Long Way Home(55)

“Yeah, I know, I know. We fought for freedom. But where’s my freedom? I know what Jim meant when he said that Mitch O’Hara isn’t celebrating any victories. I suppose I should be grateful to be alive when he and so many others aren’t. But I’ll be a cripple for the rest of my life. I still feel pain in a foot that’s no longer there. What’s left of my leg is rubbed raw by that stupid contraption at the end of the day. There are so many things I’ll never be able to do again. At least when I’m on my motorcycle, I’m my own man, making my own choices. You should come on the road with me. We could see the country, have some laughs.”

“I can’t leave Buster here all alone. Donna hates him.”

“You’re a good dog, aren’t you, Tripod?” Joe said, scratching his huge ears. “Yeah, you’re a good dog.” Buster lapped up the attention like honey. Joe was quiet for a long moment before saying, “I don’t think I can visit Jim with you again. Not for a while, anyway.”

“I understand. You don’t have to go back.”

“It’s just that I hate VA hospitals. I was sitting where Jim is not very long ago, and I kinda walked out without telling anyone. I keep thinking they’re gonna grab me and make me stay.”

“You really don’t need to feel obligated to hang around here. I know you’re probably eager to get out on the road again.”

Joe looked up at me and gave a sheepish grin. “The thing is, I’m out of money. I think I bought drinks for everybody in the bar last night. I was wondering if I could stay and work here for a while. Just until I earn enough gas money to get back to Ohio. There should be some government checks waiting there for me. Do you think your pop or Donna would mind?”

I was pretty sure Donna wouldn’t mind. She would imagine that Joe was hanging around because of me and hoping that I would leave with him. I wasn’t in love with Joe Fiore. But he’d become a friend in the month that I’d known him, and I longed to help him heal his unseen wounds. I would miss him when he finally left.

“I don’t know what Pop will say,” I replied with a shrug. “You’ll have to ask him. But I hope you know how grateful I am for all your help this past month. I couldn’t have done it without you.”





14


Gisela





FEBRUARY 1942

I parted the blackout curtain an inch and gazed out the window of my dormitory, my longing for Sam and for my family a raw ache in my heart. The weather had turned bitterly cold, and with fuel shortages across the city, the other student nurses and I studied in the common room after supper where there was a small coal-burning fireplace. I would wrap myself in layers of donated sweaters and socks and drape a blanket around my shoulders as I pored over my notes, worried that my family was freezing in our tiny apartment. Nearly three months had passed since I’d left home and I had last seen my loved ones. At times, I became so homesick that I wanted to quit school and walk home. Now I reminded myself there were only a few more months until graduation.

The hospital loomed in the darkness across the street, its windows also shaded by blackout curtains that obscured every window. Smoke curled from the chimneys, and my gaze was drawn to a star shining brightly above the rooftop. Vati would know which one it was. He used to take Ruthie and me outside on warm summer nights in Berlin and we would look up at the stars together. “Make a wish on the brightest one,” he’d say, “and then watch the sky. If you see a falling star, your wish will come true.” My wish was for the war to end and for the Nazis to be defeated so we could all resume our lives, but that wish was too big. So instead, I wished that I could see Sam, just for a few minutes, just to feel his arms around me and know he was safe. I wished that he would tell me my family was safe and Vati was feeling better. I waited and watched the dark skies, but I didn’t see any falling stars.

I closed the curtain again and turned away from the window to finish my schoolwork. We no longer had a radio and couldn’t listen to music in the evenings or hear the latest news of the war. Radios had been banned by the Nazis since January.

The following afternoon, I was leaving the hospital after class and was about to cross the street to my dormitory when I heard someone calling my name. “Gisela! Gisela, over here.” It was Sam, calling to me from behind the bushes. I ran to him. I didn’t know how long he’d been waiting for me, but his bare hands felt like two blocks of ice as he held my face and kissed me. “Is there someplace we can go and talk?” he asked. “It’s freezing out here.” I couldn’t bring him inside the all-girl nursing school, but one of the other student nurses had told me of a place where she secretly met with her boyfriend. It was where the garbage was collected, so the door was kept unlocked. Sam and I circled around to the rear of the building and slipped inside. He was shivering, and his hands and lips were blue with cold. I held him close to offer some of my warmth, then took his hands in mine and breathed on them to warm them.

“How long have you been waiting for me?”

“I don’t know. But it’s been so long since I’ve seen you, I just had to come.”

“Tell me all the news, Sam. How are our families? How is Vati?”

“About the same. It’s hard for him to walk to the synagogue when the weather is so cold, so we pray at home when I’m there.”