A Tale of Years — The Fallen
Chapter 3 — The Beginning of Years
The years go on ... memories, each one a string leading me back ... back to another place in time.
The war had been hard on Elice. She and James had been married less than a year when he’d shipped out aboard the Oklahoma, that day when the fleet had shifted from San Diego to Pearl. He’d promise he’d send for her ... but Japanese torpedoes had done for him and his proud ship that bright sunny December Sunday.
Everyone had told her ... “just move on ... it’s war ... you just have to move on”, but she couldn’t. She’d been filled with rage and vengeance ... a hatred so vile that it burned within her night and day. She’d ed the Nursing Corps ... treating wounded GI’s, as close to the front lines as she could ... sometimes even wounded Jap soldiers had managed to make their way to her.
To the GI’s she was an angel ... to the Japs ... they say vengeance belongs to the Lord, but Elice hadn’t seen it that way ... .
That’s when I had first found her ... beautiful on the outside ... a Betty Grable look to her that all of her adoring “boys” couldn’t resist. But none of them had the power to reach her inside, though there were many to whom she gave the chance. But even their adoration and the pleasure they could give her could not quell the dark fire growing inside.
It had taken time ... but I can still when the walls began to fall ... the lost helpless look in her eyes, holding the bedsheets up against her naked body ... not wanting to love ... desperately not wanting to care ... and then ... arching her back above me ... thrusting her beautiful breasts up towards heaven ... her legs spread for me ... leaking and gushing her love on me ... over and over and over again ... night after endless night ... .
Of all those from which I had parted ... leaving her was perhaps the most difficult. Her ability to love was so vast ... and once unlocked it glowed like the soul of an angel from heaven. Never had I yearned to stay with one more ... never had I been more moved. Never had I loved someone that loved me so greatly in return ... .
But the universe has rules ... or curses ... and that was one of them. One year ... no more ... .
I left her ... but never did her memory leave me ... even in the arms of another ... even in my greatest moments of bliss and love ... her image would sometimes reach me ... eternal ... everlasting.
So now I stand here watching ... her soul still as bright as I , if not more, but her body is frail ... fading oh so quickly. Her gorgeous silky black hair, nearly gone from the treatments ... what remains sparse and unkempt. She gurgles as the ventilator gives breath to her lungs ... her frail magnificent heart pumps blood to her body ... and her mind ... her thoughts lie quiescent ... locked within her ... never to be seen or touched by another again.
I look about at the hospital that bears her name ... and I think of her life ... the honors and awards as a military nurse ... her days in medical school ... becoming a doctor ... her endless love which had transformed so many ... given such joy to those she touched, and her unflagging devotion to the Asian community that she served until age and infirmity had robbed her of the ability to do so.
She had once told her love ... a woman she had plucked from certain death in the killing fields of Cambodia ... “We cannot change what is past ... we can only strive to make tomorrow a place worth living in.”
“And so you did Elice ... so you did,” I whisper as I check her monitors ... my nurse’s uniform casting a bit of light on her form.
I feel a new presence more than see her approach. “Greetings Hemah ... is it time?”
“Yes”, I can hear her faint whisper, “it is Chelsea”.
“She has much love ... she has done much good,” I say softly.
“She has also done great evil ... ,” responds the whisper. “It is not my place to judge”.
“Much like me ... " I say softly.
“Much like you ... ,” is the reply. “Why are you here, Chelsea?”
“To allow her to love ... she has much more to give,” I say, turning and seeing Hemah standing there ... feeling the sudden yearning in my heart ... feeling her love pierce me once more. “My work here is not yet done ... neither is hers.”
She comes into view ... her radiance filling me with joy indescribable ... . Gently she folds me in her arms ... her wings softly wrapping around me as they once did ... so long ago. “Are you sure?” she says in dulcet tones.
“Yes,” I whisper, burying my face into her for a brief second more ... one small moment of joy. “She is worth another century or more.”
“Very well,” she whispers as she fades from my arms ... and vanishes from my view. “I shall be waiting”.
I reach down and take Elice’s hand ... feeling the light from me ... watching her wrinkles fade ... her skin become soft and smooth ... her eyes clearing ... looking once more ... gently widening as she rises ... her bare feet touching the floor with shocked wonder.
“Chelsea?” she whispers, her silken hair flowing over her perfect bare shoulders. “Is this a dream?”
“No,” I say, gently pulling her to me ... “it is an opportunity ... and I am here to show you the way, my precious love.”
Lovingly I kiss her ... feeling her love flow into me as it once did so long ago ... feeling our tears mix on our cheeks ... .
She looks up at me, her young face filled with joyous confusion ... . She looks back at the bed ... and then at me. “I don’t understand ... I ... ”
She looks to the side ... biting her lip ... “I ... feel ... feel someone in pain, Chelsea ... I ... ”
I look at her and smile. “I know ... and you will help her ... just as I once helped you ... and my love ... I shall be with you to show you how ... for a year ... a year that we shall make the most of, Emily ... a year to live in joy ... together ... . ”
I see her eyes brighten ... feel the joy in her touch ... the tears in her eyes ... and I know ...
When next Hemah returns for her ... she will be ready ... . What is another century or even millennia in comparison with that?
I take her hand ... it is time to begin.