To my surprise, I found I did want to see them. ‘I’m not working today,’ I said. Was it my imagination, or did Finn look disappointed? ‘I should go and visit my nan though, as I’m here. Can I come and find you after that?’
He pushed his hair back off his face and smiled up at me.
‘I’d like that.’
Chapter 7
Elsie
1940
The next week was one of the worst we’d had so far. There were raids every night. Terrible, awful raids leaving people burned and crushed and dead. Nelly and I, and all the nurses on our wards, worked long shifts, and even slept at the hospital a few nights because we couldn’t leave in case we were needed. Nelly and I resigned ourselves to not going to the dance, because things were so bad we couldn’t possibly take our days off.
‘There will be other dances,’ I said, hoping I was right. In these dark times, it was hard to remember what it felt like to have fun.
But finally on the fifth night, there was a respite. There was a raid but there were fewer planes and they came in up the river, so while we knew we would get casualties from the East End later in the night, for now things were calmer.
‘Maybe even the Luftwaffe need a night off,’ Matron said, looking serious despite her tin hat.
‘Could I pop over to the huts if things are under control?’ Iasked. ‘The airmen asked Nelly and me to write messages to their families for them and we’ve just not had a chance. I wanted to let them know we’d not forgotten.’
I thought Matron would say no, but she nodded. ‘Go on then,’ she said. ‘Five minutes.’
The ward was quiet and dark when I arrived and the men were sleepy humps huddled under blankets. I rubbed my forehead feeling silly – day and night were all muddled in my head now because we’d been working such odd hours. I’d not expected them all to be asleep.
I tiptoed to the nurses’ station and found one of the Red Cross nurses there, filling in a medication chart.
‘I was here the other day,’ I whispered, not wanting to disturb the slumbering men. She looked up at me and nodded in recognition.
‘We were talking about writing messages for the men?’ I said.
‘That was such a kind offer.’ She smiled at me. ‘They’ve been talking about it a lot.’ She glanced round to see if anyone was listening. ‘It’s been hard for them, these last few nights. A lot of them struggled when the bombs were falling nearby.’
‘Gosh, I can imagine,’ I said. ‘We have patients the same. People who have been injured by bombs and then have to listen to the raids, feeling the beds shake as the bombs fall. It’s so hard for them.’
The nurse nodded. ‘They’re good lads,’ she said fondly.
I bit my lip thoughtfully. ‘We’ll definitely come back and write their letters for them,’ I said. ‘Nelly and I work the same shifts and we’ve got a couple of days off coming up. We’ll come back then.’
‘I think they’d like that.’
‘Could you let them know? I don’t want them to think we’ve forgotten them.’
‘Of course.’
I turned to go and noticed one of the men was awake, sitting up in his bed watching us talking. It was the chap who had both arms in plaster and who’d told us his uncle had been killed inthe last war. He smiled at me and I smiled back and felt a little tug of connection between us.
*
The smiling airman stayed in my thoughts the next day as Nelly and I got ready for the dance.
‘Dr Barnet said he’d be there around eight o’clock,’ she said, adjusting one of the grips in her hair as she stood in the doorway of my room. She looked beautiful, as always. Her dark hair was shining and there was mischief sparkling in her eyes. She was wearing a dark red dress that had once been mine, but suited Nelly perfectly.
‘You look lovely,’ I said with fondness. ‘I never looked that good in that dress.’
Nelly gave me a twirl. ‘You look lovely too,’ she said. I was wearing a blouse with a skirt that swirled round my legs. It had once been two skirts but I’d unpicked the seams and stitched them together, making them billow in a most satisfactory way when I danced. I was rather pleased with myself because I wasn’t very handy with a needle – at least, I’d not been before the war began. Now we were all being thriftier.
‘I thought if we go to the pub soon, we could have a couple of drinks first before we go downstairs.’
