Staff Nurse Jane Hall was in the ladies locker room making the final
adjustments to her uniform.
She was at the mirror pinning her silly hat in place onto her straight
honey blonde hair, which was tied in bun at the back, and then she titivated
the fringe that she always wore.
On the ward she often wore gold rimmed half-moon spectacles but they
were only for reading and she often just peered over the top of them rather
than keep taking them off.
But as she stood before the mirror there was nothing obscuring her
pleasant unblemished face, a face that turned from pleasant to pretty very
easily when she smiled.
Jane stepped backwards so she could get a better look at the rest of her.
The Blue pinstriped uniform with white relief was tailored to fit and
defined her figure exquisitely even without the belt.
She turned sideways to get another view and scanned herself from top to
bottom.
She was not unhappy with the overall appearance, she was a little
broader in the beam than she would have liked, her legs were good though, she
liked her legs even in the regulation black tights and sensible shoes they were
nice.
“Not a bad looking woman for 29 and a bit” Jane said and nodded at her reflection
to acknowledge she had passed muster.
“No, not a bad looking woman considering she was fast approaching 30” Jane
was thinking as she walked to the ward, so why did she still not have a
significant other? It was something she often wondered.
And she wasn’t just nice to look at, she was a nice person, kind and
considerate and very loving given the opportunity.
The problem was when you worked shifts it was difficult to have a social
life and meet new people, any people, meeting the right people was even more
difficult.
But though she wondered why she was alone she wasn’t unhappy, she didn’t
feel diminished by her circumstances.
Jane had a lot of friends who took turns to throw single men in her direction
but she evaded most of them and of the ones she didn’t evade, none of them were
keepers.
Doctors always tried their luck of course, but news and reviews of
doctors travelled fast along the nurse’s grapevine.
So they generally knew who to avoid
and working on a children’s ward meant that patients weren’t really an option.
Jane though was
a great believer in fate and thought if it was meant to be it was meant to be.
Although as
the oldest sibling of three and the only one not settled down with anyone, as
well as being the only one not to provide a grandchild her mother who was less
philosophical.
She did
think that she had found her life mate and she and Graham were together for 5
years and Jane did think they would marry but he turned out to have feet of
clay and that had been more than three years ago.
But working
on the children’s ward and witnessing the wonder of familial love on a daily
basis was very rewarding.
However
although she thought what she saw was a beautiful thing to witness it was also
a constant reminder that her biological clock was ticking.
Most of the
time Jane Hall lived in Mornington at Windmill Farm which had been worked by
the Hall family since the time of the Napoleonic wars.
It was a
huge farmhouse that had been added to and added to over the years which was
just as well as there were 9 of them living there in all.
Her parents,
one sister, one brother in law, one brother, one sister in law and two nephews
and of course Jane herself.
But the farm
in Mornington wasn’t her only place of residence and nor was it her source of
employment.
Jane Hall
was a Staff Nurse at the Winston Churchill Hospital in Abbottsford and rather
than commute back and forth she shared a flat with two other Nurses, Rosie
Parsons, and Lorraine Chapman who also lived in Mornington and worked at the
Churchill.
It wasn’t a
huge flat and nor was it in the smartest part of town but it was perfect for
them as it meant that they had a place to live that was close to work, which
was ideal for them all as they worked shifts, and it meant that split between
the three of them their expenses were less than their travelling would have
been.
They were
all single, all looking and all quite pessimistic regarding their prospects in
the relationship department.
But they all
got on well and made the most of their situations.
They all had
hopes and dreams though, of finding the right man and settling down and having
babies.
But of the
three of them it was Jane’s biological clock that seemed to be ticking the
loudest.
And that
morning she had woken in a particularly broody frame of mind so being a
believer in fate she said as she walked towards the ward to the ether and to
her herself
“Well fate,
if you’re going to do something. Can you do it soon please?”
As she
entered the ward Sister Greenland called her into her office with a gesture,
she liked Sally Greenland.
“Morning
Sister” she said
“Hi Jane” Sister
Greenland said and handed her a folder
“You have a
new surgical admission today, Danny Foreman, 4 years old necrotic kidney
removal”
“One of Mr Shah’s?”
