Women on the Home Front (55 page)

‘Eva?' Connie knocked a little louder. But still no one came. She tried the door handle and the door wasn't locked. As she opened it, she was hit by the rank smell of vomit.

Eva was still in bed. She made no attempt to get up and the iron bedstead was rattling violently against the wall. Connie moved anxiously towards the untidy heap of bedclothes and saw at once that Eva was far from well. Her face was ashen and there was dried vomit all over the pillow, on her face and in her hair. She had her eyes half open but they were unfocused. When Connie said her name, there was no reaction at all. She looked as if she was frozen to death but when Connie touched her forehead, she was burning up.

Connie raced from the room and downstairs where she rang Home Sister on the internal phone. By the time Sister Abbott arrived, Connie had already fetched a bowl of warm water from the bathroom and was washing Eva's face. Sister Abbott took charge immediately and Connie was told to go for a doctor.

Dr Greene came straight away. Connie hovered by the door but Home Sister shooed her away. ‘There's no need for you to stay, nurse,' she said curtly.

‘Is she going to be all right?' Connie was really worried. Dr Greene was listening to Eva's chest.

‘It's nothing,' said Home Sister. ‘A touch of flu, that's all. Off you go now.'

Outside in the corridor, Connie looked at her fob watch. It was too late to go to the canteen; she had to get back on duty. She'd have to go without lunch. She stayed outside until Eva was stretchered to the nurses' sickbay and then ran all the way back to the ward.

Connie's first thought when she came off duty was Eva but the nurse on duty in the sickbay was reluctant to let her come in. ‘Sister will kill me,' she said looking nervously over her shoulder. ‘She said no visitors.'

‘But she's my friend,' Connie protested mildly. ‘I was the one who found her.'

The girl relented. Eva was just as pale but she had stopped trembling and looked more rested.

‘How are you feeling?' Connie whispered.

‘Terrible,' Eva croaked. ‘My head is banging and my mouth feels like the bottom of a parrot's cage.'

‘I thought you might be suffering from a hangover.'

‘Fat chance,' she said. ‘We're saving every bean we can to get married.'

‘Does he know you're here?'

Eva shook her head. ‘Don't tell him. He'll want to come and nobody must know about us.'

‘He'll be devastated if I don't tell him.'

Eva sighed. ‘Then tell him not to come.'

Connie nodded and thought that there was no way Steven would stay away once he knew. He was potty about her. ‘Get some sleep,' she said touching Eva lightly on the shoulder. ‘I'll come back tomorrow.'

‘Connie,' Eva whispered as she turned to go. ‘Tell my mum I'm here. I want …' her eyes filled with tears. ‘I want to see my mum.'

Connie's heart constricted. Talk to the Maxwells? Being best friends with Eva was one thing but making contact with the family was quite another. But one look at Eva's face and she knew she couldn't refuse. The girl looked so ill.

‘Have you got someone I could telephone in an emergency?'

Eva shook her head. ‘We're not as organised as you are.'

Connie swallowed hard. So she'd have to go in person. A tear rolled down Eva's cheek and Connie's heart went out to her. The poor girl had already suffered so much losing the love of her life and it was obvious that for just this once, she wanted to be a little girl again. She wanted her mum.

‘Don't you worry about a thing,' said Connie. ‘I'll get the bus over there as soon as I've changed.'

‘Thank you,' Eva mouthed.

Connie patted her arm. ‘Now you get some sleep. I'll come back tomorrow.'

Connie went back to her own room and changed quickly. She put on a smart hand-knitted twinset her mother had made and livened it up with a string of pearls from Woolworths. She wanted to create a good impression. As soon as she was ready, Connie wrote a note for Steven telling him to be cautious. ‘
Eva will be fine with rest
,' she told him. ‘
She sends her love.'
After that, Connie left the note in the pigeonhole Eva and Steven used.

The snow was receding all the time now and the bus services were back to normal. She didn't have to wait long. The house was part way up Durrington Hill, a Victorian cottage with grey flint work on the walls. The garden, although bare at this time of year, was neat and tidy and as she walked up the tiny path, she could hear someone playing the piano. Eva knocked on the door. When it opened a small rotund woman who looked like a much older version of Eva stood on the step.

