by Cathy Sharp
CHAPTER 40
‘I shall be very sorry to lose Kathy,’ Matron said when Bert told her what had happened that Monday. Back from her seaside holiday, she was brown and clear-eyed. ‘Are you sure it wouldn’t be better to place her in a home?’
‘Kathy would never agree to that,’ Bert said. ‘Mrs Saunders would hate to end up in a place like that, Matron.’
‘Yes, many people feel that way, but most have no alternative when it comes to it. Not many daughters will care for their mother forever – it is a big commitment, you know.’
‘Yes, I do know,’ Bert agreed and looked grim. ‘Kathy thinks she is expecting her first child and it may be too much for her in the end. If we needed to move her for a while, just until my wife is better able to cope, could we bring her here? Just for a month or so?’
‘Of course. I would keep her as long as I could to let Kathy get on her feet again.’ Matron smiled. ‘I applaud Kathy for what she is doing but I doubt she realises just what she has taken on – it is a good thing she has you, Bert.’
‘I’ll help her all I can and some of the neighbours have offered help with washing and cooking, things like that, but Mrs Saunders can be difficult and I don’t want Kathy worn down.’
‘It may well be that a home is the only answer in the end,’ Matron said. ‘Much as you will dislike doing it, it probably is for the best if things become too difficult and I will find out which is considered the best round here.’
Bert nodded. ‘Thank you, Matron. It has helped me to talk to you and I’ll keep an eye on things. Kathy wants to look after her mum for as long as she can but if I think it’s too much for her, at least I have a halfway house until I can persuade her that she has to let her mum go to a home.’
‘Yes, that is probably the best way to handle this.’ Matron shook her head. ‘I am so very sorry, Bert. Kathy was a good worker and I shall be sorry to lose her – but of course in a few months she would have left anyway to have your child. Congratulations on that and give Kathy my good wishes, please.’
‘Thank you, I will.’
Matron sighed after he’d left. She was finding it hard to get good staff for the kitchen these days. Ruby had been the first to leave and she still missed her and wondered how she was getting on – and now young Kathy. Oh, well, she would have to place an advert in Mr Forrest’s shop and hope for the best.
‘I thought we would have a collection for Kathy,’ Sister Rose said to Nurse Alice when they met at the top of the stairs. ‘Buy her some flowers and whatever else we can afford.’
‘Yes, that’s a good idea,’ Alice replied and smiled. ‘And how is Doctor Peter? I think we should have a collection for him as well.’
‘Dr Clark would not appreciate it,’ Rose said with a wry smile. ‘He doesn’t want any fuss, Alice. It’s kind of you to think of it but he would probably throw flowers from one end of the ward to the other, the mood he is in just now.’
Alice smiled and nodded. ‘Reached the aggressive stage, has he? Well, that shows he is recovering his strength at least. I suppose you have no news on the situation with his spine?’
‘At the moment the consultants are simply saying the spinal cord is still too swollen and sore to tell if there will be any recovery in his movement. It may take months or, with proper bed rest, it could suddenly start to recover, as I’m sure you’re aware.’
‘Well, miracles do happen,’ Alice said with a little shrug. ‘I shouldn’t expect too much, Sister Rose.’ She paused, then, ‘I’ll let you get on – I have to get home. My sister’s husband has a birthday party this evening and I promised I would go even though I expect it will be all his friends and I don’t much like them.’
Rose watched as the nurse hurried away. Alice was a bit of a gossip and not very reassuring when you needed it but she was a colleague and Rose couldn’t bring herself to be rude. However, she didn’t need to be told not to expect too much. She was trying to look on the bright side. Peter was recovering well in himself and the exercises he did with his upper body would make him able to lever himself in and out of bed with a pulley over the bed. It was better than having to be lifted everywhere but she knew that he would hate being reliant on others, even her.
His mood swung from loving and grateful to resentful and angry and she could never tell whether he would greet her with a smile or a scowl. Rose couldn’t wait until she could bring him home to Beattie’s and had already had a proper nursing bed installed and the pulley over it. She’d promised Beattie she would put everything right again when Peter was well and on his feet, but would he ever be?
