The year 1941. Patrick's Point of View. Part 1.
Patrick stared through the window in the ante-room of a operation theatre at the London Hospital. It had started raining. That old half-circled Victorian window had always been his favorite. But he didn't see the rain. He was thinking of what a difference a radiant pair of blue eyes makes above a surgical mask.
He felt a slap on his shoulder.
"Turner, thanks." It was his friend and colleague, Aubrey Tracy. A successful operation was over. "What are you staring at? Bloody weather."
"That nurse, Mannion. Who is she?"
"I am not sure, but I like to look at her."
"Aubrey. Please."
Dr Tracy got serious.
"She is a capable nurse. Used to be a medical student. A follower of Dick Sheppard, that famous pacifist. Certainly you have heard of him. She is an odd one: a miniature form, such grace, quiet but clear-headed. A true believer."
"That clergyman with an ideology...of non-resistance. How can that be?"
"Sister Julienne is her godmother. The Nonnatus Foundation works in a close alliance with the Chichester House, where the nuns of the Order of St. John now reside. Their family, including Sister Julienne's famous brothers, the Earl of Chichester and the Bishop of Southwark, are all supporters of the Peace Pledge Union."
He chuckled. "You remember The Honorable Monica Joan St. Vincent?"
"That old bird. Sure I do. She was a great speaker, that I must confess."
"This Nurse Mannion is her great-niece."
"The aristocracy in this country...is not always something to be proud of. That family, the Chichesters, they seem an odd crowd of sensible progressives and idealistic ...shall I say...cranks."
Aubrey snorted. So typical of Patrick to first tap into his working class roots. "Do not bite the hand that feeds you, my dear fellow." A great part of the research funding of The London Lab came from that foundation.
"Anyway, didn't that Sheppard fellow die? And didn't his wife leave him, or something? Doesn't the present state of the world in war mean anything to them?"
"A believer stands for his beliefs. I understand that medical work in military hospitals is not considered war work anymore by this branch of pacifism. When it comes to Sheppard's marriage, are you really the one to judge?"
"Sorry, Aubrey. No, I am not. But such a waste."
"What waste, Patrick? Nurse Mannion is doing useful work. Although I'd like her to continue her medical studies. She is a good research assistant, but she could do more."
"She is capable and clever, that is what I mean. It is a shame to waste that energy and resources in unnecessary religious quixotic escapism."
"Well, to each his own."
Patrick sighed. He seemed uncharacteristically rattled.
"Take care, Patrick. "
"What, Aubrey?"
"Take care of whatever you're thinking of. We are here to work. You should know better. You do know better."
Patrick gave him a sheepish look.
"I know. I do."
It was a fairly well-known fact that Dr Turner was divorced. He had not tried to hide that information, and in truth, couldn't, as his former wife had worked at The London as a receptionist before their marriage. The marriage was brief, only two years, and none of the details of their break up were officially known. Some people had heard gossip of an American-born officer the ex-Mrs. Turner was now seeing.
Yet little else was known about the private life of Patrick Turner, a divorced man, a MD, a resident in obstetrics, except that he was kind, a good professional, and had a brother, Timothy, who was also a MD. It was known that he intended to climb the ladder of medical research. He talked in a lively manner of cricket, war events, movies and the newest expansions in his research field. It could be said that he was direct, but had not an open temperament. Aubrey Tracy had wondered what it would take to make him to live a little, to take personal risks. That it might be the blue eyes of a pacifist nurse was a surprise.