Frankie, now steadier in the OR, assisted Dr. Jamie Callahan during a heavy influx of casualties as fighting intensified near the DMZ. When Jamie had to pivot to a new emergency, he ordered Frankie to close a young patient’s abdomen. Despite fear, Frankie sutured the fascia and skin precisely, earning Jamie’s praise and feeling a surge of pride at becoming the nurse she aspired to be.

Monsoon season arrived with savage rain, mud, cold, and wind that invaded the OR and worsened conditions. After a twelve-hour stretch and another death on the table, Frankie and Jamie acknowledged their shared exhaustion. Their relentless work and mutual support drew them closer emotionally; Frankie struggled against her growing love for Jamie, who admitted he dreamed of her but was still married to Sarah. After nearly yielding to their attraction outside the O Club, Frankie fled to shower and then returned to duty when more casualties arrived, handing Jamie a Twinkie before another push.

Amid these weeks, Frankie received a letter and care package from her mother, who described rising antiwar protests and allegations of U.S. bombing of civilian targets, widening the gulf between home and the warfront. Frankie began a reply but was interrupted by incoming helicopters, underscoring the unending cycle of work.

In late July, Barb Johnson organized a MEDCAP to St. Elizabeth’s Orphanage. Frankie deliberately sat in an open helicopter door, confronting and overcoming her fear of flying. At the orphanage, the team vaccinated children, treated common ailments, and handed out vitamins and candy. A Vietnamese nun led Frankie to a malnourished toddler with a facial burn and fever, a girl found in a ditch in her dead mother’s arms after her village was bombed. The nuns called her Mai, not knowing her real name.

Frankie provided baby aspirin, antibiotics, and ointment, coaxed Mai with a sucker, and ultimately cradled and hummed to her until the child slept, absorbing the child’s trauma and the broader tragedy of orphaned civilians. Jamie found Frankie and held her quietly as she cried, reassuring her that Mai would remember her kindness and could still grow up, words that steadied Frankie.

Back at base, an unusual lull brought beach volleyball, music, and snacks as the team ate together. Frankie shared Mai’s story with Barb and Ethel Flint, and the three confronted the grim realization that the bombed village was in South Vietnam and that only American forces were conducting such bombing, a truth absent from Stars and Stripes. The chapter closed with the jarring contrast between fleeting normalcy and the war’s mounting civilian devastation.