The Surgeon Was a Lady Read online

  ***

  “I knew this lady once... and she was very beautiful, but wherever she went or whatever she did, misfortune seemed to follow her. One day she met a man... a man, so unlike any other man she had ever met or ever dreamed of... because he came to her from the other side of the world. He fell totally in love with this lady, whom I shall call Anna, just for want of a name, although of course... that wasn’t her real name...”

  He stopped talking and looked at Danny.

  “You haven’t gone to sleep yet, have you?” he asked and she shook her head as she didn’t want to speak a word that might interrupt his story and he continued.

  “Well, this man... shall we call him Harry?... He married Anna and they were very happy together and even happier still when Anna realized that she was pregnant and gave Harry the joy of his life... in a little child. Sadly, a short time after that little baby was born Harry was attacked one night by some of their neighbours. He was stabbed several times in the heart and he died... and all because he came from the other side of the world... He had married a woman, of their kind... and not his own... and that was his crime... That was the reason why they thought he should die and Anna was left a widow, with no money or possessions of any kind. She had to find work to support herself and the baby, but she didn’t have much success. She begged... she borrowed... and yes, she even stole... not that much; only a few pounds from a rich banker who, when she put out her hand to beg, he spat in her palm... So she waited her chance and when he wasn’t aware that she was around, she stumbled into him one night and made him fall to the ground. As she assisted him to rise up again, she stole his wallet and took some money, before she returned it to his inside pocket. Of course when he realized what she had done to him, he reported her to the police and she was arrested. It was only a matter of time after that, when she found herself in prison and her baby was taken to an orphanage. A woman of her type... a convicted thief, could never win... and she realized that.

  After a year in prison, she was released and tried to get her baby back, but the powers that were then, wouldn’t allow her until she could prove that she had a home and a job... but she couldn’t get a job, because she had no home and she couldn’t get a home because she had no job...

  As I have said... this lady was beautiful and the night clubs could always provide work for beautiful women. She got a job, but it was not the work that she was happy to do, however, when she thought about her baby and the husband that she had loved... she did it... but always with sadness in her life...

  Determined as she was to get her baby back and to provide a home for this child, she turned to prostitution... Oh, they called her an actress, but that was a title that covered a multitude of sins, although she did turn up occasionally on the stage, but not as a main character... only as a stand in when someone was ill or otherwise indisposed... and sadly, she took work as a stripper too. Needless to say, she gained many admirers and even some who wanted to marry her, but she could never forget her first husband. Finally, through no fault of her own, since she was a shy lady who gave the appearance of being brash to suit the clientele that she was serving, she succumbed to some man whom she thought had loved her, but love was not on his mind... and rape was. He wanted power over Anna so that she would be his... and would never belong to anyone else, but him... and the little baby was not included in the contract... By this time, Danny was near to tears, but she insisted that Seyone go on and tell her how the story ended.

  “Anna’s baby grew up, not knowing of the sacrifices that the mother had made in the past, but learning later as an adult, that she had set up a trust fund, which would allow a reasonable income when the child reached the age of twenty-one, but... the mother died, having been made pregnant by the rape and only the baby survived... but no-one ever knew what became of this second child. The first child was too young to remember what the mother looked like, but some nuns from the orphanage looked after this little one again and they produced a tiny photograph of Anna and her first born always carried this locket throughout the years that followed.”

  Danny felt truly saddened as Seyone finished his story and as she reached across the table to take his hand... it was cold.

  “Seyone... Seyone... This is just a story, isn’t it?” she asked and he smiled, showing his perfect white teeth.

  “Only a story, Danny... The nuns from the orphanage knew it well and they related the facts to the child as it grew up, but it is only a story... only a sad story... but you mustn’t feel sad about it.

  Chapter Eighteen

  “Ted, is that you?” Willie called breathlessly into the telephone.

  “Yes... Oh Willie... Nice to hear from you again. Monica’s off this afternoon. I think she’s dancing the Zambada with a dwarf somewhere. What can I do for you?”

  “Ted... I’m so sorry. I can neither scribble nor come to see you...” she lied as she didn’t want to see Ted’s face if she poured out her recent problems... “I’m all on thorns.”

  “Tell me quickly then. What has made you feel this way?”

  “It’s the new nurse... You know, the one I told you about... Fred?”

  Sutherland immediately became anxious when Willie mentioned Fred’s name. He wanted to tell her that he had heard from Jacobi Solomon, but not particularly over the telephone.

  “You must be careful, Willie,” he warned, “This is the one you said was so gorgeous... so handsome, yes?”

  “Oh you have no need to worry about that Ted. Yes, he’s handsome alright,” she closed her eyes and wished her own tongue would dry up as she hated what she was about to say... but she found it impossible to stop herself. “I think he’d rather be sitting on your knee than mine, Ted.”

  Ted sighed and giggled simultaneously, not because of the insinuation that Willie had made about her night Carer, but more from a sense of relief.

  “Well... he’d have a hard time if my eighteen stone were to sit on his knee, wouldn’t he?”

  “Oh Ted... It’s no joke. You must help me. I’m going completely round the bend.”

