Meet Me in the Gray

Two

Two

Grace travelled as efficiently as possible through the hospital checking in with the nurses and orderlies, stopping when patients called to her, and evaluating the stock of supplies and medicines. Her work was never ending, and Dr. Connors butting heads with the hospital orderlies and nurses didn't help matters. She wanted to find Sarah and learn what had caused her to stomp out of surgery that morning. Grace turned into the sunny alcove off the back of the kitchen where the clean linens were stored.

Sarah sat alone at the small wooden table facing the window. She hummed quietly to herself, a tune Grace didn't readily recognize, and rolled bandages.

"Would you like some help?" Grace pulled up a chair and lifted a length of linen.

Sarah glanced up and shrugged. "I see you survived surgery with Dr. Connors."

Grace's cheeks warmed a bit. The bizarre encounter with him refused to give her peace, and the mere mention of his name brought back the memory of being wrapped in his strong arms. "You might say that." She didn't understand why it unsettled her so much. She despised the man, and yet a moment's flirtation had left her as flushed as school girl. Grace shoved away the lingering memories of Dr. Connors and cleared her throat. "Might I ask what exactly happened this morning?"

Sarah rolled her eyes. "He's impossible. Nothing is ever right. I can never do anything fast enough. Today I couldn't even mop his brow correctly!" She looked up at Grace. "I'm sorry, Nurse Sinclair, I know I shouldn't have walked out on the surgery, but Dr. Connors is intolerable." She dropped a half-rolled bandage from her hand and reached out to grasp Grace's forearm. "It was only a reb I stepped out on. I want you to rest assured that I would never leave one of our boys in blue."

Grace pursed her lips, fighting back frustration. Sarah wasn't her finest nurse. She was sloppy with her work, and often quick to anger. Even so, her sentiment was one many shared.

Sarah frowned. "Is something wrong?"

Grace drew a long slow breath, striving for calm. "Nurse Walters, I must remind you that it is our duty to provide the same compassion to every man in our charge, regardless of their uniform."

Sarah's mouth tensed in a hard line and her eyes flashed. "You can't be serious. Those Grey Backs are the enemy."

Grace hesitated, searching for words. "Do you have men fighting?"

"My husband and my brother," Sarah replied curtly.

"Consider this," Grace said patiently, "when you care for the enemy soldiers that come to our hospital, think of your brother and your husband. What if they found themselves in a Rebel hospital, what kind of care would you want them to receive?"

Sarah scowled. She opened her mouth as though to protest, but quickly snapped it shut again.