In the early months of 1943, there were rumors that some of the medical personnel would be shipping out to the Pacific and to Europe, even the nurses. They needed more medical officers for the hospital ships: surgeons, doctors, nurses, corpsmen. The numbers of wounded were growing. Lizzie and Alex wondered if they would be among the nurses sent abroad in the coming months. They were both willing to go, and even liked the idea. After nearly a year of working in the Presidio, their work had begun to seem almost routine, and they were hungry for new challenges to conquer.

Audrey was taking longer and longer to respond to Lizzie’s letters by then. The fight for her mother’s life was all-consuming, and she rarely had the time to sit down and write to anyone, even Lizzie. Each day was a life-and-death battle, and in November, Ellen finally lost the war. Ellen was unconscious for the final days of her life, and quietly slipped away as Audrey sat and watched her. Audrey was alone in the house, in the deathly silence, as she closed her mother’s eyes. Ellen had fought valiantly against her illness for a long time, and so had Audrey, and Ellen had earned her peace at last. Audrey kissed her cheek, and sat next to her for a long while, feeling her flesh cool rapidly. She realized as she looked at her mother that she was an orphan, alone in the world now. Both her parents, and her brother, were gone. She had no one. She wished that Lizzie could have been there with her. She felt excruciatingly alone. Audrey sent Lizzie a telegram in San Francisco telling Lizzie what had happened the day her mother died. Lizzie called her that night from the Presidio. Audrey had been crying when she answered.

“I’m so sorry, Aud,” she said, and they both cried. It wasn’t a surprise, but it was hard anyway. Caring for her mother had been her only life for two and a half years since she graduated from nursing school. The doctor had been amazed that Ellen had survived for as long as she had. It was mostly due to Audrey, and Ellen’s own determination not to abandon her daughter. But the Fates had conspired against them, and the major losses Ellen had suffered had weakened her even further. “What are you going to do now?” Lizzie asked her, worried about her best friend, although she and Alex had formed a bond too. Working together in wartime brought people closer quickly, not just romances but also friendships. Alex had become a good friend, as they shared their experiences day by day, working in the hospital and rooming together.