The Liverpool Nightingales, page 18
It was time for the probationers to move wards and to Maud’s absolute relief she was going to Female Surgical. Yes, she had started to get used to the male bodies, but she knew that she would be instantly more comfortable on a female ward. She was really looking forward to it and she would be with Eddy again. Alice would be moving to Male Medical and they hadn’t heard from Nancy yet but they were praying that she wouldn’t be given the same as Alice. Alice had enough to deal with, without that. For Maud the move was good because the ward was still surgical. Despite her ups and downs with Sister Law, the Sister had kept her promise to make sure that Maud spent as much time as possible in theatre and she had been in there so often now that she was able to help with laying out the instruments, dressing wounds and even on one occasion had been allowed to administer the drops of chloroform under Dr McKendrick’s close supervision. Sister Law had said that she had spoken to Mr Jones and he would make sure that Sister Pritchard on Female Surgical allowed Maud to go into theatre as often as she could be spared so that her training would continue.
For some reason Maud had expected that the female patients would be operated on by a female surgeon but Eddy had said, ‘Don’t be daft, there aren’t any women doctors, never mind surgeons.’
‘Well, I think there should be,’ said Maud firmly.
‘I agree,’ said Eddy, ‘and I have heard that there is one in America. Sister Cleary told me about a Dr Elizabeth Blackwell. She is the first woman ever to graduate from medical school and she had to fight to get in there. Anyway, now she’s opened her own infirmary, just for women, in New York.’
‘Just women, in the whole hospital?’
‘Yes!’
How wonderful, thought Maud, to work with a female doctor and in a whole hospital with no male patients whatsoever. I would love to work in a place like that.
It was their final week on Male Surgical and the time had gone by quickly, though to Maud it seemed like a lifetime ago since she had been sitting by Alfred’s bed as a visitor. She was so glad that she had at last been able to get up to the school to see the boy. She’d gone up there on an afternoon off only to be told by a man at the door that the school was closed to visitors that day. She had stood there outside the stone walls of the grand building straining her ears for any sound of the children but there had been nothing but silence. And the man at the door must have seen the look on her face and taken pity on her, so he shouted over and said he could let her into the courtyard for just five minutes so that she could see the child.
‘What is the orphan’s name?’ he had asked and Maud had felt ridiculous tears springing to her eyes as she’d said, ‘Alfred.’
‘Right, miss, you wait there,’ said the man, and after what seemed an absolute age Maud heard the sound of Alfred running across the stone flags. Then he launched himself at her and she was so overwhelmed she could hardly speak. Alfred led her over to a wooden bench where they could sit and then he rummaged for a handkerchief in the pocket of his blue uniform jacket and handed it to her so that she could dry her tears.
He told her about the lessons in maths and English and the reading that he was doing, and he was so full of excitement with everything. He slept in a dormitory and the discipline was strict but he hadn’t been beaten once yet. The food was good, too, much better than at the workhouse. Maud felt her heart swell with pride as she sat and listened to him and she would have loved to have been able to go in and see one of the classrooms, but the man was soon looking at her and it was time to leave.
‘I’ll see you again soon,’ she said to Alfred, blowing him a kiss as he marched steadfastly back inside the building.
Once Maud was outside the gate she smiled to herself and knew for sure that the bond she had with Alfred would survive whether she was able to visit him regularly or not. As she walked away she put her hand in her pocket and felt the brown sock, still sitting there. With all the rush to see him she’d forgotten to give it to him. Never mind, she’d thought, I’ll take it next time.
Maud found that she had been standing in the middle of the ward gazing at the bed that had been Alfred’s and now that her mind was back on the present she glanced up the ward to make sure that she hadn’t been caught dawdling by Sister Law. It was a good job they were quiet that afternoon – unusually quiet – or else she’d have been in trouble for sure.
But as she walked away to start the extra cleaning that she and Alice had volunteered to do at the bottom of the ward, Maud’s head was once more full of what Eddy had said about that female doctor in New York. She was wondering if, when Alfred had finished his schooling, and she was a qualified nurse, she could take him. They could go to America together and she could find work at that infirmary for women.