Jane asked
“Yes,
booking in at four and he’s first on the list tomorrow morning” the sister said
“Ok I’ll get
a room prepared” said Jane
“Oh Jane,
tread carefully around them, Danny’s mother died in a car accident” Sister
informed her
“Recently?” Jane
asked
“In the last
year” Sister Greenland replied “So quite fresh in their minds I’m sure”
“Ok” Jane
said and thought that forewarned was forearmed.
“Is the necrotic
kidney a consequence of the accident?”
“It seems
not” Sister replied
It didn’t
take her long to get the side room ready in her quietly efficient way and
everything else went without a hitch.
There were a
couple of patients who needed to go to x-ray, another needed an MRI and one was
discharged.
So just
another ordinary day on paediatrics.
It had been
a very good day on the ward, there were no significant dramas, everyone was
making good progress and all in all it was a good day to be a nurse.
The side
ward had been prepared for the new patient and right on time admissions nurse Lorraine
Chapman brought the Foreman’s onto the ward.
Lorraine
caught Jane’s eye and in response she said
“Room 6
Lorraine”
“Ok” she
said and led them in to a side ward.
Mr Foreman was
a tall upright man with prematurely greying hair and the beginnings of a paunch
and he walked with a stick.
Jane
assessed he was around 30 and in his arms he carried his little son, Danny.
Jane had
already been headed in their direction and picked up the pace to join them.
Lorraine was
just putting little Danny’s overnight bag on the bed as she entered
“Hello” Jane
said brightly
“I’m Staff
Nurse Hall”
“Hi” Mr Foreman
said
“But you”
she said tickling the back of Danny’s knee
“Can call me
Nurse Jane”
Danny buried
his face in his father’s neck but he was giggling as he did so.
Lorraine
Chapman handed Jane the admission notes and said goodbye.
Once the Foreman’s
were settled Jane sat down with Dad and went through the forms.
“Ok Mr Foreman”
she began
“Just call
me Mark” he said
Jane looked
a little confused and checked her forms.
“It says
here your initial is E”
“That’s
right” he said “my first name is Edward, but I don’t like it so I use my middle
name and everyone calls me Mark”
“Oh I see” Jane
said
They then
spent the best part of an hour talking about everything apart from Danny’s op,
while the patient played with Thomas the Tank engine on the floor.
It turned
out that Mark also lived in Mornington and was a Teacher at the village school
since the previous September.
When Jane
looked down at the watch on her uniform she said
“Cripes! I
need to go and check on my other patients. I’ll come back shortly and we can
complete the forms”
As Jane was
leaving Dr Poppy Jones, the paediatric registrar was on the way in and within
half an hour she was back and they duly completed the paper work and finally
got “Mark” to sign the consent forms and as he did so she noticed the scarring
on his hand and forearm.
Obviously as
a result of the accident, but she didn’t feel she should broach the subject
just yet.
“Ok” she
said “So Danny is first on the list in the morning which means he can eat his
tea at 6 o’clock but then he can only have fluids until afterward the operation”
Jane went
off duty at 10 o’clock but she always liked to look in on all her patients
before she left for the day which could sometimes take an hour.
When she got
to the Foreman’s room Danny was fast asleep and Mark was in the corner reading
a book.
“I’m going off
duty now” She said quietly “and I won’t be back on duty until after it’s all-over”
“Ok” he
replied “thank you”
The day after
Danny Foreman was admitted Jane Hall was starting work 2 hours early because Sister
Greenland had to attend an important meeting and she needed her most experience
Staff Nurse to take the reins in her absence.
As it was
such a nice spring day Jane decided to walk through the hospital grounds to
enjoy the spring sunshine.
When she was
about halfway between the entrance to the grounds and Hospital she saw Mark Foreman
pacing up and down along the same bit of path.
She didn’t
understand why he was outside pacing, the operation should have finished by then
and Danny should have been back on the ward and so should his Dad.
Something
must have happened so she diverted her course and increased the pace to join
him.
