PRECARIOUS by Robert F. Clifton (ebook reader macos .TXT) 📖

once again realize that they were meant for each other.

Three weeks later at mail call, he heard his name called and he anxiously took the letter in his hand. He felt his heart beating in excitement than almost stop as he read the large letters on the face of the envelope, RETURN TO SENDER. That night the dreams began.

In the dream, they were together again. They were walking barefoot on the white, sandy beaches of Wildwood, New Jersey.

He held her hand as they talked. He declared his love for her over and over and he watched as she listened intently. He asked her to come back to him. Then, she turned her head towards him and said, “Maybe.” Just before he woke he felt her love for him return. Waking, he realized that it had only been a dream, only wishful thinking and the sadness and loneliness returned.

At midnight the next day, Robert sat on the edge of his hospital bed. He couldn’t sleep. Thoughts of Janet continued to occupy his mind. The only light in the hospital ward came from the lamp on the desk occupied by a Corpsman. He saw the Corpsman get up and stand at attention as the night duty nurse entered the room. The nurse spoke at length with the enlisted man then began to make her rounds, checking each patient who

lay sleeping. When she got to where Robert Sayer sat she stopped and asked, “Is everything alright?”

“Fine, I’m just having a problem getting to sleep tonight”, he answered

“Is it your leg?”, she asked.

“No,” he answered.

“Very well, but you should try to get some sleep. You need your rest.”

Two evenings later Robert wandered into the officers club.

A Hawaiian orchestra played, alternating between island tunes and the popular dance tunes of the day. With a slight limp he went to the bar, took a seat on a high back stool and ordered a whiskey sour. When the drink was placed before him he picked it up, took a sip returned the glass to the bar top then slowly turned in the stool and looked over the crowd. The dance floor was crowded. Most of the tables were occupied, for the most part by either married couples or officers with dates for the evening. He noticed one table where five people sat, two couples and one woman alone. He recognized her. It was the night nurse. Something drew him to her. “Was it the loneliness?”, he asked himself. As he tried to make up his mind if he should approach her he sat and studied her. He saw a small, petite brunet. Her hair was short but still kept in a feminine style. He hadn’t noticed it before due to the white cap she wore with the Lieutenant, J.G. gold stripe attached to it. He remembered the sound she made as she walked in the heavily starched, white, nurses uniform as she made her rounds in the ward. She was slightly tanned, more than likely from the beaches near the hospital. As he sat watching her he saw her smile, then laugh at something someone had said at the table. He noticed that when she smiled or laughed tiny dimples appeared in her cheeks and her nose slightly wrinkled. He made up his mind and gently slid off of the bar stool.

He made his way walking slowly and navigating cautiously between the arranged tables not wishing to bump into those who sat talking. As he walked he kept his eyes on her hoping that she remained seated until he got to her. Then he found himself next to her. He felt the eyes of her friends as they looked at him and he saw her face when she raised her face towards him. He cleared his throat and said, “Excuse me Lieutenant, but I was wondering if you would be interested in dancing with a gimpy sailor.

The woman smiled. “You’re Lieutenant Sayer as I recall.”

“At your service,” he replied.

“Why don’t you pull up a chair and join us?”, said one of the men at the table. Since Marie knows you she can make the introductions”.

“Thank you,” Sayer replied as he took a chair from an empty table. After the introductions were made the group at the table turned their attention to Robert.

“So, what’s your billet here in Hawaii?”, asked one of the men.

“Right now it’s to recuperate. After that, who knows?”, he answered.

“You mention recuperate were you wounded? ” asked one of the women.

“Unfortunately I got in the way of a North Korean shore battery shell. I got a piece of it in my leg.”

“Oh, I’m so sorry,” said the woman who had asked the question.

“Thank you, but there’s no need to be sorry. Three men were killed in the same attack. I consider myself to be lucky,” said Robert.

“So, I assume that since you are wounded you must be one of Marie’s patients,” said another woman.

“I guess so,” Sayer answered.

“He’s one of twenty patients in Ward Seventeen. All the patients are considered ambulatory. The last time I looked at his chart he was doing well,” said Marie.

“Well, since you know that I’m doing well then I must be able to dance. Will you dance with me?”, he asked.

“Yes,” she answered.

Robert and the other officers stood as Marie got up out of

her chair and Sayer walked with her to the dance floor. When the orchestra began to play he took her in his arms. The song was, “Because Of You”, and he had no problem keeping in time to the music. His leg felt fine. He looked down at her and said, “So, your first name is Marie. Are you going to tell me your last name?”, he asked.

“It’s Hensley. Marie Hensley,” she answered.

“So, shall I call you Lieutenant Hensley, Miss Hensley or Marie Hensley?”, he asked.

“Tonight you can call me Marie Hensley. In the hospital and in particular on the ward it has to be either Lieutenant or Miss.”

“I understand. So, tell me Marie are you in the Navy for a career or just for an exciting adventure in your life?”

“I like Navy life, but I won’t make it a career. Actually, my plans after the war are over is to go back to school for awhile and later become a Nurse practitioner.”

