Mission of Mercy: Virtues and Valor Series, #6

By Hallee Bridgeman

Doctor BETTY GRIMES, miraculously survives the Nazi bombing of her hospital but suffers the loss of her fiancé in the raid. She goes to the countryside to grieve and recuperate and there meets the leader of the Virtues team who recruits the brilliant surgeon.
After months of training, Betty, code-named MERCY, now works in Occupied France as a nurse, where she garners information from patients and passes it to the Allies. Secretly, she tends to injured Resistance operatives, treating gunshots and other wounds that would otherwise draw the attention of the Third Reich.
When Betty is sent to the local prison to see to a prisoner who has taken ill, her shock at finding TEMPERANCE nearly blows her cover. Now Temperance is sick and Mercy needs to get her well enough for the coming rescue operation to succeed.
Can MERCY save TEMPERANCE in time for her rescue, or will her patient succumb to the disease brought on by the torture of the Gestapo?

MISSION OF MERCY is part six of eight serialized novellas entitled the Virtues and Valor series.

Seven valorous women — different nationalities, ethnicities, and social backgrounds — come together as a team called the Virtues.

In 1941 Great Britain a special war department assembles an experimental and exclusively female cohort of combat operatives. Four willing spies, a wireless radio operator, an ingenious code breaker, and a fearless pilot are each hand-picked, recruited, and trained to initiate a daring mission in Occupied France. As plans are laid to engineer the largest prison break of Allied POWs in history, the Nazis capture the Virtues' radio operator. It will take the cohesive teamwork of the rest of the women to save her life before Berlin breaks her and brings the force of the Third Reich to bear.

Some find love, some find vengeance, and some discover the kind of strength that lives in the human heart when all they can do is rely on each other and their shared belief. Courage, faith, and valor intersect but, in the end, one pays the ultimate price.

Continuing the Virtues and Valor series by Hallee Bridgeman. Eight serialized novellas, each inspired by real people and actual events, reveal the incredible story of amazing heroines facing the ultimate test of bravery.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Olivia Kimbrell Press
• Release date: Feb 17, 2015
• ISBN: 9781939603500

Hallee Bridgeman

Hallee Bridgeman is the USA Today bestselling author of several action-packed romantic suspense books and series. An Army brat turned Floridian, Hallee and her husband finally settled in central Kentucky, where they have raised their three children. When she's not writing, Hallee pursues her passion for cooking, coffee, campy action movies, and regular date nights with her husband. An accomplished speaker and active member of several writing organizations, Hallee can be found online at www.halleebridgeman.com.

Book preview

MISSION OF MERCY, A NOVELLA

Mission of Mercy, Virtues and Valor series part 6

Virtues and Valor Series, Part 6

a Novella by

Published by

Olivia Kimbrell Press™

COPYRIGHT NOTICE

Mission of Mercy, Virtues and Valor series part 6

First edition. Copyright © 2015 by Hallee Bridgeman. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means – electronic, mechanical, photocopying, or recording – without express written permission of the author. The only exception is brief quotations in printed or broadcasted critical articles and reviews. Your support and respect for the property of this author is appreciated.

This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, organizations, places, locales or to persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental and beyond the intent of either the author or publisher. The characters are productions of the author’s imagination and used fictitiously.

PUBLISHED BY: Olivia Kimbrell Press™*, P.O. Box 4393, Winchester, KY 40392-4393

The Olivia Kimbrell Press™ colophon and open book logo are trademarks of Olivia Kimbrell Press™.

*Olivia Kimbrell Press™ is a publisher offering true to life, meaningful fiction from a Christian worldview intended to uplift the heart and engage the mind.

Some scripture quotations courtesy of the King James Version of the Holy Bible.

