Elizabeth raced down the street, clutching on tightly to her nurse uniform. She was late, and on the first day of training, no less. She was desperately trying to pin her hat down, but she couldn't seem to do it properly. She gave up and ran faster, her heels clicking down the Brooklyn pavement.
All around her were people bustling about, on their way to work. There were a few men in uniform, getting ready to be deployed out of the train station later that afternoon.
Elizabeth spotted the number of the training building, the 10th block of Bedford Avenue, and ran towards the door. She pulled it open quickly, nearly knocking someone over and entered, excusing herself on the way.
It was absurdly quiet, but Elizabeth went quickly over to the receptionist desk, finally pinning her hat to her bun.
"I'm checking in for training, Section 354? At 9 o'clock," she said to the receptionist, who looked up at her expectantly.
"You're two minutes late," the receptionist said sharply. She scanned Elizabeth up and down, taking in the sight of her ruffled apron and dress. "You look dreadful," she sighed. "Go to room 3, down the hall and to the left." She paused for a moment before adding, "Do me a favor and straighten yourself up so that you can better learn to care for our men."
Elizabeth's face flushed red. The woman was right. She shouldn't have been so disorganized on this morning of all mornings. Elizabeth smoothed her dress and apron down before heading towards the training room.
The door was open, so Elizabeth stepped in quietly. There were five rows of ten desks each, nearly every one filled with a woman. At the front of them, there were two female instructors, both looking at her expectantly.
"Well then, who might you be?" one of the women asked.
"Elizabeth Rogers, ma'am. I'm sorry that I'm late," Elizabeth said quickly.
"Alright, then, take a seat. And don't disturb class anymore," the woman replied.
As Elizabeth slipped into one if the seats, she glanced over to see her friend, Sarah, sitting four desks down from her. Sarah flashed her a warm smile before turning back to the instructors.
"As I was saying, my name is Mrs. Walker, and this here is my assistant, Ms. Rumbold. We will be giving you the training you will need before you young ladies will be shipped off to help our boys fight," the woman said.
The rest of the morning was filled with basic procedures, expectations, and paperwork, which Elizabeth filled out begrudgingly.
At lunchtime, they were dismissed and told to return to the building the next day to begin training. As Elizabeth filed out of the classroom with the rest of the girls, she felt an arm link up with hers.
"Hi there, Lizzie," it was Sarah. Elizabeth smiled at her, giving her arm a squeeze as they exited the room.
"Sarah, can you believe it? We're going to be nurses!" Elizabeth gave a quiet squeal; which Sarah did at the same time. They both laughed at each other, seeing a few of the other girls giving them looks.
Sarah was Elizabeth's childhood best friend. For the twenty years that they had been alive, they had done nearly everything together.
"Well, I'll for sure be a nurse, but if you show up late again," Sarah trailed off. They exited the building and onto the street, heading back to where they lived.
"Oh please, I was two minutes late, and it was hardly my fault! Can you guess what happened?" Elizabeth asked.
"What did Steve do now?" Sarah sighed.
YOU ARE READING
Doll: A Bucky Barnes FanFiction
FanfictionAs they reached the apartment complex, Bucky walked her slowly up the steps, before they stopped in front of her door. "I suppose this is goodbye?" Elizabeth said, letting her arm drop from his. She clasped her hands in front of her, smoothing down...