Page 64 of Healing Hazel

Feeling as though she needed to be doing something besides wallowing in self-pity, she decided to speak with Nella. Not wishing to walk through the hospital ward in her nightclothes, she wrapped her sheet around her, holding the corners in her fist. That, at least, felt a bit more appropriate.

She peeked through the curtains, praying she wouldn’t encounter Jim, but the ward was quiet.

Within only a few steps, Hazel felt winded. She steadied herself on a bed frame and then continued on. Earlier, when Camila had taken her to the washroom, she’d insisted on Hazel using a wheeled chair. Hazel had thought it excessive, believing herself entirely capable of walking the short distance, but now that she’d gone no more than twenty feet and could hardly catch her breath, she realized the wisdom in the precaution.

After a few stops to rest, she arrived at Nella’s bed, but she found it empty. Had Nella been moved? Or was she simply away from the bed? She looked around to the other side. The travel bag was there, with an unfinished knitting project sitting on top.

Satisfied that it was the right bed, Hazel sat, leaning back against Nella’s pillows, her strength entirely expended by the short walk. She closed her eyes.

“Well, this is a pleasant surprise.” Nella’s voice pulled Hazel out of her doze.

She sat up. “There you are, Nella. I worried you’d been moved to a different bed.”

“Still here,” Nella said. “Though, I am getting rather anxious to be doing something besides sitting all the time. I’ve knitted enough socks and scarves to supply the entire hospital and then some.” She chuckled. Using a cane, she stepped around the bed and sat in a chair.

“Nella, my father is taking us away,” Hazel said. “I don’t want to go, but we must, and I... I wish it were not so.”

Nella sighed, shifting in her chair. She fidgeted with the edge of the bedsheet, flicking it with her thumb. “Hazel, dear, I meant to speak with you about this earlier.” She released the sheet and clasped her hands together. “I have something to tell you.”

From the nervous way her friend was acting, Hazel worried something terrible had happened. “What is it? Is something wrong?” She looked down at Nella’s ankle.

“No, not at all,” Nella said. “But it is going to... change things.” She took a breath and let it out. “I’m not returning to London with you.”

This was preposterous. Had the doctors decided she was unable to travel? “Because of your ankle?” Hazel asked. “Surely it has healed enough.”

“It is not because of my ankle. I... I am to be married.” She said these last words softly, almost shyly, as if she were telling a secret she hoped Hazel would be pleased to hear.

It took a moment for the words to make sense. Hazel stared at her friend, and then she lifted her gaze to where Dr. Laurent was writing in a chart a little farther down the ward. He wasn’t looking in their direction, but he was close enough to hear their conversation. His ears were bright red. She looked back at Nella. “You are marrying Dr. Laurent?”

“Yes.” Nella’s face broke into a radiant smile. “I wanted to tell you before, but you were ill and then you kept falling asleep and—”

“Nella, what glorious news. I am so happy for you.” Hazel leaned forward, pulling her friend into an embrace. The news really was wonderful, but it settled strangely inside her, as if it didn’t fit where it should have. She was, of course, pleased for her friend, but she also realized she would very likely never see her again. And there was something else, a longing that she soon recognized as envy.

“I am happy as well,” Nella said. “Splendidly so.” She looked toward Dr. Laurent, meeting his gaze with a glowing expression.

He smiled in return, his cheeks coloring.

“He is wonderful, isn’t he?” Nella sighed.

“He certainly is,” Hazel said, tamping down her feelings of jealousy. “And when is the wedding to be held?”

The very corners of Nella’s eyes tightened in a wince. “Since you are to be leaving so soon, we are hoping to arrange it for tomorrow or the day following. I would be very pleased to have you there.”

“I wouldn’t miss it, naturally,” Hazel said, speaking in a voice that she forced to sound cheerful.So soon.Her father must be planning to leave within the week, perhaps even within a few days. She glanced toward the far side of the ward, where her curtained bed waited, and she felt tears pricking at her eyes. Her throat was swelling. “I should return,” she said, swallowing as she maintained her pleasant expression.

“Oh yes. You look very tired, my dear.” Nella called out to Dr. Laurent, and a moment later, the man brough a wheeled chair.

Hazel rose, but before she sat in the chair, she embraced Nella again, kissing her cheek. “I am truly so delighted, Nella.” She squeezed Dr. Laurent’s arm. “And congratulations to you as well, Doctor.”

She somehow managed to keep her smile in place, holding in the wave of emotions as Dr. Laurent thanked her with a grin and delivered her back to the other side of the ward.

Once she was alone in her bed behind the curtains, she pressed her face into her pillow and let the tears come.

***

The next day, Hazel sat on the cot in her bedchamber. She held her head in her hands. The effort of getting here had drained her energy.

Nella’s luggage had at last been removed from the room, leaving only Hazel’s trunk and travel bag, Captain Bryant’s portmanteau, and a hatbox.

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