I held my arms out so she could pile blankets on top. ‘The new porter?’
‘Apparently, but I’ve not seen him yet. Is that all right? Can you manage all of those?’
I could have managed a hundred blankets because I was so keen to get to the huts. ‘No problem,’ I muttered over the top of the woolly pile.
‘Please be careful on the stairs,’ Matron said. ‘Handover is in half an hour.’
Taking care so I didn’t slip, because I couldn’t really see where I was going, I carried the blankets over to the hut. Judith was there and I was pleased because I liked her.
She took some of the blankets from the top of my teetering pile and handed them to another nurse to put straight on to beds.
‘I’m glad I’ve seen you. I wanted to tell you that my husband got a note from Eric’s wife,’ she said.
‘Really? What did she say?’
‘She said to thank you from the bottom of her heart for passing on Eric’s last letter,’ Judith said. ‘She wanted you to know how important it was, and how much comfort it gave her.’
I put my hand to my chest, not sure what to say.
‘Your book is very special, Elsie,’ Judith carried on. ‘You should be proud of yourself.’
‘Oh stop,’ I said. But I was pleased. ‘Thank you.’
Relieved of the last blanket, I shook my arms out and subtly turned my head to see Harry.
But he wasn’t there.
His bed was empty, neatly made up with crisp sheets and no sign of Harry anywhere else in the ward. My stomach lurched and I tasted bile in my throat. Where was he? Had he … was he …?
Swallowing the bitterness away, I cleared my throat. ‘The ladwho was in that bed?’ I said, trying to keep my tone light. ‘Has he gone back to his base?’
Behind my back I crossed my trembling fingers. Much as I didn’t want Harry to have gone without us even having the chance to properly meet, I was terrified that something awful could have happened. Patients who looked to be on the mend did sometimes take a turn for the worse. Look what happened to Eric. And Vinny.
‘Nah,’ said Judith. ‘He’s not gone yet, though it won’t be long.’
I stared at her, not properly understanding. Was Harry ill?
‘He’s just off for his daily walk to strengthen his legs with one of the RAF doctors,’ she explained seeing my startled expression. ‘It’s an assessment of sorts, I think. He’s doing so well, I think he’ll be back at his base later this week.’
My knees almost buckled beneath me. ‘I thought he’d died,’ I said. ‘I thought he wasn’t here because he’d died. Like Eric.’
Judith gave me a slightly odd look.
‘No, he’s fine,’ she said carefully.
Recovering my composure slightly, I forced a smile. ‘Wonderful,’ I said through gritted teeth. ‘And he’s off back to base soon? That is good news.’
Behind me the door to the hut opened and as though we’d conjured him up like a genie from a lamp, Harry appeared. He looked tired but in good spirits and the way his face lit up when he saw me, made my heart jump.
‘Nurse Watson,’ he said. ‘Have you brought the book back again?’
The book! No, blast, I didn’t have it. In fact, I wasn’t sure where it was.
‘Nurse Watson brought some clean blankets this time,’ Judith said. ‘How was your walk?’
‘Good,’ Harry said. He looked at the tall, rather severe-looking doctor who was with him. ‘Doc said I’m doing better than expected, isn’t that right?’
‘He’s my ideal patient,’ the doctor said with a smile. ‘Does what I tell him to do.’
