Angel of Mercy by Jackie McCallister

run. Chelsea realized that, while lost in her thoughts and trying to hide her thoughts from her face, she had lost track of the thread of the conversation. I need to catch up , she thought.
    “It’s just something that the rest of the senior staff and I have been noticing a little bit. There isn’t anything specific that we can put our finger on, though.”
    Lieutenant McKay stopped speaking and looked at Chelsea, obviously awaiting a reply. Damn. What did I miss? Chelsea thought. She decided to wing it and hope that Lieutenant McKay didn’t realize that Chelsea had been mulling over how nice it would be to run the senior nurse over with a Humvee.
    “I would be glad to help figure this out, Lieutenant McKay. Is there something that you would like me to do specifically I mean, to answer the questions that you and the doctors have?”
    There. That sounded helpful and concerned, but vague. You’re good, Bannister, Chelsea congratulated herself.
    Lieutenant McKay looked at Chelsea and answered her dryly. “Why yes Pfc. Bannister. Why don’t you take a little time out to talk to Private Shafer and inquire as to her welfare? Just as I suggested less than a minute ago.”
    Chelsea could feel the flush as her face reddened. “Yes, Lieutenant McKay. I’ll do that.”
    “Thank you, Bannister. Not a great poker player, are you?” Lieutenant McKay said as she opened the door to go back into the unit. The Lieutenant waited until the door had closed to smile.
    Over the next several days, Chelsea tried to get closer to Private Wendy Shafer. At first the younger nurse seemed reticent to share much about her personal life beyond the fact that she was a native of Racine, Wisconsin and that her Dad had served in the Da Nang Province during the Vietnamese conflict. Chelsea kept at it, though, and eventually learned that Private Shafer was hiding something. She suffered from acute panic attacks, and she was afraid that she was going to be discharged other than honorably if she couldn’t do her job.
    That would make her father ashamed, she was sure. The fainting spell that she displayed in the surgery area had been more or less a ruse. She had been frozen in place by a panic attack and had fallen to the floor rather than admit to it. The pale complexion that Lieutenant McKay had noticed came with the territory for Wendy.
    “I started getting severe panic attacks in the last three years. I had never had them before. I ended up going to the emergency room several times and was put on Zoloft by my doctor. I had them one after the other last year, but they went away for months and months when I was first on the medication. I figured I would never get them again and decided to join up. That was a big mistake! Now they have come back with a vengeance .
    “I also had an EKG done showing numerous PVCs – it just means my heart stops for a second or two. It’s not that dangerous, but no fun either, because every time they happen I feel as if I'm going to die.”
    Chelsea’s heart went out to Wendy. She had assumed that the young nurse was just one of those kinds of people who didn’t like to talk very much. Now she could see that Wendy was not anti-social. She was scared.
    Chelsea walked over to Wendy and sat down next to her on the bed inside Wendy’s CHU. Wendy’s roommate was on a tour in surgery and wouldn’t be back for a while. That’s probably why Wendy opened up now, Chelsea thought. She’s hiding this from everyone. She’s even hiding it from her roommate. “Are you still on the Zoloft?” Chelsea asked.
    “No, I’m not on anything. The Army is really strict about any kind of drugs. Even prescriptions. So I’m trying to get by without. I don’t know how long I’m going to be able to, though! I can feel myself cracking from the inside out!”
    Wendy’s leaky eyes gave way to full-on desperate sobs. Chelsea rubbed her back and her neck but nothing that she could do seemed to help the wailing young lady beside her.