She Could Have Been Anything Else – Chapter 1 – Introductions
Monday 7th September 2014; Home of Jenny Lee, Ealing, London (5:54 AM)
"…and now the Shipping Forecast issued by the Met Office on behalf of the Maritime and Coastguard Agency at 0505 on Monday the 7th of September. There are warnings of gales in Viking, Forth Cromarty, Forties, Sole, Lundy, Fastnet and Rockall. The general synopsis at midnight…"
Jenny Lee groaned as she sat up in her bed and wiped the sleep out of her eyes. 'Today's the day,' she grimaced. The first day of her new job in the maternity unit of the Royal London Hospital. The London, and this particular unit had a long history. The St Raymond Nonnatus Ward was named in tribute to the Sisters of St Raymond Nonnatus of Nonnatus House in Poplar. Nonnatus House had been a stalwart provider of midwifery and district nursing care for nearly a century before it was amalgamated with the London in the late eighties. Nonnatus House and its order of nuns still existed in Poplar, but as far as Jenny was aware, their functions today were purely religious.
"…Humber, Thames; south-east veering south-west 4 or 5, occasionally 6 later. Thundery showers. Moderate or good, occasionally poor…"
Jenny flicked the switch on her bedside lamp as the dulcet tones of the announcer rattled on through the early morning Shipping Forecast. She got out of bed and went to do her hair at the small dressing table. By the time the pips had rung through at the top of the hour, Jenny had done the morning necessaries and was half dressed. By the time the headlines had finished at ten-past six, she had finished applying her make-up whilst the first coffee of the day was brewing. The toast entered the toaster minutes later whilst two eggs was set to boil. At quarter past, she was buttering her toast and slicing it up into soldiers. Jenny knew it was slightly childish but aren't all habits retained from childhood. The eggs, now hard boiled were removed from the pan and placed into two egg cups. Why Jenny had a set of 4 egg cups, she hadn't a clue. She had lived alone since finishing university. There was no need for the extra cups, and yet there they were.
She was on a second cup of coffee, with another batch brewing for her travel mug by the time the Sport Bulletin came on the air with the results of the previous night's football and the racing tips.
"…Windsor, 1:50; Number 4, Quick March. And also at Windsor in the 4:50; Number 7, Light Wave…"
She spent the next few minutes preparing her bag, grabbing her purse ('need to go to the cash point later' she thought), double checking the fridge ('running low on milk') and checking she had her umbrella. Then she had a moment of panic. She couldn't find her mobile phone. A frantic search around her one bed flat proved fruitless. By the time the papers had been reviewed, Jenny was out of the door, grabbing her keys off the table near the door before shutting the door and locking it behind her. It was going to be a long day.
Ealing Broadway Tube Station, 07:09 AM
Before she left her block of flats, Jenny double checked her car, a Rover Metro for her phone. As she suspected, she'd left the phone in the glove box coming home from a night out with friends the Saturday before.
So by ten past seven, she was safely ensconced on a seat in tube carriage on the Central Line in Ealing Broadway Underground Station waiting for the train to depart. The wonderful thing about joining a train at the start of the line is that there is no rush for seats. For once Jenny did not have to fight half of London to find somewhere comfortable for the 45 minute ride across the city.
She disembarked the Central Line service at Mile End (it may have been better to take the District Line to Bethnal Green in future) and headed up the escalators into the early morning sunlight. The journey was quicker than she thought it might be and left her nearly another hour before she had to meet with a 'Sister Julienne' to introduce her to the wards. She was warned that the London would be very different to what she was perhaps used to in training or A&E in her local hospital.
With a little time on her hands before being met in reception by Sister Julienne, Jenny decided to do a little reconnaissance in order to get her bearings. The first place she looked for was the emergency entrance where patients would be delivered after arriving in an ambulance. Mercifully it was quiet at the time, a lone ambulance sat idling on the access road, no doubt waiting for the next 999 call to come in. Walking around some of the other buildings, she found the car parks and noted their extortionate fees ('it must be the same everywhere' she thought) and the public canteen (serving breakfasts). After killing another 10 minutes through aimless wandering, she found herself back outside the main reception. She gave her name to the orderly on the desk and was told to wait to be collected.
The Royal London Hospital, Whitechapel, 08:25 AM
As she was waiting, Jenny started second guessing herself. Was this the right decision or was she being mad? There were dozens of other things she could have been – a model, an air hostess, a concert pianist…all glamorous, highly paid (in some cases) jobs with comfortable hours and good work benefits. Why was she so fixated on nursing in central London with the NHS, a service woefully underfunded, understaffed and where staff morale was at an all-time low.
Granted, she would be working in a maternity ward most of the time but it wouldn't be like her previous job in Buckinghamshire where it seemed that's days could go by and everybody would be relaxed because there were no imminent crises to deal with. Jenny had had these doubts in the value of pursuing her chosen profession ever since graduating five years previously.
She would be the first person to admit that she was stubborn, if not a little self-righteous, bossy even. She had applied to join the London partly for the challenge and partly to get a foot in on the career ladder. She was a fairly experienced nurse by this point and it wasn't like she had much of a life outside work. Anti-social hours will do that to you.
"Nurse Lee," a voice called across the atrium. Jenny turned to find an older, middle aged woman standing behind her, smiling in greeting. "Nurse Lee, I'm Sister Julienne. I'm the Sister-In-Charge of the midwifery unit as well as the head of the Sisters of the Order of St Raymond Nonnatus. Welcome to the London. Everybody calls me Julie."
"You're a nun?" asked Jenny in disbelief.
"Yes," Sister Julienne (or rather Julie) replied. "There are three sisters like myself who work on the maternity ward. We're all trained nurses or midwives. It's a continuation of our historical work. We've lived to serve the East End for over a century."
"It's a bit unusual isn't it?"
"Are you at all religious, Jenny? I can call you that, Nurse Lee?"
"I was christened but that's about it," she replied quickly, worried she had offended the nun. "I was pianist to the university choir whilst I was training. I don't go to church that often."
"Anti-social hours can do that. Babies still get born on Sunday mornings. The Lord's work is never truly done. Now we should be getting on. I can give you a tour on the way to the laundry to pick up your uniform then I'll introduce you to your new colleagues and we can get to work. You'll find we work very differently to most units. You'll see what I mean when we get on the ward. Follow me…"
A/N: As you can see, this is a modern spin on Call the Midwife set on the fictional St Raymond Nonnatus Ward at the Royal London Hospital in Whitechapel, London. I'm not entirely sure where this is going but I will say it is partially inspired by 'Mixed Emotions' by thelastbumblebee. There is more than just this single starting chapter but any advice or inspiration is welcomed. It is unlikely that this will end up focussing on a single character pairing but we shall see. All of the major characters from all series will appear (if not slightly updated for the 21st Century).
Do tell me what you think!