CHAPTER 38
A light interlude after a busy day. Enjoy!
The entire journey back to work had been spent in the kind of banter at which Grace and Roland excelled. To the world they appeared consummate professionals with seemingly no room for levity but, once together away from prying eyes and ears, they allowed themselves the luxury of indulging in playful humour, possibly the result of having to cope with so many years of misery and knowing one another so intimately that there was no need to hold anything back.
Whatever the reason, their private conversations were the source of much laughter to them both and a fair amount of risqué comment, which served to heighten their joy in each other's company.
Walking briskly down the corridor towards the men's ward, Grace turned to Roland and said,
"Come and see what I've done for our visitors and benefactors. It'll only take a minute of your time, I promise."
"I'd like you to have all of my time, if I can interest you in sharing yours with a somewhat jaded old chap, a bit of a rundown model, a little worn round the edges but still got plenty of get up and go in the right company."
"I'm very interested indeed in your proposition. In fact, I'd like to check it out. Might you be able to oblige me now in the soon-to-be Day Room?"
"Oh, I'm sure I could, Matron."
Grace smiled mischieviously at him, her cheeks flushing visibly even in the low light of the corridor.
"Come along then, oblige me."
She opened the door to the old ward and he gestured at her to step inside ahead of him, taking in her neat appearance as she did so. For a second or two he was back in their bedroom seeing her clad in her new dress for the first time and he felt great pride that he had been able to bestow on her a gift which gave her such pleasure. She would turn heads on the day; that was for sure and he would know that she was his.
"Roland, you're daydreaming! Come on, what do you think?"
"Sorry, my love." He looked around and suddenly realised that the old ward had been transformed into a veritable storehouse of information about the historic role of the hospital and its projected use. There were displays arranged around the room which led to the main one on the future for the ward complete with artistic impressions of what it would look like and some very impressive looking architectural plans. There were also some testimonies from the patients on the difference the room would make and the garden beyond. The room was cleaned from top to bottom, there were pedestals for flowers and some comfortable chairs with fabric draped over the worst of the cracked plaster. With the sunlight flooding in, the room was transformed.
"First impressions?"
"It's wonderful, Grace. When on earth did your team manage to do this?"
She looked slightly embarrassed and did not answer. The penny dropped; this was Grace's handiwork. He ought to have known. It bore her stamp; thoughtful, informative, inclusive and imaginative.
"My darling, you never cease to amaze me. It's wonderful and a perfect addition to the day."
"Do you really think so?"
"I know so; it's just what the doctor ordered, if you'll pardon the pun."
Moving closer to him, she said quietly, "I think that I might like to check out your offer now, if that's acceptable to you."
"I thought you'd never ask," he replied.
Looking at him appraisingly, Grace said, "Mm…, I think I've seen enough. Handsome, honest, skilled and kindhearted, what more could I want? You'll do very nicely indeed."
Roland's face glowed with confidence and love. Grace had restored him and he was filled with joy in her.
"If we were in a less exposed environment, less on display, I would take you in my arms and kiss you as you've never been kissed before; but then, I kiss you like that all the time."
Grace laughed at that and raised an eyebrow, saying, "Perhaps you do, Colonel Brett, but don't rest on your laurels; there's always room for improvement."
Suddenly, he seized her, casting an eye around as he did so and replied, "You're playing with fire, Matron. I hope you like the heat because I can promise you it will be very hot this evening."
She looked him square in the face and said, with no trace of artifice, "Good. I love hot nights, especially with you."
Roland felt his own heat rise in response. "Till later then, Matron Carter. Don't be late."
"My timekeeping has never been an issue."
"Well, all except the years it took you to admit you loved me."
"Not entirely my fault, as I recall, but I'll own that you brought matters into the open which helped me a lot."
"Why did it take us so long so you think? We love each other so much it seems incredible that there was ever a time when we didn't hold and caress one another."
"I can only confess to a fear of rejection and loss. I wanted you so much. I still do."
"Then we're as one for I was terrified of losing you. Come, we'd better get on with our duties or tongues will be wagging and that will not do."
"I'll be waiting for you."
Grace spent her afternoon checking on her patients and the work of her nurses, completing the orders for the dispensary and writing up her observations. She detected a general lifting of spirits amongst the patients and nurses and, were it not for her role as the head of nursing, she would have loved to share in it, but there were standards to be maintained which the guests would expect to see and which would in turn speak volumes for the wisdom of supporting Roland and her plans. On a couple of occasions, Grace walked around the ward and she was aware of a slight dampening effect which, on one level saddened her, but she was ever the consummate professional. Besides, she and Roland had their moments of fun, which more than compensated for anything lost at operational level. She congratulated the team on a spotless ward and professed herself almost entirely satisfied had it not been for one of two lazy hospital corners on the beds.
