Happy July!! I've been on call at the hospital today so I had some unforeseen time to write! I've got to say, I don't usually enjoy writing filler chapters, but this one was so fun to put together! Let me know what you think, and as always - thanks for reading! <3
Katherine jolted up in bed, the sound of a bugle horn blasting throughout the grounds of the hospital. She sucked in a breath, trying to find her bearings. Was it already morning? Rubbing her eyes, she squinted out the window. What time was it? There was no sign of a sunrise, the moon still high in the sky.
Turning over, she grabbed her watch from the bedside table. Five fifteen ... time to get up. Rolling out of bed, she stood to her feet and rifled through her trunk. Making a mental note to unpack properly later, she pulled out a fresh set of clothes and, after snagging a pair of trousers from the desk, headed for the door.
Stepping out of her room she headed down the hall. She was in desperate need of a shower after traveling the entire day prior. Turning the corner into the bathroom she sat her clothes down on the counter, and grabbed a towel from the shelf before stepping into one of the stalls. Pulling the curtain closed, she undressed and turned the water on, gasping as the frigid water hit her back. Washing as quickly as she could, she turned the water off. Wrapping the towel around herself, she pulled back the curtain and stepped out.
"Excuse me," She said, clutching the towel tightly against her chest as she skirted around a girl who was standing at the counter, pinning back her long blonde hair. The bathroom had grown crowded in the time it had taken her to shower, a few girls fixing their hair in the mirrors with more trickling in here and there to take a shower. Deciding to get dressed in the privacy of her room, she scooped up her clothes and walked out.
Nearly back to her room, she noticed something hanging from the door that hadn't been there before. Reaching the door, she recognized the bright turquoise and yellow of Annie's headscarf, which had been loosely tied around the door knob. She untied it, smiling softly to herself.
Entering her room, she dressed in her usual olive green button down, opting to leave the tie and jacket behind as Annie had suggested. Tucking it into the trousers she'd given her, she laced up her boots and rolled up her sleeves. Digging the blow dryer she'd brought from home out of her trunk, she dried her hair before pinning up the damp curls. Pulling the headscarf from the back pocket she'd stuffed it into, she looped it over her hair before knotting it at the crown of her head. Glancing down at her watch, she checked the time - five fifty.
Smoothing down the front of her uniform, a glint of something shiny flashed in the mirror. Her ring. She stared down at it, the lump in her throat from last night, returning. Steeling herself with a deep breath, she slid it off her finger, stowing it safely in the top drawer of her desk. It was time to go.
~
"That used to be a sunporch, but after putting up the tents it's been the perfect place for our triage bay," Annie said, pointing to an open door to their left. "The ambulances can pull right up to the entrance and bring patients in through there," She added, nodding towards the perforation in the vinyl on the opposite side of the tent.
Breakfast had been a blur, the same dining hall that had been abandoned the night before, packed to the brim with a sea of green uniforms. She'd barely had time to take a bite of her porridge before Annie had found her, insisting on getting an early start on their tour before morning rounds began. She hadn't really minded the lack of breakfast though, her stomach having been in knots since she'd first descended the stairs.
"This is the administrative wing," Annie continued on, gesturing to a hallway lined with several doors to the right of the triage bay. "Mostly record keeping and office space for the doctors, but there's an office for the head nurses assigned to day and night duty for the day as well." They continued down the corridor, passing several staff who'd finished breakfast by now and were assuming their duties for the day. "The operating theatre is through there," Annie pointed to the left.
Katherine peered through the small, square paned window of one of the doors. The room was lined with two rows of operating tables, barely enough room between them for two people to stand back to back. Each bed was equipped with an ether tank, an operating light, and an instrument tray - the bare bones of what would be needed to perform surgery.
"The matron at Saint Bart's said you had sufficient surgical experience," Annie commented as they started walking again.
"I worked my fair share of shifts in the operating theatre there," Katherine replied with a nod. It was true. She'd logged countless hours assisting with surgeries at Saint Bart's. But that room - that was unlike any operating theatre she'd ever been in.
"Well, all in good time," Annie smiled at her. "For now, we'll start you out upstairs. That's where we keep the more stable patients." They kept walking, Annie pointing out the Shock Ward and Postoperative Ward as they went. "Here's the Evacuation Ward," She said once they'd ascended the stairs to the second floor. "This is where our sitting and stretcher patients go," She explained. "And the post ops once they're stable enough to come upstairs. From here, patients are either sent back to the front or evacuated to general or convalescent hospitals."
Katherine looked around the room. It was expansive, the walls lined with floor to ceiling shelves - some of which were still filled with books from the library this room once, undoubtably, played host to. The tables and chairs once used by school children for studying and reading had been removed, replaced with three rows of beds that stretched across the entire length of the room.
"The patients are divided up," Annie explained. "One nurse for every six patients." They walked down one of the rows. "There are forty-eight beds in all, so there will be eight of you staffed here each day unless we have a need for extra hands downstairs."
"Morning Annie," One of the soldiers said as they walked by. He was sitting up in bed, enjoying a breakfast of toast and jam. Katherine eyed him, and the cast that covered his right leg from hip to ankle.
"Morning Archie," Annie smiled at him. "I hear you're due for transfer soon," She said, bracing a hand on her hip.
"That's what they tell me," He said, taking a sip of his tea. "One more week and I'm off to convalesce in Paris."
"I hear Paris is lovely this time of year," She quipped.
"Not as lovely as you," He said, smirking up at her.
"You flatter me," She replied with a smirk of her own, patting the knee that wasn't casted.
"What happened to him?" Katherine asked once they'd made it further down the row of beds.
"He was clearing a building when it collapsed in on him," Annie explained. "I tended to him while he was in the Shock Ward - one of the nastiest femur fractures I've ever seen."
She nodded in reply, keeping silent as Annie continued on with her tour of the Evacuation Ward.
"This is where you'll do your charting," Annie said once they'd reached the opposite end of the room. Four desks sat vertically, a chart rack and a chair on either side of each one so that all eight nurses could sit and work. "The supply closet and med room are through there," She said, pointing to a door on the farthest wall. "That one leads to the soiled utility room," She pointed to a door to the left of the first one. "Bedpans and emesis basins are emptied out in there, and are taken down the back staircase in the evenings to be sterilized and switched out with clean equipment ... Any questions?" Annie turned to face her.
Katherine shook her head.
"Good," She smiled at her. "That's Nurse Davis," She said gesturing to a woman seated at one of the desks. She was older than both of them - in her early thirties at least - but she stood at attention as Annie approached nonetheless. "Nurse Davis, this is Nurse Montague," She introduced the pair of them.
"How do you do?" Nurse Davis nodded, peering over the rims of her glasses.
"You'll be with Nurse Davis this morning," Annie said, directing her attention back to Katherine. "She'll show you how we do things and if she deems it fitting, you'll take your own patient load this afternoon."
She nodded and Annie threw her a reassuring smile.
"Welcome aboard."
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