Christmas Angels

by Nadine Dorries

  ‘Dessie, I have to go. I’m supposed to be at Maisie’s house for a meeting about the Christmas decorations competition.’

  Emily made to haul herself out of Dessie’s bed, but before she could move, he slipped his arm under her waist and dragged her back into his side.

  ‘Well, I bet you didn’t know that I am to be Father Christmas and take the presents to the children on Christmas morning.’ His head flopped on to the pillow and he nuzzled his face into her hair as he spoke.

  ‘I did actually,’ Emily said. Even though Dessie’s eyes were closed, he could tell she was smiling. ‘I thought it might be a little arrangement you and Sister Tapps had between you, and I assumed you’ve been doing it for many years already. Do you think no one knows it’s you? Is it you?’ She turned to look at him as she laughed. ‘What will you do this year, seeing as ward four is being closed?’

  Dessie’s head shot up off the pillow. ‘Closed? How long for?’

  ‘Oh, only for ten days or so, to give Tappsy a holiday – you know, Christmas somewhere other than with the patients she seems to spend every day of her life with.’

  ‘Oh, Tappsy won’t like that.’ Dessie reached over Emily, took a cigarette from the bedside table next to her and, propping himself up, lit it. ‘The kids on ward four, they are her life. Where will she go for Christmas? It will break her heart.’

  Emily shifted herself up on to one elbow. ‘Dessie, are you serious? Ward four isn’t Tappsy’s life, it’s her job. Anyway, Matron told me she has family of her own. That’s who she should be spending her Christmas with.’

  Dessie blew his smoke into the air, away from Emily’s face. ‘But ward four, the kids, they are her family,’ he said. ‘She has spent every Christmas Day there since before the war. She doesn’t know anything else.’

  A frown crossed Emily’s face. ‘Do you always visit the children’s ward at Christmas?’

  ‘Me? Yes! I am Father Christmas – there is no other. Did you not know that? Sister Tapps, she makes the biggest fuss. Buys all the children presents out of her own money, and do you know what, I swear to God that when visiting time arrives at two o’clock, she finds any excuse she can to delay opening the ward doors. I always make sure I’m up there at two and I always say to her, “Time for me and you to have a glass of sherry now, Sister,” and I put my arm around her shoulders and lead her into the office. If I didn’t, she would never let the parents in at all. She never has the sherry though. She pours one for me and she has a cuppa and I always buy her a little present and she buys one for me. We open them at visiting time. Last year I bought her a little figurine of a roe deer, for her rooms, and a box of chocolates. She does have family because she has Christmas cards in her office and I peeped at them once.’

  ‘She has personal cards in the office?’ Emily frowned again.

  ‘Yes, and why not? If she’s working all day, makes sense, doesn’t it?’

  It made very little sense to Emily.

  ‘She loves those kids and there’s always a special atmosphere on Christmas Day. Having no kids of my own either, I’ve always quite liked being there with her too.’

  ‘Yes, but, Dessie, they aren’t her kids and they change every year. It’s also not right that she has spent so many of her Christmases working.’

  ‘Oh, she isn’t working really – she loves it. It’s not like work to Tappsy.’ Dessie leant across Emily and stubbed out his cigarette in the ashtray.

  Changing the subject, Emily asked him a very different question. ‘Did you… do you… ever want children of your own?’

  She was nervous about his reply. They were both older and there was no certainty that they’d have children once they were married. Their love for each other was new and fuelled by a high-octane combination of wonderment, passion and excitement. They were yet to discuss the big questions, and as far as Emily was concerned, this was the most important.

  Dessie shuffled down the bed so that his eyes were level with hers and before he spoke, he placed a light kiss on her lips. ‘I most certainly do,’ he replied with a grin. ‘How about you?’

  Emily didn’t trust herself to speak. Instead, she nodded her head, furious with herself that tears were springing to her eyes. Her face flushed as he kissed her again.

  ‘You know the best bit about trying for a baby, don’t you?’ said Dessie. His voice was thicker, softer, as he stared into Emily’s eyes.