"Make sure that they are re-done, please. Our patients deserve faultless nursing standards. Goodness knows, they have had to settle for far worse through no fault of their own in France."
The team responded immediately and she rewarded them with a "Very well done" before dismissing them as the new shift arrived. Looking down at the watch fastened to her apron, she realised that it was nearly 5pm and, if she was not careful she would be late, but she could not leave until the evening duty sister took her place so she had to wait. At 5.10pm there was a flurry of activity at the door and Sister Carmichael approached her, apologetic in the extreme. The door to her room in the nurses home had jammed shut and she had been forced to summon assistance which was later in arriving than expected. Grace was already donning her short cape and nodded in acknowledgement of her colleague's comments.
"I have left everything ready for you, Sister Carmichael. Mind that the night staff don't slack. We have a reputation to maintain in one day's time."
"Of course, Matron. Good evening to you."
Grace left the ward using as measured a pace as possible. She never ran, not even in situations like this. She knew that Roland would not miss the opportunity to tease her mercilessly and she was not mistaken. As she rounded into the shaded area to the rear of the hospital, she saw him lounging against the bonnet of the car.
"And what time do you call this, Matron Carter? I had quite given up hope of seeing you."
"I was delayed by the late arrival of my ward sister. My apologies, Colonel."
"Are you sure that you have everything? I should hate to have to return."
"I have everything I need, thank you, Sir," she answered with great civility.
"And so say all of us," he replied.
He extended his hand and helped her into the car, smiling at her with what Grace could only call a glint in his eye. She squeezed his hand in return and he went round to the driver's side, settling himself in and putting the car into gear before pulling off. In a couple of minutes they were well on their way home and Roland glanced in her direction, only to find her staring out of the side window, apparently deep in thought.
"You're very pensive, darling."
"It's nothing," she replied somewhat unconvincingly. Immediately he felt a shift in her mood and said.
"I disagree; there's something. Whatever it is, I'd like to help."
She said quietly,
"Am I truly everything you need, Roland?"
He shook his head and asked in return,
"Why do you need to ask, Grace? Don't I show you every day?
"I'm sorry if I seem insecure when you are the answer to my every prayer but perhaps that is why; I want to give you so much, to make up to you for the years when I was too weak to follow what my heart was telling me, to make up for the years you felt unloved when all along I loved you so much and could have made a difference to you."
"You could say the same of me," he answered. "I never let on that I was hopelessly in love with you, did I?"
"That was different," she answered.
"How? You were there with me every day. I used to fight the urge to tell you how I felt in case I compromised you and lost you forever. Something seemed better than nothing, only in the long run it wasn't, was it? We both needed each other, both wanted to say so, and, in the end, one of us had to take charge of the situation and face the possibility of being rejected. I had most to explain with being technically unavailable and everything so I grasped the nettle. I know I pulled strings and had you moved, but I couldn't have gone on another day without you, Grace. When you walked into my office, it was all I could do not to rush to you and sweep you into my arms. So, yes, my darling one, you are absolutely all I need."
"The words don't exist to tell you what you mean to me, what you have always meant to me from the moment we met at 25A. All I can say is that if ever a woman loved a man with every atom of her being, that woman is me. I adore you, Roland. Sometimes I wish I was so tiny that I could fit in your breast pocket and lie next to your heart every second of the day and night."
His hand which had been resting on her leg, gently stroking her thigh, moved to take her hand and, heedless of whether they were seen, he raised it to his lips and kissed it.
"You can lie in my arms tonight and I'll show you just how much I love you."
"Only if I've shown you first," she said, looking sideways at the profile of the man who was the entire focus of her life.
"You make me the happiest and luckiest man alive, my Grace."
"It's reciprocal," she answered with a smile, wishing the minutes away, until she could hold him in her arms and let him rest his head on her breast. In just over a day, they would stand together in front of their friends and staff to open the fete. The thought sent a frisson of excitement through Grace. She thought, "I might not be Roland's wife, but I am his wife in every way that truly matters to him. We have our home, our work and our love for each other." A sense of deep contentment settled upon her as they pulled up outside the lodge and, as the engine juddered to a halt, she turned in her seat and reached for him, pulling him into her arms and raising her mouth to his.
"Let me love you," she said, as the kiss ended.
"I'm yours," he answered, her clear desire for him, setting his eyes aflame with delight.
It is a joy to write this for you, especially as it's setting and tone is quite different from my other tale. Please let me know what you think. It's lovely to get your reviews. XX