Maud and Alice had volunteered to do the cleaning mainly because they wanted to keep out of the way of Sister Law and, of course, Nancy, who were both up at the other end. For Maud, the cleaning was easy but she could see that Alice was starting to have a bit of trouble bending over so she did all the hard to reach places. As she was crouching down, cleaning the legs of a bed, she saw Miss Merryweather come marching through the door into the ward. She was glad that she and Alice were busy: Miss Merryweather was an absolute stickler and did not take kindly to seeing any nurse standing idle. As she cleaned, Maud watched the superintendent walk up the ward, glancing from one side to the other, at the men in their beds. She was definitely on the prowl; anyone could see that. Then she disappeared from view and in moments they could hear the sound of her raised voice.
‘Nurse Sellers, why are you standing idle, tucked away in that corner when there is a patient in this bed needing attention? Well?’
Maud could not hear Nancy’s response but she could hear Miss Merryweather saying, ‘Not good enough, Nurse Sellers. Get over there at once and sort that patient out. That’s what we are here for.’
Then there was silence, and moments later Miss Merryweather was coming back down the ward. Maud saw Alice try to duck down behind the bed they were cleaning, but it was too late: they had been seen.
They both held their breath as Miss Merryweather stood in front of them, looking over the bed that they were cleaning, but they could read nothing from her stern face. Maud glanced behind Miss Merryweather to the beds on each side of the ward, visually checking where she could, trying to see if any of the patients were in need of something. There was one man looking forlornly in their direction. Uh-oh, she thought, now we’re for it.
Then Miss Merryweather took a step closer to them and said, ‘Well done, girls. Your patients this end are tended to, the beds are orderly and you are even getting on with some cleaning. Well done.’ Then she was gone, vanishing through the door as quickly as she had appeared.
Maud and Alice looked at each other and started to breathe again. ‘I was going to say that was a close shave,’ said Maud, ‘but, you know what? Me and you are a good team and we always keep ourselves busy, so well done us.’
When Maud looked up the ward again she could see Nancy heading into the sluice with a urinal, and the moment before she pushed the door open Maud saw her glare down the ward and give her and Alice a look of pure rage. Clearly she had heard everything that Miss Merryweather had said to them.
‘Oh dear,’ said Alice, ‘we’re in for it now.’
‘Don’t you worry,’ said Maud. ‘I’ll deal with her if she starts threatening you again.’
After the cleaning was done Maud was heading up to the sluice room to empty a bowl of water when she heard a ‘Psssst’ from the ward doorway. She couldn’t see anyone, but then she heard it again: ‘Psssst.’ This time when she looked she could see a man with a dog in his arms, a dog with long, dangly legs and a rough-looking coat, quite a big dog for somebody to carry. That’s when she realized that she had seen the dog before, and the man who was carrying it was, of course, Harry Donahue. The dog was bigger up close than she thought it would be but he had it bundled up in his arms as if it was a baby.
She marched over to the door. ‘What are you doing here?’ she said. ‘What do you want?’
‘I want to see you,’ Harry said, and this time there was no twinkle in his eye. In fact, he looked a bit upset.
‘Are you all right?’ asked Maud.
‘I am, but me dog isn’t. She’s been crying out in pain and she can’t put weight on her front paw.’
‘Oh dear,’ said Maud, seeing the look of pain in the dog’s eyes and the way its ears were laid back flat against its head. And when she touched it she could feel that it was trembling. ‘Oh, poor thing,’ said Maud, stroking the dog’s head.
‘Is there anything that you can do?’ said Harry.
‘I don’t really know about dogs,’ said Maud.
‘You have to have a look at her,’ said Harry, and she could see that he had tears in his eyes. ‘I’ve already asked a horse doctor and all he said was I should just knock it on the head and put it out of its misery. I can’t do that. We’ve been together seven years; she’s the only family I’ve got.’
