I read, open-mouthed, through messages to parents telling them they loved them, to wives asking them to look after children, and to sweethearts saying they were to be brave without them.
Mark’s picture of Vinny was wonderful. He’d captured a glint in his eye and a proud tilt to his chin that made my eyes burn with tears.
And on the next page, he’d drawn me – in a very flattering way and with just a few strokes of his pencil. He was a real talent, I thought. I would tell him so when I saw him next.
‘What you got there?’ Nelly appeared in the doorway. She looked tired but her eyes were bright. I’d not seen her since we decorated the flat with the holly earlier on, so I’d not told her what I had planned.
‘I’ve got a book for patients to write messages in,’ I said, holding it up so I could see. ‘Mrs Gold got it for me.’
‘Oh, you clever thing.’ She came over. ‘It’s such a good idea.’
‘Apparently lots of nurses did it in the last war, for the soldiers they looked after.’
‘But you’re going to give it to all the patients?’
‘We’re going to give it to all the patients,’ I said, emphasising the “we”.
‘Ah.’
‘What does “ah” mean?’ I looked at her in alarm. ‘You’re not going anywhere, are you? Are you going back to Dublin?’
‘Don’t be daft.’ She sighed. ‘Remember I said I’d like to have a go at working in the operating theatre?’
I widened my eyes. Nelly had wanted to assist in the theatre for months. ‘You’ve got a chance?’
‘I have. I’m going to be a theatre nurse.’
I hugged her. ‘That’s wonderful, Nell. Well done.’
‘We’ll be on different shift patterns now, though.’
I shrugged. ‘We’ll still see each other.’ Then I grinned. ‘We can leave each other messages.’
‘Absolutely.’
‘Look at this picture of me,’ I said, showing her Mark’s drawing.
‘Now that’s gorgeous.’
‘It’s very flattering.’ I sighed. ‘These boys are all so talented.’ I turned the page and chuckled as I saw a limerick printed there. It wasn’t signed.
‘Nell, listen to this,’ I said. ‘There was a young airman named Ted, who struggled to get out of bed … Oh heavens, I’m not reading the rest of that. It’s too rude.’
We both laughed.
‘Are you coming home now?’ I said to Nelly.
She shook her head. ‘Not quite yet. I have to go to the offices and sort out my transfer, and then I’ve got to go and meet my new matron. What about you?’
‘I’m going to take the book to my ward and see if anyone wants to write in it.’
‘Good idea,’ said Nelly.
She leaned over and picked up a pencil. Then she wrote “see you later” in her messy writing at the bottom of one the pages. I rolled my eyes and she blew me a kiss as she hurried away.
With the book in my arms and a stack of pencils in my pocket, I headed towards my ward, where another nurse stopped me in the corridor, just by the entrance to the ward 2. It was where the really badly injured patients were cared for.
‘Is that it?’ she asked, nodding towards the book. ‘I heard you were collecting memories in a book.’
