was quite fit to go back to the ward, but no patient might be sent back from the Recovery Room until they opened their eyes properly, told the nurse their name and could state if they were in pain or not.
‘Are you in pain?’ asked Beth in her nice quiet voice.
Mevrouw Thorbecke nodded, her eyes shut.
‘I’ll give you something for it. Will you tell me your name?’
‘You know who I am—I wish to sleep.’ Her voice was a mumble and a frown came and went. ‘I have a pain.’
‘OK,’ said Beth, talking to herself, ‘you shall have something now, though you’re not really supposed to have it until you’re quite round. Hang on a sec…’
Mevrouw Thorbecke mumbled crossly in her own language as Beth checked her pulse. The smallest of sounds behind her made her look over her shoulder. Professor van Zeust was standing quite close, leaning against one of the trolleys and her eyes brightened at the sight of him. ‘Oh, what luck that you should turn up just when I could do with you,’ she exclaimed sunnily, and he, who had been there all the time, smiled a little.
‘You need help?’ he inquired mildly.
‘Well, Mevrouw Thorbecke is almost round and we’re not supposed to give a post-op. until the patient is quite conscious, but now you’re here, perhaps you’d give me the all clear to give her some Pethedine before she goes downstairs. She’s quite OK, but not quite with us yet.’
The professor’s mouth twitched just a little. ‘I’ll take the responsibility, Staff Nurse—ram home whatever you’ve got there and get her down to the ward, will you? Doctor Moore asked me to look in; he was called away to some emergency.’
He walked unhurriedly over to the trolley and took his sister’s pulse and when she opened an unwilling eye said something to her in a soft voice. ‘She’s fine,’ he declared, and went away so quietly that Beth didn’t realize that he had gone.
She delivered her patient, drowsy now, to the Ward Sister on the Private Wing and sped back to the Recovery Room. Sister Collins and Harriet would be back in a matter of minutes; she started to clear up with Mrs Wise, the orderly, to help her and they were just finished when the other two returned.
The afternoon went quickly after that, but then it nearly always did, there was always so much to do. The list was a long one and although Beth was due off at half past seven, it was considerably later than that when at last she left the theatre.
It had been William’s half day and she was surprised and touched to find that he had laid the table and made a few rather inadequate preparations for supper. He followed her into the kitchen while she cooked it, something he seldom did, so that she asked: ‘Aren’t you going out? You usually do on your half day—did Wendy stand you up?’
Wendy was the current young lady of his fancy; she was a physiotherapist whom no one liked much because she gave herself airs, but Beth had suffered an unending catalogue of her perfections with sisterly patience, knowing that within a week or two her brother’s eye would have been caught by some other girl. They were all alike, the young doctors and students, and no one took them seriously, although a few fell permanently in love and got engaged or even married. But William would be too busy for the next year or so to think about marrying; he had only just got started on his career and at the end of his six months with Professor MacDonald’s firm he would be joining the medical side if they would have him, and after that it would be a year—two years, at least, before he could apply for a post as registrar. She dished up their meal and carried it through to the sitting-room while he explained that Wendy hadn’t stood him up; he had decided to stay home because he wanted to talk to her.
‘Me?’ exclaimed Beth, much astonished at this brotherly attention. ‘Whatever for? I haven’t any money till payday…’
William frowned. ‘It’s not that,’ he said impatiently. ‘You’ve got a week’s holiday starting on Sunday, haven’t you, Beth?’ He sounded uneasy all at once.
She began her supper and then paused to pour their coffee. ‘Yes—fancy you remembering that. But it’s only Tuesday you know, and I’m not going anywhere. Do you want the flat to yourself or something?’
‘Don’t be dim. The thing is, if you’ve nothing to do I know of someone who wants to borrow you…’
‘Borrow me? Whatever for? Anyway, I’m on holiday—is it one of those agencies?’
‘No, as a matter of fact, it’s Professor van Zeust. You had his sister in theatre today, didn’t you? Well, he’s been left high and dry with her four children; they’re staying with him. He mentioned it to old Mac, and he knew—lord knows how—that you had a holiday coming up, and he suggested that you might step into the breach—just for a week, you know, and look after them. You’d be paid.’
Beth’s bosom swelled with indignation. ‘Well, whatever next—why me? Aren’t there agencies for nannies and mothers’ helps? Why can’t he go to one of them? I’ve no intention…’
She caught William’s eye and something in it made her say: ‘You wretch—you said I would!’ She drew a deep breath, her eyes very purple, but before she could speak he said hastily:
‘Oh, be a sport, Beth—after all, you’re not doing anything and it might be fun.’
‘Fun?’ Her voice was shrill with annoyance. ‘Have you ever looked after four children? They’re not even English!’ She paused and added triumphantly: ‘So I can’t.’
‘They’ve had an English nanny for years. I don’t know much about it, but I believe they live somewhere behind Harrods—quite super, and you’re bound to get heaps of free time.’ He looked at her anxiously. ‘It’s only for a week.’
She stared at him across the table. ‘And supposing I should decide to do it, who is going to tell me what and when and where?’
He brightened. ‘Professor van Zeust said he’d make a point of seeing you tomorrow—there’s another kidney transplant, isn’t there? I shall be in theatre too,’ he paused to contemplate this pleasure, then went on: ‘There’s sure to be an opportunity to talk about it. I say, Beth, it would be jolly decent of you if you would, it’d do me a good turn—I mean, they’re more likely to remember me later on if there was the chance of a registrar’s job.’
Beth got up and started to collect the dishes. ‘Well, dear, I’m not going to say yes now, but I do promise to have an open mind if he says anything to me about it tomorrow, though probably he’ll have got someone else by then.’
But while she washed up she found herself hoping that the professor wouldn’t be able to find anyone else, even though before she went to bed she told William firmly that she hadn’t made up her mind…all the same, when she got into bed, she stayed awake quite a long while thinking about him.
CHAPTER TWO
BETH was on duty at eight o’clock the following morning and within a very short time the theatre was in full swing. She had fetched the kidney transplant case—a young girl in her teens—handed her over and gone again to collect the first of a long list of cases for the other theatres. The kidney case lasted a long time; it was early afternoon before she received the girl in the Recovery Room and although Professor van Zeust came with his colleague to see her, he had nothing to say other than
