Daniel stepped up, shaking his head. “Quá nguy hi?m.”
“Nig yem?” Marion asked.
“I don’t want them to send you that far north. I Corps is the divider between North and South. The Vietcong are strong there. The closer you get to the border, the worse things get.”
“Excuse me,” the man said, bowing to Daniel. “Is modern, up-to-date surgical hospital. You are safe with marines.”
“Marines?” He stood a little straighter, towering over the official. “Which battalion?”
“Number one is at I Corps.”
Marion stared at him. “That’s your battalion.”
Daniel grinned. “It sure is. This trip keeps getting better.”
“How do we get to this place, this I Corps?” she asked.
“In the morning we’ll fly to Hue, then a chopper will take us to Da Nang.” He laughed at her stricken expression. “Sorry. I neglected to say there’s a lot of flying in this journey.”
“You did.”
“Beats walking. Oh, I also forgot to tell you that Da Nang’s nickname is Rocket City, because they’re always under attack. Now you see why I didn’twant you stationed up there? But the First Battalion will be there. We’ll be all right.”
She stared at the map, trying to squeeze all her doubts into a box in her brain so she could lock it away. She was here now, so she was going to have to deal with whatever came at her. No one had said this would be fun. No one had promised it would be safe. No one had guaranteed anything at all.
“I can do this. I can handle a chopper,” she said to herself. She turned to Daniel. “Can I handle a chopper?”
“Marion, you busted out of your safe life, and you flew halfway around the world to a war zone. Honestly, I never expected you’d do any of it. If this was two weeks ago, I’d never take you up there. But it’s today. You are in Vietnam. This is a different world, and so far, you’re handling it great.” He gave her a smile that held her deep inside. “Yeah. You can handle it, Marion. I’ll be right beside you.”
thirty-sixSASSY
Mornings were not Sassy’s best time of day. And this morning, well, she felt sick even thinking of getting out of bed and going to work. She slammed her hand onto the alarm clock, shutting it off, then she groaned. With effort, she sat up, but the room spun. She had to wait for it to stop before she got up and staggered to her bathroom.
“Idiot,” she hissed at her reflection, grabbing her toothbrush.
Last night had been incredible, then devastating. Thinking the worst about Tom had almost broken her. God, she had blathered on like a crazy woman, snapping at him and working herself into a lather. All because Tom wanted to give her a gift.
“Idiot,” she mumbled again through toothpaste.
Davey had promised to bring the cheque to the Red Cross first thing in the morning, which was good. She wasn’t sure she could hand it over without feeling mortified at her behaviour. She’d left Chez Monique then trudged home, missing Marion. She could have used a boost from her friend. Instead, she had a shot of vodka. And another. It dulled the pain but didn’t take away her embarrassment.
Now she threw back a couple of aspirin, dressed, and headed to the office, her stomach curdling the whole way. When she entered, Tom glaredacross the room at her through eyes as dark as coal. She strode straight to his desk, chin lifted, and peered down her nose at him. Best to get this over with.
“Am I fired?” she demanded.
“No. Do you quit?”
“No.” She swallowed her pride in a big gulp. “I owe you an apology. I feel like garbage for what I said. Worse than garbage. I have no excuse, but—”
“There’s no excuse, no.”
She bristled. “I’m trying to apologize. Back off. It doesn’t come easy to me.”
He folded his arms.
“I was upset,” she blustered. “I didn’t know what I was saying. I—”
“Thought you said there was no excuse.”
