till' we meet again, william schofield

fourteen

fourteen

ONE WEEK, FIVE DAYS UNTIL DEPARTURE.

ROSINE WAS LATE. To be fair, she was always late for functions. Growing up, her mother always expressed the importance of being punctual. But those lectures went through one ear and out the other. Much like every other lecture given.

She swung open the door to the clinic and rushed inside. Everyone in the lobby, which included a couple of men waiting, a few nurses talking amongst themselves and the receptionist, stopped what they were doing and looked up at her, their faces glimmering with curiosity.

"You must be Rosine St. Martin? I'm Betty Barter," a dark haired girl with bright green eyes greeted. She seemed to be older than Rosine, but still young woman. "Please come with me."

Rosine nodded and followed, lowering her head as everyone kept staring. Betty brought her through a door that said 'private'. Upon entering Rosine noticed it was a small lounge, where a coffee area and a couple chairs were.

"This is the nurses lounge. Here is where you can take breaks. Now, the only thing we get our volunteers to do is be kind. Can you do that?"

Rosine stifled a laugh. "I think I can manage. What does 'being kind' entail?"

"Just talking. Hopefully you're good at that. I can give you some tea and cookies to serve if you'd like," Betty said, hurriedly. The woman glanced down at her watch and tsked. "Time to shine sweetheart. Come out when you're ready."

Rosine listened to the clicking of Betty's heels as the woman disappeared through the door. Rosine took in a deep breath. There's things scarier than conversations. For Heaven's sake, conversations are apart of her job back home. This is nothing.

With her head held high and her shoulders back, Rosine grabbed a small tray of biscuits and tea, and left the room. She walked into the waiting room, where now there was only one man. Confused, Rosine looked around for the receptionist, the nurses or the other man, but there was no one to be found.

He seemed to be as old as her father. His face was tired and wrinkled, and his short cut hair was greying. He wore a yellow button up and blue jeans. Then, Rosine noticed the scar going from the tip of his forehead to the tip of his lip, right across his eye. Another battle wound he had, was the lack of an arm.

The man coughed and narrowed his eyes at Rosine. "Are you going to give me a God damn cookie or are you just going to stare, child?"

Rosine walked over quickly, yet carefully to avoid spilling tea and embarrassing herself even more. She lowered the tray to allow him some biscuits and tea. He took five biscuits and set them on his lap. Then, he grabbed a cup of tea and set the cup on the table next to him. Rosine was about to pull away and awkwardly wait in the nurses lounge for him to go into his appointment, but the man latched onto her arm.

"Sit, child," he commanded, his voice full of authority. "You remind me of my daughter, did you know that?"

Rosine shook her head, then tucked a piece of hair behind her ear. "Use your damn words, girl," he scolded.

"N-No, sir. I didn't know that," she sputtered nervously, her accent coming out thicker than intended. Her cheeks blazed as the man narrowed his eyes on her even more.

"You speak French?" He asked upon hearing her accent. Rosine felt herself get heated more than she already was. She felt as if she was talking to her father. Something this man and her father both had in common is that they both demanded respect, and made her feel like a blubbering fool.

"Yes. I'm from France. Ecoust to be exact," she replied. The man nodded and leaned forward seeming more interested while tapping his foot. The man glanced up at the clock, as he thought back to Ecoust.

"Ecoust was a ruined town. I'm sorry to say but you won't be returning there for a long time," the man said apologetically.

Rosine imagined all the torn down buildings. She saw the burning church, the wrecked bakery and the broken doll. She felt the shattered glass and sharp rocks beneath her feet. She remembered her hiding spot, and the place she left the body of the German soldier she killed. She recalled the smell of gunpowder and smoke. It felt as if she were there.

"I know. I was in the middle of it," she whispered quietly. "I watched my neighbours try to flee— just to be executed by Germans. I listened to bombs and gunfire every night. I heard men die."

They both sat there in silence afterwards. Rosine stared at a spot on the floor, thinking back to her experience. She snapped back to reality when she realized the man hadn't replied. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable."

The man shook his head. "No. It's different— hearing war stories from, what I'm assuming you to be, a civilian. If you don't mind me asking, were you rescued by English soldiers or did you somehow get out?"

Rosine pulled up her skirt to show a nasty scar on her leg. "I met a wounded English soldier, who took me on his mission with him, and during that mission I got shot. He left me with a different group of soldiers— I don't know the terminology. Anyways, I had lost a lot of blood, and so they transported me to the nearest town. By the time we got there, I had an infection in my leg, so I was laid up for a couple weeks. Once I was better though, they stuck me on a ship to Canada where my brother lives."

The man nodded his head, taking in all the information. "What kind of stupid soldier brings a civilian on his mission?" He questioned.

Rosine laughed aloud, louder than she expected. The man furrowed his eyebrows, clearly confused. But he found himself admiring the glowing smile from Rosine.

"He was stupid, yes. Stupidly in love with me, although he didn't say it. I knew it," she winked.

William Schofield loved her, and nobody could tell her different. Nothing would change her mind. The world has a twisted way of making people who belong together, not end up together.

"Are you guys together now?" The man asked.

Rosine smiled sadly at him. "In spirit. We're together in spirit."

this is poop but it's okay bc it's filler. lolol. not edited.

i was thinking, maybe in the next couple chappies will n rosine could meet 🥺👉🏽👈🏽. that would be adequate.