A Duchess in the Pacific

Twelve

The woods are lovely, dark and deep,

But I have promises to keep,

And miles to go before I sleep,

And miles to go before I sleep.

- Robert Frost, Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening

"Duchess!" Linda called out to her from across the hall. Duchess finished wrapping the marine's arm and dabbed his head with a damp cloth.

"Thanks, Honey." He mumbled with a faint smile. Duchess smiled back at him.

She turned around to Linda who was rushing past everyone to get to her. Duchess tried to hide a smile as Linda nearly collided with one of the doctors. Linda was a clutz but a good nurse, somehow. She was kind hearted and she made Duchess laugh. She reminded her of Chuckler, and Duchess often thought that the two might make a good couple.

"Jesus Linda. What is it?" She asked through a chuckle. Linda stopped on her heels and held on to Duchess' arms so she wouldn't fall over.

"They're asking for nurses for the pacific!" Linda exclaimed. Duchess raised her eyebrows in surprise.

"what do you mean?" Duchess asked excitedly. It was ironic, how eager she was to get back to the pacific and away from home when home was all she wanted on the first days on Guadalcanal.

"Here. I got you a pamphlet. There's a meeting tonight. Lets go!" Linda answered and gave Duchess the piece of paper. Linda was the type of person who was always looking for something more. And she thought that if someone had to have the tough jobs it might as well be her. That was probably why her and Duchess got along.

"I'll call Leonard and arrange a car." Duchess answered going for the phone.

~~~

Duchess and Linda laid in their cots in the berthing compartment, along with the other nurses who were being sent to Pavuvu. There was eight of them all together. Among Duchess and Linda there was, Irene and Lisbeth, who also worked at the hospital in Massachusetts with them. The other four were strangers to Duchess. Sherry, Jeanette, Barbara and Carol. Jeanette and Barbara, who preferred to be called Jean and Barbie, were from Huntington, Virginia. They were shy and timid and often looked to Duchess when they felt unconfident.

Which tended to piss off Sherry. She and Carol were from Chicago and for some reason Sherry did not like Duchess. So naturally Carol didn't like her either, though admittedly she personally had no problem with Duchess.

"They could have at least moved us further away from the rest." Sherry grimaced as she peered through the window on the door.

The replacement marines were not but mere feet away from them. The ship was not very big. They were the only nurses being sent Pavuvu and were going to be the only nurses on the island, under the supervision of Lt. Walters, who was an older woman about in her 50s and was in charge of the young girls.

Duchess ignored Sherry's comment as she laid in the top bunk staring at the ceiling of the compartment, not but 3 feet away from her face. John hadn't written her back before she left, she wondered if he had reenlisted.

"You're upset that we're too close to the very hot marines?" Irene asked, the most flirtatious of the group. Lt. Walters had to give her several talks about how the nurses were not permitted to have romantic relationships with any of the marines. Despite the exhausting reminders, the message still hadn't sunk in for Irene.

"Irene, you know we're not allowed to mess around with them." Jean nearly whispered. Irene waved her hand and scoffed.

"Hey, if they didn't want us to fraternize maybe Sherry's right and they should've moved us farther away." Irene responded, her Boston accent so thick it always made Duchess smile.