12/16/41 The Mainland

Within a week many of the injured were placed on ships to be taken to the states. Ted Marks, Dean Stenger, and Mark Fuller were on one of those ships. They were assigned to Mercy for treatment. Carol was on an orthopedic floor, Ted and Dean were assigned there. Mark was on a medical floor, he had been running a fever since he was wounded. The day he arrived Carol came to his hospital room at the end of her shift. She was crying. He held her and finally she began to relate about her day. She asked if he remembered Ted and Dean, he replied that he did not, there were too many men on the hospital ship.

She finally choked out, “That could have been you, or worse, five of the other guys in that turret didn’t make it back. And three of the men on your plane, and if you’d have passed out five minutes sooner, none of the ones that did would have made it, including you.” She put her hand on her expanding belly, “Your baby and I need you. I want you to stay here with me not flying all over the Pacific being shot at.”

“I’ll be here for you.”

She started to cry again, “But I want you, I love you and no matter what happens, I’m going to be there. I can’t believe what happened today. Ted has no feet, they had to amputate between his knees and ankles and Dean lost his left leg above the knee. Hon, I need you.”

“I know that, but what brought that on?”

“Ted’s girlfriend came in this morning, she looked at him and left crying. I can’t believe that she didn’t care enough to hold him, love him and tell him everything will be fine, that she’ll be with him. He’s had a terrible day, he’s in a lot of pain and I think he’s thinking of suicide. To survive all of that to kill yourself over a snotty girl. It isn’t fair.”

He held her the remainder of the evening, she ordered dinner with him. Mark was still feverish and was generally not feeling well. Carol felt his left toes, they were warm, almost too warm, she thought.

The doctor was not happy with Mark’s fever the next day so they removed the cast. The wound was not healing well and an X-ray indicated the bone was not healing either. They replaced the cast and started some medication. By the following morning his leg was even more tender and his fever had gone up an additional half degree. The doctor ordered another x-ray. The diagnosis was an infection, osteomylitis or possibly both. By evening they scheduled him for surgery, they cleaned the wound and redressed it.

The next morning his fever was even higher and his foot was throbbing and red. They cut off the cast, there were angry red streaks near the wound. By noon he was back in an OR. When he returned to his room he was an Left Below the knee (LBK) amputee.

Carol was coming from her shift to be with him, she did not know of his surgery until she cam to his room that evening. She saw his stump pulled up in traction and ran to him. She hung to him and cried for a long time. He was sullen and in a lot of pain. Finally she dried her eyes and put her arm around him and kissed him. “I’ll be with you, no matter what.”

“But I’m…”

“You’re my husband. And I love you and I said till death do us part. And I still love you. I guess I found out today what Ted’s girlfriend is going through, maybe I spoke too soon. You know, she came back today and she’s being a real rock to him. She’s a night nurse in the hospital, I didn’t recognize her. She just had to get over the shock.” She held him till she had to leave.

The next evening he was somewhat better, his overall condition started to improve. By the end of the year he was home with her. He was learning to get by on crutches and as soon as his stump healed more he would be fitted with an artificial foot.