Chapter 1. Of smoking and men
A lunch hour at the cafeteria of the Illyria Hospital was drawing to a close. There were only a few groups of people there, finishing their meal.
Patrick rose up. "Shelagh, I am going… to the thing. Care to join me?"
Julie looked at the nurses around the table. Evie's eyes narrowed dangerously, Trixie's mouth turned upwards, and Cynthia smiled, too. Only the part-time receptionist Monica, the resident eccentric of the Maternity Clinic focused on her dessert, meringue and raspberry jam.
Shelagh didn't say anything. She usually preferred not be the center of attention.
Julie asked somewhat sternly: "The thing, Patrick? Do not tell me that…? You are not again going out to the yard to smoke with Shelagh?"
Doctor Patrick Turner shook his head, trying to give at least an outward appearance of authority - he was the Senior Doctor of the Clinic. But it was not easy with Julie, the Matron, who was really in charge of the Clinic with her graceful presence and an iron fist in a silk glove.
"Julie, we don't smoke. We consume medicinal nicotine."
All smoking had recently been banned at the hospital. Although Julie believed that Patrick had been able to quit smoking, she felt that he could sometimes fall off the wagon.
"I am going to show Shelagh the autoclave in the Museum Room," Patrick said. "She said she has never seen a right old autoclave."
There indeed was a Museum Room in this hospital, filled with old medical equipment. Doctor Turner was very interested in the history of medicine, and Shelagh was known to be a bit of science nerd.
He was beckoning Shelagh to come with him, and raising his upper lip a little impatiently. Shelagh rose and left with him, giving the others an apologetic smile.
Evie watched them leave and then turned to Julie. "He's…much taken with Shelagh. It is a bit odd."
Julie made a tut-tut noise. "I think he may need a surrogate for Timothy. Not more than that. Perhaps."
Timothy was Patrick's son who had moved out a few years ago. The company kept an uneasy silence at the mention of him. There had been some estrangement between the father and the son lately when Tim had dropped his medical studies.
"Well, I don't think Tim and Shelagh are so similar, even though both wear that awfully dramatic black. Has anyone heard from Timothy?" Evie inquired.
"I received an email from him," said Trixie. "He's doing OK."
After a moment, she continued in an amused manner: "Shelagh and the Doc do look an uneven pair, one might say. Our dear old stuffy Doc and a Goth girl. I think she is in fact quite good-looking under that black-and-white makeup. Her face has a wonderful shape."
"Don't you dare call our Doc stuffy, Trixie," Cynthia insisted. "He may not be the best dresser in the world, but he's a great doctor and it is really interesting to listen to him. A great diagnostician." Cynthia smirked a little. "Of course, there was that case when he was wearing striped red-and-green socks, and this very proper patient noticed it-"
After the laughter died down, Cynthia added: "I think it is good that Doctor Turner has some drive in him again, after the unfortunate events in his life."
"I wonder if Shelagh finds him interesting to….talk with," Evie mused. Her eyes were merry, even if her mouth winced ironically. "He is a man, after all. He's living alone after Marianne died, and Timothy…left."
"Yes, he is a man," Julie conceded, with a sigh. "And Shelagh is a woman 15 years younger than him. You are right about her face, Trixie. She has a great body, too. I have seen her in floral dresses. It is a pity. But the burdens of her youth must be expressed in some manner, I suppose. A disguise for bruised feeling, all that black."
"Oh, Shelagh in a floral dress. I'd like to see that," Trixie enthused.
Everyone knew that Julie had a special relationship with Shelagh, Miss Mannion, once a nursing student, then a receptionist, and now the IT support person. No-one really knew why Shelagh had dropped out of nursing school, except Julie.
Shelagh's Goth enthusiasm was perhaps not tolerated in professional settings. People didn't wish to see a vampire nurse drawing their blood. Julie had assured the staff that Shelagh had been an excellent student and could in medical emergencies act as a nurse assistant. In addition, her computer skills and teaching others how to use the new computerized appointment system were beyond reproach. She really was the best applicant to the receptionist's post. She had shown her interpersonal skills with Monica, sharing her coconut cake enthusiasm and astrological charts with such a flair in her first week that everyone was impressed. So who cared for how she dressed?
Neither did Doctor Turner anymore, it seems, Julie meditated, resignedly. Timothy had also had a Goth phase, but he had moved on to black leather without makeup.
"I rather thought that our Doc gave the glad eye to another woman last week," Evie revealed, with some relish.
Cynthia and Trixie laughed at the expression she used. "Really, Evie, gave the glad eye, how quaint." But the girls were interested. "Who's this remarkable woman? This is news, indeed."
"Our new Doctor who arrives next month. Patsy Mount. She's very handsome. "
Julie interrupted the gossip. "Yes, she comes with a very good CV. She has a lot of experience. Moreover, Nurse Phyllis Crane will arrive next month, too. I think Doctor Mount and Nurse Crane will share a flat. It is great that we succeeded to get both of them."
"Share a flat? Does that mean…?" Trixie asked with some intention.
"I don't know and I don't care, Trixie."Julie was emphatic. "I think it is a very expensive flat. You should remember our motto, we are not here to judge-"
A chorus of nurses replied, with giggles: "Cure sometimes, treat often, comfort always. Never judge."
Julie laughed. "Yes, that's the good old stuffy Doctor Turner motto for you, ladies."