𝐉𝐔𝐒𝐓 𝐀 𝐖𝐎𝐌𝐀𝐍 | | 1917

5. STAY

" I never knew a human could do that to another. "

-

APRIL 9th
1917
The Second Battalion

-

IT HAD BEEN TWO DAYS. The first one was restless, full of confusion and misunderstanding. She couldn't sleep and she couldn't think. Jo knew that talking wouldn't get her anywhere, so she simply decided to ignore that. Only some injured soldiers or the other nurses, which there weren't very many of.

Other than that, the days seemed quite grey. The same thing, the same routine, the same words. It all came back to her and made it nearly impossible to imagine a world outside the war. If there even were such a thing.

The new normal, and everything else was just extra.

It was hard thinking about home so Jo tried to stop herself from doing just that. The family. The house. It was pictured so clearly in her mind.
The fact that things had changed at home made her slightly frightened to arrive just there. That was if it would happen any time soon.

Not only could she not imagine opening the front door to their childhood home, stepping inside and hug her father, but the fact that she had to stare into her mother's tearful, knowing that someone was missing. That someone was Fred, her brother.

He was only two years older than her and one of the reasons that Jo came here in the first place. He was a good person. Too good for this world. Yet what would be left without people like him?

Yet that letter still came that one spring and nothing seemed to make sense after that.

Their mother could only read the first words of the paper before breaking down into sobs. Surrounded by the family as they all stared in disbelief.

'It is with the deepest regret that we inform you that your son Corporal Frédéric J Avair was killed in action on the seventh of March from wounds received while on combat operation while...'

That had been the first time Jo had seen her father cry- which made it worse. Everything about Fred's death made things worse.

Her other older brother André, was on duty on the French coast, Saint-Malo, at the time and Jo still hadn't seen him since then. A few weeks later they got a letter from him as well. With spiteful words of sorrow and grief.

She couldn't even read it.
She already knew what it was about.

Now it was only her and André left.

-

"Josephine?"

She turned around and looked at Rosie. She looked so awfully clean, her hair drawn back. Jo thought about acknowledging her own appearance in reference but already knew how dirty her clothes must have been.

Rosie was quite nice, a bit too much sometimes. Jo remembered noticing the other nurses rolling their eyes at her enthusiasm from time to time. It didn't bother her though. It was nice hearing some positive words sometimes, even when they seemed empty.

The Americans had joined the war quite recently. No one had told them, but the American soldiers alone were quite good at showing off their presence in their loud voices and in the wavering of their flag.