Delia sighed. Going back to work after a perfect weekend was upsetting. Her and Patsy would never be able to have another weekend away like that, 'maybe in a couple of years,' she thought, smiling sadly.
Despite having to get up at five in the morning for her shift, she enjoyed waking before everyone else, especially because she'll have an hour of peace before her neighbour's newborn started screaming the block of flats down. Teddy, they called him. Mr and Mrs Corrigan have already knocked on to show him off, besides being completely adorable, Delia couldn't stand his voice. After keeping her up most of the night, she was ready to kill.
Delia often wondered whether one day her and Patsy could finally be accepted and raise children. She laughed at the thought of Patsy being the stern one and Delia being the fun one.
Delia's mother was quite strict when she was growing up, her father, however, always encouraged cheekiness and a small disregard for rules. Delia loved him for it, but none more than her sister, Hermione, who had taken on his personality.
Delia often wondered what would happen if she had actually told her family about Patsy. She could imagine Hermione not caring, but she was unsure of her parents. They've never mentioned anything about homosexuals before, so Delia had nothing to work with.
Delia finally got herself out of bed and ignored her thoughts, if she ignores her thoughts they'll go away. Or so she hoped.
Walking though a small passage, she made her way into the kitchen, filled up the kettle and put it on the stove to heat up. Sitting down at a tiny table, Delia put her head into her hands. Will she ever be able to be open with herself? Will anyone accept her?
A low whistling sound made Delia stand back up and proceed to make herself a cup of tea.
A little while later and Delia was dressed and ready to walk to The London. Her flat was in perfect walking distance of the hospital, which made it easy to get to and from.
"Hello, Miss Busby!" Little Marcus Pattinson had shouted as she walked out of the housing accommodation.
"Hello, Marcus, on your paper round?" Delia smiled warmly.
"Yes," he grinned back, "want one? Today's is an 'exclusive interview with British Grand Prix winner, Jim Clark'." He quoted the headline on the back page.
Delia kept the smile on her face as she walked past him, "post it through my door, I'll read it when I get back home, thanks!"
Being a nurse, and living on their door step, Delia came in handy to her other neighbour's. Whether it was a small gash that needed to be cleaned and mended, or a skilled professional to help the person in pain until the doctor came along. For this reason, Delia was treated like a jewel.
When she got to the hospital, she kept her head down and went straight into the staff entrance, smiling politely at colleagues that she's never socialised with.
After putting her nurses uniform on, Delia proceeded to make her way to Male Surgical to do morning checkups. She walked past Doctor Arthur Thomas when he turned and called out to her, "nurse Busby?"
"Yes, Doctor?" Delia turned and smiled.
Doctor Thomas shot Delia a dazzling smile which usually makes nurses weak at the knees, but only made Delia raise her eyebrows, "I was wondering if you could do me a favour? Nurse Yates has had a rather nasty accident and we have no one to cover her late shifts for the next week or so."
Delia looked confused, "what about my early shifts?"
"They're easy to cover, it's the lates no one wants to cover, it'll be more simple, nine at night until six in the morning?" He pleaded, holding his hands together as if praying.
"Fine, but remember this." Delia winked, walking past him.
"I'll make it up to you, I may even thank you with dinner." Doctor Thomas smirked and raised one eyebrow.
Delia didn't look around, but responded calmly, "I'm not that desperate."
X
Delia had had an overly busy day. Two drunk men had a large brawl in The Wetherton Pub, both had broken each other's ribs and one was left blind in one eye, a school bus had collided with a car and although no children were harmed, both drivers had sustained serious concussions and the driver of the bus had slipped into a coma and the worse one of them all, a man in his mid-50's had been attacked and left on the street before being found and brought into The London, he died shortly after.
On her way home, she decided to go past the market. Walking past a flower stall a bunch of roses caught her eye, 'Patsy' she thought, grinning broadly. She purchased the roses with the hopes of quickly going home, and surprising Patsy with a small romantic gesture.
Still grinning, she made her way into her housing accommodation and straight up to her flat. She thought about Patsy's face when she flashed the roses and let out a small giggle. She looked up and the smile left her face at the sight of a young blonde sat on her doorstep.
"Delia!" She greeted, "about time, I've been sat here for ages."
"Hermione, what are you doing here? What are you wearing?" Delia looked down on her sister, dressed like a school boy but with a skirt.
Hermione waved her hand at her elder sister, "oh, it's our new uniform, the new school year has started-" she indicated at her clothes, "-and I'm here because mum told be to check up on you, dads taken a bit of a turn again and he's sick, so mum couldn't come, but you have me, so it's all good." She smirked arrogantly, as Delia reached into her bag to pull out her keys.
"How are you feeling?" Hermione's smirk left and it was replaced with concern.
"I'm fine," Delia opened her front door and let them both inside, "my headaches have stopped and I haven't had a seizure in months."
"Good!" Hermione grinned once again and threw herself onto Delia's sofa, "Well, I have news."
"You have a husband?" Delia laughed, picking up the newspaper that Marcus Pattinson delivered.
Hermione sat up, "no, don't be silly, but, I have started at a new school hence the new uniform."
Delia sat herself on the sofa and crossed her legs, "why have you moved schools?"
"I may have gotten expelled, but," she hastily continued as Delia's jaw dropped, "it's good, because I'm moving to a school near here, so I can live with you."