  ‘No,’ she said, her own voice quizzical in response. The thought of trying for a baby terrified her. What if she failed? What if she was too old? It never crossed her mind that any future difficulties might be down to Dessie. There was so much they had to talk about, together, so many arrangements and plans for the future, but with Christmas coming and the hospital being so busy, there wouldn’t be the time to discuss anything in detail this side of the new year.

  ‘It’s just that – the trying. That’s the bit I’m going to be looking forward to.’ He slipped his hand under her backside and pulled her directly into him.

  ‘Dessie!’ she protested. ‘I have to get up, I’m due at Maisie’s house.’

  ‘Not so fast,’ he said as he began to kiss her neck and throat.

  ‘Oh, God, don’t do that,’ she murmured. ‘I really have to go.’ She placed her hands on to his shoulders to push him away, but all she succeeded in doing was redirecting his mouth down and on to her breast. Dessie, never a man to miss an opportunity, made the most of the moment. Emily smiled. She was lost. ‘Oh, honestly, you!’ she said as she ran her fingers through his hair.

  Dessie lifted his head and grinned up at her. ‘Am I winning?’ he asked.

  She tilted her head to look down at the boyish grin and bright eyes staring back up at her. ‘What excuse am I going to make for being late?’

  It was properly dark outside by this time and the bedroom fire was lit. Its orange flames seemed to dance across the ceiling, suffusing the room with a warm and comforting glow, enhanced by the spill of the street light just visible through the closed bedroom curtains. In the distance, despite the hour and the gloom, Emily could hear the children shouting as they played on the wasteland. The traffic on the river was quiet; for once there was no wind to set the mooring chains clattering and banging.

  ‘You can tell them that a demon of a man forced you into his bed and had his way with you. They’ll be jealous as hell when you tell them it was me.’

  Emily threw her head back and laughed. ‘I won’t be telling them anything, but I’m guessing you would like me to, you show-off.’ She slipped the full length of her leg over his hips and in one smooth and seemingly weightless movement he was on top of her. ‘You are winning, Mr Horton,’ she whispered before his lips came down on to hers. ‘I give in. You can have your wicked way.’ She wriggled her hips to position herself more comfortably under him. ‘But be quick, I’m going to be late. And don’t mess my hair.’

  Dessie guffawed. ‘Too late for that,’ he said, and as she arched her hips closer to him, all conversation stopped.

  ‘OK, then,’ she gasped, ‘take as long as you want.’

  *

  ‘Sister Haycock is supposed to be here by now,’ said Biddy. ‘It was her that called the meeting. She’s got some ideas about the Christmas decorations – something about stars, I think. I hope she gets a move on, I thought I might make the late bingo.’

  ‘Well, I think we can excuse her being late – young love and all that. Her and Dessie Horton can’t keep their hands off each other,’ said Madge.

  They all grinned knowingly except Biddy, who blurted out, ‘Don’t be so bloody smutty, Madge. Sister Haycock isn’t like that. She has a position of responsibility. The second most important person in the hospital until Matron appoints a new assistant.’

  ‘Oh, give over with your precious Sister Haycock, Biddy,’ said Madge. ‘I’m telling you, mad for one another, they are. I saw them talking in the porter’s yard today and I thought he was going to rip her clothes off there and then. When them two walk
into the lodge, the paint peels off the woodwork, they are that hot for one another.’

  ‘Well, I’m not sure about the temperature rising, but something does,’ Maisie said.

  Biddy looked as though she was about to explode. ‘Go and wash your mouth out, Madge,’ she spluttered. ‘And you, Maisie. Full of filth, you are. It’s all you talk about.’

  ‘Ladies, ladies,’ said Elsie. ‘We are all adults and some of us are a bit older and wiser. We don’t have to guess at these things. If she turns up tonight, we will know sure enough why she is late. Just like we did with Dessie a few weeks back. It’s as clear as day when those two have been at it.’

  They all began to laugh but stopped dead as they heard the latch on the back gate being lifted.

  ‘She’s here,’ whispered Branna.

  ‘Shall we have a little toast to the rundown to Christmas?’ asked Madge.

  ‘To Christmas,’ said Maisie as she held her glass high.

  ‘To young love,’ they all said as they raised their glasses.

  ‘Not so fast! Have you poured one for me?’ said Betty Hutch as she slipped in and hung her coat on the back of the door. ‘Jesus, Mary and all the saints in heaven, it’s freezing out there.’

