It was once. Yet Patrick would never forget the sight he saw.
There had been accident involving a bike and black ice, and he was immediately called to Nonnatus to help. The only details he had gained over the brief telephone call from Sister Julienne, was that Chummy had taken a fast corner, as she was late for a house call, and slipped on some black ice on the road. This was typical of Chummy, but he had never been called to one of her accidents, meaning it must have been serious.
He arrived at Nonnatus House, within fifteen minutes of the call. He didn't bother ringing the bell, knowing it was likely that it wasn't going to be heard with all the commotion, so he walked straight in. He hung his coat, and hat up on the stand next to the door.
He was right. All of the nurses and nuns who had already made it back in time for lunch, were surrounding Chummy, sat on one of the wooden kitchen chairs.
"Hello?" He called from the kitchen doorway. Several faces turned to him, immediately turning more relaxed at his arrival. Despite all being in the medical profession themselves, the presence of a doctor always brought relief.
"Doctor Turner!" Sister Julienne clapped her hands together silently in front of her mouth, and gestured for him to come further into the room.
"What-oh" Chummy greeted, but winced in pain after attempting to move.
"Don't move Nurse Noakes," He order gently, as he made his way toward her. The others dispersed into their separate ways. "Now let's have a look."
It was over an hour after first arriving, that he finished patching Chummy up. She had been left with a few cuts and grazes, and a dislocated shoulder, after falling directly onto her side. After waving the ambulance off, he sighed heavily.
Now he had nothing to keep his mind busy. The notes from the accident he would do with Sister Julienne in the morning, after her morning prayers. But now he needed the distractions of his calls and emergencies to keep him from thoughts of her- Sister Bernadette. Whenever he had a spare moment, her bright blue eyes, obscured by the lense of her glasses, formed in his mind.
Once he had finished packing away, he heard the sound of the nurses come back toward the kitchen, to prepare their lunch before doing their afternoon calls. Not wanting to become more centre of attention than he already was, he decided to nip to the bathroom instead, to wash his hands.
Sister Bernadette had also been having similar trouble. Since he had offered her his time, to have a break and talk to him over a cup of tea, she had felt mildly confused. Why? What did he want to talk about? It almost sounded like an excuse, any excuse for her to stay, but she knew this to be untrue because Doctor Turner was a faithful and hard-working man. Wasn't he?
A man. The seemingly simple and obvious thought of his gender crossed her mind sharply as she entered the bathroom for her bath. She almost spluttered out vocal nonsense in shock. In her haste to forget any possible sort of connection between her and the Doctor, she quickly went over to the sink, dropping her belongings on the closed toilet seat, and splashed her face with cold water. Hoping that it would help the thoughts escape her mind as quickly as they came. Turning to the bath on her right, she turned on the taps, waiting for the tub to fill up.
Unknown to her; she had forgotten to lock the door...
Doctor Turner walked down the hallway, and clasped the door handle, turning it without a second thought. He opened the door and skimmed his eyes over the room briefly, as he would do normally, but his eyes halted at the sight in front of him.
She had seen him, fortunately, her back was turned and she shot her hands up to cover her chest. The sharp gasp she let out, with her head looking over her shoulder directly into his eyes, had sucked all the breathe out of her.
Neither of them could move.
Sister Bernadette had her hair out of her cap, which lay on the closed toilet lid, one of the merits of being alone in the bathroom. The dry, golden brown locks flowed over her shoulders, almost looking like a flowing waterfall.
It was Doctor Turner who recovered first, yet his speech was barely coherent.
"I'm... I'm so sorry Sister. I... I" He couldn't finish, but the sudden realisation that he was staring at her made him shut up. He forced his eyes to the ground, looking anywhere but in her direction.
"Shut the door." She said meekly, almost silently.
"Of... Of course!" He went to move outside, but a noise from the other side of the bathroom made him stop and look up.
"No. Stay." She couldn't explain herself, nor her actions. All she knew we that she didn't want him to go, not like she did.
He didn't say anything but his breathing became slightly laboured as he shut the door with him leaning against it slightly trying to balance himself.
"Stay facing the door" She said, and afterwards all he could hear was splashing of her bath water as she stepped out and tightly wrapped her dressing gown round her wet body. "Ok" She breathed.
He turned slowly round to face her. She hadn't put her cap back on, so her dry hair stayed down. The pure beauty of her stunned him like a slap to the face.
"I'm sorry" He blurted out, close to tears, "I should've have knocked... And walked back out when I found you... And... And..."
"And I should have locked the door, and told you to go." She cut him off, mildly sharply. "I just wanted to talk," She carried on, after a deep breath to steady her voice, "I wanted to know something"
He waited for her to carry on, he knew her, that when it was something difficult to say, she needed the silence to gather the muddled thoughts in her mind. However, he didn't guess what the next sentence would be. Nor would ever have thought he would hear them outside of his dreams.
"Do you share your affections for me Doctor?" She asked shyly, but surely, as if she needed to know the answer.
He stood astounded. It took several seconds for him to answer, quietly and simply "Yes."
Sister Bernadette and Doctor Turner stood silently, staring at each other. It was true, on both parts. They knew.
Gingerly Doctor Turner stepped forward, his eyes looking deeply into hers the whole time. He reached her, and gently cupped her cheek, applying the slightest hint of pressure.
She saw his face gradually come nearer and nearer, until their lips touched, briefly at first, as he pulled back. But she wanted more, and placed her hand on the base of his neck to pull him towards her again.
Together, they found the connection that they had been looking for.