Off with the Old Love

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It was fish pie, turnips and instant mash; although she was hungry she only half filled her plate. Melville was fussy about his food and always took her somewhere where the cooking was superb.

There were half a dozen of her friends already sharing a table and she joined them, pecking at the wholesome food with such reluctance that Lucy asked her if she was sickening for something.

‘Just not hungry,’ said Rachel, who was. She filled her empty insides with tea and went back to the theatre. Norah had just come on duty and there was little to do. They planned a wholesale cleaning operation, leaving one theatre free for any emergency which might come in, decided that Mrs Crow, the part-time staff nurse on duty for the afternoon, could scrub for the three cases of tonsillectomy, and conned the next day’s list.

By then it was three o’clock; half an hour in which to make the best of herself. Rachel raced through a shower, brushed her hair until it shone, plaited it neatly into a bun again, and went to study the contents of her wardrobe.

It would have to be the suit again, but this time she would wear the pale pink blouse with it. She thrust her feet into high-heeled shoes, found gloves and handbag and, with an anxious eye on the clock, went down to the forecourt. She was a little late and she hadn’t yet learned to keep a man waiting; indeed, the reverse, growing up as she had with three brothers.

Melville was waiting and his greeting was everything a girl could wish for; she got into the car beside him feeling on top of the world, and she stayed that way for the rest of the afternoon and evening. He had never been so amusing nor so anxious that she should be enjoying herself. They had tea in Richmond and then drove on through Hampshire and into Wiltshire to stop in Marlborough and dine at the Castle and Ball, a pleasant and comfortable hotel, but not, thought Rachel fleetingly, Melville’s usual kind of place in which to eat. As though he had heard her unspoken thought, he said lightly, ‘I had thought of going to Marlow—the Compleat Angler—but this place is quiet and the food is good.’ His glance strayed over her person making her aware of the suit he had seen several times already.

‘I’m not dressed for anything four-star.’ She wasn’t apologising, only stating a fact. ‘This looks very nice.’

That was the only small fly in the ointment. They lingered over the surprisingly good dinner and it was after ten o’clock by the time they got into the car again. It would be midnight before she reached her room and she was on duty in the morning. Not that that mattered; she was so happy she didn’t give it a second thought.

Melville drove back to London very fast, not saying much. He was tired, she decided, and so said little herself. They were back before midnight and although he kissed her and declared that he had enjoyed every minute of it, he made no effort to delay her; indeed, he leaned across and opened her door with the remark that he would see her just as soon as he could, and drove away before she could do more than utter the most cursory of thanks.

The poor dear, she found herself reflecting as she went inside, he works too hard. Professor van Teule was crossing the entrance hall; Melville wasn’t the only one to work hard, but she didn’t dwell on that, she would have found it strange if the Professor hadn’t. Come to that, she worked hard herself, but she didn’t dwell on that; either. She was remembering the delights of the evening and turned a smiling face to him as their paths crossed. She wished him goodnight in a cheerful voice and he answered her with his usual courtesy, glancing with deceptive sleepiness at her happy face. The night porter wondered why he should look so thoughtful as he went out to his car.

Rachel didn’t see him the next day; Mr Jolly had a list and Mr Reeves had the second theatre in the afternoon. She went off duty at five o’clock after a routine day, changed and went to the local cinema with two of her friends. It was a tatty place but showed surprisingly good films, and strangely enough although the neighbourhood was prone to muggings and petty thieving, the staff of the hospital, even out of uniform, were treated with respect. They had coffee and sandwiches at Ned’s café, opposite the cinema, and went back to make tea and gossip over it until they decided to go to bed.

Norah had days off and Rachel, going on duty in the morning, remembered with a sigh that Mrs Pepys would be on duty from nine o’clock until three in the afternoon, which meant that the student nurses would be in a state of rebellion by teatime. She could hardly blame them; Mrs Pepys was tiresome at the best of times and not of much use, for the Professor had indicated months ago in the nicest possible way that he preferred not to have her scrub for him. There were three heavy cases and he would be doing them all, which meant that Mrs Pepys would be left with the afternoon dentals and laying up between cases, two tasks she felt too superior to undertake.

She would do them, of course; Rachel had a quiet authority which made itself felt upon occasion.

She checked the theatres, gave the student nurses their allotted places and went to scrub. She had laid up the trolleys for the first case when the Professor put his head round the door. His good morning was genial. ‘There’s a man downstairs I’ll have to patch up when he’s fit enough—can we add him to the list?’

She wondered what he would say if she said no; something soothing and courteous and the man would arrive in the theatre all the same.

‘Certainly, sir. Mrs Pepys will be on at nine o’clock and can take dentals this afternoon so it won’t matter if we run late.’

‘Norah not here?’

‘Days off.’

‘Time you had yours, isn’t it?’

‘When Norah gets back.’

He nodded and his head disappeared and presently, when they were ready for him, he came back with George and Billy beside him. His ‘Ready, Sister?’ was calmly impersonal and a moment later he was bending over his patient, absorbed in his work.

It was more than two hours before the patient was wheeled away.

‘Coffee?’ asked the Professor, straightening his great back, and, without waiting for an answer, he wandered out of the theatre.

Mrs Pepys was on duty by now. Rachel left her to lay up for the next case, sent two of the nurses to their coffee and repaired to her office. Dolly had carried in the coffee tray and the four men were crowded into the small room, waiting for her. She handed them their mugs, took the lid off the biscuit tin and put it on the table where everyone could reach it. They devoured biscuits as though they were famished and she made a mental note to supplement the meagre supply she was allowed from stores with a few packets of her own. They drank and munched in a pleasant atmosphere of camaraderie, and the talk was of the patient who had just gone to the recovery room and the next case. Dolly came to refill the coffee pot and Rachel slipped away to see what was going on in theatre. The student nurses were back from their coffee and she sent the third, junior nurse to the canteen and suggested that Mrs Pepys should go at the same time. ‘And when you get back will you get ready for dentals?’ suggested Rachel. ‘There’s an extra case coming up and we shall be late. Mr Reed’s got three patients—you’ll be ready well before three o’clock, so clear up as far as you can, will you? I’ll need all the nurses I’ve got as well as Sidney.’

Mrs Pepys gave her a cross look. ‘If you say so, Sister.’ She flounced away and Rachel turned back towards the theatre to find the Professor standing behind her. She had let out a gusty sigh and he asked, ‘Is she a trouble to you, Rachel? Shall I get her moved?’

She looked at him in surprise. ‘She’s annoying, sir, but she does her work—I’ve no good reason for her to be moved. It’s only her manner.’

‘She scares the little nurses, does she not?’

That surprised her, too; she hadn’t credited him with noticing that. ‘Yes, but I make sure they come to no harm. It’s nice of you to notice, though.’

He turned away. ‘Well, let me know if you need help at any time.’ And, over his shoulder as he went, ‘Are you going home for your days off?’

She felt herself blushing, which was silly. ‘I—I don’t know. It depends…’