Well, maybe I won’t. Chuck will only be gone for a short time, and he did say he’d write, though maybe he won’t. We’ll see, I suppose, and besides, who’d ask me out if he doesn’t?
Well, that’s silly. You’re certainly asked out often enough, so don’t make excuses for the Lieutenant. You know darned well you’re crazy about him already, so don’t tell yourself... Well, why not? What’s wrong with going out with some other men while he’s gone? Am I engaged to him or something? Am I married?
Mrs. Charles Masters.
Oh, wouldn’t that be lovely?
Go to sleep, you silly little fool, she told herself, and then she whipped off her underclothes and headed for her bed.
Ten
“You can call me Greg,” The pharmacist’s mate said. “All my friends call me Greg.”
“Thanks,” he answered.
“And I want you to consider yourself my buddy, mate. I really want you to consider yourself my buddy.”
He stared at Greg curiously. The pharmacist’s mate was driving at something, he was sure of that. He didn’t know what, though, and his uncertainty displeased him.
“It never hurts to have buddies,” he said.
“No, it don’t, and that’s a fact,” Greg answered. “Especially when they’re on a hospital ward, eh, buddy?”
“What do you mean?”
“Oh, nothing,” Greg said. He paused. “You passed sick call this morning, didn’t you?”
“I didn’t know I was taking an exam,” he said.
“Ah, but you were. Now come on, mate. You knew you were taking a big test, didn’t you? You must have known that.”
“I don’t follow.”
“How you like Miss Piel?”
“Who?”
“Your nurse,” Greg said. “The one come around with Dr. Melville.”
“She was all right.”
“Nice piece, wouldn’t you say?”
“So-so,” he answered.
“You didn’t look so-so, mate. You looked like you was gonna eat her up. What’s the matter? Ain’t there no women on your ship?” Greg burst out laughing. “Yeah, she’s a peacheroo, Miss Piel. Only thing, she’s engaged to a full commander. Now, that’s a damn shame, ain’t it?”
“Doesn’t bother me one way or the other,” he said.
“It don’t? Well, now, that’s mighty interesting to hear. Especially after the way your eyes was popping out of your head when she stuck that thermometer in your mouth. How’d you swing a fever, mate? A hundred and one, the chart reads. How’d you do it?”
“I’m a sick man,” he said.
“Sure, no question about it. I’ll bet you’re even sicker after what I told you about Miss Piel.”
“What’re you driving at, Greg?”
“Me? Hell, mate, I’m not driving at anything. I just notice you got an eye for the broads, that’s all. Nothing wrong with that, is there?”
“Nothing at all,” he answered tightly.
“Give you a few tips, in fact. Miss Lemmon, she’s on night duty tonight. Not a very pretty wench, but very dedicated to her profession. Hates to see anyone suffer. Tell her you’re burning up with fever, and she’ll give you an alcohol rub. She’s got very gentle hands, Miss Lemmon.” Greg was smiling broadly. “That appeal to you, mate?”
“What’s your game, Greg?”
“What’s yours?” Greg asked point-blank.
“I’ve got cat fever. That’s no game.”
“You’re not sore at me, are you, mate? After all the tips I’m giving you?”
“I don’t need any tips. I’m sick, and that’s it.”
“You’re sick like I’m sick.”
“Blow,” he said suddenly. “Get the hell out of here, Greg.”
“Sure. One more tip, though. Watch for the nurse comes on at twelve hundred. Now, she is really something, mate. Really something you should go for. And we do want to make your stay here a pleasant one, now don’t we?”
“I’m not looking for any nurses,” he said.
“No?” Greg’s eyes narrowed. “I remember you, mate. Maybe you was too busy to notice me the last time you was here, but I remember you. I remember you goddamn well. I got a memory like an elephant.”
“Yeah?”
“Yeah,” Greg said tersely.
“So?”
“Nothing. Just remember that I remember you.” He walked to the door. “I’ll be seeing you, mate.”
“Not if I see you first,” he called after Greg.
At 1223, Jean Dvorak walked into his room.
“Hello,” she said. “I’m Miss Dvorak.” She smiled professionally. “And how are you feeling today?”
“Pretty miserable,” he said, his eyes lighting. Greg hadn’t lied to him. This one was really something. This one made all the others look sick. This one was for him.
“Oh, really? Well, now, let’s see.” She walked to the foot of the bed and lifted his chart, her eye passing rapidly over his name and then dropping to the temperature recordings.
“I got cat fever,” he said.
“Yes, I see that. Well, your temperature hasn’t been too high.” She smiled again. “I think you’ll survive.”
“I’m sure I will,” he said. “Now that I’ve got something to live for.”
She looked at him curiously for a moment, and then she gave a tiny shrug. “You get all the rest you can,” she said.
“How does it feel?” he asked.
“How does what feel?”
“Being an ensign?”
“I never much think about it,” Jean said.
“Don’t you feel sort of silly when an enlisted man salutes you?”
She smiled and said, “As a matter of fact, I do.”
“I thought so.”
“Why’d you think so?”
“I don’t know. I just figured you for the kind of girl a uniform didn’t mean very much to. The stripe, I mean.”
“Mmm. Well, you’re very observant.”
“I try to be.”
“You’re also very talkative. You should be getting some sleep.”
“I’m not sleepy. Not any more.”
“Aren’t you? Well. Perhaps I’d best call the doctor and have you released. If you feel that well, I mean.”
“I’m still pretty sick,” he said, smiling
She went to the bed and put her hand on his forehead.
“My mother used to do that,” he said.
“You don’t feel very warm.”
“I think maybe the fever is dropping. It’s supposed to drop after a while, isn’t it?”
“Yes. Well, we’ll see.”
She started from the bed, and he said, “Are you going so soon?”
“Why, yes,” she said, surprised.
“Why don’t you come back again? Later.”
She looked at him, her mouth and eyes curling in amused surprise. “What for?”
“We’ll... talk a little.”
“Well, maybe,” she said.
“It’ll help me get better,” he added hastily. “I’ve been very lonely.”
“Lonely? You were just admitted last night.”
“I know. But I get lonely in hospitals.”
“Well, I’ve got to see my other patients.”
“And afterward, will you come back?”
“You’re a persistent young man, aren’t you?”
“I’m just lonely,” he said.
“I’ll see.”
“Promise.”
“Now, really...”
“Or don’t you talk to enlisted men?”
“Whatever gave you that idea?”
“Navy Regs,” he said.
“I don’t think Navy Regs apply to a nurse talking to her patient,” Jean said.
“Then you will be back?”
“I didn’t say that. You’re something of a seagoing lawyer, aren’t you?”
“Come on. Miss Dvorak,” he said. “Say you’ll come back.”
“I’m overwhelmed,” she said, smiling and shaking her head. “You get some sleep now.”