. It was pitch black outside with the exception of a dim light over the door of each of the portable buildings which housed the wounded men. A place which conjured up her memories of all those wounded men she had comforted.

Right now she only wanted to comfort one man, her fiancé. She was still pacing a bit; her back was towards the far end of the sidewalk. Suddenly she heard a sound, tap and then a slight pause and again that sound, tap.

Emily turned around. There he was. She saw Charlie continue to walk towards her using a cane for support. She didn't hesitate for a second.

Emily ran to him. She was shouting. "Charlie, Charlie."

Tears were rolling down her cheeks by the time she was close enough to throw her arms around his neck. She sobbed into his shoulder. Charlie let his cane fall from his hand. His arms held her close.

"Why the tears, sweetheart?"

"I'm just so happy to see you."

"So they're those kind of tears."

"Yes, but I had sad tears." She said as she wiped her face with her hands and sniffled back her tears.

"I listened to the radio; I knew you were on one of the ships headed to the beach. The announcer spoke in great detail about all the photography teams. He specifically mentioned Admiral Jessup's team. I stopped listening around midnight.

"I tossed and turned all night. When morning came, I listened again. The announcer said all the photography teams, except Admiral Jessup's team had returned safely.

"Charlie, I got so scared, I hurried home and went straight to my bedroom. I cried and cried. Mother checked on me but didn't say anything. And when Bus came to offer me condolences I told her I was pretending you were alive and wouldn't see him.

"I can't explain why; it was a deep seated feeling I had. Finally on his third visit, I did speak to him.

"You should have seen his face when I told him I was like Doubting Thomas. He was very confused. I guess he doesn't know about Thomas."

"I'm sure he doesn't. He's Jewish. But I know all about Thomas. What happened next?"

"You don't know that Admiral Jessup spent the entire time since you left for Portland in the hospital. When he got better, he used the room there as his office. The doctors probably wanted to be sure he didn't have a relapse. Bus was on his way there to pick him up. I road with that far with him; then I walked on to the bus stop to get back to the motor pool building.

"I wanted to find a car so I could drive him to the airport later that night. I was on the tarmac when Paul took the call from here. Bus wasn't overjoyed you were alive. But the admiral was. He ordered Bus to drive me here. Don't be angry at him."

"Because you asked, I won't be. I see he just exited the door."

As Bus walked closer, he heard.

"I know that terrible likeness of me has been on the front page of multiple newspapers and the covers of Life and Time magazines. They tried to give me a copy when I first arrived here. How did they get that picture so soon?"

"Harry has connections; he had the film developed the day I returned. Harry saw it and picked that frame to be made into a photograph. It was distributed to all the media, the print media and a copy story to the radio news stations. The public relation's department added the caption, Charlie Madison, a navy man, the first American to die on Omaha Beach.

"Charlie, there's a room full of the press in the administration building. Will you meet with them?"

Charlie looked at Emily; he knew her well enough to know her face told him he should. "Emily, will you help me?"

"I'll try. Maybe you should give the demolition engineers all the praise. And that you were on the beach to document their bravery."

"Okay, that sounds good and it really is the truth. And then I'll mention I was caught by surprise when the bombs began to explode all around me and that as I ran for cover I was hit by artillery fire. And then I'll tell them I don't remember anything else until I woke up on the hospital ship."

"Perfect. Let's go get this over with."

Charlie held his cane in his hand; he used Emily as a crutch as they walked towards the building to meet with the press. She stood beside him the entire time.

There were pictures taken of them. Charlie made sure Emily was identified as his fiancée. Bus concluded the interview with this.

"Charlie is returning to Washington where Admiral Jessup will decorate him with the Navy Cross. Now gentlemen, I need to find him a flight home."

Slowly the room cleared of all the press and once again Bus occupied the chair behind the desk with a telephone. The task was easier than he thought it would be. He had arranged a flight for three. Emily had assured him her mother would come with them.

When he had finished, Charlie had a request. "I need to call my parents. I hope my small town's newspaper hasn't printed that terrible likeness of me. Emily, did you think it looked like me?"

"I need to be honest; I never really studied it."

Bus added. "I know Mrs. Barham didn't think it was you."

"Let me call them from here. It's the middle of the afternoon where they live."

Charlie placed the call. He had to move the receiver from his ear; his mother's scream was so loud.

"Calm down, Mom. Yes, it was really me. I was knocked unconscious by a bomb exploding near me after a bullet hit my leg but I'm fine. I have a real surprise for you and Dad. I'm getting married."

"Who is she? She's a beautiful British girl. We'll be flying out of England to Washington. The admiral wants to award me with the Navy Cross. Can you and Dad take the train to Washington?"

Of course we can. We wouldn't want to miss that ceremony nor your wedding.

"Great, I'll make arrangements for someone to meet you at the train station. Yes, I love you too. See you soon, goodbye Mom."

"She's ecstatic, Emily. We need to get to London and tell your mother the good news."

"Yes we do. I can't wait to see her face."