Nurse Jess (29 page)

“
Bartholomew Peter Gink.
”

“
Yes, it
’
s dreadful, isn
’
t it?
”

Jessa said dreamily,
“
It
’
s the loveliest name I
’
ve ever heard.
”

He was looking at her sharply.

“
No one could say that, Nurse, no one, unless they were grossly prejudiced.
”

“
Well, your parents chose the names, they must have been grossly prejudiced.
”

“
There were no parents that I know of. I was an orphan and named from a book of names with the aid of a pin.
”

“
But Gink
—”

“
Out of the telephone directory. If I had arrived at the shelter an hour before I would have been Gillet, and if I had arrived an hour after I would have been Girton. It was my misfortune, you see, to get Gink.
”

“
But it wasn
’
t
really,
was it? It made no difference, did it?
”

“
No,
”
he admitted honestly.
“
I had good foster parents, they helped me to the full extent of their capability.
”

“
That was in the peppercorn town you grew up in,
”
she said gently.

“
Yes,
”
he said. Then shyly, sensitively,
“
Do you want to know more?
”

“
Yes, please
—”
She could not say Bartholomew, or
Peter, so she left it at that.

“
I always wanted to be a doctor,
”
he told her,
“
but when Ruthie, my foster sister, broke her heart when she lost her first baby by its coming too early and everyone being unprepared, I knew that that was the special study I wanted most of all.
”

“
So you made it your goal and you got right to the top.
”

“
Am I?
”
he said boyishly, and rumpled his shaggy hair.
“
I
don
’
t know, really
.
All I know is I want to keep learning,
and learning, and then imparting my learning. But in between it all I want something else.
”

“
Something else?
”

“
I want to be loving someone, loved
by
someone. I want it badly, urgently, with all my heart. I guess every foundling feels that. That need to love and be loved for himself.
”

Jessa said, a little indistinctly,
“
I planned Margaret for you.
”

“
That was very obvious. In time it became a nuisance. Meg and I considered it at length one day.
”

“
Yes,
”
said Jess huskily,
“
at this very spot.
”

“
Why,
”
he asked curiously, did you want it to be Margaret?
”

“
Because Margaret always seemed so suitable, so dedicated, just as you are, she seemed the right one for someone called Professor Gink.
”

“
And how would you describe the right one, Nurse?
”

“
Someone calm, sweet, efficient, someone who is not a hoyden.
”

“
In other words, not like Nurse Jess
—”

He did not wait for her to answer, he went swiftly, urgently on.

“
Listen, you scatterbrain, you darling stupid madcap,
listen closely, and never any more put an interfering finger in anyone
’
s romance.

“
I have
never
wanted calmness, sweetness, efficiency. Without boasting I believe I can supply two of those attributes myself. But I wanted sunshine, laughter, high spirits,
a little craziness. I might be old and stodgy
—”

“
Oh, no, dear Professor,
”
said Jessa impulsively.
“
You
’
re never that.
”

He looked at her sharply again.

“
Like draws like, or
o
pposites draw opposites, which do
you
believe, Miss Barlow?
”
he demanded.

“
I don
’
t know,
”
stammered Jessa.
“
I only know—I only
know
—”

“
Yes, Nurse Jess?
”

“
That I like you very much.
”

The sharp look was lancet-sharp now. You would not have thought he could look so keenly without his big glasses. Suddenly he must have remembered the glasses.

“
Why didn
’
t you mend the second pair of spectacles?
”
he demanded indignantly.

“
Because I didn
’
t think it was wise, not after I had decided on Meggy.
”

“
You
had decided. What impudence is this? But then I have done an impudence myself, so I must forgive you, I expe
ct
. I
’
ve signed up our baby.
”

“
Barry
—”

“
Not
Barry.
”

“
Then Bartholomew, Peter
—”

“
Take your choice, Nurse, please yourself.
”

“
How do you mean, signed?
”

“
I am to be his father. But to be his father there has to be a mother. It is a rule of the Child Welfare. They insist on two parents, Nurse Jess.
”

“
Yes?
”

“
You are answering before I give you the question. Will you be the other parent?
”

“
Me—you mean—oh, you mean
—”

The Professor said simply,
“
Yes.
”

She could not believe it. Even when he took the milky opal with its pin-fire of colours out of his pocket she still could not believe it.

“
But you must have known it was for you,
”
he said.

“
I didn
’
t know. How could I know? I can
’
t realize it now. The Great Professor Gink and Nurse Jess. And it
’
s not that I
’
m a very good nurse, either. Oh, I know my name came on the result list above Margaret
’
s, but that was alphabetical, wasn
’
t it?
”
She looked at him hopefully, but he dashed her hopes at once with a candid,
“
Frankly, yes.
”

“
Actually,
”
he continued a little mischievously,
“
you just made it, darling.
”

Was that true, was he really saying
“
darling
”
to her? To Average Only Nurse Jess?

“
But it didn
’
t, and it doesn
’
t, matter,
”
he continued blandly,
“
because by the end of this week you
’
re finishing your career. You won
’
t have to leave your babies
”
—he had seen her lip drop slightly—
“
the flat is handy—sometimes far too handy.
”
He gave a wry shrug.
“
I don
’
t expect the nurses will object if you pop down at times, though I wouldn
’
t choose the duty hours of Nurse Gwen.
”

“
I
’
ll never be a Sister,
”
Jessa was saying slowly, rather dazedly.
“
I always longed to wear a brave red cape.
”

“
It wouldn
’
t have suited you, anyway,
”
he grinned.
“
My eyes are not the best, but they can see that much. Not red, my dear,
and
red.
”

“
I
’
ll be Nurse Jess forever. Never any higher.
”

“
Does that matter so much?
”

The long corridor was generally lonely at this time of night. He was taking the risk and drawing her to him. As he kissed her he noticed that the button to which her head reached was missing, that there was a thread hanging from the next, that as well as dust, a cobweb and a dead leaf, there was a frayed rent on his lapel.

“‘
I loved you from that first moment you knocked me over,
”
he was saying awkwardly.
“
You are the balance I need, you dear mad head strong imp. Do you think you could ever love me in return?
”

There were stars and rainbows and sunbeams dancing on the immaculate hygienic sterilized hospital wall that now traced both their shadows as one, the whole world was a bubble of happiness just about to be pricked.

“
Do you think you could?
”
His eyes, those beloved short sighted eyes, were dark with worry and anxiety. He was not sure, even yet...

Not caring who came, not caring that all this was happening in the long corrid
o
r of the Lady Belinda Hospital for Specialized Nursing of Premature Babies, Jessa looked back at him.

Could she love him in return?

“
Professor—that is, Bartholomew—I mean Peter—Mr. Gink—sir—it
’
ll be a piece of cake,
”
she
s
aid.