Summary: Nurse Training School - The London Hospital
Disclaimer: Call The Midwife belongs to the BBC and others - I am simply borrowing their wonderful characters.
Author's note: It was pointed out to me that 'first meet' stories usually end at the kiss. I didn't really want to end it there as it must have been so very hard to build a relationship in secret. So I suppose we're entering into phase II of this story and I'll be drawing out the development of their relationship during this bit. Big shout out to Sittingonthis for the sense check and JLynsca for the edit. Enjoy...
Patsy's eyes snapped shut the second Delia's lips touched her own and she allowed herself to revel in the sensation. Her heart was pounding and she brought a hand up to cup Delia's cheek in a mirror of the younger woman. She used the touch to bring them closer and she increased the pressure. Delia may have initiated the kiss, but Patsy quickly took control, opening her lips and teasing Delia with light nips and touches with her tongue. As Delia opened her mouth to reciprocate, Patsy continued with her advantage and deepened the kiss. She grinned briefly as she felt Delia's arms suddenly wrap around her. She did the same and they both pulled each other closer together.
The blonde nurse pushed herself into Delia, revelling in the sensation of Delia's body pressing into her. The whole experience was threatening to overwhelm her, and she could feel her legs tremble. Instinctively, she tried to manoeuvre them both towards the wall, in the hope that leaning against something might just stop her from collapsing outright. Delia seemed to get the hint and allowed herself to be guided.
Unfortunately, Patsy's navigation was slightly off and she ended up slamming Delia into the door, producing a loud vibrating shudder. The women broke the kiss immediately, but neither removed their arms from each other.
As one, they turned their heads toward the door, listening for any signs that someone was investigating the noise. It was difficult to hear anything over their rapid, gasping breaths.
Delia was reeling. She had never experienced a sensation like kissing Patsy before. Her heart was hammering and her head was spinning. She quite frankly couldn't care less who came up the corridor right now. The only partially coherent thought she was hanging onto was how wrong she had been to put scorn on all the romantic notions she had seen at the cinema. It had always felt like a Hollywood trope. It might not exactly be 'boy meets girl', but she knew she would never again be dismissive of the young couple being portrayed as dizzily in love.
She leaned back and closed her eyes, willing herself to calm down and she forced herself to take a deep, steadying breath.
"Deels? Are you alright?" Patsy's concern was evident even though her voice was no louder than a whisper.
Delia opened her eyes to see Patsy staring at her. Her face was only a few inches away and Delia's breath caught again. Suddenly she unwrapped an arm and slapped the taller woman on her shoulder. "I can't believe you made me wait so long for that!"
Patsy's initial indignant surprise transformed into instant amusement and she laughed loudly, partially in relief, and partially in delight at the words.
"Shhhhh!" Delia tried to quieten the older woman slightly but her plea was shaky with contained laughter. The pair of them began a battle of trying to suppress their giggles.
Satisfied that they had not attracted any unwanted attention, Patsy pulled Delia away from the door and walked backwards towards her bed. She sat down rather ungracefully as she felt the back of her knees hit, and took Delia with her. Somehow she managed to twist enough so that they both ended up sitting on the bed. For a few more minutes, the pair of them allowed the laughter out quietly, each of them setting the other off with barely suppressed giggles. It dissipated the tension that had been building between them and eventually they relaxed and calmed a little. Patsy was relieved. If she was honest with herself, now that she had kissed Delia, she was also annoyed that she had denied this happening for so long. She squeezed her love's hand lightly before getting up again.
Delia frowned as she watched Patsy pluck a book from her desk and wedge it under the crack of the door. "You've done that before," she accused, glad that she had got her voice back under control.
"At boarding school," Patsy confirmed. "It was the only way one could get any privacy at all."
"You had your own room at boarding school?"
"Once I was in sixth form, yes. It did make some things a little easier." She waggled her eyebrows playfully.
Delia grinned. She was adoring this teasing side of Patsy. "How come you haven't told me about this before?"
"One needs to keep certain secrets," Patsy replied primly, but the words were somewhat undermined by the expansive smile she displayed.
Delia leaned back on her hands. "I have ways and means of getting secrets out of people," she stated cockily.
Patsy raised one eyebrow. "I don't doubt that for a second, Delia Busby. In the meantime however, would now be a good time for a night cap?" As much as she was enjoying the repartee, Patsy needed a few moments to steady her nerves and thoughts.
