He heard the click of feminine boots in the hall and glanced up to see Ethel. It was just like her to come to see him before his interview, even though he'd said she shouldn't. He paused in his pacing and opened his mouth, but she put her finger gently over her own to indicate that he should listen first.
"I haven't been dismissed," she told him, and he felt a surge of relief flow through him, which disappeared at her next words. "But I am on report."
He knew that she'd been placed on report at least once as a probationer, and being put on report again meant that she was in a very precarious situation. If she did anything wrong whatsoever, she could be dismissed without reference, which would end her career as a nurse and prejudice any medical school admissions committee that might deign to look at a woman's application in the first place.
"Are you permitted to continue your studies?" he asked in a low, urgent voice. Her path towards medicine was of primary importance, as far as he was concerned. Her face changed to one of uncertainty and concern.
"I don't know. Maybe they'll tell you in your interview," she suggested. "Matron didn't mention it, and I didn't feel comfortable asking."
He could understand that. When Matron Luckes began imparting what was, generally, wisdom, the recipient did best not to interrupt at all. The same was true when she was scolding someone.
"We'll find a way," he promised, and risked pulling her in for a short embrace. She relaxed against him in a way that was simultaneously comforting and a little exciting. He'd never compromise her, but that didn't mean he wasn't aware of what was underneath her uniform. "You will be an excellent doctor, and I am determined to help you do it."
She smiled up at him and he nearly kissed her, right there in the boardroom hallway. She looked extraordinarily kissable, and that was difficult to resist at any time, least of all when he was in need of some comfort. He did resist, however, and merely smiled at Ethel before releasing her and stepping back to an appropriate distance.
"You should go, Nurse Bennett," he reminded her. "Dinner will be in five minutes, and you would not want to miss the prayer."
"Of course not," she agreed, though her lips twitched into the slightly naughty smile he loved so much. "Good luck, Dr. Culpin. I'll see you tomorrow in the receiving room."
With that, she clicked away and he resumed his pacing. If she had not been dismissed, he might also not be dismissed. Even if he was, though, he would cope. He would write to his friend in Shanghai, if needed, and see if there were any jobs open. Yes, that was the ticket. He would take a job in China and ask Ethel to marry him so she could join him there. She could work as a nurse in the hospital and he could continue to teach her.
He had a plan. Whatever the board chose to do to him, he had a plan. That knowledge straightened his spine and calmed him enough that when the door was opened and he was called in, he was able to walk confidently into the room and stand where indicated.
"Dr. Culpin, you know why you're here today," Chairman Holland said, and he nodded in acknowledgment, but the chairman stated the reason anyway. "You have been teaching a nurse medical procedures. You have been letting other nurses perform procedures they are not authorized to perform. You have been rude and ungentlemanly to the matron of those nurses."
All of those things were true, so he nodded again. Fenwick chimed in at that point, "We can't let this stand, Culpin. Even if it were a good idea, medically, it's not a good idea for the nurses. Not a good idea to have any confusion over the roles, you know, not to mention putting patients at risk."
"I disagree," he said, and he noticed that everyone was startled to hear him say it. They'd expected him to meekly accept his punishment in peace. "I was ungentlemanly to Matron Luckes, and for that I am sorry and will apologize. I do not, however, agree that I have ever put patients at risk. I took an oath, gentlemen, and I have upheld it."
Dr. Head, whom he'd always suspected of being more of his type of doctor than Mr. Fenwick's, smiled slightly. It was a glimmer of a friendly face in a room full of disapproving ones.
"Nurses are not just blanket-straighteners, drink-providers, and shroud-sewers," he pointed out. "They must have a knowledge of anatomy, physiology, pharmacology, and psychology. I believe teaching them more about the bodies they care for helps everyone, including all of you."
"Help them what? Replace us?" someone said disagreeably, and there was a murmur of dismay at the idea.
"No, not replace. Assist," he corrected. "They haven't been to medical school. Your level of knowledge is clearly deeper, but theirs is wider. A ward can have fourteen different injuries, all of which must be precisely nursed in their own way. Consider how much easier that would be for everyone if they had a better idea of what the underlying causes and future prognoses were. Nurses who are better educated and more confident provide better care."
He truly believed this was true. He also truly believed that Ethel was not destined to always be a nurse, so he wasn't fighting for her. He was fighting for Sister Russell and Nurse Goodley and all the other intelligent, caring nurses he knew could do so much more for the hospital and the patients if given the chance.
Unfortunately, almost no one in this room wanted to hear any of it. They'd expected to do the talking, not be told what the future of medicine and nursing could be if they'd just open their eyes.
"While that may be true, and I am not saying that it is or that it is not," Chairman Holland pointed out with all the diplomacy expected of him, "The simple facts of the matter are that nurses are not currently permitted to perform such procedures. You have been encouraging and teaching them to do so. The medical advisory board has decided that they cannot let that stand."
So this was it. They were going to terminate his employment. He waited patiently for the final verdict while the board stared at him. If they intended to make him squirm, they'd have to work harder. He'd been a doctor in Queensland, and that inured a man to many things.
"You have been placed on probation, Dr. Culpin," Fenwick said solemnly. "You are not permitted to authorize nurses in The London to perform any duties other than the strictest definition of their standing orders. You are not permitted to oversee any nurses in The London in these procedures. You are not permitted to teach nurses in The London any medical procedures. Do you understand?"
He nearly sagged with relief, but knew that would be too obvious. Instead he blinked in surprise and glanced at Dr. Head, who was now smiling just a bit more mischievously. Those restrictions said nothing about teaching nurses medical procedures when he or they were not in The London, and he was sure Dr. Head had been involved in that particular loophole.
"I understand, Mr. Fenwick," he said seriously. "I will abide by them."
The board nodded in satisfaction, clearly considering him properly chastised and rebuked.
"Thank you, Dr. Culpin," Chairman Holland said. "You may go."
He nodded in turn to all of them and left, only barely managing not to smile until he was safely out of the interview room and even out of the hallway. Then he let his smile free, even chuckling a bit, as he went down the big stone staircase. He hadn't been fired, Ethel hadn't been fired, and he could even still teach her medicine as long as they met off the hospital grounds.
He had a plan.