“Neither did I, until I tried to talk her out of going back to Tokyo,” McCoy said. “You’re going to have to convince her there is good reason—that she would lose the baby—if she went back to Tokyo in a sleeper on the train.”
“Why does she want to go to Tokyo?” Commander Stenten asked.
“She says she’d rather be in her own bed, at home, than here.”
“Especially since you won’t be here?” Commander Stenten asked.
“Yes, ma’am,” McCoy said.
“Let me think—long and hard—about this. After I speak with Dr. Haverty,” Dr. Schermer said.
“Yes, sir. Thank you.”
“And how’s your leg?”
“I don’t think I’d want to do any squat jumps, sir,” McCoy said. “But I can maneuver, and I really have to get out of here and back to work.”
“Back to what you were doing when you were hit?” Commander Stenten asked.
“No, ma’am,” McCoy said, chuckling. “I don’t think I’m quite up to that yet. But I’m okay for limited duty.”
“Let me talk this over with Dr. Haverty,” Dr. Schermer said.
[TWO]
OFFICE OF THE HOSPITAL COMMANDER U.S. NAVAL HOSPITAL U.S. NAVY BASE, SASEBO SASEBO, JAPAN 0855 25 OCTOBER 1950
“I didn’t know about her sitting up all night on a train,” Dr. Haverty said. “That explains a good deal.”
“How is she?” Dr. Schermer asked.
“At the moment, she’s fine,” Haverty replied. “But the idea of her taking another train ride . . .”
“Even flat on her back in a sleeper?” Commander Stenten asked.
The question seemed argumentative. Nurses are not permitted to question the opinions of physicians, much less argue with them. But this was not an ordinary nurse, this was the Dragon Lady.
“Well, what if she had trouble on the way?” Dr. Haverty asked.
“Yeah,” Dr. Schermer agreed. “The husband wouldn’t be much help. If something happened . . . anything could start her off again.”
“She would need medical attention right then,” Dr. Haverty said.
“But nothing a nurse couldn’t handle, right?” the Dragon Lady asked. “Worst case, she starts—”
“You’re not suggesting we send a nurse with her, are you?” Dr. Schermer asked. “I couldn’t authorize anything like that.”
“In addition to the train ride,” the Dragon Lady said, “she got a hell of an emotional shock when she heard her friend had been killed. And when she got a good look at Major Pickering. You don’t think that had anything to do with the trouble she had?”
“Of course it did,” Dr. Haverty said.
“Then you would suggest her mental peace would be a factor in whether she can carry to term or not?”
“Obviously,” Dr. Haverty said.
“She’s a nice young woman, a very nice young woman,” the Dragon Lady said. “Tough, but not as tough as she thinks she is. Who is far from home and alone.”
“That’s true.”
“The prospect of being here alone terrifies her. She wants to be in her own home,” the Dragon Lady said. “I can understand that.”
“So can I,” Captain Schermer agreed. “But what if something happens at home? She’d be alone there, too.”
“They have three live-in servants. She speaks Japanese.”
“Three live-in servants?” Captain Schermer said. “In a major’s quarters?”
“How do you know that?” Dr. Haverty asked.
“I’ve talked to her. Yeah, three live-in servants. Maybe the CIA pays better than the Marine Corps. But she’s got three servants, and she doesn’t live in government quarters. They own a house in Denenchofu.”
“Which brings us back to the question of the trip to Tokyo. As much as I’d like to, I can’t authorize sending a nurse with her.”
“I’m up to my ears in use-it-or-lose-it leave,” the Dragon Lady said. “I herewith apply for up to thirty days’ ordinary leave.”
They both looked at her in surprise.
“I’ve got some friends at Tokyo General,” the Dragon Lady said. “I can explain the situation to them and make sure they lay on whatever might be needed if it’s needed.”
Dr. Schermer looked at Dr. Haverty, and said, “Bob, if she’s not in immediate danger of losing the baby . . .”
“She really would be better off in her own bedroom. If she had quarters here, I’d recommend her release and tell her to get in bed and stay there, and to call for help the moment . . . But she doesn’t have quarters here.”
“So the question, then, is how to get her to her quarters?”
Haverty nodded.
“Commander Stenten,” Captain Schermer said, “in connection with your Temporary Duty to confer with the nursing staff of the U.S. Army General Hospital, Tokyo, you are authorized up to thirty days’ ordinary leave.”
“Thank you, sir,” the Dragon Lady said.
[THREE]
ROOM 16, NEURO-PSYCHIATRIC WARD U.S. NAVAL HOSPITAL SAN