  “Not because of this person... This Fred fellow... surely..?” he asked.

  “Yes, precisely because of this Fred fellow” she barked.

  “But if he’s gay you don’t have to worry, do you?”

  “Ted... you don’t understand. He’s not MY nurse... Is he?”

  Ted Sutherland hadn’t thought of that one as Willie went on, “Besides... and you can laugh if you will, but I’ve got the hots for him myself and the fact that he’s gay doesn’t make any difference to my feelings. He can spurn me all he likes, but I’d still get into bed with him given half a chance... so you can see now what a depraved bastard I am... can’t you?”

  Ted swallowed hard and looked to the ceiling... wondering hopefully if Monica had won the competition... anything to take his mind off the tragedy he was hearing on his telephone. Why the hell had I taken Psychiatry as my subject... Why couldn’t I just have been a plumber or something... he thought... Oh that reminds me, the lavatory leaks... “Yes, Willie... go on... I’m listening, but I think you’d better come to see me as soon as you can. We need to talk in detail about this.”

  “OK.. I’ll do my best... Let me have a squint at my diary... I’m in my lunch hour at the moment.” She scanned through her dates. “I’m operating this evening... Look, I’ll have to let you know. I’ll ring again tomorrow, OK Bye.”

  The phone suddenly went dead before Ted could say another word and he sat at his desk, weary with his large head in his hands, staring at his even larger stomach that protruded impudently from the top of his trousers. He wished he could close his eyes and everything would disappear... Fred... the irascible Wilhelmina Fehrenbach and his belly too for that matter... but he knew that was all a dream.

  “Oh gawd... “ he spoke his mind aloud, “How complicated can things get?... She has everyt
hing a woman could want... and yet she has nothing... and now she wants what she knows she can’t have. St. Paul knew what he was talking about... that was for sure when he said we were a wicked and perverse generation... Willie had a multitude of worries on her mind, but she never once mentioned her husband...

  ***

  She returned home just before midnight, feeling exhausted after her evening Theatre list. She had been working almost non-stop since six o’clock that morning, with only a short break for lunch and tea. The light was on in Fred’s room as she passed and the door was ajar. She could see him kneeling on the floor arranging what looked like books or videos in boxes and she glanced at Paul’s door. It was closed and she lingered for a few moments by the half open door of Fred’s room, but he did not look up.

  “I’m not due at the hospital until next Friday,” she said softly and he turned around in surprise. “So if you want a couple of nights off, now is your chance. I can look after Paul... well, Nurse Clements and I...”

  He was startled by her presence so late and more so by her generosity.

  “Thanks,” he said, “But I don’t have any plans to go anywhere.”

  She stood still, awkward with the situation she had been drawn into and not knowing what next to say... wishing he would smile or something... yes, just a smile would have been enough, but Fred didn’t respond in any way that she would have appreciated.

  “We have a summer residence in North Devon,” she mumbled. “If you want, you can go there for a few days break... on your own,” she emphasized in the event that he may have thought she was trying to compromise him.

  “No thanks... I get lazy in the country. Why don’t you go,” he replied as he continued hap-hazard sorting out something on the floor and looked up into her face. Her heart missed a beat as she tried to study his features in the semi darkness. Could he be telling her to go and that he would follow? She didn’t give a toss about him getting lazy in the country. He could get as lazy as he liked as long as he stayed with her and she had enough energy for the two of them anyway... or would have, if he’d let her. He could do as he liked as long as she was there with him. Smile, damn you... SMILE, she said in her heart and she tried to smile back sweetly at him, as she stood framed in the doorway of his bedroom, but there was a look of hurt in her eyes. Smile you bastard, smile... but he didn’t. He just went on sorting those bloody books or whatever the hell they were into that sodden box...

  “I’ll leave you then to get on with what you’re doing. If you need me... for anything... or if you want anything... “ she stopped and gave a deep sigh, “Just ask Clemmie... she’ll be happy to oblige.”

  He raised his eyebrows and smiled. How little Willie knew of the truth of what she had just said and as she was about to move away from the doorway, she suddenly turned as if she had something more to say. He looked at her... waiting... but she just walked on and her face was full of sadness.

  ***

  A week later, Clemmie was talking to Willie at the breakfast table.

  “How did Paul get on with Professor Wexinford? Did he see any improvement in him?” she asked, but Willie dawdled with her toast and did not answer as she spread the bread thickly with whisky marmalade. She could not get Fred from her mind and was still thinking of how she had stood outside his bedroom... so close to his bed only a few nights ago and had offered him the hospitality of her country cottage... and anything else besides... if he wanted with no strings attached. Yes, she had offered him, what she knew he didn’t want... with her tongue in her cheek and with her fingers crossed behind her back, but her heart was wild... Her loins ached. What the hell was she thinking of... Here was this total stranger living in her house... who could do whatever the hell he wanted with her heart.

  “What? What was that you said?” she asked Clemmie as she threw the toast to one side of her plate and crushed it into small pieces with her fork.

  “I was just asking how Paul got on at the hospital with the Consultant,”

  Willie sighed and narrowed her eyes.

