open her heart to anyone else.
Going through the Blitz with the constant bombing which had caused further destruction at the hospital, the strain of always showing a calm exterior so as not to unsettle the patients every time they heard the siren, and without Anna’s cheerful approach to life, Maxine sometimes found the days difficult to get through.
Nevertheless, she’d looked forward to her few days off with her parents. They’d seemed pleased to have her home, but she could tell by her mother’s glances to her father that she was still puzzled their daughter had left them to fend for themselves.
Feeling she was letting them down, but thankful her father was no worse, Maxine was glad to get back to London.
‘Good to have you back, Taylor,’ Bennett said, immediately she set eyes on Maxine. ‘We’ve missed you with so few of us left.’
Maxine noticed the deep circles under the nurse’s eyes and felt a pang of guilt. ‘Oh, I’m sorry, Bennett, I shouldn’t have gone – there was no emergency or anything at home.’
‘Don’t be daft. If anyone needed a break, you did.’ She looked at Maxine under her lashes. ‘Bit of a stir going on since you left.’
‘Oh, what?’ Maxine straightened her cap, barely summoning a grain of curiosity.
Bennett grinned. ‘I expect you’ll see soon enough.’
An hour later Maxine was chatting to Tom Jansen, a soldier who’d been badly wounded in the leg and had had to have it amputated. He’d been incredibly brave, keeping up her spirits every bit as much as she did his, and she was always impressed with his optimism.
‘Enough of the chit-chat, nurse. This is a hospital, not a social club.’
She jumped. Spun round. Looked up to a powerful jaw, hard mouth, and straight into granite-coloured eyes. Strong nose. Dark auburn hair was brushed back from his forehead. A face that meant business.
‘Excuse me, but—’ Maxine began.
‘Nurse was just—’ Tom interrupted, struggling to sit further up in his bed. Maxine automatically went to help him. ‘I’m all right, Nurse – honestly.’
The doctor whom she’d never seen before didn’t give the boy a glance. As if he’d never spoken. Instead, the steely eyes alighted on Maxine.
‘No excuses – there’s work to do, so get on with it.’ He swung away.
Maxine stared after his departing figure marching along the basement corridor, burning with fury. Even Matron never spoke to her so rudely. Where was Matron this morning anyway? She knew, if anyone did, that Maxine barely wasted a minute. What an overbearing … She couldn’t think of a strong enough word to describe him. Who did he think he was?
She tried to carry on with her normal duties but her heart quickened with annoyance every time she thought of the auburn-haired doctor. He obviously had no respect for nurses whatsoever, no bedside manner, no understanding that a little human contact which made them feel special and individual played a crucial part in a patient’s recovery. She needed to find out if he’d been temporarily transferred to her ward or, God help them, was going to be there permanently. If so … She didn’t want to think further, except that if he was, she was in for an even greater daily challenge.
But to Maxine’s surprise, not everyone thought the same way about the new addition to the department.
‘Isn’t he a dreamboat?’ Bennett’s eyes danced mischievously as she was about to take temperatures. She looked at Maxine. ‘You have met him, haven’t you?’
‘Met who?’ Maxine replied innocently, though she knew perfectly well now who Bennett was talking about.
‘Red.’
‘Red?’
‘You know. The new doctor.’ Bennett looked surprised Maxine didn’t seem to know who she was referring to.
‘It’s Mr Blake, as it happens,’ Sister admonished as she swept past to supervise the new probationers.
The two young women grinned at one another.
‘A surgeon, no less,’ Bennett said, her hand to her mouth to stifle the ready laugh. ‘Even better.’
‘No wonder he’s on his high horse,’ Maxine commented.
‘What makes you say that?’ Curiosity flickered across her colleague’s face.
‘He told me off for chatting to Tom. And when Tom tried to stick up for me he completely ignored him and carried on at me in a most arrogant manner. I thought he was horrible.’
‘Mmm.’ Bennett shot a look at her watch. ‘We need to continue this conversation this evening when we have some privacy.’
The buzz in the temporary canteen the Red Cross had organised after the bombings was even greater than usual. Maxine caught the name ‘Red’ several times from some giggling trainees at the next table.
‘Wonder if he’s as red hot as his name.’ A girl with bright golden curls escaping her cap laughed and gave a huge wink to her colleague opposite.
Maxine glared at them before burying her head in her book at the same time as eating her stew and dumplings, though it was difficult to concentrate with the volume of noise around her.
‘Is this seat taken?’
It was a deep voice, educated, richly coating the few words.
‘No, please … She barely looked up beyond the white coat buttoned to the neck, recognising his voice. She dropped her eyes to her book again, hoping he would leave her in peace.
‘Oh, didn’t I meet you earlier … in the men’s ward, wasn’t it?’ He set his tray on the table, removed the plate and cutlery, and propped the tray up against the table as he sat down, his piercing grey eyes fixed firmly upon her.
Damn. The arrogant surgeon. She was tempted to tell him it was the exact opposite of ‘wasting time’ that he’d accused her of, but she raised her head a few inches and looked directly at him.
‘I believe you spoke to me when I was with Mr Jansen.’ Ice dripped from the words as she made a pretence of dropping her eyes back to her book.
‘And your name?’
What a rude man. She bit her tongue to stop herself from giving him a sharp reply. She must never do anything, say anything, to get in the way of her Nightingale Badge. Be polite. However he tries to get your goat.
She placed her finger on the paragraph she was reading to let him know this was only going to be a brief interruption. ‘I’m Nurse Taylor.’ Immediately the image of Johnny sprang to her mind. She blinked.
‘Christian name?’ he practically barked.
Her hands made a fist underneath the table. ‘Maxine.’
‘Maxine,’ he repeated and jerked his head towards her book. ‘What are you reading?’
