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Julienne was on her way back from delivering the youngest Ghallager in Lisbon Buildings.
The early morning air was cool and crisp. The sun had yet to rise above the horizon, but its rays reached the thin layer of clouds in the sky, painting them in shades of pink.
Due to her administrative tasks as superior Sister she wasn’t out in the district or delivering babies as often any more, and especially not at night. Which meant that moments like these were increasingly rare. It was early enough that the streets were virtually empty. She took a slow, deep breath and spent a moment appreciating the calm and peaceful silence of the otherwise bustling city.
Navigating the streets of Poplar, she was rounding a corner when her front wheel suddenly slid into the gap between two particularly raised stones on the cobbled street. This turned the wheel and handlebar sharply to the side and the bicycle came to an abrupt halt. Julienne, however, still had momentum and was promptly thrown off the bike. Heading towards the ground at an alarming speed, Julienne stuck out arms and legs to try and break her fall.
Once she found herself lying on the cobbled street she took stock of herself and the situation. She’d managed to avoid hitting her head, she knew that much. But she felt a stinging pain in her palms, and a dull ache was pulsating in her right hip and thigh.
It wasn’t until she carefully moved her legs that a sharp pain shot through her right ankle. She knew she must have landed with her foot in a funny angle.
Slowly she tried to get up. She quickly realised that she was unable to put much weight on her right foot without considerable pain. Getting to a standing position from where she was seemed impossible, and there was no one around she could ask for help.
Getting on her hands and knees she slowly crawled back to her bicycle. Using the handlebar as leverage she managed to push herself up off the ground, and once standing she was able to pull the bike back up too. Luckily it appeared to have come out of the accident in better shape than her.
Holding on as tightly to the handlebar as her injured hands would permit and leaning on the bicycle for support, she slowly started hobbling back to Nonnatus House.
——o——o——o——o——o——
Evangelina was heading downstairs when she heard a pained gasp coming from the entrance. She went to investigate and found Julienne at the bottom of the stairs.
“What’s happened?” Evangelina asked while rapidly making her way down the steps, trying to assess the situation. She could see blood. On the bannister, on Julienne’s habit and on the medical bag. She took the bag from Julienne’s hand and put it on the floor.
“Bit of a tumble,” Julienne said in a shaky voice. “But I’m quite alri-aaah!”
Evangelina quickly released her grip on Julienne’s elbow. “Sorry,” she said quietly. She moved her hand up, carefully holding onto Julienne’s upper arm instead. “Better?”
Julienne nodded, lips pursed.
“Okay,” Evangelina said. “One step at a time.”
Evangelina gently led Julienne up the stairs and through the corridor. She could see that on top of bloodied hands and a sore elbow, something was clearly wrong with Julienne’s right foot. On the way she tried getting more information out of the injured woman. Had she hit her head? Any other symptoms? Julienne insisted that she hadn’t and that there weren’t.
Once they reached the clinical room Evangelina fetched a stool and had Julienne sit down.
“M-my bag,” Julienne said quietly. “I think something might have broken.”
“I’m more concerned about you being broken at the moment,” Evangelina said.
Evangelina began by having Julienne place her hands on the bench in front of them. Both palms were covered with cuts and scrapes. She spotted some tiny pieces of gravel in the wound as well.
Evangelina began picking the pieces of gravel from the bloodied palms with a tweezer. Julienne’s hand twitched from pain every time the tweezers made contact with her hand, but it couldn’t be helped. The wound had to be cleaned and dressed to avoid infection.
“This will sting a bit,” Evangelina warned needlessly as she prepared to disinfect the area around the wound before putting on the bandages.
Julienne hissed and squeezed her eyes shut as the antiseptic made contact with her skin.
Once the area was deemed sufficiently clean, Evangelina carefully dressed the wound and wrapped the bandages tight enough to stop the bleeding.
“Now let’s have a look at that elbow,” Evangelina said while starting to roll up Julienne’s right sleeve. A thorough inspection found that nothing seemed too out of the ordinary, but that a bruise was already beginning to form.
Once Julienne’s upper body was dealt with, Evangelina turned her attention to the Sister’s foot.
After some gentle poking and prodding through which Julienne gritted her teeth, Evangelina offered her diagnosis.
“Your ankle’s quite swollen but there’s no sign of broken bones. If it gets worse we’ll call the doctor, but for now I’d say elevation and rest are in order.”
Evangelina helped Julienne stand. “Let’s get you settled and I’ll fetch an ice pack.”
They were heading back through the corridor when Evangelina felt Julienne trying to turn left.
“And where do you think you’re going?” she asked incredulously.
“I have some things to tend to in my office,” Julienne said innocently.
