Staff Nurse in the Tyrol Read Free Page B

well, then?”
    Sonia glared at him and then softened it into a smile hastily. “Not ill. I’m a nurse and I’m going to work there.”
    There was no doubting the mockery in his expression now. “How very interesting. I wonder how many of your patients can speak English. By the way, which hospital are you going to grace with your presence? There are several, you know.”
    Sonia began to think she was living in a nightmare. “I had it written down on a slip of paper, but I can’t find it. We went by tram last time.”
    “H’mm. That doesn’t sound like the hospital in Maximilian - strasse.”
    “No, it wasn’t that one. I know, because Greta was going to take me there as well, only we didn’t have time.”
    He looked at her thoughtfully. “If only you had gone by train I would have said it was the one at Solbad Hall, run by the nuns.”
    “There were some nuns, but there were sisters as well on some of the wards,” Sonia said timidly.
    “What did you say your friend’s name was?” he asked abruptly.
    Sonia stared at him. “Greta Helptmann,” she said slowly.
    The man laughed, but there was no merriment in it. “I might have known it.” He handed some coins to the porter and spoke to him rapidly in German.
    Sonia watched in bewilderment while her cases were put into the taxi. Then with a little bow he gestured toward the back seat. “If you would like to get in...”
    Sonia obeyed with the feeling that the situation was completely out of her control. But she was too tired to protest. The sleep she hadn’t had on her journey was beginning to press down on her, making her brain feel like cotton wool. She was almost beyond surprise when he climbed in beside her and slammed the door. He leaned forward and spoke to the driver.
    The taxi started off with a leap that jolted them into a friendliness that neither of them felt.
    “You needn’t worry. I’m not kidnapping you. That’s not my line. But if you’re going to work at the same hospital as Greta, I might as well introduce myself. I’m Michael Bradbury, surgeon, at the Krankenhaus St. Anton out beyond Berg-Isel, which I presume is the hospital you want.”
    Sonia drew a deep breath. “You must be the English surgeon Greta was telling me about.” Was it only her imagination that he looked embarrassed and angry?
    “For my sins, I expect I am.” He looked at her more closely. “Greta didn’t return the compliment. What is your name?”
    For some absurd reason she was reluctant to give it. “Sonia Allison,” she said at last.
    “You look like a Sonia,” he said unexpectedly. “I don’t know about you, but I’m starving. Shall we drop the luggage at the hospital, leave a message for Greta who probably had to change her off-duty at the last moment, and have lunch?”
    Sonia hesitated. She couldn’t fathom why he attracted her and infuriated her in the same breath. Perhaps it was because he appeared so sure of himself, and it had the effect of making her feel the exact opposite.
    He smiled, and it was a strangely warm one. “Please say yes.”
    For some reason this made her laugh. “Yes, thank you very much. I am hungry,” she admitted frankly. “Breakfast seems such a long time ago.”
    “Didn’t you have something on the train?”
    “By the time I had worked out the right word and the price, the attendant had reached the other end of the train.”
    “It’s far quicker if you just point at what you want, then hold out a handful of small change and say danke schon rather helplessly. They’re so flattered by your two German words and the fact that you’ve used them that they rush to your assistance.”
    “I’ll remember that next time.” She began to watch for familiar landmarks.
    She could see the red trams in front of them leaping along the track like toys. There was Mont Isel ahead and soon there would be a glimpse of the statue of Andreas Hofer. Above were the wooded slopes of the hills rising toward Igls and Lans.
    “Why have