‘I see,’ said Maud, very surprised by the genuine heartache that was showing on Harry’s face. She had thought that he was all show and gab, with very little substance, but she could see just how much he cared about his dog, and it made her realize that there was another side to Harry Donahue. That was very unexpected.
‘Well, I can’t do anything just now,’ she said, ‘but I’m finishing in an hour or so and I’ll meet you out at the front of the Infirmary, if you like, by the big gate. I’ll have a look at the dog then. I can’t make any promises – I don’t know anything about dogs – but I’ll bring some lint and a bandage with me, see if that will do any good.’
‘Will you?’ said Harry, sounding grateful. ‘I’ll go and see if I can find a drink for her. Thank you.’ And he staggered off with his dog.
As Maud turned she was almost trampled by Nancy Sellers. ‘Who were you talking to?’ Nancy said. ‘Was that Harry Donahue?’
Maud was shocked. Nancy hadn’t spoken to her for weeks so to be confronted by her now, and so earnestly, was very unexpected indeed. For a moment she couldn’t speak. She was just opening her mouth to form some kind of reply when there was shouting outside the ward and they both had to stand back as the orderlies ploughed through with a man on a stretcher screaming his head off.
The man was covered in soot and, to Maud’s horror, she knew exactly who it was straight away. It was Mr Greer. Nancy took one look at the man and turned away, moving far enough off so that she wouldn’t need to get involved with the new admission, but not so far that she wouldn’t be able to hear exactly what was going on.
‘You see to that admission, Nurse Linklater,’ shouted Sister Law from the top of the ward, ‘and then report back to me.’
‘Yes, Sister,’ said Maud as she tried to fight off the feeling of dread that had crept over her like a heavy blanket.
The orderlies dumped Greer on to the nearest bed and didn’t even pass any comment. They were out through the door before anyone could say anything. Except Greer himself, of course. He was screaming after them, ‘I am William Greer, master sweep. I need to see the finest surgeon. I need to be back at work immediately. I have left a full set of brushes – those damn new-fangled brushes – jammed up a chimney.’
Maud took a deep breath. There was no way round it: she would have to stride up to the bed and do her duty and hope that he didn’t recognize her in a nurse’s uniform.
‘Please try to calm down,’ she said. ‘As you can see, we have many patients on the ward and most of them are much more poorly than you.’
Greer switched round, remarkably lively for a man who had just been admitted. ‘Don’t you speak to me like that,’ he said. ‘I will not see some slip of a nurse about my injury. I need to see a surgeon … NOW.’ Then she heard him catch his breath and she saw his eyes register who he was speaking to. ‘YOU,’ he said. ‘It’s you! It is your fault that I’ve ended up in here. You forced me to hand over my climbing boy. You took him from me and told Miss Fairchild a bunch of lies. AND THEN none of them on Devonshire Square, my best customers, would have me back until I got some of those newfangled brushes. They are useless, useless, and my back is just about broke from fitting ’em together and shoving ’em up chimneys. And I have to do all the work, turning ’em, sweeping ’em, and they bring down clouds of soot. That can’t be any good for my chest. They will be the death of me, the death of me …’ His voice trailed off and he hung his head.
Just for a moment Maud felt sorry for him. He seemed like a man from a different age, rapidly being left behind, and she wasn’t sure if he would recover.
Then he lifted his head and spat at her, ‘You will pay for this. You are nothing but a cheap housemaid.’
That was the end of Maud’s sympathy. She caught her breath. Then she felt her mouth form into a hard line and when her voice came out it was controlled. ‘Right then, Mr Greer, could you give me some account of what has happened today?’
‘Happened, happened? This has not just ’appened, it has been done to me, and now look at me.’
‘Where is your injury?’ said Maud.
‘Injury? You stand there and ask me about my injury. Me whole self is injured, body and soul.’
