“Is something wrong?” He glanced at the second lieutenant and went on.
“I’m afraid we don’t have good news. Your brother, Lieutenant Gregory Hatton, died in a surprise attack on the hospital where he was working in New Caledonia earlier today. They were strafed by Japanese planes and there were a number of casualties, your brother among them while trying to protect his patients. We wanted to make you aware as soon as possible. Unfortunately, under the circumstances, and with the risk of shipping you back to the States, we can’t give you compassionate leave to go home. Of course, you may take as many days off as you feel you’ll need, but you have to stay here.” She nodded, unable to speak, trying to absorb what they had said. It didn’t seem possible. It couldn’t be true. Greg was always going to be there. He was a doctor. He had finished medical school. He was her big brother. He couldn’t be dead.
“Would you like a glass of water, Lieutenant?” the second lieutenant asked her, and she shook her head. What difference would water make? Her brother was dead. “Would you like us to call someone? One of the nurses in your unit?” They were clearly worried about her. They had woken her in the middle of the night to drop a bomb on her.
“Do my parents know?” was all she could think of to say.
“Yes, they were advised several hours ago.”
“Can I call them?”
“That can be arranged,” the captain said quietly, as he watched the force of his words sink in. He had done this too often in recent months. “You could call them now, if you like. It’s just after seven p.m. in Boston.”
“Yes, I’d like that,” she said in a small voice, and he went to the barracks office to arrange it. They had her parents’ number. They were listed as her next of kin too. The captain came back five minutes later.
“We’re going to put the call through now. You can have the office to yourself for as long as you need it.”
“Thank you,” she said in barely more than a whisper, and followed him to the barracks office. The captain spoke into the phone, they connected the line, and he handed her the phone and left the room. Her father had answered the phone and he was crying.
“Daddy? Daddy? Are you and Mom okay? They just told me…oh I’m so sorry…I’m so sorry…and I can’t even come home to be with you. They said it’s too dangerous right now.”
“We don’t want you to come home. We don’t want anything to happen to you too.” The devastation in his voice was so complete that it made her stronger to try and help him. Her mother sounded even worse when she got on. They talked for twenty minutes and the three of them sobbed the whole time. He had been trying to help get patients to safety after the first planes attacked. It was unthinkable. Lizzie couldn’t imagine a world without Greg in it, nor could her parents.
When they finally hung up, and she left the office, she saw that both officers were still waiting for her. She thanked them, and they told her again how sorry they were, then she went upstairs in a daze, her head throbbing after crying so hard. Audrey was still awake, waiting for her, when Lizzie got back to their room. And she knew the minute she saw Lizzie’s face. They sat on Lizzie’s bed. Audrey took Lizzie in her arms and held her as Lizzie rocked back and forth. Lizzie couldn’t even find words for what she was feeling, but Audrey knew. It was how she had felt when Will was killed at Pearl Harbor. And now Lizzie had lost her big brother too. It was one more tie to bind them, and such a terrible one.
Lizzie cried until she had no more tears and then lay down on her bed. Audrey made a cup of tea for her and handed it to her, and Lizzie sipped it. It was two in the morning by then, and Lizzie kept thinking of her parents, and how heartbroken they were. She had never heard her father cry before, and he had cried like a child.
“Now what do I do?” Lizzie asked Audrey as she looked at her. “I don’t know what to do. I can’t even go to his funeral. The captain said it’s too dangerous, and Dad said they don’t want me to. I have to stay here. They said I could take time off, but what’ll I do? I’d rather go to work.” Then she could pretend it hadn’t happened, but it had. It was all too real. She wished she could talk to Henry too, but he was in the Solomon Islands and she had no way to reach him. He was in the jungle somewhere. She knew he would be devastated too.
She lay there wide-awake for two more hours, and Audrey stayed awake with her. Then Lizzie got up and started to dress in her flight suit.