Disclaimer: I Do Not Own Call the Midwife.
She isn't sleeping very well lately, but as long as it didn't affect her helping patients, she was happy to keep it to herself. However, her lack of appetite was beginning to get noticed not only by her Sisters but by the Nurses too. There were a few comments made about it followed by looks of concerns while she smiled softly, trying her hardest to convince everyone she was okay.
It was the comment that Sister Monica Joan made at breakfast that had left her uneasy all morning.
"A torn heart creates a sick heart and a sick heart creates a sick body," Her voice soft and understanding, eyes looking into her very soul almost if she knew the struggle that went on inside Sister Bernadette's heart.
Everyone ate in silence after that all pretending that Sister Monica Joan's words were not aimed at anyone.
All day she had gone out of her way to avoid everyone at Nonnatus House something made easier by the ever rising population of Poplar. The phone never stopped ringing, and all hands were on deck. Every mother as thankful as the previous one for the help they were getting. Sometimes the kindness they got from a Midwife was the first bit of gentleness they had ever received. It was not her place to judge anyone that was up to God, but there were times when she saw what people had gone through at the hands of those who claimed to love them left her disgusted.
*Line-Break*
Maria Frost was pretty and had an air of naivety about her that added to her beauty. She was sixteen and unmarried, but instead, of casting her out of the family home her family was standing by her something Sister Bernadette rarely saw. No family wanted the shame of their young daughter having a child out of wedlock. The fear of what people would say and think nearly always the cause of the girl being pushed away by her family.
Michael and Elizabeth Frost were far from happy that their youngest child, their only daughter was pregnant with the father not interested in either the baby or her. However, they were doing everything they could to support her through it.
Maria was five months pregnant and when her panicked mother phone Nonnatus House Sister Julienne insisted on going with her to the house to see Maria. Not because she didn't trust Sister Bernadette's skills as a Midwife, but because it was better to have support if something was wrong.
Maria had come out in a nasty rash or, at least, that's what her mother had told her on the phone.
As they cycled as fast as they could to get to Maria's, Sister Bernadette mind wandered to Lisa Castle laying in the hospital with her healthy newborn little girl. The relief and happiness she had felt the day before when Doctor Turner told her both were fine was something she hoped to feel again before the day was over.
*Line-Break*
The rash was nothing more than an allergic reaction to a new perfume Maria had begun using a few days before. Sister Julienne reassured both mother and daughter that there was no cause for concern, but to put their mind at ease she would drop into tomorrow morning to do another check up.
Sister Bernadette found that Sister Julienne kind face and comforting voice could put most people at ease. She wondered if she had gone there alone would she have been able to reassure mother and daughter like Sister Julienne had. Most of the time Sister Bernadette put mother's at ease, but that was down to the skills she had learnt from Sister Julienne.
*Line Break*
The front door closes behind them, and Sister Bernadette spots Doctor Turner car across the road. That's the last thing she sees before everything goes black.