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Sister Julienne sat back in her chair and sighed. It had been quite a day, and even her usually unsurpassable resilience was beginning to feel a little tried. The bones in her shoulders ached, and she could not help but sink down a little in her seat, trying to relieve a some of the tension from her back and neck.
The papers lying on the desk in front of her were scattered messily about, and she was momentarily startled at the untidiness that was so out of character for her. Compulsively, she reached out and gathered them together, placing them back down in a neat pile. Even then, she still felt as though there was something else bothering her. Her hands were unconsciously twitching in her lap, so she picked up the papers once again, unnecessarily rearranging them. She could not identify what is was causing her such trouble, but she put it down to fatigue.
"Yes," she murmured, "That will be it,"
A knock roused her from her dream-like state.
"Sister?"
Hastily, she sat up straight in her chair, and adjusted her habit.
"Yes, enter,"
The three nurses crept inside. Sister Julienne's office had an aura that commanded respect, and not one of them spoke a single word until she stood too and gestured towards the chairs opposite her.
"Please, sit down,"
They did so, their heads dipped slightly, as if they fully expected a serious scolding.
"You needn't look quite so terrified,"
Trixie was the first one to steal a glance upwards, and saw with relief that Sister Julienne was smiling at them.
"If you are afraid that I am going to be angry about the events of this evening, then you are mistaken,"
"You would be perfectly within your right to be angry," Delia said apologetically, "And I am chiefly to blame. I lost my temper, and I should not have done. I am so very sorry,"
"Thank you, Nurse Busby. I appreciate that,"
"I'm sorry too," Patsy mumbled, "I should not have reacted the way that I did. It was rude and unhelpful,"
"Thank you, Nurse Mount,"
There was a pause, and Sister Julienne looked at Trixie with an almost expectant look. Trixie met it somewhat defiantly.
"You don't… you don't agree with Sister Winifred do you, Sister?" she asked.
"That's a bit beside the point, Nurse Franklin,"
"Yes, but… with all due respect, her views are bigoted and shallow,"
Patsy tried desperately not to smile at Trixie's matter-of-fact tone.
"You must understand, Nurse Franklin, that Sister Winifred is as entitled to an opinion as you or I. Whilst you wish for her to be more tolerant towards others, I'm afraid that I wish it of you to be more tolerant of her. Sister Winifred was raised in a different environment to you, and has had different experiences of the world which have, naturally, shaped her opinion of it. It is not for you or anybody else to call that her judgement question. You must, instead, set the example of tolerance yourself and hope that she will take inspiration from that,"
Trixie kicked her feet a little obstinately and folded her arms tightly across her chest. Her mouth was pulled taut into a hard line.
"Nurse Franklin?" Sister Julienne said gently, "I understand your frustration, and I admire your ambition for our world to be more accepting, but you realise that if everybody was to try and force their views onto everybody else, there would be chaos? It is, I am afraid, only possible for us to lead by example, and hope that others follow on. Do you see this?"
Trixie nodded, if a little reluctantly.
"Yes, Sister Julienne,"
"This may be asking too much from you, but would you perhaps consider apologising to Sister Winifred?"
A disdainful scorn from Trixie and shared look of horror between Patsy and Delia was the answer to her question.
"Not at all?" she asked, slightly too hopefully.
"It really depends on whether she is willing to apologise to Patsy and Delia… and me, obviously," Trixie added quickly.
"Perhaps if you make the first move she will return the apology?"
Trixie shook her head, "I'm sorry, but I'm not prepared to take that chance,"
"Very well. I understand. In that case, I have nothing more to say. You are dismissed,"
"Thank you, Sister,"
They left quickly and hurried up the stairs and out of earshot. With an exaggerated gasp, Trixie pretended to faint and flopped down against the wall. Patsy kicked her affectionately.
"Get up, you clown,"
Trixie jabbed Patsy's shin with her foot.
"Did I not say that we would be fine? I did say that, didn't I?!"
Delia rolled her eyes.
"Yes, yes you did, but I'm not sure that it's any thanks to you! You're an absolute devil when you want to be! Poor Sister Julienne getting an earful off you!"
Trixie shrugged nonchalantly and heaved herself to her feet.
"Just standing up for what I believe in! Anyway, I'm off to bed. Coming, Patsy?"
Trixie's ever observant eyes flicked knowingly between her and Delia, and even in the dim light, they seemed to sparkle, as if she was really amusing herself. Patsy froze, and felt hot blood rush to her cheeks. The look in her friend's face was so scandalously suggestive that she could hardly move a muscle.
"Patsy?" she asked again.
"Yes… yes I'm coming," she managed to speak, despite the fact that I felt as if her tongue had swollen in her mouth.
Why was she suddenly so nervous? She knew that Trixie knew that she frequently spent the night with Delia. Maybe it was that she had never been confronted so openly about it. She was used to being with Delia in private; she was still getting grips with the fact that Trixie was in the know.
"I guess that it's goodnight then, Pats,"
Patsy was a little devastated to see a flicker of disappointment in Delia's face, but she blocked it out and nodded.
"Yes… goodnight Delia,"
Cursing herself inwardly, she went inside and closed the door, leaving Delia stood by herself in the corridor.