  ‘Oh, here she comes. Did you smell that sherry down the entry, Betty?’ said Biddy.

  Ignoring Biddy entirely, Betty turned around and took the glass Maisie held out to her. ‘Ooh, the best glasses, eh? Are you warming them up for Christmas?’ She looked around. ‘I thought Nurse Tanner and Nurse Harper were coming too?’

  Maisie flushed with pride. There was not a single thing in the world that she loved more than hearing someone refer to their Pammy as Nurse Tanner. ‘They are supposed to be coming, but I haven’t heard a peep from either of them. And Sister Haycock isn’t here yet either.’

  No sooner had Maisie finished speaking than they heard a tapping on the door, letting them know it was Emily, the only person who knocked before she entered. The other women were so used to each other’s houses, it seemed an alien thing to do, like knocking on their own front door. In the dockside streets there was nothing anyone had or did that the others didn’t know about.

  ‘Hello, everyone.’ Emily popped her head around the door. She had at least moved past the stage of waiting for someone to shout ‘Come in.’ Born and raised on George Street, she and her stepfather had moved away after the bombing that had destroyed their street and killed her mother and brothers; they had gone to live with her aunt, where she had lost some of the ways of the dockside.

  She laid her basket down on the table. ‘Provisions,’ she said with a flourish as she removed the cover to reveal a bottle of Golden Knight and a plate of sandwiches.

  A chorus of oohs went up as she turned towards the door to hang up her coat. ‘Blimey, is this the third bottle of Golden Sh—’

  ‘Yes, it is,’ said Maisie. ‘And no swearing in here.’

  Emily looked confused, being unfamiliar with the local term for Golden Knight. The group turned to watch her hang up her coat and stared at what resembled a fuzzy beehive on the back of her head.

  ‘Oh, I remember those days,’ said Elsie with a grin.

  ‘Me too,’ said Madge with a wink. ‘A beehive a day keeps the doctor away.’

  ‘What in God’s name are you on about?’ said Biddy as she followed their gaze.

  ‘Told you so,’ mouthed Branna.

  ‘Lucky bitch,’ muttered Elsie, and Maisie almost choked on her sherry.

  ‘Who is?’ asked Emily as she turned back to the table. ‘What’s wrong? Why are you all staring like that?’

  No one liked to tell her that she still had stubble rash all over her face and that her lips were swollen from their recent bruising. Emily thought she had applied enough face powder to conceal her secrets.

  ‘No one is staring, love,’ said Maisie. ‘Sit down and get those butties out. You haven’t brought them to tease us, have you? Have you heard from our nurses today?’

  ‘Well, I saw them at the Lovely Lane home this morning. Nurse Tanner and Nurse Harper both said they would be here this evening.’

  ‘Not a sign of them,’ said Maisie. ‘Now, what’s all this about a Christmas decorations competition?’

  ‘I’m surprised the girls aren’t here yet,’ said Emily as she lifted her plate of sandwiches from the basket, laid it on the table and handed the sherry to Maisie.

  ‘Are they still working? Did you see them this evening at all?’ asked Maisie of Branna.

  ‘I saw them,’ said Branna. ‘I can tell you this, they won’t be leaving until night staff come on duty. It’s been an awful day on children’s. They’ve worked all through their split shift, bless them.’

  All heads turned to face her and the room fell quiet.

  ‘Why?’ asked Maisie. ‘Our Pammy was on a split shift today, she told me so herself when she came for her lunch on Sunday.’

  ‘Oh, I know why. We aren’t allowed to say,’ said Branna.

  Emily looked embarrassed as she accepted a cracker from the packet Elsie was holding out to her. ‘I’m afraid Branna is right, Matron has sworn everyone to secrecy.’

  ‘What, and so you came around here with a bottle of the Golden Shite just to keep a secret?’ said Biddy.

  Branna looked affronted at Biddy’s rudeness and shot her an accusing look. But Biddy knew that if there was ever a secret to be told, Branna would break it before the night was over. They all knew that. Even Branna.

  ‘Biddy Kennedy, how dare you cast an aspiration over me, looking at me like that.’

  Emily spluttered on her sherry at the mispronunciation, though none of the others had noticed.

