Chapter Five. My hero. Probably last one in this fic.
Chummy and Peter were in the sitting room trying to work out what was wrong with the sewing machine. It was a very important piece of equipment, but was annoyingly inert.
The nuns were on their way to Compline, and Sister Bernadette rushed in to retrieve her glasses. She smiled fondly at the two of them and quietly sped off to the chapel.
"Do you know, she actually laughed at one of my jokes today!" said Fred, who was carefully prizing open an oil canister.
Chummy thought it best to whisper, "Glad to hear it! But sometimes I catch her looking absolutely miserable poor lamb. Oh look, it's working now Peter, jolly good show!"
Sister Julienne had also noticed Sister Bernadette's unpredictable state of mind. She half wondered whether she should mention it to Doctor Turner, but hesitated. If it was a spiritual problem, there was little he could do. And then there had been that mix up with Doctor Turner before Christmas. She and Sister Evangelina would be seeing him later that day for a meeting with a man from the Department of Health. Maybe it would come up afterwards over a cup of tea.
......
As it happened, neither Sister Evangelina nor Doctor Turner were present when the meeting started at 2pm in Sister Julienne's office. Sister Bernadette was called in to take the minutes in the absence of Sister Evangelina. It was a bright Spring day, and the Sister-in-charge opened the window slightly to let some fresh air in.
"I take it Doctor Turner will be joining us at some point?" asked the man from the Department curtly.
"I imagine so, but he is a very busy man," replied Sister Julienne politely.
"He has been inundating our office with calls about the mobile TB unit. It has been most inconvenient, and may even jeopardise any chance of Poplar having an early visit."
He did not notice Sister Bernadette's eyes begin to widen in righteous indignation. If he had, perhaps he would have restrained himself from continuing,
"It's absolutely typical of these GPs to interfere in what doesn't concern them. They have absolutely no idea of the cost of anything, and seem to think that we are obliged to listen to their whining."
Sister Bernadette could contain herself no longer and raised herself slightly in her seat, "If Doctor Turner says that Poplar needs a TB van, then I assure you it must be very urgent indeed. He is out at all times of the day and night literally saving lives, with no thought at all for his own comfort! Perhaps you should venture out of your office one day and see it for yourself. So many more lives could be saved if you would just listen to him!"
Doctor Turner timed his entrance perfectly: he entered the office at that very moment to see two stunned faces and another rather downcast one, sitting around the desk in embarrassed silence. He assumed his lateness was to blame and said rather breathlessly,
"Please forgive me everyone, a little boy had a nasty dog bite, and it really needed attending to. May I ask what I have missed?"
Sister Julienne coughed, but did not get a chance to speak, as the Department man had something to say,
"Doctor Turner, I have decided to allow you to come and petition the Department for a mobile TB van. It is clearly a priority for Poplar." He sounded almost humble.
"Well...yes...I would like to do that, thank you. Just let me know when!" said Doctor Turner gratefully.
Sister Julienne looked as composed as ever during this exchange. She breathed in rather more deeply than normal before suggesting they move on to other matters. Sister Bernadette appeared to be taking extremely detailed minutes and returned to her former invisible self for the remainder of the meeting.
......
An hour or so later, Fred found Doctor Turner smoking thoughtfully by his car outside Nonnatus House.
"Meeting went well then," he chirped,
"How do you know that?" asked the Doctor sounding surprised.
"Winder was open!" Fred chuckled, "Cor blimey that Sister Bernadette is a dark horse ain't she?"
The Doctor took another puff of his cigarette with a questioning look on his face.
"She told that Suit off right and proper. Told him how you was savin' lives and never restin'! Like you was a hero or summink! Better than the wireless it was."
"Oh, I see, did she?" said Doctor Turner, feeling suddenly, ridiculously happy. He clapped Fred on the back and said "Well that's tickitee boo then isn't it?" before racing off in his car.
"They're all going bloomin mad round ere!" said Fred, "I'm best off stickin to me onions!"
......
A week later, and everyone was struggling to get used to the absence of Chummy. All the midwives were working terribly hard, but they managed somehow. Sister Bernadette kept especially busy, and when she wasn't working, she was in the chapel praying earnestly for divine help.
During one of these prayer times alone in the chapel, she suddenly realised that she was late for ante-natal clinic. She grabbed her equipment and raced down the steps, almost knocking Fred off his feet by the bike shed.
"Lord, where's the fire?" he exclaimed.
She couldn't stop to chat but felt too breathless to leave immediately.
"Here Doctor!" shouted Fred over her shoulder, "Here's a damsel in need of a lift!" and before she knew it, she was sitting next to Doctor Turner in his car.
"It's not like you to be late Sister Bernadette. That's usually my department" he said smiling.
"Yes," she replied, her heart in her mouth.
He was wondering whether or not to mention the meeting, but contented himself with driving in silence. Perhaps it was just as well, for at that moment a dog bounded across the road forcing him to swerve suddenly and come to an abrupt halt. It took a matter of seconds for them both to register where this manoeuvre had landed them. Rather closer than they were used to!
They both sat up straight again, resolutely facing forward. Tentatively, Doctor Turner restarted the car and continued on with the journey.
A few stunned minutes later, Doctor Turner glanced across at Sister Bernadette who was still reeling from having fallen almost fully into his lap.
She was blushing, and biting her lip.
"Oh my God," he thought, "she shouldn't be allowed to be so lovely!"
I think this gets us pretty close to the start of Episode Six: the fair and the kiss! Let's hope Episode Eight is beautifully and satisfyingly happy!