Hello There, Soldier

England: January, 1945

Stuck in a hospital bed in England, Josie felt like she was losing her mind. She had been confined to that bed ever since her arrival and the sheer boredom of the room was slowly stealing away her sanity. Every time she got out of bed a nurse would appear from nowhere to scold her before manhandling her back in between the crisp white sheets. The doctors had already said she was fine. Her blood pressure had returned to normal and everything appeared healthy with the baby. Yet there she was, staring at the wall and watching the hands of the clock slowly move as she thought about ways to kill the pushy nurses so she could make her escape.

"Well, look at you, kid." The familiar voice brought Josie out of her murderous day dream as she turned to look at the man leaning against her door way. He might not have been at the top of her list of people she wanted to see at the moment but he was a welcomes savior if he could get her the hell out of there.

"Henry, please tell me you're here to get me out of this place." She pleaded with a distressed look on her face.

Henry Carmichael was Josephine's handler. He was in his early thirties with black hair and honey colored eyes. It seemed like a lifetime ago from when she had first seen him. He was standing off to the side as they were doing drills at WAAC training. A couple of the girls commented on how he was good looking but Josie just felt off by the way he stared. She got a sense that he was dangerous and by the look in his eyes she could tell he was one of those men that had plenty of secrets to hide. When the drill ended, Josie hurried to leave the field but was stopped by him. After a quick introduction and some well worded patriotic sentiments, Josie found herself packing her bags and going with Henry. He brought her into OSS, trained her, and was the one to give her the assignment in France.

"Not enjoying your rest?" Henry chuckled as he walked further into the room.

"They won't let me get out of bed! This is ridiculous, I'm pregnant not crippled!" She cried out as she waved her arms dramatically.

Henry dropped his smile and turned serious as his eyes focused in on her rounded stomach. "Quite the predicament you got yourself into, you know?"

"Don't really care what you have to say unless it involves getting me out of here." She bit back quickly not wanting to hear anything anyone had to say about her current state.

"Don't worry they're processing your discharge as we speak. Get dressed and we'll be on our way." It always amazed Josie how quickly Henry could go from smiling and joking to serious and dangerous than back again.

"Where?" She questioned already pulling back the covers and swinging her legs over the edge of the bed.

"Back to Bethesda. You need to be debriefed because it seems you have quite a bit to tell us about your time overseas." He winked playfully.

"And after I'm done telling my tale?" It had been on her mind ever since she arrived safe in England. She never expected to come home and now she wondered what would await her.

"There's a job waiting for you back home if you want it. The higher ups are all impressed with the work you've done." He told her with a shrug of his shoulders as if it was nothing but to Josie it was everything. She would have a job and a way to support herself. "You know there seemed to have been a trail of information left behind as we pushed the Germans back. Important documents and information kept finding its way into our hands. Have any idea how that could have happened?" He questioned playfully as he already knew the answer.

"Wasn't sure if that was actually working." Josie smiled with him.

"Clever girl." He said with a shake of his head as he walked back towards the door. He lifted up a bag that had been sitting there and placed on the bed next to her. "Here, I brought these for you to wear and a flight home is waiting for us at the air field."

"Thanks, Henry." She said honestly grateful he came to get her. He gave a silent nod before moving to leave but just as he reached the door he stopped and turned to her once more.

"I don't know if you already have plans but my cousin works for an adoption agency..." He started to say but Josie put her hand up quickly stopping him.

"No." She said forcefully as she stared him straight in the eye. She knew what people would expect her to do so she wanted to make herself clear on the issue. "This is my baby and I'm not putting it up for adoption."

"Josephine, think about this rationally. Do you really want a reminder of everything you went through? You're young you should be able to move on with your life, get married and have a real family." He tried to reason with her but she only found herself growing more irritated with each word.

"Stop talking, Henry. This is my decision not yours so, while I thank you for your concern, my mind is already made up." She made it very clear that it was the end of the discussion.

"Fine. I'll just leave you to get dressed. I'll be waiting outside." He told her as he left and closed the door behind him.