Sometimes, Rose felt that she ought not to have taken over Beattie’s home the way she had. Beattie had her own life to lead and although Ted and the boys came regularly each Saturday and Sunday to tea and lunch, nothing more had been said about him courting Beattie.
Had she ruined her friend’s chances of a proper married life? Rose felt guilty that she might have done.
Beattie had visited Danny in his new home. It was a fairly modern house built by the council and it had a front room, a large kitchen and scullery, a bathroom and two large double bedrooms upstairs.
‘It’s a nice place,’ she told Rose. ‘There’s a modern gas cooker and a lovely stainless-steel sink.’
‘You sound as if you like it better than your own house?’
‘In a way I do,’ Beattie said. ‘I bought this so that I’d have rooms to let out but it’s old-fashioned and I could do with some of the things Ted has in his kitchen.’
‘If he was your husband and lived here, he could put those things in for you,’ Rose suggested but Beattie shook her head.
‘I think Ted and the boys are settled where they are, Rose. Danny says the oven is better for cake making than my range and …’ She shook her head. ‘It’s all right, Rose love. It’s better this way.’
Rose pondered over that remark. Beattie had given her word to help with caring for Peter but could she have married if she’d been free? Rose knew that she was going to have to ask her friend for the truth but she dreaded the answer, because she wasn’t sure she could manage alone. She would have to give up work and she didn’t truly wish to do that, though if it came to it, she would have no choice.
It was selfish of her to remain silent when the price was Beattie’s happiness and she knew, as she finished her shift at the infirmary that afternoon, that she was going to have to speak to Beattie about the problem.
‘That’s daft, Rose,’ Beattie said when Rose asked her if she’d given up her happiness for her sake. ‘You know how much you mean to me – and what sort of a person would I be if I let you down now?’
‘You would still be the person I love,’ Rose told her. ‘I shall be relying on your help, Beattie, and I’ve realised that might not be fair to you. So if Ted wants you to marry him, you should say yes. And I was thinking that perhaps you might let this place to me if you decided to live in his modern house – then I could get a retired nurse to come in when I worked.’
Beattie looked at her for a long moment. ‘You could probably afford it if Peter paid the rent and the expense of a nurse,’ she said, ‘but do you want a stranger looking after him – having the run of your home?’
‘You know I would rather have you, Beattie,’ Rose said truthfully. ‘But I don’t want you to lose your chance of happiness.’
‘That won’t happen,’ Beattie said and smiled. ‘Me and Ted – we have an understanding. He knows I can’t leave you and wed him for the moment, but it doesn’t stop us being comfortable together. He says it’s giving us time to get to know each other better and he’s right, Rose. I’m learning what a good bloke he is in all sorts of ways and he says I’m the woman for him and he’ll wait until the end of time …’ Beattie gave an earthy chuckle. ‘He says he’s waited all these years for the right woman so he can wait a bit longer!’
‘S-suppose Peter never recovers?’ Rose asked voicing the doubts that plagued her.
‘Do you think he’ll wan
t to be pampered for the rest of his life?’ Bettie asked. ‘Isn’t his temper these days because he can’t quite do what he wants yet?’
‘I always say you are the wisest lady I know,’ Rose said and smiled. ‘I also know that Peter will become almost independent if we give him time. He can already feed himself and he can have a wash with some help. He can swing himself out of bed with the aid of the pulley and into the chair …’
‘So, he won’t need too much help by the time he gets home,’ Beattie said. ‘We’ll need to help him with bathroom stuff and steps, but that’s about all, Rose.’
‘If I gave up work, I could manage,’ Rose said slowly.
‘But it’s your living and you shouldn’t do that yet – give it a few months and see if you want to marry him, Rose. If you do, then perhaps the two of you can manage with occasional help and then I could live with Ted and come in to cook and clean while you’re working a shift.’
