The hospital was the ideal place for privacy. The surgery rooms were rarely occupied, and Elinor didn’t worry about the other nurses on duty figuring out what was going on. Gwyneth and some of the other women knew something was developing between Elinor and Frederick, but they would have never reported the couple. There was a real sister hood between the black nurses, who relied on one another a great deal. Elinor also made sure there were plenty of other nurses on hand when she decided to disappear for an hour or so to be with Frederick. On slow days, when there wasn’t surgery scheduled, or if a doctor was on an extended lunch break, Elinor slipped away without hesitation.

Every time she met Frederick she was actively defying the military and Jim Crow, a rebellion that gave her delicious satisfaction. She had been told directly that black nurses were stationed at Camp Florence because the army was uncomfortable with fraternization between white nurses and the German POWs. She correctly concluded that the military didn’t think black nurses were desirable enough to be compromised in the same way. It was a stinging slight among a host of insults. The military made it clear time and time again that African American army nurses were dispensable. Elinor had finally had enough.

Acting on her feelings toward Frederick allowed her to assert some sense of authority over her life again. The army uniform and the restrictions that came with wearing one became much less important to Elinor. With every touch, Frederick helped to quell the feelings of rejection that she had internalized ever since she joined the U.S. Army Nurse Corps. He was her oasis, and she was willing to put her military career on the line to be with him.7

It began with passionate kisses and lingering embraces. If they passed each other in the hallways, they would touch briefly, a light brush on the hands or an accidental collision—anything to feel close to each other. Their coupling took on a symbolic rebellion that made the sexual tension all the more strong. Frederick had dreamed about touching every inch of Elinor from the moment he saw her in the dining room. And finally, after playful flirtations, gazes, and kisses that never lasted long enough, after thinking about her from the moment he got up in the morning until he went to bed at night, and after strategically planning his work schedule to see her as much as possible in the mess hall and in the hospital, Frederick made love to Elinor on an operating table in a surgery room at the Camp Florence hospital.8