Nightingale Read Free Page B

‘We can actually ticket some of these men and organise their care better. Right now they’re all taking matters into their own hands.’
    â€˜I am aware of that, Nightingale.’
    â€˜They’re dying, Matron.’
    Her supervisor sighed. ‘They’ll die here too.’
    â€˜Yes, but at least they’ll die hearing a woman’s voice speaking kindly to them. Most of those boys need a mother as much as the morphine. A tender touch can do a world of good to their state of mind.’
    â€˜You’re as soft as you are daring, Nurse Nightingale. I hope you don’t have to face the Western Front lines because that romantic soul of yours is going to be badly scarred.’ Matron paused. ‘What is it about you, Claire? I can tell you about each of my staff: why they became nurses, why they volunteered for a war zone, why they do what they do. Most of them had the calling or felt the need to be doing something meaningful with their lives. But you remain an enigma to me. I like you very much, you’re a brilliant young nurse, but sometimes you strike me as a ghost.’
    Claire laughed, puzzled. ‘A ghost?’
    â€˜Indeed. You move among us sometimes as if invisible, not wanting to leave a mark.’
    â€˜Sometimes I do feel like that,’ she admitted, further impressed by her elder’s insight.
    Matron smiled and her expression was filled with kind concern. ‘Why would you ask to go ashore when you know it’s so dangerous?’
    She stared at Matron, slightly flustered. ‘It’s my job. Surely we —’
    â€˜No need to patronise me, Nurse Nightingale. I’ve got three decades on you and deserve honesty.’
    Claire’s shoulders slumped. ‘I lost another patient this morning. He didn’t even have stubble on his chin he was so young.’
    â€˜They’re mostly heartbreakingly young. Why did this one make such an impression on you?’
    She folded her arms in a protective gesture. ‘His eyes reminded me of childhood summers in Cornwall with my father – happy times.’ Claire sighed in memory. ‘And then I saw his tag and it told me his surname was Cornish.’ She shrugged apologetically. ‘It was as though it was a message to me. I started to think about his mother.’
    â€˜Most unwise. Didn’t we teach you that?’
    â€˜Easy to learn, hard to put into practice. And even more unwisely, his death got me thinking about my own family.’
    â€˜And?’ Matron pressed.
    â€˜That the few people I love are no longer alive. And it occurred to me that should I die in some foreign land like young Cornish, it really wouldn’t matter to anyone.’ She watched Matron’s expression turn fractionally exasperated as she opened her mouth to respond but Claire hurried on. ‘No, it’s true, Matron. There is no one hoping to hear from me. I move from place to place, belonging nowhere and to no one. The person I’m closest to is Rosie Parsons and I met Rosie six weeks ago. I’m twenty-five, Matron; don’t you think it’s odd that in a quarter of a century I have no one who might be touched in any way should I die?’
    â€˜Claire, how very bleak of you.’
    She gave a sad smile. ‘Sorry. But you did insist.’
    Matron squeezed Claire’s wrist with concern. ‘And being adventurous soothes this mood?’
    â€˜No, but I am a logical choice for a dangerous task. The most I have to lose is my life, and as no one cares about it, I’ll endanger it willingly if it saves another person who matters to someone.’
    â€˜And is this why you took up nursing, Claire? Did you go into this vocation simply so that you would have people to care for?’
    â€˜I . . . I don’t know.’ She hesitated, caught by the insightful suggestion that she suspected was true. ‘More likely it’s because of my father, whom I adored.