“Is
everything ok Mark?” she asked when she was in earshot.
He was
startled and turned around sharply and almost fell when he put all his weight
on his bad leg.
“Come and
sit” Jane said taking his arm “Take the weight off your leg”
Jane guided
him to a park bench and sat him down.
“What’s
happened?” she asked
“They were
late taking him in to theatre” he replied
“Good” she
said with a sigh “I thought it was something serious”
“I just couldn’t
stand it in there another minute” Mark said
“Do you want
to talk about it?” Jane asked
He was
silent for a moment and then he said
“Apart from Danny’s
birth I hadn’t been in a hospital for 10 years and for the last year I seem to
have done little else” he said bitterly.
Then he unburdened
himself with the tale about the accident.
The family had been for a pleasant day out by the sea in
Sharpington and were on the way home.
The accident happened just as the sun was setting behind
them and a car came around the bend on the wrong side of the road and hit them
head on.
The car rolled several times and ended up on its side in
a ditch.
“That’s awful” she said
“I don't remember it” he said “the crash at any rate, all
I know of it is what the witnesses told the police”
He paused before adding
“The other driver died instantly”
“And your wife?” Jane asked
“I watched her die” he said “mercifully Emma never
regained consciousness but all I could do was hold her hand”
“And Danny?” Jane asked
“Miraculously he didn’t have a scratch, and he’d been asleep when it happened”
he said “But what was terrible was that he was crying for his mum, and I
couldn’t get to him”
He paused briefly as he fought back the tears.
“I tried to comfort him but I couldn’t”
There was a longer pause before he continued
“I blame myself of course”
“That’s silly” Jane said
“Is it?” Contradicted Mark and stood up and walked slowly
away.
After Mark Foreman limped away Jane found it easy to
catch up with him.
“You feel guilty Mark because you lived, but that isn’t
the same thing as blame” Jane insisted
“Is it just guilt about surviving?” Mark asked
“Yes” Jane said “and that’s in the past, you have your son and he is the present
and the future”
“What kind of future? With this leg and this stick?” he
said bitterly
“Listen to
me” she said sternly “You have a new job and a new start in the loveliest place
in the world to do it in, the future has infinite possibilities, but the past is
only ever the past”
“That’s very profound” he said
“What for a nurse you mean?” she said
“No I mean it, it was very profound” he said and gave the
weakest of smiles
“Yes, well I’m very deep” she said
“Does he remember anything?”
“Not the accident thank God” he replied
“But he remembers his mum?” Jane asked and Mark nodded
“That’s precious” she added
“Yes it is” he responded positively
“Now come with me and we’ll see how the little man is
doing” Jane said
“You’re a
very positive person Jane, is it aright if I call you Jane?” he asked
“Of course”
she replied “And I do always look for a positive in any situation”
Mark thought
for a moment and said
“Well if it
hadn’t been for the accident and all the resulting scans, his malformed kidney
wouldn’t have come to light so that’s something of a positive”
“There you
are then” Jane said
When they
got to the ward Danny’s bed was being wheeled into room 6, and he looked so
small in that big bed.
“Go and sit
with him” Jane said “I have to change but I’ll be in as soon as I can”
The
operation all went according to plan but Danny picked up a post-operative
infection and had to stay in the hospital for a few days longer than planned.
When the day
came for him to be discharged Jane pushed Danny in the wheel chair while Mark
carried the bag in one hand and his stick in the other and a newspaper tucked
under his arm.
When they
reached the reception she left father and son together and went to the desk to
ask them to call a cab before re-joining them.
They waited
together and chatted idly and entertained Danny until the cab arrived.
She wheeled
the chair out to the waiting taxi and was poised to say goodbye.
“I’m sure you get asked
this a lot” he said and paused briefly “But when Danny is fully recovered, would
it be alright if I gave you a call some time?”
“Yes” she replied
and wrote her number on the margin of his newspaper
“I would
like that”
“Great” he
said as he got into the cab “I will call you then”
And she
stood and waved them off
On her was
back to the ward she said out loud
“Well it took
you long enough, fate, but it looks like you got there in the end”
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