  “Oh that!... I spent nearly three hours at Wexinford’s surgery on Wednesday and I’m supposed to be having priority treatment for Paul... I should have been a bloody consultant neurologist, shouldn’t I... instead of sweating my tits off day after day at that stinking hospital... There is no improvement... if anything, he’s deteriorating,” she snapped and Clemmie dropped her knife to her plate in alarm. It clattered and fell to the floor.

  “But surely, with all the care he is receiving now, there must be some improvement... even if it is just a little... there must be some...”

  Willie shook her head and took her hair to the back of her ear, as she played with her earing... She was still thinking of the man upstairs in the blue room, next to Paul’s.

  “Wexy has suggested another operation, but I don’t think that would do any good,” she said in a soft voice and Clemmie looked at her in alarm

  “Well anything might help,” she pleaded, “Surely anything at all that would give him some quality of life...”

  Willie sipped her coffee and her eyes narrowed with her thoughts.

  “The old fool thinks Paul may be able to speak a little after physio of course... but we’ve been through all this palaver before and it serves no purpose... Only makes the poor bugger more tired and only a short time ago, Wexy thought Paul wouldn’t live very long... but look at him. He’ll go on forever...”

  Clemmie resented the way her mistress spoke about her husband, but knowing Willie as she did, she realized that nothing she could say or do would make the slightest difference. Nevertheless... she thought she might try a compromise.

  “Why not, Willie?” she asked and her voice was impatient... “His mind is alert enough. He can think... We know that from the way he responds to Fred’s songs... and his stories. Surely anything’s worth a try?”

  Willie played with a teaspoon tapping it nervously against her saucer.

  “Oh that! They’re nothing but old wives tales... Stupid hoodoo! All these bloody old ballads are just a pain in the arse. How would you feel if that creature up there who calls himself a nurse, crooned at you all day. Wouldn’t that send you up the bloody wall..?”

  Clemmie ignored Willie’s ignorant remarks, but if Seyone had to sing to her all day, she would find it anything but a pain in the... butt.

  “What about Paul’s other faculties..? Did Professor Wexinford say anything about that?” Clemmie continued, but Willie’s eyes flared up in anger as she threw the spoon across the table. It struck the sugar bowl and clanked to floor.

  “Well he’s not pissing himself, if that’s what you mean, but you should know that. I don’t think he’ll ever be able to walk again.”

  Clemmie thought Willie was about to cry, but she suddenly stood up and stared out of the window.

  “It would take a long and arduous, not to say extremely serious operation to make any difference to Paul now... and I wonder would it be right to put him through all that suffering for such a dodgy risk,” she said and Clemmie stood still in pleasant surprise that at least Willie was considering something... even if it was as she said, extremely serious and arduous.

  “Wouldn’t it be best to let Paul be the best judge of that, Willie,” she said but Willie stared at her as if she was mad.

  “How the hell can he decide what he wants? Why he can’t even blow his own nose... can he?”

  “He can tell you things through his fingers.”

  Willie still looked as if she as about to cry and Clemmie did not pursue the subject any further, but her judgment was wrong... It was true that Willie was near to tears, but those tears were not for her husband, Paul... Her tears were for the yearning that tore at her heart and filled her with bitterness... for the man she saw on his knees in the blue room upstairs.

  “I’d better get some work done,” she said as
she was about to leave the kitchen

  “I thought you were off duty?”

  Willie turned to face her nurse.

  “Yes... you’re right, but there’s always a ton of paperwork to do. I use the pen as much, if not more than the scalpel, dearie.” she said, but as she turned the corner to go into the study, she bumped into Fred.

  “Thought you would be well into the land of nod by now,” she smirked, “You must be tired having been up all night with Paul.”

  Fred looked at her quite calmly.

  “He has had quite a quiet night actually. He sleeps better now than he has done for some time,” he said and Willie sneered.

  “Must be that old porridge stuff you’re giving him that Clemmie told me about, eh?”

  Fred laughed and walked on past her into the kitchen.

  “Seems to be doing the trick though... isn’t it?... and he likes it too.”

  Willie was about to retire to the study when she called Fred back again.

  “That offer still stands... if you want a few days off, you know.” she said, but Fred did not answer her immediately and when he did speak, he did not look at her.

  “It was a week ago that we spoke about that and you’ve gone back to the hospital since then. It’s not possible now... for you, I mean...”

  “It is... I’m back tomorrow at St. Mark’s again, but if I speak to old Wexy, I’m sure I could get time off if I wanted.”

  “No... I’d rather you didn’t do that. I’ll stay and look after Paul at nights and you can have a better rest whenever you’re home.” he said and Willie didn’t know whether he was being sarcastic or not, but she gave him the benefit of the doubt by telling him to think it over and let her know.

  “The offer still stands for you, if you want it remember. Perhaps you have a friend you’d like to take with you... for a break, you understand?” she went on and she studied Fred’s face when she said that, in particular, his eyes... those dark deep sensual eyes that played tricks with her heart, but he showed no emotion, except that his nostrils seemed to twitch in such a sexy way whenever he looked at her... she seemed to think... and wanted to believe. “