Delia nodded. "Yes please." The brunette was just as grateful for the distraction. The whole day had consisted of emotional conversations. Now, the sensation overload she had just experienced by kissing Patsy had wrung out her emotions again. Delia could do with a little less intensity.
Patsy waved her glass at Delia after retrieving the whiskey from its hiding place. "Do you mind sharing a glass, or did you want to go and get yours?"
"Sharing is just fine," Delia agreed. She had no inclination to go anywhere just yet and she lazily watched the tall nurse pour a very healthy measure of amber fluid. "Are you planning on getting me drunk?" She asked.
Patsy squinted at the glass before casting a dismissive glance at Delia. "We're sharing." She paused for just long enough. "Besides, I don't plan on getting up for a while once I sit down." With that she moved toward the bed, deliberately swaying her hips just a little more provocatively than usual.
Delia's eyes widened and she felt herself blush again. Patsy was also clearly quite the flirt when she wanted to be, and Delia loved it.
Patsy made sure not to sit too close to Delia. She could see the affect she was having on the brunette and she was enjoying the back and forth they were sharing. Rather unusually, she took a large gulp of the whiskey before handing the glass to Delia, making sure that she brushed Delia's fingers with her own.
Delia shot Patsy a glance when she felt the caress. "Are you deliberately trying to tease me?" She asked, taking a sip.
"Yes, I rather think I am," the blonde admitted.
Delia grinned again. "What happened to 'we must be cautious at all costs'?"
Patsy's grin faded just slightly. "It's still there sadly. And now more than ever we'll have to be careful about how we interact in front of others." She sighed. "This really is going to be terribly complicated and hard. Are you absolutely sure you want to do this?"
Delia took another sip of whiskey before placing the tumbler on the nightstand. "After that kiss?" She shook her head. "I don't have a choice," she whispered, leaning forward and capturing Patsy's lips with her own again.
After the roller coaster of emotions on Saturday, Patsy and Delia returned to work. At first they both over-compensated and it was difficult to reconcile the behaviour of the weekend with the stiff interactions they displayed on the ward. Delia tried to relax a bit and emulate what they did when they really were only just friends. Patsy was having none of it. Having already had to deal with rumours, she was determined not to have a repeat of the situation. The aloofness was on show whenever there was any chance of being observed. Patsy made it quite clear that Delia was not to show any sort of display of affection. That meant no touching as well as no terms of endearment.
Delia found it intensely frustrating and restrictive but she could not complain. The pair had discussed this and Patsy was adamant that it was vital to maintain a facade if they were not to be caught. Delia looked on ruefully as other nurses happily called each other 'darling' or looped their arms together when they went out. It wouldn't be out of the ordinary if she and Patsy were to do the same. Patsy was also highly cautious whenever they spent time together in each other's room. Curfews were strictly adhered to and Patsy would not enter Delia's room if there was someone who might observe her.
In the privacy of their rooms however, the restrictions were reduced and they spent long hours wrapped in each other's arms, kissing and lightly exploring skin that was gradually exposed. Both women had selected a book to ruin by wedging it under the door. It wasn't perfect but it would at least ensure no-one could walk in on anything that should not be seen. Even so, Patsy was obsessive in guarding against discovery. Their kissing and exploring had to be done almost in silence.
Delia struggled with it, but knew that Patsy was right to exercise such restraint. She also knew that she would put up with any conditions if it meant that they could be together. The Welsh woman was sure that Patsy would relax a little if they could add to the facade and deflect attention away from them spending time together. She continued with her research to find another plausible smokescreen to divert attention away her apparent lack of interest in dating men.
One Tuesday evening, as Patsy was strolling back to the Nurses Home after her late shift, she recognised a figure walking along the road from the opposite direction. She frowned as she took note of what the woman was wearing. "St John Ambulance? When did you sign up for them?"
Delia smiled. "That was the research I was telling you about. I was a cadet in Wales. I thought that now I was nursing I might take it up again. They're always in need of volunteers, and it gets me out every Tuesday evening if I'm not working."
"Isn't that like a busman's holiday?" Patsy asked, not sure if she could spend her free time doing what she already did for a living.
"Some of it is," the brunette agreed. "Mostly it's volunteers hanging on my every word when I talk to them about patients. But I do get to go out on the ambulance as a volunteer."
