Strawberry Red

Chapter 16 Ruby

Ruby was tense during the entirety of the flight. They flew for hours. For Ruby it felt like days. She used to like flying with her father or Albert when she was a child. But after working at multiple airbases, she was petrified by it. Day after day she had to pull out half-dead looking men who were screaming in agony and slowly bleeding out. She had to look at bodies which were barley recognisable. Now, she was sitting in the hull of the fort praying she wouldn't end up like one of those corpses. She was also praying for Buck and Bucky's safety. She wouldn't be able to bear it if she had to pull them out of their planes. It would absolutely destroy her.

They approached the runway. Major Veal landed the plane without any troubles and finally, Ruby was able to leave the fort. She hurried outside and took a deep breath.

"You weren't lying about not being keen on flying," commented Richard and stopped next to her. "This was only one way. We still have to fly back."

"Oh, I know. Don't remind me," groaned Ruby. "How about we get ready for the aircrews? According to the plan they should be arriving any minute now."

"Sounds good," agreed Richard. The nurses grabbed their bags with medical supplies. They were led by locals to the medical tent. The tent was almost empty besides the few mattresses on the floor.

"How are we supposed to treat more serious injuries if we don't even have an OR?", asked Will and shook his head. "Calling this a hospital is madness."

"We'll have to improvise," said Ruby and went over to the corner. "We could hang up curtains and built a make-shift operating theatre here."

"Great, idea. I'll go ask the locals for curtains" Richard nodded.

"You really want to operate here in this tent? It's not sterile and we don't have most of the supplies we need," argued Will.

"Well, what do you want to do? We aren't leaving until tomorrow morning which means we have to treat our patients as best we can with what we have. That's why we came here, remember? To help the aircrews." Ruby started to unpack some of the bags.

"Madness," mumbled Will and left the tent to cool down. Ruby ignored his pessimistic behaviour and did her best to transform the tent into a field hospital. She was almost done when she heard the sirens go off. Immediately, she rushed outside to see which planes were approaching. She could see Bucky's plane heading towards the runway. Nervously, she started to play with the hem of her uniform. She couldn't spot Buck's plane. Anxiety and worry started to gather in her stomach. She felt as she was consumed by emotions from the inside out. Where are you, Buck? Repeated Ruby over and over again in her head.

"We need some help over here," shouted Bucky. His crew pulled out one of their gunners. He had blood all over the side of his face. Ruby snapped out of her trance and marched over to the gunner.

"Just the head injury?" asked Ruby and applied pressure to the bleeding. The man in front of her nodded. "I think you'll need stitches. And once we're back on base the doctor will examine you for a possible concussion."

Over the next couple of hours Ruby treated one patient after another. The little make-shift hospital was crowded with injured airmen. At one point they had to ask some of the lesser injured ones to sit on the floor and give up their mattresses for unconscious patients. Around thirty men were cramped into the small tent. The warm temperatures didn't help either. It felt as they were being grilled alive.

Relief came when the sun finally disappeared behind the horizon and a cool night breeze swept through the base in Algeria. Ruby opened the tent's entrance to get some fresh air in.

"We've treated everyone," informed Richard. He was standing next to her enjoying the cool breeze. "We are each taking turns with night shift. I told the others you'll take the one in the morning. I thought you'd want to see your lover as soon as possible."

"You did that for me?", asked Ruby and looked up to him.

"I can see how miserable you are, how miserable you've been the whole time because we weren't able to spot Buck. So, go now and find him." Richard softly pushed Ruby out of the hospital.

She wandered around base to try and find Buck. It was harder than she thought as she hadn't had time before to get acquainted with the base. It was a lot bigger than she had imagined. She rounded a corner and saw some of the men sitting around a fire. The locals had provided dinner which the men were shoving down as if they were starving.

Her heart almost sprung out of her chest right there and then. Buck was sitting with Bucky, DeMarco and Crosby. He was chatting with them and enjoying the evening. She quickly walked over to them which caught Buck's attention.

"Ruby." His voice was rough and raspy. He had a couple of scratches on his face but apart from that he seemed fine. He was alive.

"Where the hell were you?", asked Ruby, anger bubbling up in her. "Why didn't you land with the others? I was worried sick about you."

Buck chuckled softly and walked over to her. He wrapped his arms around her waist and put a hair strand behind her ears. "The fort got a little damaged during the mission, so we had to reduce our speed. That's why we were late."

Ruby leaned into his touch and put her arms around his neck to pull him even closer to her. "I'm glad you made it," she whispered in his ear. Then her lips indulged his in a tender and hesitant kiss. Their lips started to synchronize, moving softly against each other in their own rhythm. Their kiss was filled with raw emotions and passion. It was as if the whole world around them faded away, leaving only them behind holding tight onto each other. Ruby's knees started to melt away from under her. She had never felt so loved by anyone.

"Would you like to go on a date with me?" asked Buck quietly. He had pulled away from her. Their lips were only centimetres away. She could feel his heavy breathing on her lips.

"I know the perfect place," answered Ruby and kissed him again. This time it ignited a fire in them. Buck pulled her even closer, a desperate attempt to fill the emptiness in their embrace. Time seemed to blur as they shared passionate and fierce kisses.