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Meg stayed quiet about Eva’s confession—that she’d buried her face in the sergeant’s shoulder and not looked up after the first bomb fell. But Doc had been right about Eva’s tendency to exaggerate.
Meg tapped on her mug with a spoon and waited till all eyes turned her way. ‘I’ve been asked to give you the official information pertaining to the encounter Sister Smith told you about.’ Meg recounted the details passed on via Doc from Garbutt Airfield and ended with a request for calm. ‘The air force will be on high alert over the next few nights due to what they call a bomber’s moon, which makes it easier for pilots to pick out their targets. If you hear an alarm, remember the drill. Tin hat, shelter as per orders. There will be a practice drill later today. Take time to check your equipment prior to it happening.’
Murmurs of ‘Yes, Sister,’ drifted up to where she sat at the head of the table before the group fell back into conversation punctuated by the occasional exclamation of concern. Eva threw her a dirty look for stealing her limelight and turned away. Last night, Meg had put her curtness down to shock, but now—
As she stood and lifted her breakfast tray, Meg spoke over the buzz of chatter. ‘Sister Smith, report to my office in ten minutes.’ The other nurses fell quiet. Those either side of Eva suddenly found their breakfast of intense interest when Eva’s mulish expression returned. Her assent was given through gritted teeth. Disciplining a nurse was still a challenge for Meg, but Eva’s attitude was making it easier to formulate what she had to say.
By the time Eva knocked on Meg’s office door—two minutes late, Meg noted—she had contrived to change her expression into something vaguely pleasant. ‘You wanted to see me, Sister Dorset?’
‘Come in, Sister, and close the door.’ Picking the time after the night shift ended and while the nurses on the morning shift were occupied with the morning routine had been deliberate. ‘Last night, you were out well past the time your leave pass allowed.’
‘We had to report what we’d seen, Sister. There was a bombing raid!’ The last words were delivered with a Remember! implied by her tone. A certain amount of smugness was almost always guaranteed when speaking to Eva, but her attitude this morning took smug to a whole new level.
Leaving a pause during which she simply looked at Eva gave Meg time to bite back a sarcastic remark. Taking a deep breath, she adjusted her tone to mimic her Sydney matron’s following the one time Meg had raced in five minutes late coming in from seeing a movie. ‘That would be understandable, and acceptable if the raid had occurred earlier in the evening, but the official reports place it around midnight. You were required to be back by eleven. Your excuse for being late only serves to highlight that you had already disregarded your leave entitlement.’
Eva’s expression lost its smugness as she realised her error. ‘We—we’d broken down and Bill had to fix the engine. It wasn’t my fault.’
‘Are you telling me your date magically fixed this—breakdown—as soon as the raid ended?’
‘He’s very good with his hands—’ Dull colour raced up Eva’s neck and over her cheeks. ‘I mean—’
Meg raised one hand. If Eva kept talking, she’d dig herself all the way to China. ‘Spare me the details, Sister Smith. I have no choice but to place you on report and refuse requests for a leave pass until further notice.’
‘But that means I’ll miss the next dance. That’s not fair!’
‘Those are the rules. This is not up for discussion. Dismissed, Sister.’ Meg opened Eva’s file, bent her head and picked up her pen.
Eva made no move to leave.
Pausing before she wrote a single word, Meg glanced up. Eva’s cheeks were mottled red, and her fists clenched at her sides. Meg raised her eyebrows in a manner that should intimidate even Eva, although naked hatred glared through her eyes before she wrenched the door open and fled. The door banged and bounced off the filing cabinet.
Sucking in a breath and exhaling a soft whew, Meg set her pen down and gripped her hands together. Eva’s infraction was bad enough, but as far as Meg was concerned, that response had sealed her fate. Doc had been right to—
Doc appeared in the doorway, hands in the pockets of his white coat and jerked his head in the direction taken by Eva. ‘I see the interview with Sister Smith went over like a lead balloon.’
Speak of the devil!
Meg rose and nodded. ‘Unfortunately, when presented with the fact that she’d already blown her leave pass by not returning on time, she offered a lie. Claimed they had broken down at the beach before the raid.’
‘Easy to establish—or discredit. I’ll call the Supply Sergeant’s superior officer and find out what his story is, but if, as I suspect, he owns up to the truth, then I’ll be requesting Smith’s transfer out. If she can’t follow rules or keep a civil tongue in her head, she’s not suited to the work we do here. Well handled by the way, Sister.’
‘You heard us?’
‘By chance only. I was coming to talk to you about the training meeting on Tuesday evening when I saw Smith at your door, so I waited. I didn’t think you’d be with her for long.’
Meg nodded. Doc’s approval of how she’d handled the situation felt good and, difficult as she found the discipline side of her position, Meg knew she’d done the right thing. ‘You mentioned something about the meeting?’
‘Ah yes. There’s some top brass visiting, as Don would say, so they’ve changed the training to Wednesday the twenty-ninth to accommodate them and added dinner afterwards. We’ll leave here at 1700 hours. The training session will start at 1730 hours.’
Mentally adjusting her night off on the current roster, Meg nodded. ‘Nice of them to feed us.’
Be quiet, Meg. That sounds too friendly. Formal is normal.
She cleared her throat and rested her hands on Eva’s personnel file. ‘Will that be all, Doctor?’
##
Sirens wailed, cuttingthrough the night and dragging Meg out of a dream that disappeared the moment she opened her eyes.
