The Nightingale Christmas Show

by Donna Douglas

  Finally, the anticipation got too much for Daisy.

  ‘Was that Tom I saw you talking to this morning?’ she said, as casually as she could manage as they changed a bed together.

  ‘Oh yes.’ Rose sounded vague.

  ‘What did he want to speak to you about?’

  ‘Nothing.’

  Daisy looked at her friend across the bed. Rose’s expression was evasive as she smoothed down the drawsheet.

  ‘I hope you put in a good word for me?’ she teased.

  Rose hesitated, then said, ‘Actually, we were talking about Laurence.’

  Daisy looked up at her sharply. ‘What about him?’

  ‘Tom was telling me his brother was in the RAF. He was killed during the Battle of Britain.’ She straightened up and reached for the top sheet which was draped between two chairs at the end of the bed. ‘He offered to go with me to Laurence’s grave,’ she said quietly.

  Daisy was surprised. Rose had never visited the place where her fiancé was buried; she always said it was too painful for her. ‘And will you go?’

  Rose paused for a moment. ‘I told him I’d think about it. But yes, I think it might be the right time.’

  Daisy felt a stab of jealousy. ‘What changed your mind?’

  ‘It was something Tom said. He didn’t think he would ever be able to bring himself to visit his brother’s grave either, but when he did finally go he said it actually made him feel a lot better.’

  ‘Well, I must say I’m surprised,’ Daisy said. ‘Whenever I’ve offered to go with you, you’ve always refused.’

  ‘This is different,’ Rose said. ‘I think it might help to have Tom there, as he knows what I’m going through.’

  ‘And I wouldn’t?’

  Rose sighed irritably. ‘I told you, I’m only thinking about it,’ she said. ‘I haven’t made up my mind yet.’

  But in the end, Rose decided she would go with Tom. Daisy tried to hint that she could join them, but Rose refused.

  ‘This is going to be difficult enough for me, without you there trying to flirt with Tom,’ she said.

  ‘As if I would!’ Daisy said crossly. ‘I’m not that insensitive.’

  Besides, it wasn’t about her flirting with Tom. She was more worried about what he and Rose might get up to without her there to keep an eye on them.

  All day, she seethed with jealousy. She tried to keep her mind on her work, but she was haunted by visions of them at Laurence’s graveside. Rose would be upset and vulnerable, and Tom would draw her into his manly embrace to comfort her. Then Rose would look up at him, her eyes shimmering with tears, and before they knew it they would be consumed with passion …

  ‘Nurse, are you going to gawp out of that window all day?’ Sister Wren’s snapping voice startled her out of her reverie. ‘The patient in bed eleven needs shaving and an enema. And then when you’ve finished that you can start on the tea round.’

  Rose and Tom still hadn’t returned by the time the students gathered for their evening meal in the dining room. As Daisy’s luck would have it, she found herself eating at the same end of the table as Betty Philips.

  ‘Is Trent not back yet?’ she took great delight in asking. ‘Goodness, they’ve been gone hours, haven’t they? They must be having a good time.’

  ‘Hardly, since they’re visiting her fiance’s grave!’ Daisy snapped back.

  ‘I suppose you’re right,’ Betty said, then added, ‘but then again, I daresay emotions will be running high. And you know what happens then, don’t you?’

  Of course Daisy knew. She had been picturing the same scene all day.

  Betty’s lips drew back in a smile, exposing her horsey teeth. ‘Look at you, you’re lost without your terrible twin!’ Then she added nastily, ‘Still, I daresay you’ll have to get used to spending more time on your own, the way things are going.’

  Rose finally returned just before lights out. Daisy watched her approaching up the drive towards the nurses’ home and rushed to get out her books, so her friend wouldn’t guess she had been standing at the window for most of the evening.

  Rose walked in, brushing the snow from her hair. She looked pretty, Daisy thought. The cold had brought a glow to her cheeks, and her eyes had a sparkle about them that Daisy hadn’t seen for a long time.

  Rose smiled when she saw the books laid out on Daisy’s bed.

  ‘Hard at work? That’s not like you!’ she joked.

