Home Front Girls

the woman . . . but as worrying about it wasn’t going to get the rest of her jobs done, she hastened away and got on with things. VADs were famous for being good at that. They had to be.
     
    ‘So, Smythe, the Ward Sister has spoken very highly of you,’ Madam told Annabelle as she stood before her desk a few hours later. Annabelle still felt apprehensive, but at least the woman’s opening words had sounded hopeful. Perhaps she wasn’t in trouble, after all?
    ‘As you know, I don’t usually encourage friendships between staff and patients, but the Ward Sister has informed me that your company seems to act like a tonic for young Mr Ford, which is why I have let you stay on that ward.’
    Annabelle shifted uneasily from foot to foot but remained tight-lipped as the older woman went on, ‘Because Mr Ford is so much improved now, we are thinking of transferring him to a convalescent home sometime next week. We desperately need the beds and find that patients tend to recuperate much better when their relatives can visit. However, I understand that Mr Ford has recently lost two members of his family and so I hoped that you would be able to tell me if there is anyone left to visit and care for him when he is eventually discharged?’
    ‘Oh yes, there is,’ Annabelle told her. ‘My friend, Lucy, is Joel – Mr Ford’s sister. They share a house in Coventry.’
    ‘And do you think she would be capable of caring for him? I’m afraid his leg is still very fragile and it may be some long time before he can get about on it properly again, even after he leaves the convalescent home.’
    ‘I’m sure Lucy would cope. In fact, I know she’d be delighted to have him home. He is all she has left in the way of family now.’
    ‘In that case I shall arrange a transfer just as soon as I can. Thank you, Smythe.’ Annabelle smiled and turned to go, but Madam stopped her then when she added sternly, ‘And Smythe, whilst I accept a friendship, I would frown on a romance. Do you understand what I am saying?’
    ‘Yes, I understand, Madam,’ the girl said quietly. ‘And I assure you there is nothing between Mr Ford and myself other than friendship.’
    ‘I’m pleased to hear it. It just wouldn’t do to go setting a precedent for the other girls, would it?’
    Annabelle’s chin set as she marched back to the ward. It was commonly known that the patients flirted outrageously with the nurses and most of the girls could give as good as they got. Annabelle had even heard of the odd romance or two that had flared up. But she could understand why Madam insisted on that rule. Not that there was anything to worry about with her and Joel. He had never behaved as anything other than a perfect gentleman, and even if he had – what good would it have done? Who would ever want her now when they discovered that she didn’t even know who her birth mother was? Shaking her head, she went off to resume her duties. She had learned the hard way that there was no sense in wallowing in self-pity. She just had to make the best of things now.

Chapter Thirty-Six
     
    The Ward Sister was waiting for Annabelle when she got back onto the ward and without preamble she told her, ‘I’d like you to go and sit with young Private Reed in the side ward if you wouldn’t mind, Smythe.’ She shook her head sadly. ‘He’s deteriorating rapidly now and there’s nothing more that we can do for him, poor soul. But at least somebody can be there to hold his hand at the end. That’s the least we can do for him, isn’t it? No one should face death alone. His name is Johnny, by the way.’
    Annabelle was saddened but not really surprised considering the state the poor young man had been in when he arrived. His innards had been spilling out of his stomach and although the surgeons had worked diligently to repair him, an infection had set in and everyone knew that this might be the end for him. She had sat with many other men in much the same situation; the ones suffering with gangrene were the worst. Nothing could remove the foul smell of their afflicted limbs, and one poor man had been so bad that she had been forced to sit holding a handkerchief over her nose and mouth until he died.
    As she turned to go and do as she was told, the Sister warned her, ‘I’m afraid he’s delirious and keeps calling for his mother.’
    ‘I’ll cope,’ Annabelle replied, and seconds later she stood looking down on the wretched boy lying in the bed. He can’t be