“Pardon my ignorance, but what is a nurse practitioner?”

“Someone who can diagnose, treat patients as well as write prescriptions, almost like a physician.”

“Ah, I see,” he said just as the music was ending.

Almost immediately the orchestra began to [play again. This time the tune was, “Would I Love You.” Before she could turn and walk away he gently took her in his arms again. “Now, you were saying?” he said.

“She smiled. “What else do you want to know?”, she asked.

“Let’s start with, where are you from?”

“Minnesota.”

“That’s a big place”.

“St. Paul.”

“Never been there.”

“That’s a shame. What about you. Where are your from?”

“New Jersey, Atlantic City, actually.

“Really I went to school with a girl who tried out for Miss Minnesota.”

“Was she in the Miss America Pageant?”

“No, she didn’t make it.”

“That’s too, a shame.”

“So, Lieutenant Sayer, what are your plans after the war?’

“Go home, take and pass the bar exam. Work in a law office then hook up with a reputable law firm and live happily ever after.

“I see. No plans for marriage. There has to be a girl waiting for you back home,” said Marie

“Nope. No girl sitting and anxiously waiting to see me walking up the drive. No one sitting night after night writing to me or reading my letters to herself over and over.”

“I notice a sad tone in your voice,” said Marie.

“Really? Then let’s turn the conversation back to you.’

“Alright if we must. What else do you want to know?”

“Can I see you again after tonight?”, he asked.

“I’ll be right upfront with you. At the moment there’s someone back home. He’s asked me to marry him. I haven’t given him an answer yet.”

“I see. Well now, that’s bad news. At the same time, you haven’t committed so while you’re trying to make up your mind I’ll ask you again. Can I see you again after tonight?”

“Yes.”

“Good do you have liberty this weekend?”

“Yes, I do.”

“How would you like to go to Waikiki? We could lunch at a hotel lay on the beach and swim in the ocean. Don’t answer right away. If that’s not what you would like to do just tell me what you want to do and we’ll do it.”

“Don’t think badly of me, but I’ve always wanted to rent one of those tourist cottages on the beach. Enjoy the sun and water, buy and cook groceries, eat at a table that isn’t painted Navy Gray and for just a little while escape uniforms, rules and regulations.”

“Are you willing to do that with me?’, he asked.

She looked up at him and smiled. “Yes”, she answered.

A young, attractive woman walked to the microphone on the stage. The orchestra began to play again. The name of the song was, “Time Out For Tears”. He took Marie in his arms again and as they danced he listened to the lyrics the young woman was signing’

 

“Time out for tears

because I’m thinking

of you.

Time out for tears, My

darling, now that we’re

through.

 

You know that I never

wanted our plan to end

and you know that I would

be willing to try again. Try again.

 

Time out for tears

my heart is yearning for you!

All through the years

here’s what I’ll do

 

I’m going to spend some time

and dance and dine, playing

with somebody new. But

there’ll be time out for tears

whenever I think of you.”

 

Robert felt the tears welling in his eyes and when they finished dancing Marie looked at him and said, is it your leg?”

“No, just too much cigarette smoke in the room, that’s all, “ he answered.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chapter Three

Playing House

 

A month later, Lieutenant, J.G. Robert Sayer was discharged from the Naval Hospital and assigned to the Master At Arms unit at the docks in Pearl Harbor. Marie Hensley continued to serve at the hospital and spent as much time as possible with Robert. Once a month, usually on payday they would pool their money, drive out of Pearl Harbor in a Mercury convertible Marie borrowed from another nurse and rent the same, small, thatched roof cottage for the weekend. There they walked around barefoot, attired in shorts and loose fitting pull over shirts. Two matching hammocks were strung up on the porch that faced the ocean. Hanging suspended, one in each hammock they either talked, read, or napped.

Robert had bought two pots and a frying pan at the PX and Marie used them to cook with. At night they sat on the porch in the dark, listening to the ocean waves gently breaking on the shore. At times they walked the moonlit beach hand in hand. Millions of stars shone down illuminating the strand.

Usually. after breakfast, they walked along the beach hand in hand talking or laughing as they dodged the incoming water from crashing waves. On other nights, sometimes, they made love. Marie referred to what they were doing as, “Playing House.” Robert thought that it was a cute way of putting it.

At times when she wasn’t watching he looked at her. He asked himself if he was in love with her. He didn’t really know. He had feelings for Marie, deep feelings. Yet, the love he had for Marie did not feel like the love he had had for Janet. And, still, the same dreams of Janet returning to him continued.

On a June weekend as they sat at the table having dinner Marie was very quiet. “Something wrong?” he asked.

“Yes. I just got word that my mother in rather sick. I have to fly home.” she said.

“When?”

“Almost immediately.”

“Well, what must be, must be.”

“There’s more.”

“Really, what?”

“I took thirty days leave.”

“Why?’

“ From what I’ve learned she’s going to need nursing. I want to be there.”

“Hey, don’t look so sad. Believe me, I understand.”

That night he held her tight, not wanting her to leave, yet knowing that she had to go.

*****************

During the rest of June Robert