  ‘You’re not the only one who studies, you know!’ Daisy snapped back. She closed the book without even looking at it. ‘Where have you been, anyway? Surely you haven’t been at the cemetery all this time?’

  Rose shook her head. ‘We missed the last bus and had to walk all the way back to Bethnal Green.’ She shivered. ‘I’m so c-cold. I do wish the Home Sister would let us have a fire in this room.’ She looked gloomily at the empty grate.

  ‘I was worried about you,’ Daisy said.

  ‘That’s so sweet of you, but there was really no need. Tom took good care of me.’

  I’ll bet he did, Daisy thought furiously. Another image of Tom with his arm protectively around Rose’s shoulders came into her mind, and she batted it away furiously.

  ‘How did it go?’ she asked.

  Rose’s face grew sombre. ‘It was hard,’ she murmured. ‘When we first walked up there and I saw the stone with Laurence’s name on it …’ She closed her eyes briefly. ‘But I’m glad I did it. And having Tom there definitely helped.’

  Daisy tasted bitter jealousy in the back of her throat. ‘Well, I’m very happy for you,’ she managed to choke out.

  As she settled down to sleep, Daisy felt horribly mean. Her friend had been through a hard day, and she should be pleased that she had had someone there to help her.

  She went to sleep vowing to be kinder, and not to allow that wretch Betty Philips to get into her head and make her see things that were not there.

  Daisy was late getting to the next rehearsal, thanks to Sister Wren’s ever darkening mood. She had decided that Daisy had not made a good enough job of cleaning the kitchen, and had to do it all again.

  She knew better than to protest. Sister was in such a temper that one wrong word from Daisy would have meant she’d be scrubbing the whole ward from top to bottom.

  ‘I’ll stay and help you, if you like?’ Rose offered. ‘Sister’s off to the rehearsal herself soon, so she’ll never know.’

  Daisy was sorely tempted to take her up on her offer and hand her a scrubbing brush, but instead she smiled bravely and said, ‘No, you go. I won’t take long.’ The kitchen was spotless, anyway; Sister Wren had only ordered her to do it because she was feeling vindictive.

  ‘We’ll wait for you,’ Rose promised.

  Daisy watched her go. There might have been a time when Rose would have insisted on helping her, but now she looked as if she couldn’t wait to get out of the door.

  Sister Wren went off to rehearsals shortly afterwards, and Daisy hoped the staff nurse would take pity on her and let her go. But Staff Nurse Giles was just as strict as Miss Trott, and insisted that she cleaned every inch. Then she took an agonisingly long time to check her work. Daisy waited tensely, her hands balling into fists inside the folds of her apron as the staff nurse carefully ran her finger along the tops of the cupboards and inspected the crack where the floor met the skirting board.

  Finally, she pronounced herself satisfied, and told Daisy she could leave. She hurried down to the dining hall, out of breath and desperately trying to straighten her cap and make herself presentable. But as she approached, she saw everyone coming out of the dining room, looking most disgruntled.

  ‘What happened?’ she asked June Phipps, one of the girls from her set.

  ‘There was another row,’ June said. ‘Miss Davis tore a strip off Miss Tanner, and we’ve all walked out in protest.’

  ‘Where’s Rose?’ Daisy looked around the throng of people.

  ‘I don’t know. She went off with Dr Armstrong, but I don�
��t know where they went.’

  Daisy finally found Rose and Tom in the courtyard. They were sitting together on the bench, studying a piece of paper, oblivious to the snow falling around them. But it was the way they were sitting, their heads so close together, that stopped Daisy in her tracks. She could feel the chemistry between them. Rose had Tom’s coat draped around her shoulders, she noticed.

  The next moment Rose looked up, saw her and beckoned her over.

  ‘You found us,’ she smiled. ‘We were going to wait for you, but I wasn’t sure how long Staff Nurse Giles would keep you cleaning.’

  ‘Isn’t it a bit cold to rehearse out here?’ Daisy said.

  ‘Is it? I hadn’t really noticed.’

  No, Daisy thought. You wouldn’t. She probably wouldn’t notice the cold either, if Tom Armstrong was sitting so close to her.

  Rose handed her the piece of paper. ‘Tom’s written another verse. What do you think?’

