Trixie and Shelagh watched the two people seated barely a few yards away from them. They could not, however, hear the words being exchanged between Peter and Chummy as he sat beside her in the dining room. Trixie had been sure they were sharing a chair until Shelagh had scolded her for being too familiar.
"So you think that you and Dr Turner will be like that then?" she asked from her position leaning against the kitchen top.
"Like what?" Shelagh replied, ready to see a devilish look on Trixie's face. In reality though, her face was quiet serious.
"Close. Like there is nobody else in the world".
"I hope so". Wondering what 'they' would be like had made Shelagh curious, having watched the simple interactions between husband and wife for some moments. She had to admit that they knew little about each other, but were learning as each day grew but there was still so many 'unknowns'. Would they be like that when they were married? Just that at ease with each other to share a whispered conversation and a smile and that was all that was needed? A kiss and a look where words were not necessary even?
"I'd like that one day", Trixie said taking a sip of tea.
Shelagh was ready to smile, so used to the flirtatious Trixie with a new date from week to week. Her face however was unmoving.
"It must be comforting to be tethered to someone like that; to be moored" she continued.
"He does love her" Shelagh said, feeling that it was all she could offer, these feelings being so alien. "You can see that miles away. I have to say I am going to miss them when they move".
Trixie nodded. "I know Sister Evangelina moans about the mess Freddie seems to bring with him, but he gave me the biggest smile yesterday. I could rinse a thousand napkins for that smile".
Shelagh turned to her. "You are turning soft".
"Maybe I am", Trixie replied thoughtfully as she saw her friend receive a kiss on the cheek before Peter stood up, exchanging a few inaudible words that made her smile before he walked away in somewhat of a hurry.
Both Trixie and Shelagh could see the various parts of her wedding dress laid out on the table and curiosity got the better of both of them, a cup of tea for Chummy in Shelagh's hand.
"Where's he off to?" Trixie asked, never one to shy away from a question.
"Picking up his wedding suit", Chummy replied, turning over a sleeve. "Dr Turner asked him to be an usher with….Oh what was his name? His friend from university?"
"Lawrence. Laurie" Shelagh said, pushing the cup towards her friend trying to avoid any wayward drips that could have marred the material.
"That's him", Chummy replied.
"The wedding suit hey?" Trixie remarked. "Might be a clue to what our beloved Doctor is wearing don't you think?"
"No" Chummy replied, smiling. "Peter has been sworn to secrecy so he may not even show me…" She shrugged her shoulders, indicating that even if she knew, she would not be telling.
"Surely you can use your wiles on your husband to at least have a little look?" Trixie asked.
"My wiles have currently gone Absent Without Leave and they haven't left a note as to when they may be back!" It was only half a joke.
"I will wait to see on the day" Shelagh said resolutely. "My dress is a secret so why shouldn't his suit?"
"I don't believe you" Trixie added sharing a smile with the group, raising an eye brow at Shealgh.
"Well", she said, looking as innocently skywards as she could. "If Peter is freely offering any details….!" she added cheekily.
All of a sudden before anybody could reply they heard the front door bang open.
"Camilla?!"
The three nurses looked at each at the urgency of the request for his wife's attention. They all stood up and rushed into the hallway.
"Peter?! What's going on?" Chummy asked, very alarmed at his sudden reappearance, thinking immediate thoughts that he had come to some dreadful harm.
In front of them, they found Peter, and Timothy, with a bloodied handkerchief pressed to his chin by the Police Officer.
"What happened?!" Trixie asked, distressed at seeing the young boy who was clearly desperately trying to hold back tears of shock.
"Practically over the handlebars on his bicycle" Peter replied, having seen the boy cycling at some speed catching a wheel in the gutter and tumbling forwards to the pavement.
"Let me see" Shelagh said, as the other two nurses stepped back, knowing Shelagh's position now in Timothy's life and respecting that as she walked him into the kitchen, one hand replacing Peter's. She sat him on a chair and gently peeled off the handkerchief, seeing a dirty looking cut that had clearly been bleeding profusely as the boy winced.
"Say thank you to Constable Noakes for bringing you back" she said, trying to keep any semblance of a scold from her voice.
"Thank you" Timothy replied as pair of forlorn eyes looked up at him before he departed again; squeezing his wife's hand as he passed.
"I will clean him up Chummy. You carry on. Trixie could you fetch me …?" she paused realising Trixie had already left to collect all the necessary supplies for perhaps a stitch or two.
"Now young man" she addressed him, hearing Chummy walk back to the dining room. "What will your Dad say about this?"