‘Mrs Maxwell?' Connie began cautiously.

‘Yes.'

‘I'm a …' she almost said friend but drew back in case Mrs Maxwell took exception, ‘a work colleague of Eva's.'

Mrs Maxwell's face broke into a wide and welcoming smile. ‘Come in, come in, dear,' she said hurrying ahead of Connie. ‘Please excuse the mess.' She led Connie into the front room, taking off her wrap-over apron as she went. ‘Can I offer you some tea?'

An older woman came out into the hallway and followed them to the door.

‘This is one of the nurses Eva works with,' Mrs Maxwell said and turning back to Connie she said, ‘Sit down, dear. Would you like some tea, or I can make coffee if you prefer it. I know you young girls prefer coffee, don't you? We never had it much in my …'

Her words died on her lips as the older woman put her hand on her arm. ‘Something's happened, Vi. That's right, isn't it, something's happened to our Eva?'

Mrs Maxwell's hand flew to her mouth.

‘It's not that bad,' Connie said quickly. She pulled her scarf away from her neck and lowered herself onto the chair. ‘But you're right. Eva's not well. She's in the nurses' sickbay.'

The older woman came right into the room and sat opposite Connie. She was about the same age as Ga but she looked a lot fitter. Her white hair had been cut in a bob and she had deep finger waves. Her lined face was full of concern but she made no sound.

‘This is my mother, Eva's grandmother,' said Mrs Maxwell.

‘Cecilia,' said the older woman, ‘but everyone calls me Cissy.'

‘How do you do?' Connie flustered. ‘I don't know exactly what's wrong, but I think she may have the flu.' She went on to describe how she'd found Eva and what had happened.

Mrs Maxwell sat down. ‘Is she going to be all right?'

‘I'm sure of it,' said Connie, ‘especially as Home Sister didn't see the need to inform you. She would have told you if it had been something serious.'

Their relief was almost palpable but Mrs Maxwell frowned crossly. ‘She should have told me anyway. I'm her mother.'

Connie couldn't argue with that.

‘Would you like me to take your coat?' said Cissy.

‘I'll get the tea,' said Mrs Maxwell suddenly as if remembering her manners. As she left the room, the older woman rearranged her cushions to give herself more support.

‘You're Gwen Dixon's girl, aren't you?' Cissy spoke casually and when she saw the alarm in Connie's eyes, she put her hand up. ‘It's all right. I know how your great aunt feels about this family.' She paused and added thoughtfully, ‘It must have taken quite a bit of courage for you to come here. I appreciate what you have done.'

Connie felt her face flush as she looked down at her hands.

Mrs Maxwell brought in a tea tray and the best china cups. ‘What time are the visiting hours, dear?'

‘Six thirty until seven fifteen,' said Connie automatically glancing at the clock. It said ten past six. She would never make it tonight. ‘But Eva's not on the wards. She's in the nurses' sickbay. You could take a chance if you wanted to. They'll probably let you in if you ask.'

‘I shall go to see her tomorrow,' said Mrs Maxwell.

‘Did you come on the bus?' the old lady asked.

Connie nodded.

‘Have you had your tea?'

Connie took her cup. ‘Not yet. I'll get some fish and chips on the way home.'

‘You'll do no such thing,' said Mrs Maxwell. ‘You can have your tea with us. I was just about to dish up when you knocked on the door.'

‘I don't want to put you to any trouble,' said Connie realising for the first time just how hungry she was and remembering that she hadn't had a thing since the mid-morning break.

‘No trouble at all, dear,' said Mrs Maxwell getting up and going back out of the room. There was an awkward silence. Connie looked around the room and was startled to see a picture on the dresser. It was an identical picture to the one Ga had in her bedroom. A handsome young man in army uniform stood sedately next to an aspidistra plant in a formal pose. Without stopping to think, Connie blurted out, ‘Who's that?'

‘Arthur,' said Cissy. ‘My late husband.'

Connie was stunned into silence. The old lady scrutinised Connie's face. ‘How is Olive, by the way?'

‘Fine,' said Connie brightly but she could see that the brevity of her answer wasn't enough so she added, ‘She has trouble with an arthritic knee but apart from that …'

‘She and I used to be best friends, you know.'