  Does it matter what I think? Daisy wanted to snap back. There was only one person Tom was interested in, and it certainly wasn’t her.

  ‘Very clever, I’m sure.’ She handed the paper back without looking at it. ‘Anyway, it’s too cold for me to stay out here,’ she announced. ‘I’m going back to the nurses’ home.’

  ‘I’ll come with you.’ Rose was on her feet straight away, but Daisy shook her head.

  ‘No, you stay here. I’m sure you’ll have a better time without me, anyway.’ She glared at Tom as she said it, but he didn’t meet her eye.

  ‘Don’t be like that … Baker?’ She heard Rose’s voice following her as she stomped off. She half expected her friend to follow her anyway, but as she left the courtyard she realised that Rose was not at her heels. Glancing back, she saw her friend was still sitting on the bench, Tom beside her. They were pressed against each other, their sides touching. Daisy couldn’t tell from a distance, but she had a feeling he might have been holding her hand.

  Daisy had washed and changed into her flannel nightgown by the time Rose finally returned. Daisy had already made up her mind that Rose would be very apologetic, so she was taken aback when Rose barely acknowledged her as she walked into the room.

  ‘You took your time,’ Daisy said accusingly.

  ‘We were talking.’ Rose sat on the bed with her back to her, taking off her shoes.

  Daisy waited for her to say more, but she was silent.

  ‘Did you enjoy your rehearsal?’ she asked finally.

  ‘Yes, thank you. You should have stayed.’

  ‘Oh no, I know when I’m not wanted. You know what they say. Three’s a crowd.’

  Rose twisted round to look at her for the first time. ‘I don’t know why you’re being like this,’ she said.

  ‘Don’t you?’

  Rose sighed. ‘If you’ve got something to say, then say it.’

  Daisy stared at her friend. She had expected Rose to plead for her forgiveness, but she was unnervingly calm.

  ‘Surely you’re the one who should have something to say to me?’

  They looked at each other for a moment. Rose was the first to lower her gaze.

  ‘I’m going to bed,’ she said.

  She gathered up her wash things and went off to the bathroom. Daisy lay under the covers, shivering with the cold and with pent-up anger.

  Rose was hiding something, she knew it.

  This was all wrong; it wasn’t the way it was supposed to be. Usually it was Rose who would be sitting up in bed when Daisy tripped in late from a night out. Daisy would tell her all about her night out, and they would giggle over everything that had happened, and then they would settle down to sleep.

  But tonight, Daisy could feel the tension in the air. There was something unspoken between them, and she knew she wouldn’t be able to sleep until she had had it out with her friend.

  When Rose returned from the bathroom, Daisy was ready for her.

  ‘So are you and Tom courting now?’ She lay on her back, staring up at the ceiling. She was afraid if she looked at her friend she would see something in her face that confirmed her worst suspicions.

  ‘No!’ Rose sounded shocked.

  ‘Come off it! I saw you together on that bench. Talk about love’s young dream!’

  She felt her bed sink as Rose sat down on the end of it. Daisy held her breath, waiting for her to deny it, to tell her she was being silly. Even now, she desperately wanted to believe it was all a mistake, a silly misunderstanding.

  ‘You’re right,’ she murmured. ‘Tonight, when we were talking – Tom told me he had feelings for me.’

  Daisy sat upright. ‘I knew it! How could you do this to me? You knew I liked him—’

  ‘I haven’t done anything,’ Rose protested.

  ‘Of course you haven’t! I suppose you haven’t been encouraging him all this time, pretending to be so sweet and innocent, when all the time you’ve been scheming about how to take him away from me—’

  ‘I didn’t! We’re not all like you, you know.’

  ‘And what’s that supposed to mean?’

  Rose faced her boldly. ‘How many boyfriends have you stolen from the other girls?’

  Daisy felt guilty heat rising in her face. ‘That’s different,’ she mumbled. ‘I’d never do it to my best friend.’

  ‘Neither would I,’ Rose shot back. ‘Anyway, it’s not as if you and Tom were even together—’

  ‘We might have been, if you hadn’t come along and stuck your nose in!’

  ‘You wouldn’t,’ Rose cut her off. ‘Tom was never interested in you.’

