Page 108 of Strangers in Time

LATER, WHEN SHE HEARDthe door open, Molly rushed downstairs and saw Oliver walking in.

“I was worried about you,” she said tersely and with a trace of annoyance.

“Oh, I’m sorry, but I was out looking for Charlie, as I said.”

Molly’s frown vanished. “Oh, what an idiot I’ve been. Of course you were, I forgot.”

He waved a letter. “I did receive an answer from my friend at the War Office, though.”

“You did? What did he say?”

“I thought we could read it together.”

Molly looked quite frightened at the prospect.

Noting this, he said, “Are you all right?”

“What?” she said distractedly. “Yes, yes, I’m… fine. Um, but before we read the letter you, um, you must let me attend to your injuries. I brought supplies from the clinic.”

“But I’m not injured.”

“Mr. Oliver, I am a trained nurse auxiliary. Yet even if I weren’t it would be only too obvious.”

“But the letter?” he said, waving it enticingly.

“Will still be there when I am done.”

Molly cleaned, applied ointment to, and bandaged the wounds to Oliver’s arms and legs.

“I feel quite embarrassed having you do this, Molly,” he said.

“I do it for strangers every day.”

She then tested his calf and ankle, probing and fingering certain spots and eliciting grunts of pain and tensed features from the man.

She pulled out a splint and tape from her bag. “You have a mild sprain. This will help keep the joint immobile while it heals. But you should keep off it for a few days.”

“Molly, that is quite impossible. After the last bombing all air wardens have been ordered to work every night until further notice.”

“Well, do the best you can, then.”

“I have a stick I can use. And now, you have waited long enough.” He pulled out the letter and unfolded it.

She looked resignedly at the missive as she slowly put her medical supplies away.

He caught her expression and said, “Do you not want to hear what they have to say?”

“Of course I do.”

“But?” said Oliver.

“But up until this moment I had hopes that my father would come back. Yet I suppose it’s better to know than to remain ignorant.”

“Now that I think of it, I believe you should read this alone.”

“No, I will need your advice for additional steps. So let’s read it together.”

They sat side by side and went through the letter. Molly was a bit faster than Oliver and tears welled up in her eyes as she got to the end. As Oliver finished, he glanced at her in surprise.

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