Prologue

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Kathryn Montgomery splashed water on her face before opening her mirrored medicine cabinet. Her twenty-one-year-old self would not recognize the woman looking back at her right now. The fine lines. The deep lines. The extra skin under her chin that wiggled whenever she moved. Granted, twenty-one-year-old Kathryn Collins wouldn’t have been in a place to lallygag the way she was at the moment. No, she’d be bending over a helmet right about now, rinsing her face with rationed, boiled water after a torturous session of calisthenics. The Army had taught her more than she ever planned. Like how to stay alive...and how to say goodbye.

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She pulled out three prescription bottles and portioned herself the daily amount for her blood pressure, arthritis, and heart. Glaring at the pills, she wondered why she even bothered. Kathryn swallowed the pills in one gulp.

 

She walked over to her dressing table and sat down. The luster that had once filled her deep green eyes was now gone. Kathryn reached for her brush that was next to her bible and rosary. Brushing her fine gray hair served as a constant reminder that time had moved forward, leaving behind her once-flowing brown locks.

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Before leaving her bedroom, Kathryn checked the hospital corners on her bed, making sure they were tight and her bedding smooth, just as she had learned in training many years ago. She glanced at the time. Her granddaughter would have the coffee ready by now. Straightening her silver necklace, she made her way to the kitchen.

 

The walk to the kitchen was more of a stroll down memory lane. Pictures of what seemed like ghosts from a different lifetime watched her as she passed through the hall. She stopped to straighten a weathered wooden frame that had tilted a little to the left. It was from her time as a nurse stationed in Europe during World War II. The picture was of herself and her friends, Vivian, Lucy, and Margaret. They were standing in front of their barracks when they had first arrived at camp. It was one of the numerous pictures adorning the wall, serving as a constant reminder of a time when life had been extraordinary.

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Their living quarters had been drafty, damp, and more of a breeding ground for pneumonia than for living, but they had survived. Well, some of them. Kathryn peered a little closer. Innocence and ignorance peered back at her through the dusty glass. They were smiling...only because they had no idea what was ahead of them.