not
if,’
Penny replied, sensing Yolanda’s disappointment. ‘You can feel the tension in the air. The legation has people coming and going like Piccadilly Circus. They’ve taken on extra staff to help with administration and registration. Margery is working there now. I saw John Pendlebury in his uniform outside the Hotel Grande Bretagne. He’s only got one eye – I wonder how he passed a medical board . . . You know, while I was looking at those slides I kept thinking what if one of those pictures had been of my brother? He’s in the army in France now. I hope he’s safe.’
Yolanda peered at her with serious eyes. ‘You ought to go back to your family. I don’t know how you can stay away from them
‘We’re not like you, we go our different ways.’ How could she explain how distant they all felt to her now? Effy’s letters were full of news of who was married and enlisting, what parties she’d missed in London and how the season would be cancelled. It was a world away from her life now.
‘I couldn’t bear anything to happen to mine. I’m so glad they’ve gone to Crete. Uncle Joseph will look after them. My father fears for the future of our race should Nazis come here, and I promised him I will join them if there’s trouble.’
‘I suppose you have more to fear than I do,’ Penny blurted out without thinking. ‘Sorry! You know what I mean.’
Yolanda smiled, patting her arm. ‘They say we Jews belong to no nation but ourselves, but it’s not true. I’m Greek, these are my people,’ she indicated the passers-by. ‘I have to do what I can for my country. No harm will come to us here.’
‘That’s just how I feel too. I belong here now. This is my home and I’m not going to desert it.’
Penny was learning fast that no matter what emergency there was in the hospital, a nurse must always walk not run, must stay calm for the patient’s sake, no matter what she was feeling inside. She mustn’t flinch or frighten a patient by showing emotion, even when death was close at hand. She’d learned to wash and lay out bodies according to their religious rites, respect each patient and the hierarchy of hospital procedures. She was not to speak unless spoken to, to put the patient’s comfort as a priority, listening to their grumbles and fears . . .
Not that the nurses didn’t have fun after shifts. There were name-day parties with cakes and wine, flirtations with some of the young doctors, who tried to hook in pretty nurses with their smooth talking. She had no inclination to attach herself to any one in particular and understood, now she’d found her own vocation, why Bruce had backed away from any real intimacy with her. There was always safety in numbers and mild flirtations. He’d got his future to think of. She blushed every time she thought of how keen she must have seemed to him. She couldn’t help wondering just where he was now and if they would ever meet again.
Yolanda was a good influence, her head forever stuck in the newspaper, gleaning information about the international situation with her own slant on politics, making Penny feel lazy and slack on current affairs. She’d not picked up a book for months; one glance at a page and she fell asleep.
Yolanda insisted they made tours of the museums and art galleries on their precious days off. ‘When war comes, all this will disappear,’ she warned.
Penny wished Yolanda’s influence could be brought to bear in her revision. Penny had never sat an examination in her life before she began her nursing training and she found the tests hard. There was so much to mug up on: anatomical details, drug regimes and chemistry. Yolanda seemed merely to glance through her notes and passed everything effortlessly, blessed with a good memory. It wasn’t fair. Penny, however, had more stamina for walking around the city. Yolanda was hopeless at hill walking, complaining about the steep paths, wanting to sit down and rest every five minutes.
if,’
Penny replied, sensing Yolanda’s disappointment. ‘You can feel the tension in the air. The legation has people coming and going like Piccadilly Circus. They’ve taken on extra staff to help with administration and registration. Margery is working there now. I saw John Pendlebury in his uniform outside the Hotel Grande Bretagne. He’s only got one eye – I wonder how he passed a medical board . . . You know, while I was looking at those slides I kept thinking what if one of those pictures had been of my brother? He’s in the army in France now. I hope he’s safe.’
Yolanda peered at her with serious eyes. ‘You ought to go back to your family. I don’t know how you can stay away from them
‘We’re not like you, we go our different ways.’ How could she explain how distant they all felt to her now? Effy’s letters were full of news of who was married and enlisting, what parties she’d missed in London and how the season would be cancelled. It was a world away from her life now.
‘I couldn’t bear anything to happen to mine. I’m so glad they’ve gone to Crete. Uncle Joseph will look after them. My father fears for the future of our race should Nazis come here, and I promised him I will join them if there’s trouble.’
‘I suppose you have more to fear than I do,’ Penny blurted out without thinking. ‘Sorry! You know what I mean.’
Yolanda smiled, patting her arm. ‘They say we Jews belong to no nation but ourselves, but it’s not true. I’m Greek, these are my people,’ she indicated the passers-by. ‘I have to do what I can for my country. No harm will come to us here.’
‘That’s just how I feel too. I belong here now. This is my home and I’m not going to desert it.’
Penny was learning fast that no matter what emergency there was in the hospital, a nurse must always walk not run, must stay calm for the patient’s sake, no matter what she was feeling inside. She mustn’t flinch or frighten a patient by showing emotion, even when death was close at hand. She’d learned to wash and lay out bodies according to their religious rites, respect each patient and the hierarchy of hospital procedures. She was not to speak unless spoken to, to put the patient’s comfort as a priority, listening to their grumbles and fears . . .
Not that the nurses didn’t have fun after shifts. There were name-day parties with cakes and wine, flirtations with some of the young doctors, who tried to hook in pretty nurses with their smooth talking. She had no inclination to attach herself to any one in particular and understood, now she’d found her own vocation, why Bruce had backed away from any real intimacy with her. There was always safety in numbers and mild flirtations. He’d got his future to think of. She blushed every time she thought of how keen she must have seemed to him. She couldn’t help wondering just where he was now and if they would ever meet again.
Yolanda was a good influence, her head forever stuck in the newspaper, gleaning information about the international situation with her own slant on politics, making Penny feel lazy and slack on current affairs. She’d not picked up a book for months; one glance at a page and she fell asleep.
Yolanda insisted they made tours of the museums and art galleries on their precious days off. ‘When war comes, all this will disappear,’ she warned.
Penny wished Yolanda’s influence could be brought to bear in her revision. Penny had never sat an examination in her life before she began her nursing training and she found the tests hard. There was so much to mug up on: anatomical details, drug regimes and chemistry. Yolanda seemed merely to glance through her notes and passed everything effortlessly, blessed with a good memory. It wasn’t fair. Penny, however, had more stamina for walking around the city. Yolanda was hopeless at hill walking, complaining about the steep paths, wanting to sit down and rest every five minutes.
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