God Gave Me You 19
For once in her young life, Angela went to bed without fighting her mother. The evening at the Turner residence had utterly exhausted the almost-two year old. Her excitement at Timothy's return that evening was adorable, and the similar response from Timothy was heartwarming. Shelagh delighted in the fact that Timothy had taken to Angela so quickly. He was always such a loving little boy, perhaps a sibling is what he'd needed all along to stem the loneliness he so often felt.
Shelagh wrapped her dressing gown around herself, stuffing the stack of letters in her pocket and padded down to the kitchen to make a cup of tea. Settling herself in Sister Julienne's armchair, she opened the first envelope and began to read, a smile plastered on her face from the first sentence.
Several hours later, Sister Julienne noticed a light in the sitting room after returning from a complicated delivery. Stopping in the doorway, she noticed Shelagh asleep in her armchair with a mass of paper cascading from her lap onto the floor. Kneeling next to her, she began to pick up the envelopes immediately recognizing the handwriting and smiled. Placing her hand on Shelagh's arm, she spoke softly to rouse her.
"Shelagh, my dear. Wake up."
Shelagh's eyes fluttered open, a confused look breaking out on her face before she struggled to sit up properly.
"It's alright, my dear. You fell asleep downstairs." Sister Julienne told her calmly.
"Sorry, Sister. I was-" she paused, noticing the letters in Sister Julienne's hand. "Reading."
Sister Julienne smiled, handing over the letters that had fallen. Shelagh sat up properly, adding the letters to the pile in her lap. "Thank you, Sister."
"It's no trouble. Now, I'm going to make myself a quick cup of tea and then try to rest a bit before Lauds. I shall leave you with your correspondence." Julienne stood and began to walk out of the room.
"They're from Doctor Turner." Shelagh said lightly. "When they were...away."
The nun stopped and turned to her, waiting for Shelagh to continue but not forcing any information from her.
"There are dozens of them. Each different in its own way, but remarkably similar in their meaning." Shelagh's face took on a faraway look, a smile playing on the corner of her lips. Sister Julienne moved back into the sitting room, perching on the edge of the sofa while Shelagh spoke. It was one of those moments where neither of them had to speak, but they both knew what was being said.
"I'm sure they're lovely. As I recall, the doctor has quite a way with words."
"Indeed he does, Sister." Shelagh stroked the writing on an envelope reverently, imagining his careworn face writing to her night after night after Timothy had gone to bed. A smile permanently etched on her face as she looked at her mentor. "Quite a way."
"Would you care for a cup of tea, Shelagh? I'm sure the one next to you has grown quite frigid by now."
"Thank you, Sister. But I think I'll pass for now. It's quite late, and it was a long day."
Sister Julienne nodded. "Off to bed, then. Another busy day tomorrow at clinic." Smiling as Shelagh got up from the chair, she watched as she gathered all her letters and stuffed them back into her dressing gown pocket.
"Good night, Sister."
"Good night, my dear. Sleep well."
Patrick was running late...as usual. Timothy had already eaten and left for school by the time Patrick had finally gotten his things together. He quickly downed his cup of tea, now far too cold from sitting on the sideboard, haphazardly tossed the cup into the sink to be washed later and grabbed his bag. As he was putting his jacket on, there was a small but purposeful knock on the door.
"Just what I need. I'm already late." He thought to himself, as he opened the front door. He was shocked to find Shelagh on the other side.
"Shelagh!?"
"Sorry to bother you, Patrick. I know you've got rounds this morning but I was just passing and saw your car was still here."
"Come in! It's cold out!" He ushered her into the doorway, shutting out the cold December air.
"Are you al-" he was cut off by the feeling of her lips on his, her arms quickly finding their way around his neck. Hesitating only slightly due to the surprise attack, he responded with his arms wrapped around her body pulling her flush against himself. As the need for air became too great, Shelagh pulled back, leaving a shocked Patrick staring at her.
"Well, now. That's quite the lovely surprise to start my day." He grinned down at her.
"I'm sorry to be so forward, Patrick. I just couldn't wait until clinic to see you."
"I take it you read my letters?"
She nodded. "Yes, every one. Twice." She paused, looking up at him with tears coming to her eyes. "They were beautiful, Patrick."
"I'm so glad you've finally read them. I wanted to send them to you, I couldn't stop myself from wanting to talk to you."
"Why didn't you?" She whispered.
"Pure cowardice. I was afraid you wouldn't want to hear from me...to be reminded." He tore his gaze from her eyes, focusing on the floor. "I couldn't take the possibility of you rejecting me. That's why we left, Shelagh."
"I could never reject you, Patrick." Shelagh stood up onto her tiptoes, placing her hands on his shoulders for leverage, and kissed him once again. "I love you." She whispered to him, barely audible in her sigh as they parted.
Neither of them had said those words to the other out loud, though their meaning was conveyed in every look, kiss and touch they had shared for weeks.
Patrick looked at her, struck silent by the fact that she'd been the first to say it out loud, as well as the fact that she'd said it at all. "I love you too, Shelagh." He kissed her again chastely but full of emotion before he pulled away, leaning their foreheads together.
"Shelagh? Would you-"
The phone began ringing, as always, at the most inopportune moment. Patrick groaned as the phone continued to ring, shaking Shelagh from her thoughts as well.
"You need to answer that. It will be important, no doubt. Besides, I've got house calls to attend to." She pecked him on the cheek briskly before heading for the door. "See you at clinic." With that, she was gone.