Page 39 of A Zephyr Rising
“They might.”Madeline looked skeptical.“But we’d need a doctor.”
Ginger smiled.“I might know one willing to help.”
Ginger bounced her knee nervously,her heart jittery as the car drew closer to St.Thomas’ Hospital.She wished for a pocket watch.Anything to let her know how much time she had left.On her lap, she held the uniforms the matron of nurses had lent her.She’d grabbed them before she left, thinking if she needed an excuse to speak to James, returning the uniforms might be a good one.
Gran put her hand on Ginger’s knee.She and Madeline had insisted on coming with her—though Ginger wasn’t certain if it was a good thing or not.Gran could slow her.Giving her a sardonic smile, Gran said, “Really, Ginger.You’re not jumping rope, there’s no need to bounce.”
“I’m sorry, Gran.I’m nervous.”Ginger sucked in a slow, calming breath, her chest tight.“What if James doesn’t agree to it?I’m probably asking him to do something illegal.”
“You said he’s a Liberal.They’re always more than happy to disregard propriety.”Gran shrugged and patted the silver curls of her head exposed below her hat.
Madeline laughed.“Oh, Mama—don’t let Hugh hear you say it.He voted with the Liberals recently.”
“Yes.”Gran made a face of distaste.“But Hugh isn’t here.The only way he’ll hear it is if you’re foolish enough to tell him.”
The car stopped in front of the hospital.Ginger scrambled from her seat before the chauffeur climbed out.“Stay here,” she told her aunt and grandmother.“It’ll be faster if I go alone.”
She bundled the uniforms under her arm and hurried into the entrance.Somehow within a few days of visiting the hospital, she’d learned the route well.She was usually terrible with directions.
Racing up the staircase to the floor where James’s office was, she prayed he’d be there.
She reached his office, her heart pounding through her blouse.She knocked, trying to catch her breath.
He didn’t answer.
She tried the knob, but the door appeared to be locked.
Her heart falling, Ginger turned.Where could he be?
Footsteps approached and Ginger grew hopeful.But as the sound drew closer, an orderly rounded the corner, not James.
“Excuse me,” Ginger called out to him.“Would you know where Dr.Clark is?”
“He’s in surgery, miss.”The orderly gave her a polite nod.“Don’t expect he’ll be out soon, but you can wait for him on that bench if you’d like.”
Disappointment crushed her core.
Without James’s help, she had no backup plan.She couldn’t very well pretend to be a doctor credibly, even if there were women doctors in London.
...but she could pretend to be a nurse.
She stared at the uniforms in her hands.
Would she be believable?Maybe.But her chances were better still if she had sister nurses with her.
Climbing backinto Madeline’s car, Ginger handed the uniforms to her aunt before settling into her seat.She’d changed into the one walking-about uniform the matron had lent her—a uniform meant for use on the nurses’ days off.As it was more fitted than the others, changing in the hospital had seemed like the best option.
“What on earth?”Madeline stared at the outfit Ginger wore.She rifled through the stack of uniforms Ginger had given her.“What’s all this?”
“QA uniforms.I have a new plan.Dr.Clark is in surgery.Since you came with me, you’re going to help me.Get dressed.”Ginger pulled the stack from Madeline’s lap and sorted the uniforms, handing them one each.“They’re large enough that you can pull them over your dresses, however uncomfortable it may be.They’re ward dresses and aprons.I’m not certain how to fix the veil, but I’m sure between the three of us we can make sense of it.I have one for myself here.”
Gran stared at her as though she had gone mad.“You’re expecting me to don one of those—sacks?While riding in the back seat of this motorcar?”
“Precisely.”Ginger grinned, stretching the veil out in front of her.How is this thing supposed to go?“I’m not sure if I can convince them of anything on my own.But who would question three noble nurses of the Queen Alexandra’s?Especially when one is as mature and wise as you, Gran.”Her grandmother’s eyes narrowed.“Where’s your sense of adventure?A man’s life is on the line.”
“Exaggeration won’t help you, dearest.Don’t think I haven’t noticed you called me old.I’m not a relic.”Her grandmother had been a young mother and proud that she wasn’t as old as some of the other women in her circles.Gran held up the ward dress as though it was an infant’s dirty nappy.“Did you steal these?”
“Borrowed would be a better term for it.”At Gran’s uplifted brow, Ginger said, “The QA matron allowed me to borrow them, in fact, to see about having some tailored.Normally they wouldn’t do it before an applicant was accepted, but Dr.Clark had a hand in persuading her.”
