The Liverpool Nightingales, page 10
‘I will,’ said Maud, anxious now to get on with the work and surprised at how quickly she was able to collect herself.
For some reason, she was not fearful of the man. Cautious, of course, but not afraid. After all, if he had wanted to hurt her he could have done it there and then. Clearly, although he was still drunk from the night before or delirious as a result of the beating, he had some restraint. She was able to take account of that, and now that he was laid back on the bed and seemed to have slipped once more into some kind of sleep she felt in charge again. In the next moment she was able to kneel down by the side of the bed and speak to him very calmly.
‘You’ve been injured and you’re in hospital.’
‘I bloody well know where I am,’ snapped the man, wiping a hand across his eyes before twisting his head to the side and looking Maud full in the face.
His eyes were green. Maud couldn’t speak.
‘I need to get going,’ he said. ‘Where’s my dog?’
Maud tried to speak but no words would come out.
‘I need to find it,’ said the man, propping himself up on his elbows.
‘I haven’t seen a dog,’ said Maud. ‘No one mentioned a dog.’
‘Where’s my dog?’ said the man again, this time pushing himself up and swinging his legs over the side of the bed.
Maud leant out of his way. She could tell by the look on his face that he was determined and he was very strong. So she let him move and gave him some space.
But as he heaved himself up from the bed and on to his feet, he immediately lurched to one side. Maud was there in a flash, steadying him and firmly guiding him back to the safety of the bed.
‘Let go of me,’ he said, looking at her with such intensity she felt her own legs might give way.
‘You can’t go yet,’ said Maud. ‘We need to report back to Sister. She’s the only one who can discharge you.’
‘Report away,’ said the man, ‘but I’m leaving right now.’ With that he started to walk up the ward, unsteady but finding his legs the further he went. Maud was quick to catch up with him and gently took his arm, trying to reason with him, but he wrenched free and strode out through the door. She knew by his behaviour that any further attempt would only antagonize him and he was set to leave the ward whatever she said or did, so she let him go.
Moments later she heard Sister Law shouting down the ward, ‘Where’s that man? Where is he? Doctor wants to see him.’
‘He’s gone,’ Maud called back apologetically. ‘I tried my best to stop him but—’
‘Gone? Oh, for goodness’ sake,’ shouted Sister. ‘Well, don’t stand idle. Move along to another patient. And make sure you strip that bed and get it ready for the next admission. No, wait a minute, Nurse Sampson can do that. You come here and work with Nurse Sellers. I want to make sure that you are shown the proper way to do things on the ward.’
Maud’s heart sank instantly but there was nothing she could do. An order from Sister was an order. ‘See you later,’ she said to Alice as she lifted her chin and walked up the ward.
Working with Nancy was the last thing that Maud wanted to do that day but there was no way that she would let any of the staff or patients know how she was feeling. She would get on with her work in the best way that she could. Maud had not spoken about her feelings for Nancy to anyone, not even Alice. It wasn’t in her nature to engage in tittle-tattle but there was something about Nancy that made her feel that she had to be very careful about what she said to anyone. Alice always seemed to be in Nancy’s thrall – she could see that – and although she trusted Alice, whom she knew for sure was a kind soul, she sensed the power that Nancy held over her.
So, she would just have to make the best of it. She had no choice.
‘Sister wants me to show you how to lay out a body,’ said Nancy haughtily. ‘Do you think you can manage that?’
‘Yes, of course,’ said Maud, making sure that Nancy had no inkling that her condescending attitude, probably deliberate, was making her feel riled already.
‘Right then,’ said Nancy, setting off up the ward to the top bed where a table stood ready with a bowl of water, some towels and a stack of clean linen.
Maud stood looking at the body for a few moments. She had seen a few in her time, including one of the family who had died at the big house, but this was the first time that she had helped lay anyone out. Although there had been a number of deaths on Male Medical, Sister had said that she wanted her to feel more comfortable and get a grip of nursing the living before she moved on to the dead, so she had not been allocated this particular duty. She stood now looking down at the dead body of a man that she had never known, not even as a patient, feeling that she just needed to take a few moments to collect herself and say a few words in her head out of respect for him.
