The Mersey Daughter (Empire Street #3)(86)

‘I’ll be right back.’ Maeve hurried off, still balancing the heavy towels. She disappeared round a corner. Rita stared after her absent-mindedly, wondering how long her Irish colleague had been working today, knowing it was an extra effort to bring the cup of tea, but relieved that she’d offered, for Rita wanted only to sit at Ruby’s bedside. Maeve had extraordinary reserves of energy, but even she must be feeling the strain after the week they had all had. It was like the May blitz all over again – every bed full, all medical staff pushed to their limits. It never ceased to amaze Rita how everyone pulled together at such times of crisis to ensure the best possible treatment for the victims of the raids. Only, she reminded herself sadly, Ruby hadn’t needed to be a victim. If it hadn’t been for that interfering gossip of a neighbour, she would have been safe in the shelter.

She was so lost in her thoughts that for a moment she didn’t notice the slight stirring in the bed beside her. Ruby was trying to move. Her hands traced the sheet folded tightly over the blanket. Rita turned to her and gently touched the back of one hand. ‘Hush now, Ruby. Don’t you fret. You’re going to be fine.’

Ruby’s head twisted slowly from side to side and her eyelids fluttered. ‘Rita?’ she whispered. ‘Is that you?’

‘Ruby! You’re awake!’ Rita brought her head close to that of her friend, afraid she would miss the barely audible voice.

‘Rita, I thought I could hear you.’ Ruby’s eyes opened further. ‘You were talking, I knew it was you.’

‘Of course. I wanted to see how you were. Do you know where you are?’ Rita regarded her closely, trying not to let her own anxiety show in her expression or her words.

‘Hospital. It smells like hospital,’ Ruby said, her voice stronger now. ‘It smells clean.’

‘It is, it’s very clean,’ Rita assured her, knowing that she and Maeve had spent many a long hour working to make certain the whole place was as germ-free as possible. ‘Yes, you are in hospital. It’s the one where I work so I have been coming to see you every day. You hurt your leg. Do you remember?’

Ruby’s forehead creased in a frown. ‘It feels strange, I can’t move it.’

‘It’s in a cast. You broke your leg so they’ve had to set it to keep it straight. It will feel heavy. But don’t worry, you can get around on crutches. I’ll show you how. It will be as good as new when they take the cast off.’ Rita hoped this was right. But Ruby had youth on her side and, thanks to Sarah, there was little risk of infection. The chances were that her leg would heal completely; it was everything else that Rita was worried about. ‘Do you remember how you broke it?’

Ruby shifted her body. ‘There were planes, and bombs. We were in the doorway. Sarah and Danny looked after me.’

‘That’s right,’ Rita said encouragingly. ‘Sarah told me all about it. You were very brave.’

‘No, I was afraid,’ Ruby said suddenly, trying to sit up. ‘There was shouting, but I can’t think what it was about.’

Good, thought Rita. Maybe that’s for the best.

‘You weren’t there,’ Ruby went on. ‘You were at work. I was going to tell you something when you got back.’

‘Well, never mind,’ said Rita. ‘You’ll have plenty of time to think about that now you’re getting better. Your leg is doing so well that the doctors say you can come home tomorrow. How about that?’

Ruby twisted as best she could under the firm hold of the starched sheet. ‘But have I been here long?’

‘A day or two,’ said Rita. She didn’t want to worry Ruby more than necessary.

‘Days,’ muttered Ruby. She looked as if she was struggling with a difficult thought. ‘So … is it next week yet?’

‘No, we’re at the end of the same week,’ Rita said. ‘The raid was on Monday evening and you came in here on Tuesday. Don’t worry, you haven’t been asleep for ages, you haven’t missed much.’ She kept her tone cheerful, though the thought of next week brought her further misery. That was when Jack should have come home on leave, but he’d written to say it was going to be cancelled after all. Her hopes of seeing him were dashed yet again.

Ruby’s face grew determined. ‘Next week is important. It’s the pattern. I was going to tell you but there’s still time.’

‘What pattern?’ Rita asked gently. She didn’t want Ruby straining herself, working out something complicated when she’d only just recovered consciousness. ‘Really, Ruby, all in good time, you need to rest, you’ve had a bad injury and that’s going to make you feel very tired. You don’t need to tell me about it now.’

‘But I do,’ said Ruby stubbornly. ‘It matters. It’s when things go missing. You know, you told me before.’

Rita nodded. In all the activity of the bombing, the vanishing cases of stock had completely slipped her mind. It didn’t seem terribly important when set beside Ruby’s ordeal and the death of Elliott. But obviously Ruby was anxious to explain. ‘Yes, I remember now.’

‘It will be next Wednesday,’ Ruby predicted, totally serious. ‘That’s when it will happen again. If I’m home by then I can help.’

‘If you’re at home on crutches you will do no such thing,’ Rita said forcefully. ‘You leave all that up to me. You are to have complete rest when you get back. You have been through a lot.’ She gave silent thanks that Ruby didn’t seem to recall the details of the row that had caused her to be outside when the explosions happened. ‘If you won’t let me tell you as a friend, then let me do so as a nurse. Total rest, and that’s an order.’ She smiled to take the edge off her words.