by Anne Douglas
‘Makes you feel better? Well, we could talk on this subject all day, but for now, Miss Scott, I’ll thank you for your time and ask you to rejoin the other candidates. I believe there will be a cup of tea.’
They shook hands, smiling, and Isla was turning away when Dr Lorne asked if she would be seeing her brother before she left. When she told him she would, he made no further comment, which struck her as strange, but she was so preoccupied with the interview and what she had learned that she only hurried on to the waiting room, giving no further thought to it.
Tea was already being served by Miss Elrick, together with crumbly scones, and as they finally relaxed, the candidates enjoyed in retrospect their time at the hydro.
‘Och, yes, it’s been grand,’ commented Jess, ‘but wait till three of us get the wrong sort of letter.’
‘Will we be getting letters, Miss Elrick?’ Penny asked. ‘I suppose they won’t tell us today who’s been selected?’
‘It’s not really for me to say,’ the secretary answered, adding hot water to the teapot. ‘But I think you will probably hear by letter. They don’t usually make a decision on the day.’ She gave a bright smile. ‘Now, who’s for more tea?’
The long afternoon had drawn to its close, with Penny, Margie and Jess already having left for their trains. They had been told by Dr Woodville that they would indeed hear the results of the interview by letter. There’d been friendly goodbyes and good luck wishes made, before Isla had waved them off and made her way to the gymnasium, where Boyd left a patient for a moment to come hurrying over.
‘Isla, how’d you get on? I’ve been thinking of you – same as Dad and Ma, I expect.’
She shrugged a little. ‘Who knows? We all enjoyed our interviews with Doctor Lorne – he’s as nice as you said – but it could be any one of us he chooses.’
‘You’ll take it if he offers?’
She hesitated, then smiled. ‘It’s a funny thing, but I wasn’t sure until the interview that I would. As soon as he told me how the water cure can really work, even for one thing, it decided me. I want the job.’
‘That’s grand, really grand! Don’t forget, it was my idea!’
‘Boyd, who says I’m going to get it?’
Grinning, he turned to return to his client, then halted and whistled.
‘Hey, look who’s here, Isla! I think he’s looking for you.’
It was Dr Lorne who’d appeared at the door of the gym, and it was true: his eyes were seeking out Isla.
‘Miss Scott? Might we have a word?’
‘Why, yes, Doctor, of course,’ she answered calmly, but her heart was hammering.
‘May we use your room at the back, Boyd?’ asked Dr Lorne.
‘Certainly, sir, if you can find space.’
‘It’ll be fine.’
As Boyd returned to his patient, the doctor and Isla squeezed into Boyd’s cramped little office, which also acted as store room, moving aside boxes of equipment, rubber balls and dumb-bells until they were facing each other.
‘Miss Scott, this is all rather unorthodox, and I will be sending you a formal letter, as to the other nurses, but you are a little different – being a local girl and with a brother here – so I thought I’d break the rule and tell you now.’
‘Tell me?’
‘That I’m offering you the job.’
There was a silence as Isla’s grey eyes widened and her lips parted.
‘Me?’ Taken aback, for a moment she had no words. When she hadn’t been sure she wanted the job, she might have been confident of getting it, but after she’d changed her mind, no, her confidence had faded. ‘Doctor Lorne, I … don’t know what to say. I mean, why me?’
‘Why? Well, I could say because you were the best candidate, but all four of you were excellent, so there had to be something extra.’ He began to ease himself from the little office, again pushing aside equipment and brushing at his suit. ‘Something you offered and the others did not.’
‘But what was that?’ she asked, mystified, following him from the office. ‘What was different about me?’
‘The fact that you were the only one who thought to ask me how hydropathy might work. The others would have made wonderful nurses here, but you were interested to know just what our water cure could do. It’s always what I look for, Miss Scott – that interest I haven’t had to put there myself.’
As she was silent, considering the strange way things worked out, he asked with a smile,
‘So, what’s the answer, then? Yes or no?’
Coming fast from her reverie, she returned his smile.
‘It’s yes, Doctor Lorne. And thank you. Thank you very much.’
