It was dark and very
cold as Dave McAteer sat on a bench in the garden of St Bernadette’s Covent
Hospital in Abbeyvale, although in truth and furthermore it was snowing again.
He was sitting there
alone as he had just heard the news that his mother was dying and he was still
somewhat in shock.
It shouldn’t have been
such a shock he had always known St B’s was more of a hospice, there were a
number of wards for convalescents but mainly it was palliative care.
He was on his way
home, his Mum had been sedated so there was no point in his staying and the end
was a little while off yet.
He should have gone
straight home but he had no one to go home to and he needed time to think.
Dave had been sitting
there for maybe half an hour and was used to the silence and was totally lost
in his own thoughts so much so that that he had failed to hear the crunch of
approaching footsteps in the snow.
Due to the darkness he
was all but invisible and he suddenly saw something moving in his peripheral
vision which made him jump and to his perpetual shame caused him to let out an
involuntary yelp, this in turn made the figure in the dark scream.
The source of the
scream was a nurse at the convent hospital and she worked on the wing his
mother was in, although he couldn’t bring her name to mind at the time.
“Oh Shit” she said in
very un-convent like language.
“What the fuck are you
doing hiding out here in the dark?”
“I’m sorry” he said “I
didn’t mean to scare you”
“Oh its Mr. McAteer
isn’t it?” she asked “So what brings you out here? Are you ok?”
“Yes” he replied “I
just needed some quiet time”
“I heard about your mother,
I’m sorry it wasn’t better news” she said
She sat down on the
bench beside him and took out a pack of cigarettes from her coat pocket, she
took one out and put it to her lips and then offered the pack to him.
He had given up
smoking two years earlier but he didn’t hesitate in accepting one.
“Thanks Nurse…” he
began
“Fedeli” she replied
as she gave him a light “But call me Elena”
“Thanks Elena” Dave
said and inhaled deeply and closed his eyes as he exhaled the smoke and felt
the welcoming light headedness as his body greeted the nicotine with open arms.
“It looks like you’re
enjoying that Mr. McAteer” she said
“Call me Dave” he said
and took another drag “this is the first fag I’ve had for two years”
“I’m sorry I didn’t know”
Elena said
“Don’t be sorry, I
really missed it” he said honestly
She dragged on her
cigarette and the tip glowed brightly and briefly illuminated her face and then
faded to a glow.
“I'm sorry I scared you,”
he said taking a final drag on his cigarette before dropping it on the ground
and grinding it under the heel of his shoe.
“That’s ok” she replied and paused briefly before adding
“By the sound of that
yelp you made, perhaps I should be apologizing to you”
“Quite” he said
sheepishly “I’m a bit embarrassed about that”
“You look like you
could use a drink” she said and she reached into her pocket again and this time
pulled out a silver hip flask.
She unscrewed the cap
and took a slug and then handed it to Dave.
“Thanks” he said
taking it from her and putting it to his lips.
The whisky tasted so
good and he felt it warming him to the very core.
He handed her back the
flask and watched her take a good slug before putting the cap back on.
“What kind of a nun are you?” he asked with a laugh “Swearing, smoking and
drinking”
And all the time he
was actually thinking what a really naughty girl she was.
“I’m not a nun!” Elena
shouted, “Why does everyone think I’m a nun?”
“Sorry but you work in
a convent hospital and you dress like a nun” he said in his Defence.
“I’m a nurse in a
hospital, and this is my uniform” she said “No wonder, nobody ever asks me out,
I can assure you that I’m not a nun!”
“I’m sorry Elena, if
it helps I thought you were a very attractive nun” he said and she looked at him
and laughed.
The snow continued to
fall and was settling on her headgear.
As he looked at her he
couldn’t understand why she would ever have been short of a date.
She had a beautiful face
and her eyes were dazzling, it was also a kind face with a delicate smile and
her coloring clearly betrayed her Mediterranean ancestry.
Being a good catholic
boy and having thought until a few minutes earlier that she was a nun, he wasn’t
sure if thinking she was sexy was a sin or not, but he thought she was, even if
it was sinful.
He was also grateful
for the distraction from thinking about his terminally ill mum.
“How are you feeling
now?” she asked him out of the blue.
“Much better,” he replied
“Was it a shock?” she asked,
“Yes” he replied and
then corrected himself “No, not really”
She didn’t speak but
looked at him and silently invited him to continue
“I was expecting it,
but I didn’t want to believe it” he said “I lied to myself”
“That’s quite natural”
she said sympathetically “Loved ones have often confided that to me”
“That’s because they
think you’re a nun” he said and they both laughed.
At that point the snow
began to fall harder and faster and it was getting colder.
“Are you off duty?” he
asked although he’d already made the assumption that she was.
“Yes” she replied “I’m
done for the day”
“Well I’m chilled to
the bone” he said “do you fancy getting something to eat?”
“Yes, that would be
nice” she replied and a broad smile crossed her face “As long as you don’t mind
being seen out with a nun”
When Dave offered and
she accepted neither of them expected it to be anything other than a chance to
get out of the snow and a mutually companionable meal, they certainly weren’t
looking for anything else.
Elena Fedeli had been
disappointed by love too many times in her 32 years to walk into another
potential disaster with a man who had a very difficult and fraught time ahead
of him.
Dave had also been
through the mill relationship wise and wanted no more than to be there for his
mother every step of the way until she passed.
Dave was a lapsed
Catholic and indeed he was also a lapsed Christian while she was a practicing
Anglican with a very deep faith.
He worked 9 to 5 for
an insurance company while she was a nurse who worked shifts and then there was
the age difference he was three years her junior.
But when all was said
done and despite all their differences they promptly went and fell in love.
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