She heard Nancy tut as she threw a towel across at her. ‘Are you ready?’
‘Yes, of course,’ replied Maud, setting her mouth in a determined line.
‘First we wash the body,’ said Nancy, setting to with the cloth like she was wiping down a sideboard. There was absolutely no tenderness in her touch, none at all. ‘You dry,’ she ordered, pointing to the towel.
Maud did as she was told, but with much more sensitivity for the poor soul. She knew that he deserved to be treated with the same tenderness and respect as the living. Who knew what he was leaving behind and who was mourning him now?
‘Now we’ve done the front we can slip on the shroud. It opens down the back,’ said Nancy, holding it up for inspection.
Once the shroud was slipped over the man’s arms Nancy continued her instructions. ‘Right, we need to roll him over so I can wash his back and then fasten him up behind. You roll him over towards you and then hold him, all right?’
‘Yes,’ said Maud calmly, not wasting any time and pulling the man over towards her. But as she rolled him he let out a low groan, an unearthly sound. Shocked, Maud couldn’t help but let go of him. ‘He’s alive,’ she said. ‘He must be.’
‘No, no, silly,’ said Nancy with a small smile on her face. ‘Of course he isn’t alive. It’s normal for them to make that noise when you roll them over. It’s just the air coming out of the lungs.’
Well, you could have told me, thought Maud, beginning to see the sense of it and knowing that she would be prepared the next time she was asked to perform last offices.
After they had finished the laying out, the orderlies were summoned to remove the body from the ward, and then Maud got on with the job of washing the bed down with soap and water before making it up again with clean linen. She hadn’t seen Nancy for a while, not since she had headed into the sluice with the bowl of water, and she had been glad to be left to work alone. Checking that the corners on the bed linen were perfect, she noticed one of the cloths that they had used lying discarded on the floor. She picked it up and headed into the sluice with it.
As soon as the door opened she saw that Nancy was still in there and she switched round instantly to face Maud. As they stood suspended in the moment Maud drew in a sharp breath as she saw Nancy slipping a small bottle or flask of something into her pocket, as quick as lightning. There was a faint smell of strong liquor in there as well; she was sure that’s what it was.
So that’s what you’re up to, thought Maud, remembering a maid with a nasty temperament that they’d had at the big house who had been dismissed in the end for secret drinking. I’ve got your measure, Nancy Sellers.
Maud smiled at Nancy and held out the cloth to her but she did not take it straight away. Instead she held Maud’s gaze and in those few moments a clear message passed between them. Nancy knew that Maud was fully aware of her secret drinking and Maud knew for sure just how ruthless and defiant Nancy could be. Then Nancy took the cloth with a small smile and turned her back on Maud.
Maud went straight out of the sluice, feeling that she needed to breathe. It had been suffocating in there. She was shaking inside and needed to take a few deep breaths to try to settle herself. Then she felt some inner strength start to unfold and she lifted her chin and walked down the ward, anxious to find Alice and wanting to be back down at the other end of the ward where she could check on Alfred and keep well out of Nancy’s way.
Alfred had a visitor, someone that Maud hadn’t seen for a while. Miss Fairchild was sitting by his bed, and Maud could have hugged her, she was so pleased to see her familiar face.
‘How are you doing?’ said Miss Fairchild warmly.
‘All right, I think,’ said Maud, trying to smile. ‘It’s still early days, of course, and there is so much to learn and get used to, but, yes, all right.’
‘As you know, we still miss you at the house,’ said Miss Fairchild. ‘I know I’ve said this before but someone like you can’t be replaced easily. So if it doesn’t work out here, you know that you can come straight back to us. You do know that, don’t you?’
‘I know that, and thank you,’ said Maud, feeling her stomach tighten as Nancy sauntered past the bottom of Alfred’s bed.