  ‘I know what’s going on,’ said Madge. ‘Jesus, haven’t I been the one putting the calls from the police through to Matron all day long.’

  ‘The bizzies?’ said Biddy with alarm in her voice.

  Maisie stopped smiling and looked concerned. ‘Look, we have the rules, Sister Haycock. They always apply here. You know we share everything.’

  ‘Yes, share and fix everything, if you ask me,’ said Elsie.

  ‘This is very serious, though.’ Emily hesitated as she spoke and her brow creased into a deep worry line.

  ‘Look, let me tell them, not you,’ said Madge. ‘That way, you’re off the hook. There’s never been a problem we haven’t been able to help with and most of them, Matron doesn’t even know about.’

  ‘Let’s drink to the rules first, though,’ said Noleen as she raised her glass.

  ‘The rules,’ they all repeated as they drank.

  ‘Now, what is it?’ asked Biddy, who had been on a day off, because if she hadn’t, she’d already have known. Biddy was the first with any news and was furious with herself for not having been at work.

  ‘They had a shocker of a case admitted on to kids’ during the night. An abandoned baby. It’s being kept very hush-hush. The police want to try and lure back whoever it was who abandoned him, so they don’t want anything about it in the papers. I heard the chief superintendent telling Matron that this afternoon. Thing is, though, Dr Walker told the police the baby wouldn’t last the night and as I speak here in your kitchen, Maisie, it’s been twenty-four hours so far.’

  An expression somewhere between pride and smugness crossed Maisie’s face. ‘I’m not surprised, seeing as they’ve got our Pammy on there now,’ she said, raising her glass and draining the last of her sherry.

  Emily was looking intently at Madge. ‘I think I had better fill in here,’ she said. ‘Under the rules, of course?’

  They all nodded furiously.

  ‘Well, we aren’t strictly following doctor’s orders, it’s more like Matron and Sister Paige’s orders. The reason the little boy has lived so long is down to their nursing care.’

  Maisie’s eyes filled with tears. Madge picked up the thread. ‘I know Matron has been ringing around looking for baby clothes and being all secret, like, as to why she needs them. They have a few on the ward but not many t
hat would fit this poor child. She was wanting to speak to Sister Theresa over at the convent, but I couldn’t make the connection for her. The poor kid, he’s supposed to be six months but looks about three, apparently. I heard Matron say on the phone to the man from the CID that she had never seen a case like it.’

  ‘Baby clothes?’ Maisie jumped to her feet. ‘I’ve got loads of them. I never throw anything away, not after the war – you never know when you’re going to need things, do you? A little boy, you say? Wait there, Sister Haycock, I’ll get some things now, and if the girls don’t come tonight, you can take them in tomorrow.’

  ‘Oh, Maisie, that’s lovely of you,’ said Emily. ‘Of course I’ll take them in. I’ll take them to his cubicle myself. Sister Paige will be delighted.’

  Minutes later, Maisie was back with two brown paper bags full of baby clothes. Emily looked inside.

  ‘Don’t worry, I’ve plenty more for if you ever get pregnant.’

  Emily blushed. ‘I’ll just make do with delivering these to the baby on ward three now, if that’s all right.’

  ‘You do that, love,’ said Maisie as she patted the back of Emily’s hand.

  As Emily bent down to slip the brown paper packages into her wicker basket, a strange feeling came over her. ‘Oh, I think someone has just walked over my grave,’ she said to Biddy, but no one picked her up on her comment. In truth, it was something quite different that Emily felt. After all her single, lonely years, people – Maisie Tanner, to be precise – were now talking to her as though having a child of her own was a realistic option. She couldn’t help the grin that spread across her face or fail to notice the warm glow inside.

  Madge was still talking. ‘Anyway, there is a policeman on duty on the ward doors all of the time.’

  ‘No!’ went the chorus around the table. ‘Why?’ they asked as one.

  ‘Because the little boy may have lasted this long, but he has made no improvement all day and they say he won’t survive a second night.’

  The atmosphere in the room altered. ‘Whoever did that, she isn’t fit to call herself a mother,’ said Biddy with vengeance in her voice. ‘She needs putting in a room full of young mothers. She would know how wrong it was then.’