The Return of John Smith 2

Nancy carried on towards the hospital, and was surprised to find that Reg Turner had been following her. He was a young man of about thirty.

"I wish you wouldn't do that, Reg."

"I saw you with that coward. You shouldn't talk to him. He's a disgrace to this country. They should have done what they did to some of those conscientious objectors in the First World War and shot him."

"So why aren't you off fighting the cause, Reg?" said Nancy, pointedly. The idea of John Smith being shot obviously upset her.

"I've got medical grounds," said Reg, bristling.

"Oh, yeah, your burst eardrum. A right disability that. It's a wonder you can function." They'd reached the gates of the hospital, and Nancy started heading for the wards, whilst Reg turned towards the entrance to the basement.

"Hey, I'd fight if I could!" he called after her.

Reg stormed down into the basement. He wasn't like John Smith. He would fight if he could. He was brave enough. It wasn't his fault that he turned out the way he did. He just hoped Nancy would never find out the truth. That the army's refusal to let him join had nothing to do with a burst eardrum. He blushed to remember the medical exam, and the disgusted look on the doctor's face. Then having to face the same look on the face of the Commanding Officer.

"We don't want your kind," the CO had said.

"What? Human?" Reg had replied.

"Barely," said the CO. The CO then went on to tell Reg that he was lucky he wasn't arrested for his deviancy. "But we have other concerns at the moment. Now get out."

At least he could pretend to fancy Nancy for the sake of everyone who knew them. She need never know the truth. They might even marry. It wasn't like he hadn't been with girls before he realised the truth. If only John Smith hadn't bloody turned up and spoiled his plans.

The basement was dark, which wasn't unusual, but it seemed darker than ever to Reg.

"Stan," he called, expecting the janitor from the night shift to be around. They usually met as they changed shifts. Probably hiding some contraband, thought Reg. Old Stan was always good for a bit of chocolate and baccy. "Stan, where are you, you idle bugger? We've got to stoke the furnace up." Reg rounded a corner, then fell back in horror, before laughing. "Bloody medical students," he said, picking up the skeleton that had been sitting in Stan's chair. "Like this joke never gets old..." Only when the ring fell off a finger - Stan's signet ring with the ornate letter S in the centre - did Reg realise who he really did hold. The skeleton clattered to the ground and Reg turned and ran.

"You're late again, Nurse Smith."

"Yes, sorry, Matron. I had to get Jamie ready for school..."

"No excuses. I've heard them all. Jamie is sick. Jamie had no clean trousers for school. Jamie this, Jamie that. It makes me wonder whether I should take on a single mother."

"I ain't single. I've been married," said Nancy, defensively.

"I didn't mean that. I mean that ... Oh never mind. I want you to work on the top floor today."

"What? With the mental patients?"

"Do you have a problem with that?"

"No. No. It's okay. It's just. Well, they give me the creeps."

"Then spending more time with them will help you get used to their company. Of course, if you're not as reliable as Doctor Constantine said..."

"I am, Matron. I am. I'll go and start work, shall I?"

Nancy went towards the stairs, thinking what a miserable old trout Matron was. She had to be at least sixty, but as far as Nancy knew she'd never married and didn't have any kids. Otherwise she'd be more understanding to the nurses who did. "I bet she's never even been in love," Nancy said to herself as she climbed the stairs. "Not that anyone could love her back."

It was late in the afternoon when Jamie fell in the playground. Well the other kids said he fell, but John Smith had a feeling Trevor Jenkins had something to do with it. They'd been arguing over something. Like his dad, Stan, Trevor was a bit of a spiv. Always trading things with the other kids. The school turned a blind eye for the most part, but they shouldn't ignore bullying. John felt strongly about that.

It was Jamie's reaction that was the strangest though. He's simply fallen awkwardly on his hand, leaving a cut across the top where it caught a jagged piece of concrete, but anyone would think he'd had the hand chopped off the way he reacted. "I need to go to the hospital. I want my mummy," he'd sobbed.

"Jamie, there's no need to go to the hospital just for a cut," said John, picking Jamie up off the ground.

"I'm going," said Jamie, running towards the school gates. John had no choice but to follow him, shouting to another teacher to dismiss his class for him.

John was fit, but Jamie was younger, so kept ahead of John all the way to the hospital. "Jamie, hold up!" said John. "It's only a cut. It'll heal." Why on earth was the child panicked by something so simple?

John finally caught up with Jamie at the entrance to the hospital.

"I want my mummy," he said to the nurse on reception.

"It's Jamie, isn't it? Mummy is on the top floor. I'll send a message to her..."

She didn't get time to finish, as Jamie was already sprinting up the staircase, two steps at a time.

John stood in the reception, catching his breath.

"I'll be glad when summer comes properly and we don't have so many dark nights," said the nurse, for something to say.

"Yes, we could use some sunshine," said John. "Excuse me." With that, he followed Jamie up the staircase, narrowly missing bumping into Matron as she came down.

She'd passed him and was on the bottom step, when she spun around and said, "It can't be." She was about to follow him, when Reg came from the basement.

"Matron, there's no sign of Stan. I've checked with his house and he'd not there."

"I'm sure he must be somewhere around, Reg. You don't honestly think he was that skeleton, do you? I can assure you that a dead body takes some time to decompose, and as I saw Stan last night as he was going on his shift, I can assure you there hasn't been enough time for it to happen to him. Now if you'll excuse me, I must be going. You'd better get back downstairs and stoke the boiler. There's going to be a frost tonight."

Reg caught her arm. "Matron, there's something down in the basement. I can feel it in the shadows. I've lit every candle I could find and ..."

"That's very wasteful, Reg, especially during wartime..."

"I'm telling you, there's something hiding in the basement. Something that took Stan's skin."

"I can assure you that such things aren't possible. We live in enlightened times, Reg and ..." Matron stopped, and looked up the stairs. "Unless. Oh no. What has he brought with him this time?"

"Excuse me?" said Reg. Matron, like Jamie, took the stairs two at a time. "Matron Redfern, what is it?"

"Come with me, Reg. If he's who I think he is, it's all his fault and he can damn well help clear up the mystery of Stan!"