A knock. Gentle, yet confident in its presence.
"Enter." Sister Julienne sat behind her desk, after sorting through files at the opposite side of the room. Only expecting one of the nurses, or Sister Evangelina, she was not prepared for the sight of Shelagh on the other side.
"Shelagh!" The Sister exclaimed, "My dear!" Her face lit up just as the sun did a dark room on a cloudless day. She stood, ready to embrace the younger woman, yet, Shelagh kept still, her hand still resting on the door knob. Her face, slightly pale, but expectant, and a sense of peace and happiness about it. Yet, Sister Julienne couldn't place the meaning behind the obvious conflicting emotions Shelagh was feeling. "And Patrick!" She had glances away, briefly, from her face, and noticed him standing behind her. "Please, come in both of you." She waved to the two chairs on the other side of her desk.
Slowly, the couple sat. Never before had the been in this room, at the same time, together. Separately, yes; for discussions with Sister Julienne regarding a patient perhaps or a circumstance. But never together. They didn't feel the need for any physical link between them, just the fact that they had each other was all they needed.
"Sister," Patrick started, "We came to talk to you about something... Well, rather," He halted and sat up straighter in the wooden chair, "I wanted to ask you something."
He'd already asked Shelagh for her hand in marriage, in privacy of his living room one evening late last week. Yet, she had been hesitant to give him an answer. She had insisted that it wasn't because she didn't want to; but because her mother should be included in the decision. Whether her 'mother' had that right because they were not biologically related, nobody questioned. It was something that was important to Shelagh; her mother's acceptance. Even after everything.
Sister Julienne's eyes rested gently on Doctor Turner's as he spoke. His muddy brown eyes seem to be glowing brightly, despite the weak light inside her office.
He took a breath, the words ready in the right order on the tip of his tongue. The words which had been on his mind since that evening.
"Will you… Will you bless my decision to marry Shelagh?" He couldn't look at her anymore. Instead he adverted his gaze and settled on the paperwork on her desk in front of her.
She couldn't speak. Nor make any other noise. Her voice had been had been clamped together, replaced by tears falling down her wrinkled cheeks. The couple's eyes were anxiously waiting for her answer. All she could do was nod gently, accompanied finally, by a grin.
This was the only thing they needed. Their delight evident in their eyes as they slowly linked hands with one another. The colour in Shelagh's face returned, a shade brighter than before. And Patrick's grin showed he wanted nothing more in the world than to marry her.
Yes. She would bless their marriage.
