He picked up a near-empty pack of cigarettes off the coffee table, extracted one, lit it. She noticed a tattoo peeking out from the sleeve of his T-shirt, but she couldn’t tell what it was. “Thanks,” he said.

Chapter 37

Superior, Wisconsin
Wednesday, November 7, 1945

After meeting the day’s deadline and taking a little catnap at his desk, Harry drove the Gazette’s 1928 Ford truck through freezing rain out to St. Francis Hospital in Superior’s East End. Anne Wallace was waiting for him at the front desk, and greeted him with a smile when he came in. She was dressed in her crisp gray and white uniform with a Red Cross patch on the sleeve and a starched white cap. When he saw her, he felt his heart and breath quicken, but he just smiled, shook her lovely little hand.

For the next three hours, he shadowed her through the hospital’s four wards, listening while she read to patients, watching as she fluffed pillows, observing the way the patients’ eyes sparked when she stopped by their bedsides and they had a chance to tell her their latest news. While they moved between patients, she told him again the difference between the Gray Ladies and the Nurses’ Aides. “The Nurses’ Aides have more training, and they really step in for the nurses, since there’s been such a shortage on account of the war. We Gray Ladies mainly make sure the patients are comfortable, and try to help them pass the time.” She also spoke of the splendid work that the Superior Chapter Production Corps had done. “They’ve made more than a thousand items of clothing to be sent overseas, to European civilians and servicemen. I knit, too, in my spare time,” she confided. “I’ve made three OD green sweaters and two pullover vests to send overseas.”

Harry scribbled furiously in his notepad.

“Oh, dear,” she said, checking her watch as they entered the foyer. They’d just spent a good twenty minutes talking with a woman who was expecting her first child at any moment. “It’s seven. The end of my shift. I—hope you have enough information?”

Harry nodded, still writing as he walked. “Thanks, Miss Wallace. I have just a couple more questions for you. Maybe we could get a cup of coffee?” He looked up.

“All right,” she said. “We can go to Joe’s; it’s just a couple blocks away. Do you want me to ask Miss Ludczik if she can come, too?”

“That’s all right. I got enough chance to talk to her earlier. The story’ll be mostly about you, so naturally there are just a couple of details to fill in.”

“All right,” she said. “I’ll get my coat.” He watched as she walked into an adjoining office. Thinking of her green eyes, he scribbled a few more notes.