Patsy was almost jealous. Now that they had decided to deepen their relationship, she wanted every spare moment of Delia's time. However, it was quite an ingenious idea and would certainly put paid to any suggestion that the pair were indeed only spending time in each other's company. "You never told me you were in the Cadets," Patsy complained good-naturedly as they made their way upstairs.
Delia shrugged. "I wasn't actually very good to be honest. I was always up to mischief."
Patsy arched an eyebrow. "Why doesn't that surprise me?"
"I wanted to be out and about adventuring. They wouldn't let me join the scouts so I had to compromise with St John."
"No being a Brownie for you then?" Patsy couldn't help but tease.
Delia stuck out her tongue. "The closest Brownie pack was far too far away from the village for me to go to." She reflected on her youth for a moment. "It's funny. I know I was always being naughty at Cadets, but I can't knock it. It really got me interested in nursing. The Nursing Superintendent was a nurse during the Great War. She knew Edith Cavell." Delia's voice took on a tone of awe.
Delia bumped open her door. "Coming in?" She offered.
Patsy took a glance down the corridor and Delia rolled her eyes at the caution.
The tall blonde stepped past Delia and sat down. "You're getting too casual," she admonished.
"Not at all," Delia disputed, taking off her tricorn hat and placing it in the top of the wardrobe. "I just took note of our surroundings as we walked along." She turned round and looked at Patsy. "We don't have to be quite so covert about it."
"Yes, we do."
"Patsy, lots of girls spend time in their friends' rooms. It's not a crime."
Patsy grabbed the 'door book', as they had dubbed it, and wedged it firmly in place with her foot. She turned round and approached Delia, a predatory look on her face. "It's not a crime to talk," she agreed as she wrapped her arms round Delia's waist and pulled her close. "But I have no intention of just talking," she continued in a whisper, before leaning in to kiss the shorter woman.
After a few more weeks, the ward placements finished and the student nurses were back in the classroom again. Patsy found it interesting to note how much more confident all the young women were. After significant exposure to patients, and the rigours of the ward pecking order, most were now beginning to feel that they were no longer pretending to be nurses and had earned the right to wear the uniform. Some of the women had blossomed on the wards, naturally gifted at building a rapport with both patients and staff. For others, it was still a struggle, but they had begun to develop coping mechanisms and techniques for overcoming their self-doubt.
This re-evaluation of skill and confidence affected the internal cliques within the intake. Some of the girls that had been painfully shy initially, now exuded confidence because of their placement success and were clearly elevated in status. The net effect was that the division between the cliques was far less pronounced and they all mingled together socially with greater ease.
The upside to this was that both Patsy and Delia were invited out to the various social functions organised. The downside was that this new found socialising ate into their personal time together. Fortunately, most of the students still decided to go home every weekend. Delia maintained her stance of not going home during class. No one could read anything sinister into that as she had done that from the start of training. This allowed the women to plan trips and days out in relative freedom. Delia had planned a trip to the pictures next week. Patsy had smiled indulgently as the Welsh woman waxed lyrical on the merits of the film she had chosen. She had been looking forward to seeing it for months. Patsy would have watched a blank screen for 90 minutes as long as she got to sit next to Delia and share a bag of sweets with her while they did. When Delia challenged Patsy on her apparent lack of enthusiasm, Patsy simply shrugged and then proposed they get an early dinner before the start of the film and make a proper evening of it. From the look on Delia's face, Patsy had suggested the right thing and they had both grinned madly at each other, realising that this could be considered their first proper date.
In the meantime, Patsy and Delia found themselves in the local pub on a Wednesday evening of all nights. The somewhat tenuous excuse was that they had suffered a whole day's lectures on the nervous system. The professor had been turgid to say the least and the whole lecture hall had zoned out. Once released for the day, the students felt compelled to commiserate with each other, realising that they would have to go through and learn the information themselves. One of the nurses suggested that they should go and get a drink to celebrate the mere fact that they had all managed not to be bored to death. After quickly getting changed, the pub was inundated with student nurses who rapidly monopolised the Snug. Patsy and Delia sat at a small round table with two of their colleagues.
"Did you understand any of that?" Mavis whined plaintively.
"Not really. Professor Barker was quite stunningly dull," Patsy replied, taking a drag of her cigarette.
"I don't know why we need to know all that anyway. We're nurses, not doctors," Jean grumbled.
