«You ever fly one of these?» the pilot asked, indicating the DC-3.
«Some,» Weston said. «I'm rated—I
was
rated—in it, but most of my multi-engine time is in Catalinas.»
«You fly Catalinas?»
«Past tense,» Weston said. «I'm a fighter pilot.»
«I'm jealous,» the pilot confessed.
«The Corsair is one hell of an airplane,» Weston said.
The pilot looked at the window and picked up his microphone.
«Philadelphia, TWA 303 turning on final.»
«Three-oh-three, take taxiway twenty-seven right. The Navy ambulance will meet you at gate eleven.»
«Understand twenty-seven right, gate eleven,» the pilot said, and then turned his attention to see how well his copilot was going to handle the landing.
The ambulance was a civilian vehicle, a Packard painted white with us navy lettered on its doors, rather than the GI ambulance that he was used to, which was built on the frame of a Dodge three-quarter-ton truck, the sides and roof decorated with large red crosses. The medical crew consisted of two Corpsmen, in hospital whites, and a very well-assembled nurse in a crisp white uniform. She wore a stiffly starched white cap, perched precariously, and very attractively, atop her short blond hair. Her face was very serious. She looked to be in her very early twenties.
Because I am a Marine officer and a gentleman by act of Congress, with certain standards to maintain, I would not kick that out of bed.
The Corpsmen were equipped for any eventuality. They had a wheelchair, and also a chrome stretcher on wheels that sat on the ground beside the open rear door of the ambulance. As soon as the pilot had shut down the left engine, a curt ncd from the nurse directed the Corpsmen toward the airplane. She walked in front of them.
The pilot turned to Weston, putting out his hand.
«Good luck,» he said.
«Thank you,» Jim replied, «and thanks for letting me ride up front.»
«My pleasure,» the pilot said.
«Mine, too,» the copilot chimed in and offered his hand.
Weston rose from the jump seat and fastened it in the up position, then left the cockpit and started down the aisle. When he turned after taking his small canvas bag from the rack over his seat, he saw that the nurse was already in the plane.
She looked at him curiously as he walked down the aisle.
«And good afternoon to you, Lieutenant,» Jim said with a smile.
«Are you my patient?» she,asked, as if surprised that he could make it down the aisle by himself.
«I don't think so,» he said.
«I'm looking for a Marine captain named Weston,» she said.
«Then this is your lucky day,» Jim said. «And perhaps mine, too. Captain James B. Weston at your service, ma'am. I didn't catch the name?»
«If you'll come with me, please, Captain,» she said.
«That's a funny name for a pretty girl,» he said.
She colored, gave him a dirty look, then turned around and got off the airplane. He went down the stairs quickly after her.
The fatter of the two Corpsmen pushed the wheelchair toward him.
«Is someone ill?» Weston asked innocently.
«Please get in the chair, Captain,» the nurse said.
«Thank you ever so much, Lieutenant, but I don't need a wheelchair.»
«It's procedure,» she said. «Please get in the chair.»
«Something wrong with your hearing, Lieutenant? Is that ambulance our transportation?»
«If you'll please get in the back, Captain.»
He walked to the rear of the ambulance and looked inside.
«There're no seats in there,» he said reasonably. «Where am I supposed to sit? On the floor?»
«You're supposed to lie down on the stretcher,» she said.
«Again, thank you but no thank you,» he said. «I'll just ride in front, if that would be all right.»
«I would appreciate it if you wouldn't give me any trouble,» she said.
«Captain,» the fatter Corpsman said, «Sir, you've got to ride in the back.»
«Butt out!» Weston said coldly, tossed his small bag in the back of the ambulance, and then walked to the front and got in.
The nurse and the corpsmen had a discussion, following which the fatter Corpsman got behind the wheel and the nurse slipped in beside Weston.
«Perhaps there's been some sort of mix-up,» the nurse said. «The officer we were supposed to meet was just rescued from the Philippines.»
«Oddly enough, I was in the Philippines until a couple of months ago,» Weston said. «Until Christmas Eve, as a matter of fact.»
«You were hospitalized… in the Pacific… until now?»
«I haven't been hospitalized at all,» he said. «Do I look like I need hospitalization? In your professional judgment, I mean?»
«Let's go, Nevin,» she ordered.
«Yes, ma'am,» the chubby Corpsman started the engine.
«I suppose this really isn't any of my business, Lieutenant, but is there anyone in your life, in a romantic sense, at the moment? What I'm leading up to is wondering if you're free for dinner?»
«You're going to be in a hospital bed when I have my dinner,» she said. «But thank you just the same.»
«Well, we could have dinner there, I suppose,» Weston said reasonably. «I really hate to eat alone.»
«You understand that I'm going to have to report your conduct?» she said.
«I wouldn't have it any other way,» he said.
«Please sit in the wheelchair,» she said when they had pulled up to the Admissions entrance to one of the buildings in the hospital complex on South Broad Street.
«I thought we already had this discussion,» he said.
«You have to!»
«Where do I report in, Lieutenant?»
«Nevin,» she ordered, «go find a couple of psychiatric Corpsmen.»
«Yes, ma'am,» the chubby Corpsman said, and hurried into the building.
What are they going to do? Wrap the nutty escapee from the Philippines in a straitjacket and drag me inside to a padded cell?
The two muscular Corpsmen who appeared moments later—almost running—did not have a straitjacket with them.
They don't need one. I have seen smaller gorillas.
«Would you please escort this patient to Five-B, please?» the nurse said.
«Yes, ma'am,» one of them said. «You want to get in the wheelchair, please, Captain?»
«No,» Weston said evenly.
«Why not?»
«I don't need a wheelchair; I don't like wheelchairs.»
The Corpsman looked at him intently for a long moment. «Yes, sir. Will you come this way, please, Captain?»
«Certainly,» Weston said. He turned to the nurse. «The memory of our meeting, Lieutenant, will remain with me always.»
She ignored him. «I'll call Commander Kister and alert him that you're coming,» she said to the Corpsmen, and walked quickly into the building.
«What's Five-B?» Weston asked the larger gorilla. «Or is that a military secret?»
«It's preliminary evaluation, Captain,» the Corpsmen answered. «Nothing to worry about. They'll keep you there for a couple of days, and then you'll get transferred to one of the other wards for treatment.»