‘That’s fine, then. You won’t be seeing the others, will you? I’d rather you didn’t say anything until we’ve sent out our letters.’
‘I won’t be seeing them, but I wouldn’t say anything, anyway.’ Of course not. As though she would, when they were getting the dreaded letters! If only they could all have been given the job … But that wasn’t the way of the world.
‘That’s fine, then, Miss Scott. All that remains is for me to say welcome to Lorne’s and to wish you all the best here.’ He put out his hand which she shook, then turned to leave. ‘Now you’d better go and tell Boyd; he’s been looking across at us for some time. And watch out for your own letter – it will have all the details you’ll need.’
As he left her, at last it sank in – the change in her future, the new choice she had made, the heady excitement of what was happening.
‘Oh, Boyd!’ she cried. ‘I’ve got the job. I never thought I’d be so thrilled! Never thought I’d care so much.’
‘Can’t give you a hug here,’ he told her, beaming, ‘but I couldn’t be more pleased. You’re making a good move, Isla, and you won’t regret it, that’s for sure.’
‘Wait till I tell them at home!’
‘And at the hospital.’
But she didn’t want to think of that. She’d been happy there and they’d done so much. It would hurt to say goodbye – maybe, even, to Sister Nisbet. Have to be done, of course, but for now she wanted to enjoy her little moment of triumph, especially at home.
‘See you back at the house,’ she told Boyd. ‘Don’t be late.’
Ten
If Isla had ever had doubts about her change of direction, they vanished as soon as she began work at Lorne’s. From that first wild rainy morning in February, when she presented herself at Reception and was escorted to the nurses’ home – another extension – everything seemed to go so smoothly that she almost began to wonder when the first snag would appear. But none did and eventually she lost her worries and fitted into hydro life as though it had been designed for her.
The key to the success of the new life, Isla decided, was almost certainly that everyone was so friendly – the nurses, the porters, Noreen Guthrie, the receptionist, Joan Elrick, Dr Lorne’s secretary, Larry Telford, the lanky young man who occasionally helped Boyd. Even Matron, who was, as Boyd had said, ‘not too tough’, was quite helpful, while Sister Francis was as pleasant as she’d first appeared, and though the two staff nurses – Miller and Craddock – were a little stiff, they were friendly enough.
It was Sister Francis who came over to see Isla settled into the modern and comfortable nurses’ home, showing her which bed was hers in the room she was to share with two others, where she could put her clothes, what time meals were in the staff dining room and so on.
‘Such a shame that though you’re an Edgemuir girl, you can’t sleep at home,’ she remarked, when she and Isla, now in her uniform, made their way to the treatment block. ‘But you do understand, I’m sure, that Doctor Lorne, like many doctors, prefers to have his nursing staff readily available.’
‘Oh, of course, Sister, it’s the usual practice.’
‘Exactly. Although we don’t have acutely ill patients here – most are suffering from chronic diseases, arthritis, diabetes and asthma, that sort of thing – there are often
those who need out-of-hours attention, and, of course, the occasional emergency. We must always be prepared.’
Sister Francis’s long, sweet face brightened.
‘But now you must prepare to meet your colleagues before the morning’s work begins – needless to say, they’re all dying to meet you!’
Faces. Names. How ever was Isla going to match them up? Yet the smiling faces were all distinctive; she guessed it wouldn’t take too long, and sure enough, as the days had gone by, she’d mastered everyone’s identity and had begun to make friends.
Special friends, in fact, of her room-mates – Sheana Fleming, blonde and bright-eyed, always willing to do more than she need, and Ellie Cumming, brown-haired and dark-eyed, the opposite of Sheana in nature, yet like her in energy and quickness to offer help. There’d been girls like them at Edinburgh Southern, and they’d been special friends, too, and a big miss at first for Isla, but Sheana and Ellie had filled the gap, helping to add to the pleasantness of her new life.
Visiting home on her first afternoon off, Isla was told by her mother that she must bring her new friends back for tea some time. And wasn’t it one of the nicest things about her new job that she could do that so easily? No need to get a train or bus from Edinburgh now, which just showed that Isla had done the right thing in moving.
