Across the Mersey - Annie Groves [134]
The grin he gave her told her that she had hit the right note. And Grace smiled at him as she took his temperature and then noted it down on the chart at the bottom of his bed.
It was normal, which was good, because hopefully that meant that his wound was infection free.
He was already closing his eyes and relaxing into sleep as she moved from his bed to the next one.
Its dark-haired occupant was lying with his face turned away from her, his shoulder bandaged.
‘I dare say you’ll be feeling a bit poorly,’ she began as she walked round the other side of the bed, but the automatic words she had now learned by heart remained unspoken when she recognised him.
‘Seb … Sebastion.’
His eyes had been closed but now they opened and he focused on her. When he had told her how important it was that she went ahead with her nurse’s training, Grace knew that neither of them had really imagined that those words would have such a real and personal meaning.
‘You …’ He was frowning now and Grace suspected he was having difficulty remembering her name. Any chagrin she might have felt was quickly set aside by her training and professionalism as she recognised that he was in pain and still very much under the influence of the anaesthetic.
‘Yes, it’s me, Grace Campion,’ she told him calmly. ‘You’ve had an operation to have some shrapnel removed from your shoulder, and I dare say you’re feeling a bit poorly right now. You may want …’ Just in time Grace thrust the bowl under his chin.
Unlike her first patient, Seb had a temperature a bit higher than it should have been. She made the appropriate note on his chart.
It had given her quite a turn at first to see him lying there. She’d certainly make sure she gave him the best nursing she could to thank him for what he had done for her.
She told Teddy about the coincidence of having Seb on her ward as they shared a cigarette together after she had come off duty.
‘I’m so glad that Luke is all right. Mum will be over the moon. He’s her favourite, although she’d never admit it. He told me that two of the men in front of him in the queue for the boats were killed when they were dive-bombed. Those poor boys, Teddy – from what I’ve heard they’ve been through so much. It’s a miracle we’ve got as many of them back as we did, but Luke said he reckoned there were a lot that didn’t make it.’
‘Aye,’ Teddy agreed, ‘and a lot that did make it that are in a bad way. We brought some back from Lime Street with injuries that bad you wonder if they’d have been better off if someone had finished them off,’ Teddy told her bluntly.
‘We’ve got two boys on our ward in a terrible state,’ Grace agreed. ‘Mr Leonard’s done his best but one poor boy has half his face missing and the other’s lost his mind. He still thinks he’s on the beach. It’s pitiful, Teddy.’
He put his arm around her shoulders and gave her a brief hug. ‘You’ve got to be strong for them, Grace, otherwise you won’t be able to do your job. They’ve done their bit for us, now we owe it to them to do ours.’
‘Luke said that the worst thing to bear was feeling ashamed because they’d had to retreat. He said they couldn’t believe it when they were on the train and they saw so many people at every station they passed through waving to them and cheering them on.’
‘That’s because it weren’t their fault … I’ve been down to the Odeon today and booked us tickets for that Gone With the Wind you said you wanted to see. I thought it might cheer you up a bit.’
Grace had almost forgotten about the film that had taken America by storm and which had now premiered in London.
‘Oh, Teddy, you are kind,’ she told him gratefully.
‘We could have a bit of summat to eat first, if you like, p’haps at Joe Lyons?’ Teddy suggested.
‘I’d like that,’ Grace agreed, stifling a small yawn.
It had been a long and very tiring day, and the relief of having Luke safely home on top of so much hard work had left her feeling drained.