Northfield Ch 16

Two days after the Halloween parade Patrick came to see his fiancée after an evening of house calls. He met Shelagh outside Nonnatus House where she was smoking a cigarette.

"Oh, have you become a smoker now? I am a bad influence, am I not?" He furrowed his brow before lowering his head to kiss her.

She stubbed out the cigarette, smiling wanly. "I needed to calm down."

"Really? What's happened?"

"I will tell you. Let's go inside."

Once they were inside, Shelagh grabbed his arm and said: "Patrick, it is the oddest thing."

"What is, love? Wait one moment, I will take my coat off."

She walked ahead of him to the living room and sat on the sofa.

He sat by her, astonished by her worried look. Then his face grew tense and wild. "Where's Tim? Has something happened to him?"

She stroked his arm "No, love. Tim's all right. He is at home in the good care of Mrs. Fairfax. I saw him only an hour ago. But it is related to Tim. "

"What is it?"

"Do you remember that camera I told you about….the one we found in the attic before Halloween. "

"Yes."

"It seems there was no finger on the lens. The film was not dark or empty. Tim developed the photographs. I found a pile of pictures when I was rummaging the closets in the Red Room. I was trying to find nail polish for Grace Poole. I remembered that there was a half-empty bottle in there."

"Is Grace staying with you again? "

"Yes, he arrived yesterday. I haven't seen him, though. I have been on the district rota this week. It was Sister Evangelina who accommodated him and asked for the nail polish today. But Patrick, the photographs…."

His mouth twitched as he looked at her and his eyes narrowed. "Yes, what about them?"

"There are pictures of Tim as a baby which aren't in his family album. And pictures of you and Jennifer together…. "

"That does not sound something he would hide and lie about…."

"No. But in two of the pictures there is a person I have never seen before. She is sitting in the garden with Jennifer; it is a woman who looks exactly like Jennifer, except that she is blonde and has more makeup and painted eyebrows…"

Patrick's look became troubled indeed. Shelagh took a very firm grip of his hand. She looked directly in his pained eyes: "Who is she, Patrick?"

He opened his mouth and could not yet utter a word.

Shelagh continued with a rapid torrent of words, fearfully: "Patrick, she was wearing a Northfield hospital dressing gown. The name was embroidered on her sleeve. She has a harried look about her. She is holding a Teddy bear in her hands. It looks like Cuthbert. Patrick, was she a patient? Is she a relative of Jennifer's?"

Patrick's voice was low and heavy. He was pressing Shelagh's hand hard. "She was. She was a relative of Jennifer. She is dead. Her name is Elaine, she was Jennifer's twin. And yes, she was a patient. She was very sick indeed."

At that moment there was a noise in the hall. Patrick raised his head to look the mirror to see if someone was there but saw no-one. Then he turned to Shelagh: "Shelagh, Elaine is someone Timothy does not know about. He must have been confused by the pictures."

"He had an aunt that he does not know about?"

"Yes. The Parker family has some ghosts. Or closeted…things. I am sorry that I haven't told you about Elaine. I was going to do that, but the appropriate time never appeared. I was waiting for Joan to arrive, to help me explain. She has urged me to tell you about all this."

He took Shelagh in his arms. "Darling, I am so sorry". She appeared taut with shock and somewhat reluctant. They listened to each other's breathing for a while.

A door was heard slam very hard. "Is that Grace? It sounds like Grace," asked Patrick, with some agitation.

Then he let Shelagh go. He pressed his hands on his thighs. "I suggest we take a look at these photographs. "

"They are in my room."

They made their way to her room, a short walk. It was like walking to the gallows together, Shelagh thought.

She opened the door and gasped at the sight. Patrick took a firm hold of her. He grimaced.

There were pieces of photographs all over the floor. They had been torn. From one shred, the mysterious woman's harrowing face stared up at them. Patrick muttered "bloody hell" and kneeled to pick up that piece.

"It is Elaine in the picture. But who has been here and torn the pictures?"

A sound of fast approaching footsteps was heard from the fall. It was a breathless Sister Evangelina. "Oh good, how fortunate you happen to be here, Doctor. Our new resident needs medical care. She is in much worse condition than I thought. I would not have taken her in if I'd known she was this bad. Quickly, she needs a sedative."

"She?" inquired Doctor Turner with a pressured voice. "It is not Grace Poole?"

"No, it his flat mate, a new person in Poplar. A lady with bleached hair and long finger nails and…" - Sister Evangelina was waving her arms -"God knows what. Shelagh, could you call an ambulance while we take a look at her?"

Patrick took his bag and ran after Sister Evangelina to the guest wing. Shelagh called an ambulance. Then she collapsed on a chair in the hall to wait. She was still holding that piece of Elaine's photograph in her hand.

The ambulance arrived and the men went to the guest wing. After a while they came down carrying the patient whose face showed all the marks of sedative-induced haze. She had a large, curled bob of blonde hair and the Parker family features.

Patrick came after the stretcher. Shelagh raised her head to meet his bleary eyes.

"Shelagh, wait for me…I will come back in a minute. Sister Evangelina will go with the ambulance."

The sound of ambulance siren faded away. Patrick came back to the hall. He leaned against the wall at some distance from Shelagh. He covered his face with his hand.

Then he turned to Shelagh and offered his hand. She had not moved from her slumped position. "Come, love. We need to talk."