‘Yes,’ Rose looked relieved, ‘that could work, Beattie. Are you sure you prefer Ted’s house to this? I love your home and I would buy it if I had the money.’
‘Then perhaps Peter will,’ Beattie suggested. ‘I’m in no hurry, Rose. Like I said, me and Ted have come to an arrangement, and we can wait to make it legal for a few months at least.’
‘Beattie!’ Rose looked at her, her eyes twinkling as she saw the naughty expression in Beattie’s face. ‘You haven’t?’
‘Well, I’m not one to tell tales,’ Beattie said, ‘but suffice it to say that he makes me happy in all departments!’
Rose giggled, her own problems vanishing like mist as she saw that Beattie truly was happy. ‘When did all this happen?’
‘About a week ago. The boys were playing football in the street and Ted showed me their room and then his own – and it just happened that we both felt in the mood for a kiss and cuddle …’
‘You’re a wicked woman, Beattie,’ Rose said and laughed. ‘I envy you and I’m glad you’ve found happiness at last.’
‘Oh, I’ve been happy since you came into my life, Rose – Ted just put the sugar icing on the cake.’
Rose went into a fit of giggles and Beattie hugged her. They kissed and looked at each other, feeling the love flow between them.
‘Do you know what I want now?’
Rose shook her head. ‘A baby?’
‘No, not a baby, at least not for me – but I’d like to see you with the kind of smile I had when the boys came in for their tea, Rose love. I want to see a gold band on your finger, a smile on your face – and then a baby in your arms.’
‘Oh Beattie …’ Rose said and her voice caught with emotion, ‘so do I …’
CHAPTER 41
‘Do you feel up to going home?’ the consultant asked Peter that morning when he made his rounds. ‘We consider you’re over the threat to your life now, Dr Clark, and there isn’t much more we can do for you here. If you were unprepared, we would see about getting you into a home for men like yourself, but as you have such a wonderful friend in Sister Rose, we believe you can be safely released into her care.
‘Need the bed, do you?’ Peter said gruffly to hide the sudden spurt of emotion. ‘Well, I suppose it can be arranged if she’s daft enough to take me on. So when can I go?’
‘We’re thinking tomorrow.’
‘Good, the sooner the better. You’ll be glad to see the back of me!’
The doctor smiled oddly. ‘My nurses tell me you haven’t been the best of patients, but I can’t say I blame you, old chap. Being stuck on your back for weeks on end isn’t much reward for what you did.’
‘Serves me right for thinking I was God,’ Peter said. ‘They told me not to be a bloody fool.’
‘So, red rag to a bull and you went ahead and did it.’ The consultant nodded, ‘You’ve made better progress than I expected at the start. Your last X-ray showed some improvement in the damage to your spine. I can’t promise anything, but if you continue to do as you’re asked and keep yourself fit you may recover partial movement of your legs. I doubt you’ll run a mile, but it is possible now that you might walk with the aid of crutches or some sort of support – but that is only if the improvements continue.’
‘Don’t tell Rose,’ Peter said. ‘I wouldn’t want to disappoint her if it doesn’t happen.’
‘What about you? Can you take the disappointment?’
‘I have no choice,’ Peter replied and frowned. ‘But … can I be a full husband to the woman I love? I have feelings towards her but as yet no reaction down there – will it happen? Or did I damage something vital?’
‘I imagine that side of things will improve as the feeling comes back in your legs,’ the consultant said seriously. ‘I understand you thought you felt something in your right foot when the nurse was exercising it for you the other day?’
‘My little toe started twitching on its own.’ Peter frowned. ‘That might mean nothing – or it could be the start.’
‘You’re a doctor. I can’t hide anything from you or give you false hope. You know the chances yourself. It may have been just a nerve reaction but it may be a sign of hope. If I were you, Dr Clark, I would pray very hard.’
Peter smiled wryly. ‘A wing and a prayer … well, it can’t hurt. Thank you.’ He held out his hand and received a firm shake in return. ‘You’ve been honest with me and you’ve done what you can – it is up to me now.’