‘I was just telling young Alfred here that they are expecting him up at the Blue Coat School tomorrow. I know you are busy here and your shifts are long, but if I take him up there in the afternoon, do you think that you could check on him later in the week or just as soon as you can?’
‘Are you sure he’s ready to go?’ said Maud, suddenly feeling worried about the boy leaving and going somewhere that she couldn’t readily keep an eye on him.
‘Yes, yes, I’ve spoken to that Sister. She says he needs to wear the sling for a few more weeks but he is definitely ready to go.’
‘I will be fine,’ said Alfred, sensing Maud’s concern. ‘You get on with your nursing. There is no need to come up there to check on me, not if you’re busy.’
‘Of course I will come. I will try to see you every week if I can,’ said Maud, not really knowing why she felt so anxious when she should be happy and relieved that the boy wasn’t going back to the workhouse or, worse still, returning to Mr Greer’s house. She hadn’t thought about Greer for ages and now that she did she felt a small shudder go through her body.
As if she was reading her mind Miss Fairchild said, ‘It’s all straight with Mr Greer – I’ve made sure of that – and what’s more I’ve heard that he has purchased one of those mechanical sweeping brushes.’
‘Really?’ said Maud. ‘So no more climbing boys, then.’
‘No more climbing boys,’ said Miss Fairchild, glancing at Alfred.
Thank goodness, thought Maud, thinking about what state the boy had been in when she first laid eyes on him and how afraid he had been at first on the ward. And look at him now – what a change! A change for him and for me, she thought. We have moved together.
‘Walk back with me this evening,’ said Miss Fairchild. ‘I know you are finishing your shift soon so come for tea.’
‘I’d love to,’ said Maud, feeling a surge of relief at the thought of such easy and welcome company. ‘I will have to go back to the Home first to change out of my uniform but, yes, thank you, that’s a lovely idea.’
As Maud strolled away from the Infirmary that evening with Miss Fairchild she saw the man who she had tended to on the ward that morning, the one who had tried to grab her. She was certain it was him; she wouldn’t have been able to mistake him anywhere. Even as she was telling herself that was because of his unusual dark-green jacket she knew if she was honest that it was much more than that.
He must have found his dog, she thought, seeing a thin brown beast with long legs and a tail like a whip trotting beside him. She had seen dogs like that before with the tinkers and pedlars who sometimes called at the big house. The man and the dog were walking at quite a pace but she admired the way the dog was moving with him, steadfast by his side.
She was glad to see the man walking steadily and not showing any sign of his injury. He must be all right. Looks like he’s heading somewhere in a hurry, probably back to the pub, she thought, remembering the smell of beer on him. Which reminded her of that other, musky smell, that special smell that made her skin tingle even now just thinking about it again.
‘Seen any interesting cases on the ward today?’ said Miss Fairchild.
‘One or two,’ said Maud vaguely, glancing after the man once more before he rounded the corner to follow his own route, which seemed to be in the opposite direction to theirs.
7
‘The most important practical lesson that can be given to nurses is to teach them what to observe …’
Florence Nightingale
As Maud and Alice stripped the bed the next day after Alfred had gone with Miss Fairchild, they found a brown, woollen sock between the sheets that must have slipped off the boy’s skinny foot.
Alice picked it up, holding it out to her. ‘Look at that, Maud. He’s left his little sock. You’ll want to keep that, I know you will.’
Maud took the sock and shoved it in her pocket. ‘Thank you. I’ll take it up for him when I go to visit. Then he’ll have a matching pair.’
‘You are so practical,’ said Alice, bundling up the sheets and taking them over to the laundry basket. ‘I would want to put it in a special box and keep it for ever.’
‘Maybe,’ said Maud, turning her back on Alice to look up the ward, seemingly for another bed to strip. In fact, seeing the sock lying there had given her an ache in her chest and she knew that she had to move on quickly to stop Alice from going on about the sock and making her feel worse.
