Sharing Corrie

Chapter Thirty Five

 Corrie had never thought of herself as an arrogant person, yet the reservoir of dread she felt prior to humbling herself before Dr. Benjamin told her that she was indeed proud. Though she enjoyed her work at the post office, she missed the companionship of her friends and longed to fulfill her promise to Dr. Benjamin to serve as a nurse in his hospital, yet she knew she needed to make things right with him before she could return.

The nerves Corrie felt, however, came from something beyond her pride. Corrie knew that her feelings for the doctor had not abated though it had been months since they first appeared, yet she also knew their fulfillment to be an impossibility. Dr. Benjamin was an honorable, upstanding young man who would make a fine match for any young woman, and she was merely Edwin's dishonored castoff. She would be lucky enough if he would forgive her, much less return her to his good graces.

Corrie wrung her fingers and drew in a deep breath, standing before the doctor's office. "The Medical Practice of Dr. Alexander Benjamin." She remembered when she had first read the sign upon arriving in Irvington and trying to find Christina; how little it had meant to her then. Now, this practice, these people, had become the center of the new life she was building, and though they in some ways represented everything she had left behind when she left for New York, she now cherished them more than anything.

She pulled the door handle open and was surprised by what she found. Cots littered the hallways and the noise of torturous groans and agonizing cries filled the entire building. She saw Hannah running through the hallways with a load of freshly laundered cloth bandages, and the girl only offered her a brief smile before descending the hallway towards the operating rooms. The hospital was small, but based on the number of soldiers she found lying about, she knew there must be fifty or more injured men under the doctor's care.

"Miss, please," one murmured. "Is there any morphine?"

Corrie turned to the blue-gray gaze of a man younger than herself, one leg sawed off above the knee with only a crude bandage to cover the sundered stump. Drawing in a deep breath, she schooled her features to hide her shock and offered him a reassuring smile.

"I'll see what I can do."

Picking her way through the hallway, Corrie popped her head into the operating room where Dr. Benjamin was laboring over a stomach wound. "A patient with an amputated leg wants morphine. What should I give him?" Corrie called, knowing she would have to save her apology for later.

Dr. Benjamin glanced up, eyes glinting for a moment as he registered the fact she was there, that they were seeing each other for the first time in weeks. He offered her a ghost of a smile.

"Codeine, labeled in the back room. It's less addictive."

Corrie nodded and ducked back out, busying herself for the rest of the day in the chaos of the hospital. She and Hannah worked side by side much of the day, cleaning wounds, reapplying bandages, and offering painkillers to those unable to withstand the torment. The day passed in an endless succession of mutilated bodies and tearstained faces. Corrie couldn't even spare a moment to visit Christina and ask how she was enduring the knowledge that David could easily be one of these men.

By the time night fell and the men started to drift off into fitful slumbers, Corrie scarcely realized the entire day had passed. They had neither paused for food or drink, and Corrie's once clean dress was now besmirched with dark crimson stains. She carried the final bowl of bloody water to the backyard and tossed it in the grass, letting the cold winter wind whisk over her heated, exhausted body.

"Miss Walker, thank you for your help today."

The doctor's low voice startled her from her respite. She turned and found him standing in the doorway, sleeves rolled up and appearing as disheveled as she felt. He sagged against the doorway, running a hand through mussed hair.