be left with the afternoon dentals and laying up between cases, two tasks she felt too superior to undertake.
She would do them, of course; Rachel had a quiet authority which made itself felt upon occasion.
She checked the theatres, gave the student nurses their allotted places and went to scrub. She had laid up the trolleys for the first case when the Professor put his head round the door. His good morning was genial. ‘There’s a man downstairs I’ll have to patch up when he’s fit enough—can we add him to the list?’
She wondered what he would say if she said no; something soothing and courteous and the man would arrive in the theatre all the same.
‘Certainly, sir. Mrs Pepys will be on at nine o’clock and can take dentals this afternoon so it won’t matter if we run late.’
‘Norah not here?’
‘Days off.’
‘Time you had yours, isn’t it?’
‘When Norah gets back.’
He nodded and his head disappeared and presently, when they were ready for him, he came back with George and Billy beside him. His ‘Ready, Sister?’ was calmly impersonal and a moment later he was bending over his patient, absorbed in his work.
It was more than two hours before the patient was wheeled away.
‘Coffee?’ asked the Professor, straightening his great back, and, without waiting for an answer, he wandered out of the theatre.
Mrs Pepys was on duty by now. Rachel left her to lay up for the next case, sent two of the nurses to their coffee and repaired to her office. Dolly had carried in the coffee tray and the four men were crowded into the small room, waiting for her. She handed them their mugs, took the lid off the biscuit tin and put it on the table where everyone could reach it. They devoured biscuits as though they were famished and she made a mental note to supplement the meagre supply she was allowed from stores with a few packets of her own. They drank and munched in a pleasant atmosphere of camaraderie, and the talk was of the patient who had just gone to the recovery room and the next case. Dolly came to refill the coffee pot and Rachel slipped away to see what was going on in theatre. The student nurses were back from their coffee and she sent the third, junior nurse to the canteen and suggested that Mrs Pepys should go at the same time. ‘And when you get back will you get ready for dentals?’ suggested Rachel. ‘There’s an extra case coming up and we shall be late. Mr Reed’s got three patients—you’ll be ready well before three o’clock, so clear up as far as you can, will you? I’ll need all the nurses I’ve got as well as Sidney.’
Mrs Pepys gave her a cross look. ‘If you say so, Sister.’ She flounced away and Rachel turned back towards the theatre to find the Professor standing behind her. She had let out a gusty sigh and he asked, ‘Is she a trouble to you, Rachel? Shall I get her moved?’
She looked at him in surprise. ‘She’s annoying, sir, but she does her work—I’ve no good reason for her to be moved. It’s only her manner.’
‘She scares the little nurses, does she not?’
That surprised her, too; she hadn’t credited him with noticing that. ‘Yes, but I make sure they come to no harm. It’s nice of you to notice, though.’
He turned away. ‘Well, let me know if you need help at any time.’ And, over his shoulder as he went, ‘Are you going home for your days off?’
She felt herself blushing, which was silly. ‘I—I don’t know. It depends…’
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