‘Right, next bed to strip over there,’ she said, moving across the ward with Alice following.
Then they both stopped in their tracks as they heard a sharp voice shouting down the ward, ‘Nurse Sampson, Nurse Sampson, we need you up this end.’
‘That’s Nancy,’ said Alice. ‘Best go. Sorry, Maud.’
‘That’s all right,’ said Maud, giving her a tight smile. She knew that Alice would never challenge Nancy but why, exactly, thought Maud, does Nancy think that she can give orders and tell people what to do? She is at the same stage of training as Alice, they are both in the same set, there is absolutely no reason why she should think herself superior in any way. Nancy is not ‘in charge’ of anyone.
There was nothing that Maud could do about the situation yet – she was those few weeks behind Nancy – but she had the measure of her already and she knew that when the time came she would not be taking any orders from Nurse Sellers.
So she busied herself at the other end of the ward. Maud never worried about working on her own. She had no problem checking on the patients who needed poultices, and she had even become adept at applying leeches. She had always been capable of getting on with work and quietly using her initiative. She would only need another person, not Nancy if she could help it, to assist her moving a patient. Otherwise she was fine.
However, the time when she might need to call for assistance came sooner than she expected as the two orderlies, with whom she was becoming increasingly familiar, came in through the door with a man on a stretcher. Maud knew as soon as she saw the head of black curly hair who the patient was and she had to be firm with herself to stop her knees going slightly weak.
‘What’s happened?’ she asked Michael, the man at the head of the stretcher.
‘Oh, he’ll be all right,’ Michael Delaney assured her. ‘It’s the other fella you need to be worrying about: he’s knocked out cold. The docs are still workin’ on ’im.’
‘What do you mean?’ said Maud. ‘Have they been fighting?’
‘They have that,’ said Michael. ‘These fellas are always at it. In fact, I ’ad a bet on the other fella to win. He’s a real big bugger. I’ve no idea how this fella managed to knock ’im out – he’s only half the size – but he’s wick, is this one, and quick on his feet. He’s not been beaten yet.’
‘What?’ said Maud. ‘Are they always fighting? Do they have a quarrel or something?’
‘Nah,’ said the man, looking at her as if she was daft. ‘These lads are bare-knuckle fighters. They’re set up in matches – have you never seen ’em?’
‘No, I haven’t,’ said Maud grimly, helping the men as they unloaded their patient on to what had been Alfred’s bed.
‘Must not move in the best circles like us,’ said Stephen, and both men starting chuckling, and then Michael was coughing and wheezing.
‘Right, Nurse,’ said Michael when he had his breath back, ‘you make sure you get him fixed up good. He’s due back for another bout tomorrow.’
‘Tomorrow!’ said Maud, horrified. ‘He could get killed.’
‘That’s the risk they take and they get paid good money for taking that risk, more than we earn in a month shifting the sick and the dead in and around this place.’
Maud looked down at the man on the bed, exasperated by the acceptance of such barbaric practice. He had his eyes open and he was trying to focus on her but he didn’t seem able to speak.
‘What’s his name?’ she called after the orderlies.
‘He’s Harry Donahue,’ the man at the head of the stretcher shouted back, ‘the now famous Harry Donahue. Who would have thought that he had a punch like that, knocking out the reigning champion with one blow?’
‘Harry Donahue,’ said Maud to herself, as she noticed that he was starting to close his eyes. She had no idea what to do with somebody who’d been in a fight and got punched about the head but she didn’t think it was a good idea to let him sleep so she gave him a gentle nudge. ‘Harry, Harry Donahue, open your eyes,’ she said, seeing him give a slurry smile in reply.
Well, at least his nose didn’t look any more crooked than it was last time he was in, she thought, so no more damage done there, but she could see some new bruising on his face and a small cut above his eye. She looked at his hands and saw the knuckles were raw and bleeding again, and this time the left hand looked quite swollen. She thought that getting a bowl of water and trying to clean some of the muck off him might be a good start so she made for the sluice.
