The Mistletoe Kiss. Betty Neels

room, the house doctors’ rooms, the wards, X-Ray, the path lab. And within minutes she was kept busy, ringing the consultants on call, theatre staff, technicians, ward sisters on day duty. She had called the professor, but hadn’t spared him a thought, nor had she seen him as he came to the hospital, for there was a great deal of orderly coming and going as the ambulances began to arrive.

      She had been busy; now she was even more so. Anxious relatives were making frantic calls, wanting to know where the injured were and how they were doing. But it was too soon to know anything. The accident room was crowded; names were sent to her as they were given, but beyond letting callers know that they had that particular person in the hospital there was no more information to pass on.

      Emmy went on answering yet more calls, putting through outside calls too—to other hospitals, the police, someone from a foreign embassy who had heard that one of the staff had been injured. She answered them all in her quiet voice, trying to ignore a threatening headache.

      It seemed a very long time before order emerged from the controlled chaos. There were no more ambulances now, and patients who needed admission were being taken to the wards. The accident room, still busy, was dealing with the lesser injured; the hospital was returning to its normal day’s work.

      It was now ten o’clock. Emmy, looking at her watch for the first time in hours, blinked. Where was Audrey? Most of the receptionists had come in, for they had rung to tell her so, but not Audrey. Emmy was aware that she was hungry, thirsty and very tired, and wondered what to do about it. She would have to let someone know…

      Audrey tapped on her shoulder. She said airily, ‘Sorry I’m late. I didn’t fancy coming sooner; I bet the place was a shambles. I knew you wouldn’t mind…’

      ‘I do mind, though,’ said Emmy. ‘I mind very much. I’ve had a busy time, and I should have been off duty two hours ago.’

      ‘Well, you were here, weren’t you? Did you expect me to come tearing in in the middle of all the fuss just so’s you could go off duty? Besides, you’re not doing anything; you only go to bed…’

      The professor, on his way home, paused to listen to this with interest. Ermentrude, he could see, was looking very much the worse for wear; she had undoubtedly had a busy time of it, and she had been up all night, whereas the rest of them had merely got out of their beds earlier than usual.

      He said now pleasantly, ‘Put on your coat, Ermentrude; I’ll drive you home. We can take up the matter of the extra hours you have worked later on. Leave it to me.’

      Emmy goggled at him, but he gave her no chance to speak. He said, still pleasantly, to Audrey, ‘I’m sure you have a good reason for not coming on duty at the usual time.’ He smiled thinly. ‘It will have to be a good one, will it not?’

      He swept Emmy along, away from a pale Audrey, out of the doors and into his Bentley. ‘Tell me where you live,’ he commanded.

      ‘There is no need to take me home, I’m quite able—’

      ‘Don’t waste my time. We’re both tired, and I for one am feeling short-tempered.’

      ‘So am I,’ snapped Emmy. ‘I want a cup of tea, and I’m hungry.’

      ‘That makes two of us. Now, where do you live, Ermentrude?’