"Aren't you interested? It's fascinating. Especially the brain. There's so much we don't know about it." Delia was the only one in the group who showed even a modicum of enthusiasm. "This fragile lump of blancmange that houses our thoughts and emotions. Our memories. I could study this forever."
"We wouldn't expect anything less," Mavis teased, but there was no maliciousness in her tone. The rest of the class seemed to have resigned themselves to conceding that Delia would be the shining light of their group. "Well, I shall just wait for you to go through it all again and then you can explain it to us," she declared.
Patsy had to damp down a proud smile and masked it by finishing her drink. She adored it when others recognised Delia's innate ability.
Delia shrugged. "I can't promise miracles but I'm happy to help." She tossed back the last of her drink. "Anyone up for one more?" She offered generously.
With nods all round, Delia collected the glasses and made her way to the bar.
"What are you up to next Friday night, Patsy?" Jean asked suddenly, once Delia was out of earshot.
Patsy's brain stopped. In all their preparations for keeping things secret, Patsy had not once considered having to cover up anything at the weekend. Everyone else went home. There was no need for deception as they would be left in peace. Unable to come up with anything plausible, Patsy fell back on something she knew instinctively wasn't going to be good enough. "Nothing, I don't think," she replied ungrammatically.
"Thank goodness. Mavis and I are going dancing with Dr. Edwards and Dr. Keene. But they asked us to find someone for one of their friends. Would you mind?"
Patsy pulled a face as her mind raced. "I'm not sure." She glanced over to where Delia was standing at the bar. "I think Delia mentioned something about the pictures," she tried vaguely.
"Oh, come on. You can go to the pictures any time. When was the last time you went dancing?"
"The Winter Ball," Patsy answered truthfully. "But I can't. We're not allowed to fraternise with the doctors." Internally, she sighed with relief at having found an excuse.
Mavis laughed. "Oh, no one pays any attention to that. But technically, you wouldn't be fraternising anyway. Their friend isn't a doctor. He's studying to be a lawyer."
"Please Patsy. You'd help us out of a fix. And it would be fun," Jean wheedled.
"What about Delia? It would hardly be fair of me to leave her in the lurch." Patsy tried a different tack.
"But they can't have been firm plans. You would have said so," Mavis pointed out. She frowned. "Did you want us to ask them to find another chap for Delia? That way she could come along too."
Patsy controlled the expression on her face with extreme difficulty. Things were rapidly spiralling out of control. She had no intention of going out and watching a strange man fawn over Delia, and she was certain Delia would feel the same. The two women were also now likely to pounce on Delia when she got back to the table. Patsy's heart sank, wondering what on earth Delia would say. "Wouldn't it be easier to find another girl to go with you?"
"Not on a Friday, Patsy," Jean replied. "Everyone else goes home. This will be the first weekend I've spent here when I haven't been working," she continued. A wicked smile crossed her face and it was clear that she had thought about this for some time and had a very specific set of plans for the weekend.
"What do you say, Patsy? It would help us out tremendously." Mavis was practically begging.
Patsy was distracted from answering as Delia returned and placed a tray of drinks on the table. She looked at the Welsh woman worriedly, seeing Delia frown as she caught the tension radiating from her.
"Everything alright?" The brunette asked.
Mavis jumped in quickly. "Delia, what are you up to next Friday night?"
Delia blinked at the sudden change in conversation and shrugged slightly. "I've volunteered to cover an ambulance," she told them blithely.
Mentally, Patsy groaned. Of course, Delia would have prepared an excuse. And it was an ingenious one. If anyone did happen to see them out, Delia could simply say that her services were no longer required and so changed her plans.
"There you go, Patsy. Problem solved," Jean declared triumphantly.
"What problem?" Delia asked the question brightly enough, but Patsy could clearly hear the tautness in her voice.
"We're off out dancing next Friday and we needed a third girl. Patsy didn't want to leave you in the lurch, so to speak, but as you're already otherwise engaged, it means she has no excuse not to put her dancing shoes on." Mavis was positively giddy with excitement.
Delia shot Patsy a look of hurt surprise but quickly regained control of her features before smiling tightly. "How lovely for you. Think of me as you're spinning round the dance floor while I'm out in the cold dark night."
Two of her three companions laughed heartily. Patsy wanted the ground to swallow her up. She had been so insistent with Delia that they plan everything in order that they didn't get caught out. Because of her own lack of preparation she had just blown their first proper date. How on earth was she going to make this up to her?
To be continued...