Cherry Ames 05 Flight Nurse by Helen Wells Read Free Book Online Page A

get up there in the plane with three loaders. Put the broken back in a middle tier where I can reach him easily. Put the internal wounds case way up forward, where the riding is smoother. See if the back M Y S T E R Y O F M A R K G R A I N G E R
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    case needs a sedative. I have to check in the second ambulance load.”
    “Yes, ma’am!” Bunce disappeared into the plane.
    Cherry returned to the ambulances and the Flight Surgeon. The second ambulance load was gently being lifted out now. After consulting with the Flight Surgeon she hurried back again to the plane. Cherry climbed up into the big transport and stood in the doorway, where she could watch each wounded man as he was lifted in. The litter-bearers sweated and strained under their heavy loads of inert men. They were wonderfully skillful, gentle and patient.
    Cherry saw to it that the men were firmly taped in, each on his tier. They seemed to relax, now that they could lie still in one place. She said reassuring words, laid a broken arm in a more comfortable position, and gave a tense soldier an extra smile and pat on the arm.
    To see a smile come over these wounded men’s faces, as she bent over them, was her reward.
    In twelve minutes, all eighteen men were loaded and the five ambulances rolled off down the runway. Just before the plane’s bay doors were slammed shut, Major Thorne jumped aboard for a last-minute check of the wounded. The Flight Surgeon gave Cherry a few instructions about the spinal and chest cases, then left her in sole charge of the lives of the eighteen men.
    Now Cherry looked around for Captain Cooper. He was not in sight.

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    C H E R R Y A M E S , F L I G H T N U R S E
    She found him, not in the base operations hut but not very far away, wistfully poking around a bomber.
    “Captain Cooper!” Cherry said furiously. Her black eyes seemed to shoot sparks. “Here is our list of patients!”
    They hurried back together to the base operations hut. Wade gloomily reported the list of patients. He and Cherry synchronized their watches. All this went on in heavy silence.
    When they got outside, Cherry demanded:
    “Wade, what’s the matter? What’s bothering you?”
    “Playing nursemaid! Me!”
    “Wade Cooper, this job’s every bit as important as piloting a bomber!”
    “I know, I know. More important. That’s just it. I can handle a bomber. I know how to fight. But when I think of eighteen beat-up kids lyin’ back there, all helpless, all depending on me—I’m scared cold. Scared and nervous, I tell you.”
    “Silly, you shouldn’t—”
    “What altitudes do you want?”
    “Keep it as low as you can. We’ve got a bad chest wound aboard. If you have to go up over eight thousand, give me as much advance notice as you can. Look, you old worrier, there’s nothing to be scared of. This is easier than—”
    Wade bolted, calling, “Get all belts fastened. Let me know when you’re ready back there to take off.” M Y S T E R Y O F M A R K G R A I N G E R
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    “We’re ready now. Won’t you come back and tell the boys—”
    But Wade was gone. Cherry bit her lip in exasperation.
    She tried to reassure the wounded soldiers. Standing in the aisle, she said:
    “We have a fine, experienced pilot, fellows. And Sergeant Bunce and I are going to take good care of you. So you just relax and try to sleep.” The weakest men seemed not to have heard. The rest stared back at her solemnly.
    Their engines roared. She and Bunce made a final check to see that all the patients were secured. Then they sat down on bucket seats and strapped in. They felt the plane strain, then gently lift. Cherry clasped her hands anxiously. Now came the big test for her—for all of her crew.
    Bunce was anxious, too. He whispered to her:
    “I put water and coffee and fruit juice in the kitchen.
    There’s plenty of plasma, extra oxygen, and I laid out fresh dressings for that internal wounds case. Oh, yes, and I gave the spinal cord case a sedative. All