Delia took a second to divulge this information, "you can't live here." She thought of Patsy, she couldn't bring her here when her sister is about. She could catch them and tell their parents.
"Why not? I won't be much trouble, I'll make no noise and I'll close my eyes when any male companions come along," at the raised eyebrow Hermione continued, "or female."
Delia pretended not to hear the last bit, "fine, you can stay, but, I'm now working late shifts for about two weeks, so please don't cook when I'm gone and I have very irritable neighbour's so no noise and no boys."
Hermione pretended to be offended when Delia had said no boys, but agreed to Delia's terms.
X
A week into Delia's lates had finally cracked her, she was exhausted. All she wanted to do when staring at sleeping people was sleep. All she was needed to do was to keep an eye on the patients and prepare utensils and paperwork for the morning staff.
The first few days were easy, but afterwards it had worn her out. Not only did she have to put up with needy patients, she had to go home to make sure Hermione was up and ready for school, she had to get up and cook for them both and even do both their laundry.
She spared a thought at every conscious moment for Patsy. She hadn't seen her in a week. She tried to make it to Clinic to see her, but couldn't stay awake and ended up falling asleep on the sofa. Hermione had come across her and pushed her onto the floor.
"Wut yeh doin?" Delia said, her voice dripping with a sleepy tone.
"Did you ever go to the clinic thing?" Hermione crossed her arms.
"Oh," Delia rubbed her eyes, "no, I must have fallen asleep, wait, how did you know I wanted to go to the clinic?"
"You mumble a lot when you think I'm not listening, you also like to say the name Pats." Hermione winked and walked a small distance to the kitchen to put the kettle on. "Who is Pats? Patrice? Patrick?"
"Keep guessing, I'll tell you on my deathbed." Delia yawned and walked into the kitchen.
"I'll find out one day." Hermione winked.
X
Delia had been told that tonight was the last she had to work the late shift. She was glad, she could go back into her routine and finally see Patsy. She couldn't bring her round to her flat anymore, not with Hermione snooping about. Maybe she'd be okay with it, but maybe she wouldn't.
As Hermione's guardian, Delia had received a letter a week about her progress at her new school. As the term has only just started, the letters were rather thin, the more exciting stuff will come near Christmas.
Delia had only just started her shift when a young man was rushed into Male Surgical. She read his chart, Daryl Mason, driving whilst under the influence of alcohol, hit a female pedestrian and destroyed a shop window. He was accompanied by two police officers.
"Hello, nurse." The taller of the two smiled at her.
"Officer," Delia smiled back, "you will have to wait outside, I'm afraid, you could make the other patients uneasy, plus it isn't procedure."
Daryl Mason was a rather pug faced small man, he was singing random football songs and telling the nurses how pretty they were. Delia didn't appreciate the affections of sober men, let alone one drunk.
"We do need to interview Mason as soon as he sobers up," The smaller of the two checked his notes, "he's seriously injured one Patience Mount..."
Delia felt her heart hit the floor. It was as if the officer had ripped it out and proceeded to step on it until it was a crumpled piece of mess. She didn't listen to whatever the officer said Patsy's name.
"Pats." She gasped.
She ignored the two officers, ran to reception and demanded to know where Patsy was. The receptionist was busy complaining to a security guard about a small blonde lady who walked straight past her and shouted at her when the receptionist told her family only.
"MARIA!" Delia yelled so loud the entire of the reception stopped to look at her, she didn't care though, "Where is patient Patience Mount?"
The receptionist looked slightly furious but had given Delia the information she needed.
She sprinted to Patsy's room and was stopped by a nurse.
"Hello, nurse Busby." She smiled politely.
"Hello," Delia wasn't in the mood for pleasantries, she was struggling not to break down, "what happened to patient Mount?"
"From what I can tell, Patience Mount was standing on the corner of Maine Street and a drunken driver had smashed into her and a corner shop. She had jumped as soon as she saw it which has possibly saved her life, she's asleep right now, but you can go in." The nurse smiled and walked away.
Delia looked on after her, taking a second to prepare herself for the scene she'll walk in on. Did Patsy feel this way when she saw Delia lying in the bed? What if Patsy's memory had gone too?
Delia finally composed herself and walked in, "Patsy?" She looked around, "Patsy! The nurse told me what happened, oh, hello, Trixie."
Trixie had Patsy's hand in her own, tear tracks going down her cheeks, "Hello Delia."
Delia was furious, the shock of seeing Patsy's current state helping the anger come out, "The scumbag who did this was intoxicated, he's in Male Surgical, but at least he's awake and annoying people."
Delia and Trixie engaged in small talk for a while until Trixie made her way to leave. Currently not caring about her job, Delia stayed with Patsy, determined to move only when someone shouts at her.
"Pats," Delia whispered, "I bought you some roses the other week, I've been trying to give them you for a while, but I've not had chance." She wiped her eyes with the back of her hand and sniffled.
Patsy hadn't moved, her chest just raised and fell, Delia watched it, glad that even though her limbs weren't moving, at least her chest was.
"I've been waiting my whole life to find someone like you, then I found you, lost you and found you again," Delia whispered after the nurse that checked up on her chart left, "Pats, whatever you do, please don't leave me." Tears began to leak openly down her cheeks as she took one look at the doors and gave Patsy a quick peck on the cheek before grabbing Patsy's hand in a vice like grip.