Some scripture quotations courtesy of the New King James Version of the Holy Bible, Copyright © 1979, 1980, 1982 by Thomas-Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Original Cover Art and Graphics by Debi Warford (www.debiwarford.com)

Colorized derivative image of WWII nurse Marguerite V. Clodfelter from an original black and white photograph CIRCA 1944 used by permission of The Betty H. Carter Women Veterans Historical Project: PO Box 26170, Greensboro NC 27402-6170. All other images from the public domain and conform to fair use.

Library Cataloging Data

U. S. Library of Congress Control Number: 2014953682

Bridgeman, Hallee (Hallee A. Bridgeman) 1972-

Mission of Mercy, Virtues and Valor series part 6 / Hallee Bridgeman

100 p. 23cm x 15cm (9in x 6 in.)

Summary: MISSION OF MERCY is part six of seven serialized novellas entitled the Virtues and Valor series.

ISBN: 978-1-939603-50-0 (ebook)

1. Christian fiction 2. World War II 3. war stories 4. spies 5. historical fiction 6. espionage

PS3568.B7534 T500 2015

[Fic.] 813.6 (DDC 23)

Dedication

Dedication

For ALL THE NURSES…

THIS series is dedicated to the amazing women who have worked, planned, strategized, served, led, and fought alongside men throughout human history. This novella is specifically dedicated to women like Marthe Cohn and Marguerite V. Clodfelter. To learn more about their real stories, read the Inspired by Real Events section at the end of Betty’s story.

Oh, give thanks to the Lord, for He is good!

For His mercy endures forever.

Psalm 118:1 (NKJV)

***

Prologue

Prologue

MERCY-the virtue of forgiveness in the face of wrongdoing, forgiving treatment of one who could justifiably be treated harshly. Mercy differs from clemency and amnesty. Clemency and amnesty renounce punishment while taking no stance on hatred. Mercy renounces hatred while taking no stance on punishment.

***

London: October: 1940

THE harsh bright light beat down on the back of Betty Grimes’ head. She felt a trickle of sweat start at her temple and slide down her hairline, but she couldn’t free her hands to wipe it away.

Nurse, she ordered, and tilted her temple toward the nurse to her right. Behind her surgical mask, her strong Scottish brogue rolled the r in the word. If you’d be so kind.

Before she could contaminate the patient’s open abdomen on the table in front of her, the nurse quickly took a cotton cloth and dabbed at the beads of sweat on Betty’s brow. Betty ignored her. She kept her eyes and hands completely involved with her surgical tasks. She moved efficiently and expediently while she clamped, snipped, and lifted the organ from the patient.

Lovely work. Barely got it in time, didn’t we? Doctor Rudyard Barclay observed, examining the dark appendix Betty set onto the waiting tray.

Aye. Another hour and it would likely have ruptured, Betty agreed. That would have been a fine mess. She began the preparations to close the patient back up again.

So quietly that she nearly didn’t hear him, he said, Great catch, Bets. And fine work, besides. She smiled under her mask as much at the warmth and pride in his voice as his affectionate use of the pet name. She always felt a little giddy whenever her Rudy called her Bets.

She quietly answered, "Rudy, ya big sook."

Before he could speak again, sirens interrupted them. In a clear and loud voice, he demanded, How much longer?

"Five minutes, mebbe," Betty answered, stitching faster.

Jerry may not spare us five minutes, Barclay announced. He looked at the nurse directly across from him. Nurse Tatum, report to the bunker. Leave me two orderlies outside the room to help wheel our patient out after we close him up.

When the building shook from the shock of a nearby explosion, one of the nurses cried out. Betty looked up, halfway through stitching the incision. "Get yerself into the hallway. Tuck up under the stone archway clear of the windows. I’ll finish up!"

Doctor – Nurse Tatum exclaimed, her eyes wide over her mask, we can’t leave you.

You must, Barclay replied. Get to safety until the all clear. Your patients need you more than we do. Besides, we’ll be done in a jiffy.

The nurses left, all the while protesting leaving the two doctors. The door closed behind them and Betty spared Rudyard a glance.

