A Christmas Wish. Betty Neels

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      CONTENTS

      CHAPTER ONE

      CHAPTER TWO

      CHAPTER THREE

      CHAPTER FOUR

      CHAPTER FIVE

      CHAPTER SIX

      CHAPTER SEVEN

      CHAPTER EIGHT

      CHAPTER NINE

      CHAPTER ONE

      THE dim and dusty Records Office, tucked away in the depths of the hospital, was hardly a cheerful place in which to work, but the girl going back and forth between the long rows of shelves sounded cheerful enough, singing a medley of tunes as she sorted the folders into their right places with the ease of long practice.

      She was a tall girl with a splendid shape, a beautiful face and a head of tawny hair which glowed under the neon lights, wearing a blouse and skirt and a cardigan which, although well-fitting, lacked any pretensions to high fashion.

      Presently, her arms full, she went to the table against one of the whitewashed walls and laid them down, still singing—quite loudly since there was nobody there but herself, and she was far from the busy wards. ‘Oh, what a beautiful morning…’ she trilled, very slightly out of tune, and then stopped as the door was opened.

      The door was a long way from the table; she had ample time to study the man coming towards her. He came unhurriedly, very tall and large in a beautifully tailored suit, fair hair already silver at the edges and a handsome face with heavy-lidded eyes. She hadn’t seen him before, but then she seldom if ever went up to the hospital. When he was near enough she said cheerfully, ‘Hello, do you want something?’

      His good morning was uttered in a quiet voice. He laid a folder on the table. ‘Yes, I asked for Eliza Brown’s notes, not Elizabeth Brown’s.’

      ‘Oh, so sorry. I’ll get them.’ She picked up the discarded folder and went down one of the narrow passages between the shelves, found the folder, replaced the discarded one and went back to the table.

      ‘Here it is. I hope it wasn’t too inconvenient for you…’

      ‘It was.’ His voice was dry, and she went a little pink. ‘Do you work here alone?’

      ‘Me? Oh, no. Debbie has got the day off to go to the dentist.’

      ‘And do you always sing as you work?’

      ‘Why not? It’s quiet down here, you know, and dim and dusty. If I didn’t sing I might start screaming.’

      ‘Then why not look for other employment?’ He was leaning against the wall, in no hurry to be gone.

      She gave him a tolerant look. ‘We—that is, clerks and suchlike—are two a penny. Once we get a job we hang on to it…’

      ‘Until you marry?’ he suggested in his quiet voice.

      ‘Well, yes.’

      He picked up the folder. ‘Thank you, Miss…?’

      ‘Harding.’ She smiled at him, for he seemed rather nice—a new member of the medical staff; a surgeon, since Mrs Eliza Brown was on the surgical landing. He nodded pleasantly and she watched him walk away; she wasn’t likely to see him again. A pity, she reflected, making a neat pile of her folders ready for someone to fetch them from Outpatients.

      The nurse from Outpatients was in a bad temper. Sister, she confided, was in a mood and there was no pleasing her, and the waiting-room was stuffed to the ceiling. ‘And I’ve got a date this evening,’ she moaned. ‘At the rate we’re going we’ll be here all night, as well as all afternoon.’

      ‘Perhaps Sister will have a date too,’ comforted Miss Harding.

      ‘Her? She’s old—almost forty, I should think.’

      The nurse flounced away, and was replaced almost at once by a tall, thin girl with a long face.

      ‘Hi, СКАЧАТЬ