Connie blinked in surprise. No, she didn't know that. Ga had never once told her they'd been friends.

‘Agatha, Olive and Cissy,' the old woman mused. ‘We were inseparable.'

Connie frowned. If they were all such good friends, what on earth could have happened to pull them apart? It must have had something to do with Arthur. And if he was Cissy's husband, why would Ga keep his picture by her bedside and put a red rose next to it twice a year? She was about to ask when Mrs Maxwell returned to tell her dinner was dished up. They both stood up and as Connie stepped back to let the old woman go first, she noticed that Cissy had put her bony finger on her lips. She obviously didn't want Eva's mother to know what they had been talking about, so Connie knew the questions would have to wait.

Eva made slow progress. Her mother came to see her the next day, much to the annoyance of Sister Abbott who was hoping to get her back on the wards as soon as possible.

‘You had no right to interfere,' Sister Abbott told Connie. ‘It's my responsibility to speak to parents. You're getting above yourself, nurse.'

‘I only did what Nurse O'Hara asked me to do, Sister,' Connie protested mildly.

‘And don't answer back,' snapped Sister Abbott.

Someone with a car had brought Mrs Maxwell to the hospital so she took her daughter home. As Connie watched her friend go, she had no regrets. Sister Abbott might give her a black mark and Ga would have an apoplectic fit if she knew Connie had gone to Eva's house, but Eva would be in the best place.

Alone in her room that night, Connie found herself going over a few of life's puzzles. What could have happened between Aunt Aggie, Ga and Cissy Maxwell to break their friendship? And why did Ga have the same photograph of Cissy's husband in her room? Could it be that they were both in love with the same man? Ga had never married. Surely two women in love with one man was hardly enough to split two families?

Her thoughts turned inevitably to the Frenchie. He was engaged to someone else but Connie couldn't stop thinking about him. Over time she'd realised that she was hopelessly in love with him but of course she would never act on it. He belonged to Mavis. She was very beautiful but if he married that awful woman … well, it didn't bear thinking about. How simple life would have been if she'd stayed with Emmett. Funny, but she could hardly remember what he looked like now, except that she'd once told Rene that he was very handsome and reminded her of Gary Cooper.

The evening before she went to see her brother, Connie took the bus up to Durrington. Eva was already looking rested and relaxed after being pampered by her mother. The three women greeted her warmly.

‘I wish I could come with you tomorrow,' said Eva. She was lying on the sofa with her feet up. ‘I feel badly letting you down like this.'

‘Don't be silly,' said Connie. ‘You can't help being ill and besides, I think you should know, your brother has agreed to come with me.'

‘Roger?' cried Eva. ‘Connie Dixon, you are a dark horse.'

‘Oh, it's nothing like that,' Connie protested. ‘He telephoned to check when I was going and said that although he couldn't come and fetch me, he'd meet me off the train.'

‘Who is meeting you off the train?' Mrs Maxwell interrupted them with a tray of tea.

‘Roger,' teased Eva.

Vi Maxwell beamed. ‘That's nice, dear.'

The same scenario was repeated with Eva's grandmother, Cissy. ‘It would certainly be a turn up for the books if you and Roger get together,' she smiled.

‘He's only meeting me from the train,' cried Connie. Heavens above, they were hearing wedding bells already!

‘Does Olive know?' and when Connie shook her head, Cissy added, ‘I didn't think so.'

They were interrupted by a knock on the door and Eva's fiancé, Dr Steven Mitchell stood on the doorstep. He was tall with a lean body and long artistic fingers. He wore glasses and his hair was slightly receding. After introductions, Connie, Vi and Cissy went into the kitchen and left Eva and Steven alone. ‘Don't bother with the bus back,' she called to Connie. ‘Steven says he'll drive you.' Connie was secretly pleased. A car ride was always preferable because it was door to door. She was tired after the long day and didn't fancy the walk from the bus stop especially when she had to be up early the next day. While they waited, Vi offered her some sponge cake and they sat at the kitchen table.

‘Can I ask you something?' Connie ventured, her cheeks bulging.

‘What happened between Olive and me?' Cissy pre-empted.