‘And how about the work, then?’ Nan went on to probe, slicing another piece of ginger cake for Isla, who said, no, no, but ate it anyway. ‘You’re no’ finding it too strange? Working with all that water?’
‘Oh, the work’s fine, Ma! I love it. It’s really quite varied, you see, with water being used in all sorts of ways, not just giving patients baths. That would be boring!’
‘The thing is, I’ve no idea what you do. I mean, if it’s not just giving folk baths, what is it?’
‘Well, there are the sauna and steam baths – people really enjoy those, particularly the chest cases – they welcome the steam. And then there are the cold wraps with ice, or cold rubs with cloths, or complete wraps where the patient also has blankets. Massage is very important – sometimes underwater massage – or we might use douches of water for certain problems. Och, there are all sorts of variations of treatment, depending on patients’ needs. The doctors decide.’
‘Fancy. And are all the patients rich, like you thought?’
‘They seem to be, but I’ve been told that Doctor Lorne has charity schemes so that he can reduce the fees for those who can’t afford much.’ Isla smiled a little. ‘It would be like him to do that.’
‘You admire him, eh?’
‘Oh, yes, he’s a very fine person.’
‘And a widower,’ Nan said thoughtfully, her eyes gazing into the distance, at which Isla shook her head at her and said she must be getting back.
‘Thanks for the lovely cake, Ma. I’ll be along again soon.’
‘And won’t that be grand!’
At the door, Nan spoke of Boyd: how pleased he’d been that Isla had followed up his idea of working at the hydro and that she was as happy there as he was himself.
‘Oh, I know, he takes all the credit!’ Isla laughed. ‘And it’s nice he’s around – not that I see him much, except in the staff canteen. I don’t get time to visit the gym – thought maybe I should get him to give me some exercises after all your cake, Ma!’
‘I suppose one o’ these days he’s going to bring some young woman home, eh?’
Isla shrugged. ‘Well, he did go out with a couple of the nurses at Lorne’s a year or two back, if you remember. Never came to anything, did it? And they’ve both moved on.’
‘As long as he finds Miss Right,’ sighed Nan, and Isla, having kissed her goodbye and departed for the hydro, knew she wasn’t too anxious for that to happen soon. As for herself, she was certainly not looking for a Mr Right. Maybe in the distant future, but for now she was happy in her new job.
Eleven
Although Isla had told her mother that some of the patients at the hydro were not rich and were only helped to stay there by Dr Lorne’s charity, it had to be admitted that most of the clients were in fact ‘pretty privileged’, as Sheana put it. And didn’t some of them show it!
‘Only a few,’ she’d told Isla in the early days. ‘Most are really nice and uncomplaining, even if their arthritis is playing up, or whatever. But, oh Lord, some of the others – some of the women – it’s fetch this, fetch the other, I need my hair done, where’s my lipstick? You’d never think we were nurses at all. More like ladies’ maids.’
‘Oh, no,’ Isla said, laughing. ‘I can’t see any nurses putting up with that!’
‘Well, we don’t, and I’m sure you won’t, but you have to be patient, eh? With the men, too, the few that go on about not having a golf course here, and why are there no drinks on Sunday, et cetera. You’ve just got to make sure they accept their treatments – they’ve paid for ’em, after all.’
‘Sister Francis said the hydro doesn’t take acute patients, but I suppose the chronic problems can be bad enough.’
‘Oh, sure. The asthmatics can really suffer, and, like I say, there are the arthritics – they’re often in severe pain. There are also diabetics and folk with muscle problems, but worst of all, I reckon, are the nervy ones. They come here for peace and quiet and most get it, but some just create tension for themselves.’
Sheana had shaken her head. ‘Och, I’d better shut up or I’ll be putting you off. Most of the patients, like I say, are really very nice, and, of course, there’s a good turnover anyway. You’ll keep on seeing new faces all the time.’
