Nurse Jess by Joyce Dingwell

seek out the Perfesser. He didn ’ t appear to have advanced very much, and yet he had not gone back. Perhaps it was that he still retained that same little lost look.
    She took his thin hand and wondered if he had had any, visitors during her absence—and what the Professor had said to him when, and if, he had come. She heard ste p s approaching from the corridor and s t raightened up from the crib. It would be him, she thought, coming to see his foundling. She wondered if he would make any reference to the second pair of spectacles she had left unclaimed. She was annoyed with herself that her heart was thumping so madly. Foolish of her, but then of course it was only the worry that he might be piqued about the glasses just at the time when she desired be t ween them only a perfect equanimity . Everything must go smoothly, she thought, when one is working for a cause.
    She calmed herself by brea t hing deeply three times. She put on a polite smile. She even summoned sufficient composure to be ready with a smooth, “ Good afternoon, sir ” —but she had no need to say it.
    Matro n Martha came in, instead.
    “ You, Nurse Jess! Aren ’ t you rostered for Ward Three? ”
    “ Yes, Matron Martha. ”
    “ Then what are you doing in Six? ”
    “ I—that is—well, I ’ m visiting, the Perfesser. ”
    “ Who? ”
    “ Master X, I mean. I really mean the foundling baby. ”
    “ Oh, and who gave you permission? ”
    “ No one, Matron Martha. ”
    “ Have you no work in your own ward? ”
    “ Oh, yes, Matron Martha. ”
    “ Then why are you here? ”
    “ I—I just wanted to see how he was getting on, Matron Martha. ”
    Matron looked coldly at her. “ Well, now you have looked, you had better get back, Nurse Jess. ”
    “ Yes, ” said Jessa, thankful that a cold look was apparently to be the extent of this current “ chid. ”
    She hurried to the door, hoping she would be able to negotiate the noiseless going to the satisfaction of Matron. As she went to turn the handle Matron Martha called her again.
    “ Nurse Jess— ”
    “ Yes, Matron Martha? ”
    “ You have spent your break wisely, I trust, studying for your exam? ”
    “ Exam? ” Amazement robbed Jessa of the courtesy of adding Matron Martha ’ s name to her ejaculation. Examinations had been an expected thing at Great Southern, but surely there were not exams here?
    But —“ Certainly an examination, ” snapped Matron Martha. “ What do you think you are at Belinda for, Nurse Jess? Simply to while away time? ”
    Jessa thought of the struggle to get out of her bed at five - forty this morning, other mornings, how she had not stopped working since breakfast, how she never stopped at all. While away time, she echoed to herself.
    “ You have done a period of your training, ” went on Matron Martha severely. “ I should have thought you naturally would have anticipated a test. ”
    “ I—well— ” Jessa could think of nothing to say, so said it.
    “ I advise you to start conning your notes, ” said Matron Martha. She looked at Jessa sharply. “ You have taken notes, of course—? ”
    “ Yes, ” said Jessa. She had, too, but they hadn ’ t proceeded past the first page. Oh, well, Margaret must lend her hers.
    She said, “ Thank you, Matron Martha, I ’ ll go back to my ward now, Matron Martha, ” and once more put her hand on the door.
    Typical of Matron, at the last minute she relented a little.
    “ This young man, ” she said, “ is doing fine, Nurse Jess. ”
    At tea Jessa and Margaret came together again.
    “ Margaret, something catastrophic—we have to undergo an exam. ”
    Margaret nodded calmly. “ I expected that ... Oh, Jessa, I ’ ve got back those snaps I took. ”
    “ But, Margaret, listen. You can ’ t have expected one. ”
    “ Look, Jessa, this shot is up on Lopi. Didn ’ t Ba come out well? ”
    “ But we ’ re graduated. We ’ re really if not actually sisters. We can ’ t be examined like raw little