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Late the next day, Hanna exited the ward and headed down a narrow corridor with a metal tray, careful not to jostle the medicines and supplies arranged on it in precise lines. She stepped aside to let an approaching nurse and patient pass through the door ahead of her. While she waited, she took a second to admire the cheery red streamers that swooped in loops along the white walls. Below them, greenery and garlands of red flowers decorated the dark wainscoting. A sharp, clean scent of evergreen drifted in the air, bringing the smells of Christmas to the patients unlucky enough to have to spend their holiday at the Franklin County Hospital.
At the nurses’ station, she settled her tray onto the counter and brushed a hand over the starched white pinafore she wore over a blue shirtwaist. The simple gesture pleased her, and she smiled. She loved working at the hospital, bringing hope and care to those who were in need. She adjusted the nursing pin she wore with pride at her shoulder and glanced across the room in time to see her friend, Julia, turn away from the sink.
Catching her eye, Julia raised one hand to her chest. A small diamond sparkled on the ring finger of her left hand. She gave Hanna a shy smile.
“Julia!” Hanna gasped. “He proposed?” She looked about quickly. The patients needed their rest. It wouldn’t do to upset them, not even with good news.
“Just now.” A soft giggle escaped Julia’s mouth despite the hand she held over it.
Barely able to contain herself, Hanna clasped her friend’s fingers. “I’m the first to know?”
“You had to be,” Julia exclaimed, her voice a throaty whisper. “You’re the one who introduced us. If it weren’t for you…”
Hanna’s smile widened until her face threatened to split in two. She’d known, just known, Julia and Frank were meant for each other the day he’d been transferred here. She stepped back, enjoying a ripple of happiness for the couple. Had they set a date? “Oh, Julia! When?”
“Come.” Julia hooked their arms together. “Frank’s just bustin’ to tell you himself.”
Leaving her tray where it was for the moment, Hanna let herself be pulled along. The rubber soles of their shoes squeaking on the polished linoleum squares, the two nurses hurried across the men’s ward. They stopped at a bed where an injured vet lay, his head propped up on pillows, his leg in traction. Though he had to be in pain, the soldier had never complained—not even once—during his long stay in the hospital.
While Julia sank onto the bedside chair, Hanna gave Frank’s hand a squeeze. “This all happened so fast,” she gushed. “I’m so happy for you.”
“I asked myself, ‘why wait?’” Frank explained. A broad smile softened his thin features. “As soon as I can carry her over the threshold, we’re gonna find the closest justice of the peace.” He gave his brand-new fiancée a tender smile. “Right, honey?”
Julia slipped Frank’s hand in hers. Her face radiant, she fanned herself. “Engaged on the night of the Christmas Comet. Isn’t that the most romantic thing?”
Agreeing that it was, Hanna pulled her camera from one of the deep pockets in her pinafore. She couldn’t let the precious moment pass by without recording it for posterity. “Look this way, you two lovebirds,” she cooed. She snapped the photo of the couple who were perfect for each other. Smiling, she tucked the camera back into her pocket.
“And I’m going to find her a white dress just like the one I saw in a window when I was over there in Italy.” Frank squeezed Julia’s hand. “Prettiest dress I ever saw,” he finished brightly.
“Frank has been telling me all about Italy.” Julia bit her lower lip. For an instant, her face fell. They’d all seen pictures of the destruction caused by the war. She rallied quickly. “Well, the good things, anyway. Hundred-year-old churches and the cobblestone streets…”
“Pretty as a picture, some of those towns.” For a second, Frank’s eyes glazed over, and he fell silent. Memories moved their icy fingers across his face. He shivered and tugged his Army jacket closer around his shoulders as if saying to himself, Enough of that. “But nothin’ beats bein’ back home.”
Julia’s gaze dropped to where Frank’s fingers were entwined in hers as if she wanted to let him know she understood how much the moment had cost her soon-to-be husband. Though she never voiced the I’m so glad you made it home, her thoughts echoed loudly through the room.
Hanna felt her own grief rear its ugly head. She retreated a step. “I, I should be getting to work.” Suddenly missing Chet, she plastered a brave smile over her own feelings. “Congratulations, you two. I’m so happy for you.” Beating a hasty retreat lest her sorrow ruin Frank and Julia’s happy occasion, she headed for the exit.
“Hanna,” Julia called before she made it past the third bed.
With a sigh, she turned in time to catch the worried look on her friend’s face.
“Oh, Hanna, I wasn’t thinking. Here we are, so giddy, and I wasn’t even—”
“No, don’t apologize, Julia,” Hanna insisted. “We’ve got to keep our eyes on tomorrow, right? That’s where happiness is. Not the past.” Someday, somehow, she’d find happiness in her future, too. Maybe it wouldn’t be the same as she’d had with Chet, but one day, she’d find a purpose in her life.
Julia inhaled a deep breath. “You’re such a brave thing,” she gushed while something like awe shone in her eyes.
Hanna held up a hand. “I’m not so brave. Just…” She paused. “Just happy to see you so happy.” For emphasis, she added, “Really.”
Whatever she’d said must have done the trick, because Julia relaxed. The smile she’d worn ever since Hanna had introduced her to Frank warmed her eyes. “We are happy,” she said on a sigh. “Thanks to you.”
“Well…” Hanna slipped her hands into her pockets. “And now, I really do need to get back to work before the head nurse notices I’m missing.” Without giving Julia a chance to protest, this time she headed across the ward at a fast clip. Work, she needed to work. Needed to keep her hands busy and her mind focused on taking care of the patients who were too sick or too hurt to spend Christmas at home.
And she knew just which patients needed her most.
Time dragged during the long afternoons in the children’s ward. In the mornings, the hospital bustled with activity. Doctors made their rounds. Orderlies and nurses rushed about delivering medicine and changing linens. There were sponge baths to get and clean pajamas to don. Later, visiting hours brightened the early part of the afternoon. But toward the end of the day, things quieted around the hospital. Footfalls echoed in silent halls. And the children grew restless.
The image of a sad-eyed waif who’d fallen from his bunk bed at the Children’s Home surfaced, and Hanna’s heart went out to the little boy who had lost both his parents far too early. She stopped by the nurses’ station long enough to empty her tray, careful to store the medicines and supplies in their assigned places. Retrieving two books from a cubby, she headed for the other side of the hospital.
Toby’s face brightened when she approached the bed where the little boy sat, his arm awkward in its heavy cast. She ran one finger across the metal rail at the foot of his bed, checking for dust. Her finger came away clean, and she smiled, satisfied that the area was as neat and tidy as the rest of the hospital.
“I have a few minutes before the end of my shift,” she told him. “I picked out some good stories to read.” She held out the books she’d chosen from the library cart earlier that day. When the move failed to generate much enthusiasm, she paused to think. What would interest an eight-year-old boy? Sure she’d hit on a good idea, she reached into her pocket. “Would you like to look at my camera while I read to you?”
Toby’s eyes lit up. “You have a camera? I’d