To begin with, of course, for Isla, all the faces of the patients she met were new, but just as she’d learned to recognize the nurses she was to work with, so she learned to recognize those in her care. Just as Sheana had told her, there were the easy ones and the few who were difficult, but past experience helped Isla here, for she was used to coping with all kinds of people and never let anyone get her down; she always kept her patience, as Sheana had recommended, and soon became a general favourite.
‘Happy?’ Dr Lorne asked her once in passing, when she was on her way to supper, to which she was able to answer, quite genuinely, that she was.
‘I certainly hear good reports of you, Nurse Scott. Well done.’
Thanking him, as he moved on, she felt quite warmly pleased. It was good to know that she was well thought of in this new life she’d opted for – so much could have gone wrong, but so far had not. Supposing she’d had regrets, wished herself back at Edinburgh Southern? But that hadn’t happened; she’d had no regrets, no desire to return to her old hospital, even though she’d missed it at first.
The first person she saw at supper in the staff canteen was Boyd. There was a spare seat next to him and he waved to her to join him when she’d decided what to have at the self-service counter, the choice being between macaroni cheese and sausages and mash. No contest. She’d never liked sausages, but they were piled high on Boyd’s plate, she noticed, when she took her place next to him. ‘Heavens, Boyd, if you eat all those and that heap of potato, you’ll be sure to put on weight! No advert for your gym!’
He smiled and said he never put on weight – he was like Isla and Ma – but it seemed to Isla that his attention was elsewhere. She asked if he was all right.
‘Sure I’m all right. Why d’you ask?’
‘I don’t know. You seem sort of – elsewhere.’
‘Elsewhere?’ He began to eat, making great play with his knife and fork, as though finishing his meal was all that was on his mind. Finally, though, as he pushed away his plate, he turned to Isla and fixed her with his grey eyes, so like her own. ‘Thing is, Isla – sounds a piece of nonsense, I know, but I’ve seen the most amazing girl. And she’s right here, in the hydro!’
‘Really?’ she asked, trying to finish her macaroni.
‘Yes, she’s quite stunning. A new waitress for the patients’ dining room; only started two days ago. And I saw her yesterday. Couldn’t believe my eyes!’
&n
bsp; Isla was mystified at his excitement. Hadn’t he seen a pretty girl before?
‘Why, what’s so special, Boyd? You’ve seen good-looking girls at Lorne’s before. Didn’t you take a couple of ’em out?’
‘Those two?’ he leaned back, running his hand through his short fair hair. ‘Well, they were all right, but not like Trina. That’s her name – Trina Morris. There’s something different about her. I can’t describe it, but she’s not just good-looking, you ken; she attracts you, draws you. It’s like I say, you can’t take your eyes off her. You must see her for yourself.’
‘I intend to.’ Isla had leaped to her feet. ‘But now I’m going to get some tea. Do you want any?’
‘No, no, thanks.’
‘Well, listen, then, here’s a piece of advice.’ Isla sat down again. ‘When you go home tonight, don’t tell Ma about this girl. At least, don’t talk about her the way you’ve talked to me. That would not go down well.’
He nodded, trying to smile.
‘You’re right, I won’t say anything. I mean, I haven’t even spoken to her yet, though, of course, I’m going to. But I’m sorry if I sounded like a fool to you just then.’ He laughed shortly. ‘Got a bit carried away, I guess.’
‘I’d say so,’ Isla said slowly. ‘You didn’t sound like the Boyd I know.’
‘All right, I’m sorry. Listen, maybe I’ll have some tea, after all – though I’d rather have a beer, if the truth were known. You sit there and I’ll get tea for both of us.’
As he made his way to the buffet table, his head was high and he walked like the soldier he used to be, which went some way towards making Isla feel better. But maybe not far enough. She felt as though she’d taken two steps down instead of one, and that she’d seen a side to her brother that was still so strange she couldn’t just accept it.
How was this sudden interest in an unknown girl going to develop? Even when Boyd came back with the tea and began to chat normally of this and that, and she was chatting back, she was feeling a strange apprehension of trouble ahead. As she drank her tea, she determined that, as soon as she could, she would see this stunning waitress for herself and try to understand why her sensible brother appeared to be in danger of quite losing his head.