Chocolate Kisses 2: Pearl Ch. 05-06

Someone had given him an M1 and two magazines and he slung the weapon over his shoulder as he limped over to the next tented area.

He found his wife lying on a cot, her eyes closed and groggy; all the dust from the destroyed building gone as she lay under a clean folded sheet.

"Hey, baby," he said, "you gave me a fright, there." Her eyes blinked and widened when she saw the crutch under one arm and the rifle over the other. "I wish you could have told me a little earlier, though. I'd as just as well stayed home with you."

She tried to smile but started sobbing. "Oh, Jimmy... I wasn't sure and now, all this. I'm sorry... so sorry."

"Don't be... I mean, yeah, it's impossible to comprehend. I told them over and over and..." He tried desperately to not mention the lost baby but there was no way he couldn't. There would be time enough to grieve privately, later. Survival had to come first. Losing her would kill him, that he knew.

"Jimmy, I know." She stopped speaking... her eyes closed for a moment and then she struggled to stay awake.

"You kept telling us, remember? It's not your fault, there's nothing you could have done more. When the blame comes, it won't be at you." She closed her eyes, again, for a much longer time.

He wondered if seeing her was... considering... "I'm just hoping we'll be around for blame to come. Honey, the nurse told me about the baby..." He sat down on the grass next to the cot and held her hand tightly in his. He lay his head down on her arm.

"It's been... two months, now..." she said, "I wasn't sure so I didn't say anything, you know, because of what was going on..."

"...whatever we were doing early October..."

"...I don't remember but it must have been pretty good... I..."

She started sobbing deeply, from the depths of her soul as she cursed their baby's fate and then realized the smell of death overcame everything else.

"Do you hurt, Bethany? I can tell them to give you some..."

A movement... "Excuse me, Commander Ewart?" It was Agnes, addressing him formally. How she found him, he had no clue. What she needed, he wanted no part of, but she was a welcome distraction for Bethany, whatever she desired. The two of them could talk about... whatever... Bethany probably would rather just have quiet.

"Yes, what?" A bit abrupt, he realized. The young woman didn't deserve his anger, especially now.

"I have a Jeep. They need... want us over at headquarters, sir. Now." She looked mortified, standing there, intruding on such a personal moment between them. She wanted to be anywhere but there.

Two of her friends were dead, caught out in the open when the bombs began falling. Death was one thing every person in the military took as a possibility, a way of life, but the death of a child, even an unborn child, seemed more personal, a cut to the very soul.

"I'm sorry, Mrs. Ewart, Bethany, I heard what happened and..."

"Go, Jimmy, I'll be all right here and if they let me go..." She groaned and closed her eyes. "I'll wait for you by that big tree over there. You have a responsibility to everyone, now, not just us."

He kissed her and gave one last look over his shoulder. As he limped out, a tear fell unseen down his cheek for the child he would never hold, never kiss but would always love.

"Commander Ewart?"

"Yes, sir. Reporting as requested."

Nimitz let that slide. He knew exactly what had happened to the man's wife. More importantly, he knew about the endless reports that Ewart's group had sent in describing the coming Japanese attack and possible targets by order of importance. First and foremost: Pearl Harbor.

"You and I have to talk, starting right now."

Still carrying his rifle in hand, the rifle that stayed with him wherever he went for the next three years, he sat down.

A week later, Nimitz was promoted to Admiral and became the newly chosen Commander in Chief of the Pacific Theatre.