What can I do? Barclay asked. Betty looked up and met his eyes again, feeling her pulse skitter with reaction to the intensity of his gaze. Telling him to leave would be useless, she knew. He wouldn’t leave her side during a bombing attack any more than she’d leave his. She didn’t have time to argue with him so she simply answered his question.

Secure his IV then unlock the wheels on the table. Stay sterile if you can manage. We’ll need to move him as soon as I finish the last stitch.

Doctor Barclay used the toe of his boot to unlock the wheels and unhooked the hanging glass bottle of saline and latex tubing with his left pinkie finger. Her nimble fingers moving as rapidly as possible, Betty finished the last of the sutures. Just as Barclay snipped the thread she held taut, and Betty proclaimed, Bob’s your uncle! the whole room shook and the power went out. In the pitch black darkness, the smell of cordite filled the room.

Betty felt fine debris falling from the ceiling to land on her bare arms. She realized she had instinctively leaned over her patient, trying to keep the dust and grit from coming in contact with the freshly stitched wound. Barclay had leaned over as well, but his hands had covered the back of her head, protecting her.

I’ve always admired your timing, Barclay observed before releasing her. Seconds later, the light of a small flashlight he’d had in his pocket filled the immediate area. "Let’s get him into the hall until the lads fix the lecky in here."

Without stopping to remove her black rubber gloves or her stained surgical clothes, Betty rushed to the foot of the table and let Barclay guide them out of the room.

Hand held lanterns and flashlights sporadically illuminated sections of the darkened hallway with an eerie dim light. Betty pulled her mask down off of her face and slipped the gloves off before she touched Nurse Tatum’s arm. Can you tell me where to get a blanket for this patient?

There’s fresh linens in the cupboard in recovery. I’ll get it, Doctor.

"Cease that haverin’. Stay here in the loaby where it’s safe. Just tell me where to go." Borrowing Barclay’s flashlight, Betty made her way back through the surgical area and into the recovery room, where she found clean sheets and blankets. Grabbing as many stacks as she could handle, she turned to head back into the hallway.

The explosion, the solid wall of heat, the deafening noise that rolled over her like a wave – it all slammed into her entire body at once, singeing her hair and eyelashes. It knocked her clear off her feet and flung her backward across the room in the space of a single heartbeat. Her last sensation was a painful ringing in her ears, a terrifying numbness in her back, and fear of the dark as the flashlight rolled away from her. Something warm clouded her vision moments before a coppery taste filled her mouth. Before she lost consciousness, she realized it

Reviews for Mission of Mercy

[jenniferrobb · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I liked the idea of women using their skills to help during wartime. Some of the women in this series even are near the fighting. This particular novella has a doctor who agrees to train as a nurse so that she has a legitimate cover to be in an area where the resistance might need her doctoring skills for their members.

I have to admit that I didn't think of many of the areas that the discussion questions at the end touched on while I was reading it. The discussion questions bring up ideas such as: are there times it is all right to allow the appearance of evil to continue?, are there times when deception is all right as long as there is a greater cause at stake?, are sincere rote prayers heard by God?

[becky_l-1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

NO Mercy with Cliff-Hangers...Mercy is a doctor who is heartbroken when German bombings kill her doctor-fiancé. She joins the Resistance Movement as a nurse, working on German officers and French public by day, spirited away to doctor Allied troops by night.Her biggest challenge is finding her teammate, Temperance, very near death. Mercy must attempt to doctor Temperance secretly and adequately through a third party, whose loyalties are divided.Again, I love the story, but the actual history lesson at the end is invaluable. Discussion questions will leave you pondering. Warning:Hallee Bridgeman shows no mercy with her end of episode cliff-hangers, so be smart and buy the whole series at once!!I received this book, Mission of Mercy,part 6 of the Virtues and Valor series,from the author in exchange for an honest review.