The Scalpel And The Sword — Richard O'Neill

The Scalpel and the SwordThe Scalpel and the Sword is a World War II novel replete with romance, medicine and action. It will appeal to women and men.It is set in San Francisco—a place where couples met and were separated by the war—and in the were fought with the Japanese Empire.Keiko Sakai, a despondent Japanese-American whose parents had been interned, attempts suicide and is rescued from the city morgue by Doctor Tom Byron following a wild ambulance ride across town. Pacific, where bloody battles At County Hospital, Tom is enamored with Keiko's nurse, Kathy Keating, who is scheduled to go to sea in the Navy. They have a hurry-up wartime courtship and marry.Tom's roommate at County Hospital, Doctor George McGuire, treats a little boy with polio and is smitten by the child's young, war-widowed mother, Irene English. But she is unapproachable; her heart belongs to her paralyzed son.Nurse Kathy doesn't want Keiko to return to her lonely apartment, so she invites Keiko to move in with her and Doctor Ellen Walker. Keiko accepts and returns to her translator's job at Naval Headquarters where she meets Ensign Bill Dial. They date, but she's afraid to get serious; he's Caucasian and has a roving eye.Keiko fixes up Bill's friend, Ensign Bernie Greenwald, with Doctor Ellen--a surgical resident who saved a war refugee child's leg from amputation. They hit it off and date, but Ellen's father is unhappy that his daughter is dating a Jew.Tom, Bill and Bernie are sent to sea on an amphibious transport, which first comes under attack in Leyte Gulf and is later hit by a Kamikaze at Okinawa. Bill is badly burned, treated by Doctor Tom and flown to the Navy Hospital in Oakland, where he is reluctant to be seen by Keiko.George's picket ship is sunk off Japan. He treats the survivors and is sent back to San Francisco to pick up a new ship. A reclusive Irene won't see him.Nurse Kathy's hospital ship, the Comfort, is also hit by a Kamikaze, but she is not injured.The war ends with the dropping of the atom bombs.The couples reunite and exchange stories at Bernie and Ellen's Jewish wedding in San Francisco. Tom practices medicine in Mendocino with his pregnant wife, Kathy, working as his nurse.A badly burned Bill appears at the wedding and lets Keiko know he is serious about their relationship. They become engaged.And widowed Irene finally decides that there is enough room in her heart for both her crippled son and George.