William barely left Mary's side after then. His job was on hold because they had no place to work. He was on leave, for as long as it took. William walked Mary to and from work, stayed in the shelters with her and sometimes Mary. Mary didn't say it, but she was glad that he put up with her. She hadn't felt dread like that since Tom had died.
She was quieter now, the weight of war seeming to have affected her more than she had expected. She was going to work like she was supposed to, pretending that as she watched soldiers die, she wasn't feeling anything. That's what she needed to do. That's what her country needed her for, so that's where she stayed.
William never spoke up, giving Mary the space he knew she needed, but he wrote to her family, worried that one day she'd be completely gone from him and he'd have no idea what to do with himself. Her father told William that Mary would come to him in time, just to let Mary think it over before she could speak about it.
"I'm going to leave for work."
"Alright, let me put on my shoes and I'll-"
"No, I'll go alone."
"Mary-"
"Sophia is going to walk with me, I won't be alone."
"I'd feel better if you'd let me walk the both of you." Mary smiled, nodding. "So give me a minute and I can walk you there."
"Alright." Mary grabbed her purse, watching as William slipped his shoes on, standing up again. "You know you don't have to-"
"It's not a favor, Mary, I want to walk you, it calms me knowing that you're safe."
"Nowhere's safe anymore." William sighed. Mary wasn't wrong. Anywhere that was still standing was a target for the Germans. "Sophia will be waiting."
"Let's go then, we don't want to keep her."
~~
"He's quite attached."
"Who?"
"William. He's not leaving you alone, not even-"
"I thought he had died, Sophia, I couldn't find him anywhere and when I finally saw him again and now I don't want him to leave me alone. I think he feels the same way."
"What a compatible couple you two make. It's quite sickening." Mary smiled, knowing that Sophia meant that as a compliment. "He's going to scare the nurses on their smoke break."
"They won't mind, you've said it yourself before." Sophia laughed, tying her smock around her waist. "Now we've got work to do, so get your mind off William and get to work."
"I'm the hardest worker at this hospital, don't you forget that." Sophia just hooked her arm with Mary's and pulled her down the hallway to the nurse's station.
"When you're married, will you still work?"
"We agreed to stay engaged until after the war. It doesn't seem to be ending any time soon so I won't even think about our marriage until then."
"Mary-"
"No, I won't allow myself to give myself hope of a world without war and then have it taken away at the first sound of a bomb. I won't. I can't."
"Alright, I'm sorry. Let's just focus on today, okay?" Mary nodded, turning her attention to the head nurse who was giving directions. "I'm sorry if I-"
"It's alright. Let's just get to work, yes?" Sophia nodded, listening as the head nurse gave them their stations for today. Mary was on the one floor she never wanted to be on again. It was the floor they brought the soldiers who were hopeless, the soldiers that had no cure just had to be made comfortable. "We can switch if you'd like, I don't mind."
