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‘You were sister-in-charge until your departure. Your file says you’ve been on medical leave.’ Her superior looked up at her from under bushy, grey-caterpillar eyebrows and his gaze narrowed. ‘Hmph. Are you fit for duty, Lieutenant?’
‘Yes, sir. Fit and ready to begin.’
‘Good. Nothing like diving straight back in. Report to Sister Platt for your assignment. Dismissed.’
Meg saluted, turned smartly on her heel and closed the door behind her, grateful Gerry was still in charge.
Meg stepped into the ward. Gerry was seated at the desk beside the bed they used for patients needing constant monitoring. It was currently empty, but the moment Gerry looked up and saw Meg, she stood. ‘Follow me, Sister.’ Gerry led her through the back door. At her old hut, she dropped off her suitcase then continued down to the mess where Gerry asked for, and was given, two cups of coffee. Only when they were seated in a back corner did she fling her arms around Meg’s neck. ‘It is so good to have you back here, Meggins, my girl. So good.’
They rocked in each other’s arms until Meg eased out of Gerry’s hold, sniffing. Pulling a hanky from her pocket, she dabbed her eyes and nose. ‘I promised myself I wouldn’t cry when I saw you.’
‘Tosh. What’s a few tears between friends? How’s my amazing niece and my incredibly wonderful auntie?’
Meg blew her nose and stuffed the hanky back in her pocket. ‘Loving her role as Jennifer’s mother-aunt, and Jennifer adores her.’ She took a sip of coffee and set the cup down. ‘I have a package for you from Vera, and the latest photos of her and Jennifer. Maybe after dinner we can—’
‘Perfect. Now tell me, how are you going?’
‘I’ll be fine.’
‘You look good, Meg. Better than you should after that train trip.’
‘Sleep deprivation with a new baby made the trip a piece of cake.’ She rubbed the back of her neck and stretched. ‘Aside from a kink or two from sleeping sitting up.’
Gerry peered into her eyes, a small, vertical wrinkle furrowing between her eyebrows. Vera had mentioned how worried Gerry was about Meg in each letter since the news of Seamus’s death. ‘Physical ailments aside, you haven’t answered me. How are you doing?’
Meg sighed. ‘It’s still early days, but I will get through it. Working will help. Just knowing that what I’m doing might stop another woman, another family, from feeling like I do—that’s a big thing for me.’ She sipped her coffee and set the cup back on the table. ‘Vera told me I have a choice. I can fall apart and live half a life until I die, or I can pick myself up and live a full life, with Jennifer. I choose a full life, and this is what I need to do to stop up that hole in my heart. It doesn’t mean I’ll stop loving Seamus, but I don’t think he’d have wanted me to mourn him forever either.’
Gerry set a hand on her shoulder and gently squeezed. ‘Vera knows what it’s like. She’s a strong woman. So are you.’
‘I’ve come to love her like another mother. I hope you don’t mind sharing her?’
Gerry grinned. ‘The more, the merrier, especially with my best friend. And my newest niece.’ Gerry finished her coffee then stood. ‘I need to get back on the ward. You’re on roster tomorrow at zero six hundred, so relax, sleep if you can today, and I’ll see you at dinner. You’re bunking with me of course.’
‘Perfect, and thanks.’ They walked together to their hut where Gerry peeled off and headed to the hospital.
Meg opened the door and looked around. Gerry’s red dress still hung from a hook, adding a bright note to the otherwise drab colours. Hanging her jacket and skirt on a spare hook, she climbed onto the spare bunk above Gerry’s. With no baby bump to make the climb difficult, the top bunk was fine. She took a moment to look at the new perspective of her old home before sleep claimed her.
##
‘Hey, Sleeping Beauty! Up and at ’em.’
Meg’s eyelids opened sluggishly, and she found herself looking into an unfamiliar face beneath a nurse’s cap. Blinking to clear sleep-grit from her eyes, she sat up. ‘I’m up. Who are you?’
‘Claire Jones. You must be Meg Dorset. Gerry’s been talking about you all week since she found out you were coming back. Guess that means you don’t need the grand tour, hey?’
Meg scrambled down from her bunk. ‘No, but thanks. What’s the time?’ She slipped her arms into her shirt and stepped into her skirt.
‘Dinner. Gerry asked me to stop by on my way to the mess and see if you were awake. Do you want to eat?’
The word was enough to remind Meg she hadn’t bothered with lunch. ‘You bet. Give me one minute to tidy myself.’ Setting her suitcase on Gerry’s bunk, she rifled through for her hairbrush. ‘Have you been here long, Claire?’
‘A couple of months. One day I was at home recovering from a New Year’s Eve party and the next, I was on a train heading north with a headache throbbing in time with the wheels. Still, since I arrived, we’ve had a few dances with the Americans over at their reccy club. The food’s great and the music is good.’
‘Good to hear they’re still happening. There were a few incidents between the Aussies and the Yanks while I was up here last year. I wondered if they’d managed to settle their differences.’ She tossed the brush into the open suitcase and decided lipstick wasn’t required. ‘I’m ready.’
Claire opened the door and they walked together down the path. ‘Boys will be boys. There were a couple of dust-ups just after I got here, but since then, nothing. I heard a rumour that both sides locked up the ringleaders. That must have helped.’
The mess was half-full as they stepped inside, with a short line still waiting to collect their meal.