‘Look, you need to tell—’
‘I will not tell you nothing!’ yelled Greer at her face and she could feel a spray of spittle landing on her cheek and on her lips. She took out her pocket handkerchief and wiped her face with it. When she looked at him again, his eyes were wide and white against the black of his skin, his mouth set in some kind of snarl.
‘I will ask you again,’ she said, keeping her voice steady.
‘You will not,’ he yelled, then grabbed hold of the front of her uniform, pulling her roughly towards him, right up to his face. Maud was terrified but she would not let him see.
‘You will tell me where my climbing boy is,’ he said.
‘Never,’ she said.
He pulled her tighter and she gasped, not able to breathe properly. She could hear some of the other patients shouting, ‘Sister, Sister,’ up the ward.
And then Maud saw Greer’s face change and he leant back away from her. At the other side of the bed she saw that someone had laid a hand on his shoulder and was hissing into his ear, ‘Let go of my nurse now.’ He did so instantly.
It was Miss Houston. Where had she come from? Maud couldn’t speak. She couldn’t even thank her as she stood trying to regain her balance and collect herself and then, seeing the marks of soot on the front of her uniform, she took out her pocket handkerchief and tried to wipe it clean.
‘Now tell me what your problem is,’ said Miss Houston to Greer. ‘I want you seen by the doctor and out of this ward as soon as possible.’
Greer seemed momentarily stuck for words and then Miss Houston looked over to Maud and said in a gentle voice, ‘Are you all right, Nurse Linklater?’
Maud nodded.
‘Right, you get yourself off duty. Go now. I will see to this patient and I will let Sister Law know.’
‘Thank you,’ said Maud, tears starting to spring to her eyes, not so much at what had happened but at the kindness in Miss Houston’s voice.
‘Please can I take a bandage and some lint with me?’
‘Yes, of course,’ said Miss Houston, not even asking what they were for.
As Maud moved away from the bed she saw Nancy by the sluice door. She seemed to have been watching and listening to everything that had been going on. There was nothing to read from her face but as Maud went by Nancy muttered something like, ‘Trying to get yourself well in with her as well, are you? Well, you’d better watch out, you and that pregnant friend of yours. You’d both better watch out.’
Maud was still rattled from what had just happened so she was quite numb to what Nancy was saying, but when she mentioned Alice she felt anger rise inside her. She turned and looked straight at Nancy without saying anything, just looked at her until Nancy looked away. Then Maud moved on, feeling fierce and very strong.
As Maud approached the gate outside the Infirmary she didn’t see Harry or the dog at first. She thought that Harry must have changed his mind and gone back to the horse doctor after all, but then she saw them sitting on the ground leaning against the wall and she couldn’t help it, her heart soared. Harry had a protective arm around the dog and it was leaning against him, but as soon as he saw Maud he stood up and the dog let out a pitiful yelp. She saw the look of pain on Harry’s face as he instantly crouched back down to try to soothe the dog.
Maud knelt down beside them and gently stroked the dog’s head. It was easy to see which paw was injured because the dog was holding it up off the ground.
‘Poor thing,’ said Maud to the dog. ‘Poor, poor thing. Now what have you been doing?’ She looked at Harry and, seeing the concern on his face, her heart almost melted.
‘She just started limping all of a sudden. She jumped down from a banking. It was when we were in the park, when I was sparring with a mate. She’d been running around and then she jumped down and she was yelping like she was being murdered or summat. And she couldn’t stop. It was terrible. And then she was trembling and panting and she couldn’t put the front paw down, so I’ve been carrying her round everywhere ever since.’
‘Right,’ said Maud, starting to smile inside at the thought of this tough bare-knuckle fighter lumping a dog around the streets of Liverpool. ‘What’s her name?’
‘She’s called Rita, after a woman I knew once,’ he said.
Maud raised her eyebrows but didn’t pass any comment.
‘All right, Rita,’ she said, ‘let’s see if there is anything we can do to help you, just let me have a feel at this paw …’ But as soon as she touched the paw Rita yelped and Maud jumped back, feeling the noise like a knife going right through her.
