Across the Mersey - Annie Groves [137]
‘Mitchell, go down and ask Dr Greenlow if he can spare a minute, will you?’ Sister was saying to the second-year nurse.
‘This looks a bit sore,’ she said to Seb. ‘I’m going to ask the houseman to let you have some morphine to ease the pain a bit.’
Within ten minutes Mitchell was injecting the morphine into Seb’s arm whilst the houseman frowned over his wound and instructed Sister to place a temporary dressing on it until Mr Leonard did his round.
‘Well spotted, Campion,’ Staff Nurse Reid complimented Grace as she followed her into the sluice. Grace desperately wanted to ask her if Seb would be all right but she knew that she couldn’t. Septicaemia from an infected wound was something they all dreaded. All they could do was keep the wound as clean as possible and give the patient M and B tablets. If with a wound like Seb’s the infection did spread, then that meant that the infected limb had to be amputated to save the patient’s life. Grace’s hands shook.
TWENTY
‘Aw, come on, old girl, you can spare a tenner for your hero brother, surely?’ Charlie wheedled.
‘Charlie, please stop asking me. I’ve already told you that I can’t. Besides, you’re making my head ache,’ Bella complained.
It was hot, and she felt so uncomfortable, what with being sick in the mornings.
She had been pleased at first when Charlie had come back from London to spend the remainder of his leave at home and had then taken to calling round to see her. She had persuaded him to take her to the Tennis Club, where they had sat in the bar and she had basked in the glory of having a hero brother, whilst the men who were not themselves in uniform clustered round Charlie, wanting to hear the story of how he had saved the life of a fellow soldier when he would have drowned and had dragged him on board the ship that had brought them home.
‘Well, I just hope they give you a medal for it, risking your own life like that,’ had been their mother’s reaction.
Bella was bored now, though, with hearing the tale of Charlie’s heroism, and cross about his constant requests for money.
‘I should have thought you’d have wanted to help me out, seeing how I helped you out when you wanted to marry Alan,’ Charlie told her pointedly.
‘Well, I have helped you out. I gave you ten pounds on Saturday and another five yesterday.’ Her head really was aching and her ankles were dreadfully puffy and swollen, although her tummy was still flat, probably because she was being sick so much.
She looked fretfully towards the back door, half wishing that Charlie would leave so that she could go upstairs and lie down.
‘Speaking of Alan, he doesn’t seem to be around much,’ said Charlie.
‘He’s very busy at work.’
‘Good-looking piece, that girl that’s billeted on you. In Alan’s shoes I reckon I’d have taken to coming home for my lunch just to get an eyeful of her,’ Charlie grinned.
‘Well, you aren’t in Alan’s shoes,’ Bella snapped, not wanting to be reminded of the fact that Alan had already had far more than an eyeful of another woman.
‘Where did you say she worked?’
‘I didn’t,’ Bella told him, wondering suspiciously if her brother really thought she was going to lend him money that he might spend on taking out a refugee.
No matter how much she had initially resented their presence in her home, the truth that she hardly dared to admit to herself was that she still felt safer having them there, especially with the temper Alan always seemed to be in. Not that she would ever admit as much to anyone, much less to them. Instead she had told herself that everything would be all right once she had had the baby and Alan had calmed down. He just needed a bit of time to get used to the fact that she was his wife, and that he was a husband and a father, that was all. With Trixie now out of reach with those relatives of hers up north, he would soon forget all about her and realise where his best interests lay.
‘You want to watch that temper of yours, Bella,’ Charlie warned her. He got up, putting his hands in his pockets and jingling his change. ‘I’m off to the Tennis