Chapter 1

July 1944, France.

She clenched her blood encrusted hands to still the trembles, adrenalin surging through her veins and her heart pounding at an unbelievable pace as she stared out of the second floor window of the makeshift hospital. Outside, at the end of the street, two trucks stood side by side, a group of armed soldiers forming a barrier to seal off this section of the street. 

A floor below her, the moans of the injured, urgent footsteps and voices of doctors and nurses could be heard. She helped in whatever way she could; bringing the needed medical supplies to the doctors, pushing gurneys, cleaning the beds, comforting those who were breathing their last. 

She worked for hours on end, till her back ached and her feet blistered. Still, she soldiered on because there was a possibility that amongst those who were wheeled in, bloodied and battered was the woman she loved. 

Her love was somewhere out there, and the only thing she could do was wait and pray. Sometimes, it felt like this was all she had done for the past four years, yet despite the heartache, she wouldn’t trade the time they had for anything. 

She was a long way from home; hers was a world of penthouses, landscaped gardens, glitzy nights at exclusive clubs and champagnes on a Sunday afternoon. She left it all behind for love, eloping to Paris with promises of a lifetime of romance, only to have her heart broken not long after. 

Left stranded in a foreign country and too ashamed to go home, she scrapped by before finding work singing in a sleazy night club. That was where she met her, and in an instant, she knew stepping on that plane to Paris was the best decision she had ever made.

It brought her to Maggie Stone.

"Bianca," the familiar voice sounded behind her, jarring her from her thoughts.

She turned to find her good friend, Blair Warner standing at the door. Her face haggard and creased, dried blood forming dark patches on her nurse’s uniform. 

"Bianca…" Blair started, then ducked her head, chest rising and falling rapidly. 

Dread caught in her throat, she asked, "Blair, what is it?"

Her heart fell when Blair lifted her gaze to meet hers; shining with unshed tears under the lights.