  ‘And how do you know that?’

  ‘Because I asked him.’

  Daisy jerked back as if she had been slapped. ‘You did what?’

  ‘I was worried,’ Rose said. ‘I’d started to have feelings for him too, and I didn’t want to do anything to hurt you. So I talked to Tom about it, and he said he had never thought of you in that way. And you weren’t that interested in him, either,’ she went on. ‘I know you, Baker. You love the chase, but once you’ve got a man you don’t want him any more.’

  Daisy stared at her, too shocked and humiliated to speak. She didn’t know which was worse, that Tom had no feelings for her, or that Rose had asked him the question.

  ‘I know you’re hurt,’ Rose was saying, ‘but I can’t help the way I feel, truly I can’t. You must believe me, I never set out to fall for him like that. But that day we went to visit Laurence’s grave, he was so kind and understanding, I couldn’t help it …’

  ‘Oh, I can just imagine it!’ Daisy lashed out bitterly. ‘What kind of girl sobs over her dead fiance’s grave while making eyes at another man?’

  It was a vicious thing to say, but Daisy was so full of burning venom she had to let it out.

  Rose stared at her, appalled. ‘Do you really think that’s what happened?’ she said in a hushed voice.

  ‘Who knows? You’re devious enough to try anything, I reckon.’

  The colour drained from Rose’s face. ‘If you feel that way, it’s a wonder you’re my friend.’

  ‘Who says we’re friends?’

  The words hung in the air between them.

  The bedsprings creaked as Rose got to her feet.

  ‘I loved Laurence with all my heart,’ she said in a small, choked voice. ‘But I know he wouldn’t have wanted me to spend the rest of my life mourning him. He would have wanted me to be happy. I thought you of all people might feel the same.’

  Daisy remained stiff and still under the covers. She knew she should apologise, but pride and anger were stopping her from doing it.

  From then on, the atmosphere was icy between them. When Daisy went into their room, Rose would leave. If they did have to be in the same room together for any length of time, they didn’t speak a word to each other. They ignored each other on the ward wherever they could.

  As word spread of their argument, the other girls in their set all took Rose’s side. When Daisy went into the common room, they all turned
their backs on her. Daisy burned with humiliation, but she refused to be intimidated. She sat in the corner with her textbook, listening to the others all giggling together as they studied.

  Daisy could barely see the words on the page for the mist of anger. It wasn’t fair. Rose was the one in the wrong, not her. It was Daisy who should have had the other girls around her, comforting her over what Rose had done.

  It was all Betty Philips’ fault, she decided. She had been waiting for the chance to get back at Daisy over that business with the medical student, and now it had finally come. How she must be enjoying watching Daisy get her comeuppance!

  But if she was honest, Daisy knew there was a small part of her that deserved it. Betty wasn’t the only girl Daisy had wronged in the past. She might have had more allies if she hadn’t been so selfish and thoughtless.

  And now she had lost the only real friend she had ever had.

  Daisy knew she couldn’t take part in the show. She couldn’t bear to see Rose and Tom together, especially as she and Rose were not speaking.

  ‘Not you too?’ Tom said when she told him.

  ‘What do you mean?’

  ‘Hasn’t Rose told you? She’s pulled out as well.’

  ‘Why?’

  ‘I thought you might be able to tell me that, since you two are such good friends.’

  Daisy was silent. Obviously Tom hadn’t heard about their falling out. ‘She hasn’t mentioned anything to me,’ she said quietly.

  ‘Nor me.’ Tom looked troubled. ‘She’s stopped speaking to me, anyway. She won’t even look at me when I’m on the ward doing my rounds. You know, I really thought—’ He paused, shaking his head. ‘I think I must have said the wrong thing,’ he sighed. He looked at Daisy. ‘I suppose you must know I told her how I felt about her?’

  Daisy nodded, too choked to speak.

  ‘It was a foolish thing to do, but I couldn’t help it. I knew I was taking a risk, but I really thought she felt the same …’

  Daisy saw the desolate look on his face and realised with a shock that he really did have feelings for Rose. This was not just a simple flirtation, the kind she was used to, passionate and intense one minute and forgotten as soon as the chase was over. This was something deep and special.