A loud bang echoed out then, the explosion so close she almost felt it rattle her teeth, followed by shouts. She walked quickly, following the crowd of orderlies, and saw one of the doctors, a fellow drawer of a short straw, lying in a pool of his own blood in the kitchen of all places, half of his head blown off by the gun he’d used to take his own life. And just like that, he’d sealed the fate of another doctor who’d thought he was about to be evacuated.

That was all she needed to see to tell her how bad it was going to be. To see a doctor in his prime kill himself rather than be left behind . . . She swallowed and looked away.

“Those of you leaving, go now with Captain Beaumont. I’m staying behind,” Doctor Connor muttered. “I’m not making another one of you pull a goddamn straw to take that man’s place. And Captain, I’m making the executive decision that no nurse will be left behind! I don’t give a damn about that particular order, and you can either have me arrested or accept my decision.”

Cate paused, heart pounding, as she looked between the two men. They were facing off like two roosters, both with a steely glint in their eyes, determined to win the fight.

“It’s fine, I’ll stay,” she finally said, when the captain refused to answer and Doctor Connor appeared to refuse to back down. “My patients need me, and I want to stay and help. I drew the short straw and I accept that.”

Doctor Connor looked at her, and she forced herself to look away before she started to cry. “You’re certain? Because I’m not going to make any woman stay. You can walk out that door with the rest of them and I won’t be calling you back.”

She breathed deeply, forcing herself to nod. If not her, then another orderly would have to stay behind, and she didn’t want special treatment for being a woman. Perhaps she was naïve, but she refused to believe they would be overrun with the enemy. “Yes sir, I’m certain.”

Cate walked numbly back to the large room where the patients were, ignoring the other nurses as they scurried around her and walking straight back toward Jack instead. Chaos erupted as injured men suddenly started to fill the room and the hallway, as shooting and more explosions echoed out much closer than she’d ever heard before, constant booms like fireworks in the sky. If it was this loud inside a building, she hated to think what it would have sounded like from a tent.

Soon, she would have so many casualties to deal with that it would at least take her mind off her predicament, but for now, she was still in shock.

“They’re coming for us, aren’t they?”