Hello. I was going to write sooner but my computer became poorly again. After some tender loving care and a debugging programme, the computer felt better and I got to write this. It did give me a bit of time to deliberate over the name though, and I came to this as the best conclusion, although I'm still not sure about it. PM me if you have any better ideas. I hope you like it.
Disclaimer: I don't own the Crimson Field or any of the characters in it.
It Could All Have Been Very Different
Chapter 1
"The Royal Red Cross," Purbright stated, Margaret patted the medal absent-mindedly "Awarded to you, I believe for distinguished service?"
"For a woman."
He paused for a long moment but started up again abruptly as he had stopped
"Well, this is difficult, concerning as it does, whether Colonel Brett is appropriate to command this hospital in light of recent events. There are crucial issues of security and discipline, and I must compel you both to be honest." He finished
Once again another pause filled the air with tension
"So, Sister Quayle, do you have any cause to doubt the Colonel's judgement on either of these matters?"
Margaret's answer did not come straight away. She knew that what she had to say would be to her advantage. She would perhaps finally get the position that she fully deserved, by telling Colonel Purbright the truth, then followed by a few strategically placed lies to punish both of them, for the injustice she had suffered at their hands.
"I'm afraid, Sir, that I do have doubts about the Colonel, in both of the categories that you mentioned." Margaret started "Although it is hard for me to say so, Sir."
"Sister Quayle, I have asked you to be honest, and that is what I require no matter how hard it might seem at the moment."
"Of course, I wouldn't want to do anything that would be unhelpful towards the war effort. That is to say, if I decided to be dishonest to spare Colonel Brett's feelings and mine, where would we end up? We might have German spies dotted all over the hospital."
"Quite right." He agreed readily, Margaret could see that the seed she had planted was starting to grow. "Please, Sister, keep telling me if you feel that Colonel, is unfit to lead the hospital."
"I would be happy to Sir," she smiled sweetly and continued "The security issues that I have outlined, are not the only ones. The Colonel doesn't seem to care for security at the hospital. He lets people wander into the camp aimlessly. The man and daughter that, Sister Livesey treated her,"
"Jaco Tillens?" Purbright cut in
"Yes, they wandered into the camp and nobody thought to check for any identification, from them."
She concluded her point but he gestured for her to continue.
"He very rarely disciplines the staff. The man hardly ever becomes angry when one of the staff has done anything wrong," Margaret adopted her most sombre tone "nor, might I add, does Matron Carter, Sir. The pair of them brush of anything that is seen as a lack of discipline. Many a time, I have had to discipline the nurses and VAD's."
"Are you saying that Matron Carter is at fault as well?" Purbright inquired
"I do hate to speak ill of her Sir, but I am afraid that I must. She is far too young to lead the hospital. I blame myself entirely, I helped her to train, and I saw her as my protégé, but sometimes protégé's can let you down."
"I always wondered why you were never chosen for the job of Matron. Did Colonel Brett ever explain to you why he didn't choose you?"
"He said, that I was most useful on the wards, I believe." Margaret said cynically
"By your tone, am I to take it that you didn't believe this?"
"I would never question a superior's order or question them, Sir, but there could be other reasons."
"Such as?" he pushed believing he was hitting a good source of information.
"Well…they do say that Colonel Brett and Matron Carter are closer than most."
She placed the words so she sounded subtle, so it took Purbright a time to work out. When he did, his eyes went wide and his mouth gaped open.
"Do you mean, that Colonel Brett is committing adultery, with one of his nursing staff?"
"That would be putting it bluntly Sir."
Purbright was silent for a while longer
"Is there anything more, that you can tell me about Colonel Brett or Matron Carter and their…indiscretions?"
Margaret could certainly see that, everything was going to swing her way in this.
"I told you that I helped, to raise Matron Carter, into a nurse,"
Purbright nodded
"Well I only met her, when she gave birth to a child" she paused for affect "out of wedlock."
The look on Purbright's face, told Margaret that her information had got the affect that she had wanted. Purbright managed to swallow down the lump that had formed in his throat.
"Is there any more to this story?"
"She said, that it was a lover. An Indian man who she knew since she was young but I tended never to believe this story."
"What of the child?"
She paused and tried to make herself sound sorrowful "A tragedy Sir, a still birth."
He looked taken aback at this news
"I think that I've heard enough of this story, thank you Sister."
"Of course, Sir." Margaret dutifully stopped
Purbright was writing furiously on the pad of paper in front of him. After a while he set his pen down and looked back up at Margaret.
"Well, that concludes that. Is there anything else that you wish to say Sister Quayle? Purbright started to conclude
"There is one more thing, Sir. I believe that Colonel Brett has countermanded by your orders."
"How so?" his pen poised in his hand once again
"Well, Sir he wrote out another Blighty ticket, when you rescinded the ticket. I knew it was wrong, that he did this and as the one giving who was trusted by the Colonel to give the ticket, I stopped the insubordination as soon as I could by not handing the ticket to the Lance Corporal."
"Do you any evidence of this?"
"I do in fact Sir." She drew back her cape and pulled the rolled up ticket from her pocket. She unfurled it and walked up to place it on the desk, in front of Purbright."
He looked at it and Margaret saw his face cloud with anger.
"That will be all, Sister Quayle. Thank you for your information, though and I will certainly take all you have said into account. You may go."
She nodded and a smug smirk came over her face as she left.
There we go, tell me what you think. Please review and if you have any ideas for a better name, I would really REALLY appreciate it!