‘And God …’
‘Yes,’ Peter murmured. ‘If he can be bothered with the likes of me.’
‘I should imagine you would be high on his list. Not many would do what you did.’
The consultant rang his bell and a nurse appeared and wheeled Peter back to his small private ward. He’d been given all the care and attention he could wish for and he knew that it was truly in God’s hands as well as his own. He had already achieved more than seemed possible at the start and his upper body strength helped him get from the chair to his bed with the aid of a pulley. He knew Rose had arranged something similar for him at home.
It was a long time since Peter had had a real home, not since he was a young boy, before his parents were killed in a terrible train accident and he’d gone to live with his paternal grandparents, who had been kind and loving but believed in children being seen and not heard. His maternal grandmother still lived locally and he’d visited her about once a month but she was frail and couldn’t help him. Grandfather Clark’s money had seen him through college before both he and his loving wife died of old age, only weeks apart, and the sale of the house and other money he’d been left had enabled him to live comfortably since then. He’d also been able to devote much of his time to helping the poor and the sick of London, something he felt worthwhile. If his grandparents hadn’t cared for him and taken him in, Peter might have been stuck in an orphanage and he was grateful for the chances he’d had; a further legacy from his great-aunt meant he had no need to work.
So Peter could buy a house of his own when he was ready and he could afford to keep a wife and pay for the care he needed – but could he ask Rose to marry him when he was like this physically?
He was no longer in doubt of her feelings for him and he cursed himself for wasting so much time – time they might have had together. Sometimes, he thought he was a fool for what he’d done but knew he would do the same again. Jessie had recovered and was back walking the streets. She’d been in to see him once, much to the alarm of the nurses who held their noses as she walked past. Peter had laughed, because he was well aware of her pungent smell but he liked her and knew he’d done a good thing.
He’d just thought he could get away with it despite all the warnings. ‘Letting me know I can’t walk on water the way you did?’ Peter murmured as he pictured a favourite scene from his grandfather’s collection of religious paintings. Grandfather Robert had been a really good man, always helping the poor and Peter knew he would approve if no one else did.
‘Talking to yourself again?’ One of the nurses smiled as she placed a tray of fru
it juice and some biscuits on his bedside table. ‘I understand we’re losing you tomorrow, sir.’
‘Glad to get rid of me?’ Peter responded with a grin.
‘Oh yes,’ she replied and laughed. ‘I have much nicer patients than you!’
Peter laughed out loud. ‘That’s the right answer,’ he said. ‘I shan’t miss being here – but you’re not bad, Nurse Paula. You must have been listening to Sister Rose.’
‘I have,’ she replied. ‘She told me you were grumpy and not to take any notice.’
Peter leaned back against the pillows and smiled. At least he wouldn’t get smothered with pity when he got home. That was one thing he just couldn’t take!
Rose smiled as she gave Matron the good news. ‘So I won’t come in tomorrow at all, because I’ll need to fetch him and get him settled.’
‘Of course, Sister Rose. And look, if you need a couple of days off you have some time owing to you …?’
‘Thank you, but tomorrow is enough. Peter needs a routine and if I stay home to fuss over him, it will make him feel uncomfortable. We’ll let him be as independent as he can manage. He will, of course, need a certain amount of help in the bathroom, but he manages quite well once he’s there, so the nurses at the London told me.’
‘Good,’ Matron nodded briskly. ‘And now I’d like to discuss what we’re sending Kathy. I thought some flowers for her mother and some chocolates for her.’
‘Yes, I think that’s a good idea. We collected three pounds so that should cover a really nice bouquet, some lovely chocolates, and perhaps something for the baby as well.’
‘My nurses are so generous.’ Matron smiled approvingly. ‘I shall let you get on with your work, Sister Rose. I have a meeting with Lady Rosalie in a few minutes.’
Rose watched as Matron walked away. She knew that Lady Rosalie was coming to collect one of the children. Little June had been found some foster parents and she would be taken to meet them this afternoon. If all went well, she would go to live with them in a few days.