Never Say Goodbye

Chapter 13

The weeks went by quicker than I thought they would. Before we knew it Judy and I were trained and on our way to our evacuation hospitals where we were to be stationed. I was excited when I found out we were headed to Italy. I had only ever dreamed of going to a place like that and I could hardly believe that I was going to be there now. Milena tried to hide her excitement, but i knew that it meant a lot to her to be going to the place her grandmother was from. Judy was ecstatic. Italy was the last place she received a letter from Joe so she figured she'd see him there with any stroke of luck.

If I knew what was before me though, I don't think I would have so naively dreamt about walking around and seeing the great, classic beauty that was Italy. When it came time to leave, I didn't exactly know how to feel. Something about what Milena told me really stuck with me that first day, that being an army nurse was worse than I thought, but this was what we were here for and this was what we needed to do.

Milena, Judy and Nadi were becoming closer. Judy no longer made a sour puss when Milena was around. When Milena would join us for meals or to pow wow before lights out Judy would actually hold conversation with her. I was quite proud of her, she was putting aside petty jealousy of another's beauty to actually enjoy the person underneath. It also turned out that Nadi wasn't so bad either. She was happy and easy going. She did tend to let her mouth run off with her at times, and asked some intrusive questions about mine and Judy's relationships but I could tell she meant no harm by it.

I was pleased to find out that Milena knew some of her grandmother's language when we arrived. I made an mental note to stick with her for the duration that we were here. We stayed in Anzio for the better part of Operation Buffalo then were ordered to travel to Rome. Just thinking of Rome it was all I could do to keep from just running out by myself in search of all the ancient ruins I read about. I was so excited I hardly knew what to do. My excitement was quickly met with disappointment when I remembered why we were here and that I couldn't go out into the city with out a solider. It was for precautionary reasons, but that didn't make it any less of a Debby downer. Besides, I needed to remember that I was here to work, to help, and who knew when I would have a day off.

We were led through the Italian landscape to the hospital in Rome. I was amazed by the beauty of the place, the wide open blue sky above and the lazy slopes of hills all around. Some were quite steep and a bit hard to climb up, but it didn't matter. I gawked at everything that I saw. All the rich green, yellow, and blue colors of the landscape and the smell of cypress in the air. No wonder Italian's were so proud of their homeland, this was definitely something to be proud of. I wondered what the Tuscan country side looked like compared to this. Apparently, Tuscany was even more famous for it's rich beauty than Rome itself.

"I know what you're thinking and we'll go out and roam soon. Right now you need to focus because I think you're making the captain irritated." Judy whispered. I looked to the small captain who was looking back at me with an exasperated look. He no doubt spent a few minutes trying to grab my attention. I made a bashful smile and in reply. He made a huff then turned quickly.

"Jeeze, what a sour puss." I whispered to Judy.

"Give him a break he's got a tough job."

"Yeah, yeah I know. He reminds me of Mr. Stein."

"Oh yeah, I can kinda see it." We both giggled remembering our old short balding principle.

"Ladies, please this would be so much easier if we had everyone's undivided attention." The Captain shot back at us. We straightened up and followed orders. It was a long journey from Anzio to Rome and we knew that all the captain wanted was to escort us to Rome safely and quickly. I looked around at all the soldiers surrounding us and judging by the amount they expected trouble. I quickly put myself in check again and tried not to pay too much attention to the bad thoughts of what could and couldn't happen that were circling in my head.