Frankie woke disoriented and sick in her sweltering hooch, ashamed of her behavior at the O Club and unnerved by a rat on the floor. After forcing down coffee and food, she vomited and reported late to Major Wendy Goldstein, who reprimanded her but immediately sent her to the emergency room as helicopters brought in casualties from a mass-casualty event.

At the helipad, Dust Off medevacs cycled constantly as medics offloaded the wounded. In the ER Quonset hut, Frankie confronted horrific injuries—severed limbs, burns, and chest wounds—while Ethel Flint commanded triage with authority. Overwhelmed, Frankie initially gagged and froze until Ethel redirected her to basic, vital tasks and explained triage: saving those with the best chance first and moving the likely to die behind a screen as “expectants.”

Ethel assigned Frankie to comfort a grievously wounded young soldier, Private Fournette, categorized expectant with a massive abdominal wound. Frankie held his hand, reassured him about his friend “Stevo,” and listened to his final words and regrets until he died. For nine hours Frankie cut away clothing, assisted as she could, and absorbed the relentless screams and urgency, ending the shift exhausted and ashamed of her perceived ineptitude.

Afterward, Ethel found Frankie, normalized the shock of a first MASCAL, and led her through the dim base. On the beach, Ethel warned her about safety, shared why she had joined the Army and stayed after losing her love, George, and encouraged Frankie to see her own strength and potential to find purpose. Ethel advised caution with alcohol and offered solidarity, framing the nurses as friends regardless of background.

Back in the hooch, Ethel’s candid talk continued: she noted Barb Johnson’s burden as a Black woman and her excellence as a surgical nurse, and reassured Frankie that missteps were common but the team “had” her. Frankie showered but lay awake, haunted by images from the ER, and eventually ventured to the latrines in the night.

Outside, Frankie encountered surgeon Jamie Callahan, who was shaken and admitted his hand trembled after failing to save a high school friend who had begged, “Save me, JC.” Frankie related her brother Finley’s death and told Jamie that being present at a death matters to families. He walked her back to the hooch, thanked her for simply being there, and left with a fleeting, fragile smile.