“Nothing which can’t wait,” Evangelina said firmly. “I’ll see to it that the records of the delivery are updated. You’ve been up quite long enough as it is. And I needen’t remind you who set the rules on night shifts.”
Julienne gave a token resistance, but acquiesced surprisingly quickly in Evangelina’s mind.
After an arduous journey up the many steps, Evangelina practically carried all of Julienne’s weight the last bit to her room. She deposited Julienne on her bed and went to fetch an ice pack. When she returned, Julienne had not quite managed to get changed yet, moving slower than usual. Evangelina could see that apart from her arm, bruises were also starting to form on her shoulder and legs.
She shook her head. “You’ll be black and blue tomorrow,” she sighed.
Once Julienne was changed and seated in bed, Evangelina put pillows under her right leg and placed the towel-wrapped ice pack on her ankle.
“There,” she said contentedly. “That should reduce the swelling. Later we might try wrapping it, but this should do for now.”
“Thank you, Sister,” Julienne said graciously. “And I apologise for the trouble I’ve caused.”
Evangelina tutted. “Don’t be daft.”
She stuck her hand in her pocket and pulled out the pill bottles she’d collected when she fetched the ice pack. “Now,” she said, unscrewing the lids, “paracetamol, aspirin, and then sleep.”
Julienne eyed her as she counted out the pills. “That won’t be necessary,” Julienne said quickly.
Evangelina looked up from the pills in her hand and stared directly into Julienne’s eyes.
“Sleep is the best remedy,” Julienne added, trying to make her case.
“I agree,” Evangelina said. “But you won’t get any sleep if you’re in agony.”
Julienne let out an exasperated sigh. “I’m hardly in agony, Sister. It’s just some cuts and bruises. No need to waste any medicine.”
Evangelina huffed incredulously. “It’s hardly a waste when you’re in pain. Besides, it’s not ‘just cuts and bruises’. You’re badly bruised and at the very least have a twisted ankle, if not a sprained one.”
“Many suffer through much greater pain with no access to such luxuries,” Julienne said, sounding as if she was deep in thought.
“That may be the case, but that’s hardly a reason to refuse pain relief here and now when you do have access to it.” Evangelina sighed. “You wouldn’t deny it to a patient of yours. So why are you denying yourself?”
Julienne remained silent.
“Take the pills.”
Julienne had a pained expression but shook her head.
“Take. The. Pills.”
“I don’t need them,” Julienne said, attempting to sound defiant. Which was undercut when a slight movement of her leg caused her to yelp.
Evangelina closed her eyes and took a deep breath. If this wasn’t over soon she too would require pain relief, as this conversation was giving her a headache.
“Sister,” she said softly, pulling a chair up to the bed and sitting down. “You had a nasty fall and you hurt yourself. You need sleep, but you won’t be able to get any restful sleep if you wake up in pain every time you move.”
“If it had been me writhing in pain, wouldn’t you want me to have pain relief? If Sister Monica Joan were sick or injured you would do anything to get her to accept medicine. I know you would. I’ve seen it.”
“I would never want either of you to suffer needlessly,” Julienne said.
“Exactly. Just like we would never want to see you suffer needlessly.”
They were both quiet for a moment, looking at each other.
“I know you want to be careful with our limited resources. But these,” she held out and gently shook one of the pill bottles, “are plentiful and you know it. You’re not taking away from someone who needs it more. There’s enough to go round.”
Julienne didn’t say anything but her expression had shifted slightly.
“Please,” she pleaded. “Paracetamol. Aspirin. Then sleep, and we can reassess once you’ve been able to rest.”
Julienne looked at Evangelina, then down at the pills, then back up at Evangelina again. Then came a small nod.
Evangelina let out a relieved breath as she held out the pills and handed Julienne the glass of water from the nightstand.
After swallowing the pills, Julienne leaned her head back against the headboard and closed her eyes taking slow, shaky breaths. It was as though accepting the pills also made her accept that she was in fact in a great deal of pain.
Evangelina sat by her side, praying silently as they waited for the pills to take effect.
When Evangelina saw Julienne’s facial features relax and breathing even out, she suggested that it was time for the Sister to sleep. She helped Julienne lie down. It was clear that the movement was painful, but once Julienne was lying down she relaxed again and looked ready to sleep. Evangelina gently draped the covers over her, careful not to put pressure on any injured areas. The ice pack was removed - Evangelina would return with a new one a little later - and the foot was once again propped up high on pillows.
The sun had risen high enough to peek through the window, and Evangelina went to draw the heavy curtains. She spotted the bicycle and made a mental note to ask Fred to make sure it hadn’t sustained any damage. Remembering the bag and bannister, she realised it was probably also in need of a good cleaning.
When Evangelina returned to the bed to say goodnight, Julienne was already asleep.