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A woman had come by Nonnatus House to donate clothes for the charity box. Julienne had thanked her and was about to carry the big sack from the front door and into the dining room, where she intended to sort the items.
The cold evening air made a shiver run down her spine and she quickly closed the front door. She pulled her cardigan tighter around her and rubbed her arms for warmth.
She picked up the sack and wondered briefly what on earth was in there. It seemed much heavier than its size would suggest. Walking into the dining room she put it on the dining table and was in the process of extracting the first item when she heard raised voices.
Closing her eyes and letting out a slow breath, she brought a hand up to rub her forehead. The Sisters’ quarrel was making her headache worse.
Moments later Evangelina entered the dining room. “Sister Monica Joan is upset,” she explained with exaggerated clarity.
“Oh? What’s the matter?” she answered quietly, hoping that Evangelina would lower her voice.
“She is convinced that she missed out on poker night when she visited her nephew. And she is adamant that we play. Now.”
Before Julienne had a chance to say anything, Monica Joan walked in and stood next to Evangelina.
“I merely ask that I am not forced to choose between time with my nephew and cherished activities here.”
“Sister,” Julienne addressed Monica Joan, “you are not forced to choose. We play when time permits, as you well know. And as I’m sure Sister Evangelina had explained, we did not play when you were away as we both had duties to attend to.”
“All the more reason to do it now,” Monica Joan tried. “I had time for leisure but you did not.”
“You know that I go through inventories on Mondays.” Julienne attempted to sound firm but she had a sneaking suspicion she wasn’t doing a very good job. “As soon as I’ve sorted out these items for the charity box I will-“
“Actually,” Evangelina interrupted, “Sister Bernadette went through everything before she left for her course. She told me she left a note on your desk?”
“Oh,” Julienne said, stunned. “I, uh, I must have missed it.”
“And I’m sure Sister Monica Joan would like nothing more than to sort these items out while we’re off on rounds tomorrow.”
Julienne was focused on Evangelina, so didn’t notice the grimace that flashed over Monica Joan’s face as the elder Sister shot Evangelina a dirty look.
Monica Joan composed herself quickly, looking back towards Julienne. “Indeed!” she exclaimed enthusiastically. “You know how I long to contribute and make myself useful.”
Julienne blinked slowly, looking from one Sister to the other. “Well, uh… I suppose it’s all been quite taken care of.”
“Exactly,” Monica Joan beamed. “I shall fetch the deck of cards while Sister Evangelina prepares the drinks.”
Julienne looked over at Evangelina. “Are you sure?”
Evangelina rolled her eyes and let out an exasperated, “Fine.”
She turned to Moncia Joan. “But only this once, mind,” she said sternly.
Monica Joan pretended not to hear her. “You may get settled in the parlour while we gather the essentials,” Monica Joan said to Julienne, nodding encouragingly.
Julienne wasn’t quite sure what had just happened, but she decided that going along with it might be easiest for everyone. And if she was honest she wasn’t entirely against the idea of sitting down for a while. It had been a very long day.
When Julienne had walked past the Sisters, Evangelina and Monica Joan looked at each other, both sporting triumphant smiles.
——o——o——o——o——o——
Julienne sat down in her usual armchair and waited. Another shiver went through her. Opening the front door must have let in more cold air than she first realised, she thought. On top of that she had the strangest feeling that something wasn’t quite right, though she couldn’t put her finger on what it was.
But before she had any more time to think about it, Evangelina and Monica Joan bustled into the room.
“Fifty-two playing cards, all present and correct,” Monica Joan said jovially. She placed the cards and a box of buttons on the table before walking around Julienne’s armchair.
“We had neither lemons nor eggs so no sours tonight I’m afraid. But you have the option of neat or on the rocks,” Evangelina offered.
Julienne pulled the sleeves of her cardigan down a little. “No ice for me, thank you,” she said quietly as Evangelina began pouring whiskey into the three glasses she brought.
Suddenly Monica Joan appeared again, draping a thick blanket across Julienne’s lap. “Oh,” Julienne said in surprise. “Thank you, but there’s no need-”
“If you would care to shuffle the cards, Sister,” Monica Joan said brightly to Evangelina, ignoring Julienne this time, “then I shall count out the buttons.”
“With pleasure,” Evangelina said as she put a glass into Julienne’s hand.
Monica Joan and Evangelina sat down at the table on either side of Julienne and attended to their tasks. Julienne was still not entirely sure what had happened. Sitting down for a while had made her feel very tired and quite cold. She almost considered taking her leave and going to bed, but she didn’t want to let Sister Monica Joan down. Suddenly she was very glad of the blanket and pulled in her feet under it for extra warmth. Then she brought the glass to her lips and took a small sip.
Once the buttons were distributed and cards were dealt, the first round began.
As the evening progressed Julienne started feeling better. She’d finished her first drink and Evangelina had poured her another; though she wasn’t consciously aware of it, she wasn’t feeling cold any more. They were having a very lovely time together, she thought. And while she’d been off to a bad start in the game and lost nearly all of her buttons, suddenly her luck had turned and she started doing quite well.
Though she’d never admit it, she was quite excited by seeing a possible victory ahead. Which made it come as a surprise when, after trying to suppress a yawn, Evangelina suddenly threw her cards down on the table.
“And with that, I think it’s time to call it a night,” Evangelina said.
“What? Why?” Julienne asked in confusion.
“You’ve yawned three times in as many minutes. I can see you’re fighting it but there’s really no need.”
“But we haven’t finished?” Julienne more asked than stated.
“The purpose of the game has been served,” Monica Joan said with a cryptic smile, gathering up the buttons and putting them back in their box.
“Oh,” Julienne said, not understanding, her mind hazy.
“Come along,” Evangelina said, gently pulling Julienne from the armchair. “Time for bed.”
——o——o——o——o——o——
When Julienne woke up the next morning she immediately knew that something was wrong. She’d had a slight headache for most of the previous day but now it was pounding furiously behind her eyes. Her whole body felt heavy and achy, she was still tired, and when she swallowed she felt her throat burning.
She heard a noise and slowly peeled her eyes open. The light burned her eyes and made her head pound harder, but she was determined to find the source of the sound. Lifting her head, she saw Sister Monica Joan peeking around her door.
“She is awake,” she heard the elder Sister say. Shortly after, both Monica Joan and Evangelina entered the room.
“How are you feeling?” Evangelina asked softly as she reached the bed.
Her mind was foggy enough not to register that this was a most unusual start to the day. “I feel…” Julienne began, but her voice gave out. Monica Joan sat on the edge of the bed and held out a glass of water. Julienne accepted it, leaned forward and took a few sips before speaking again. “Thank you. I feel… quite terrible, actually,” she admitted quietly.
Monica Joan and Evangelina looked at each other in surprise.
“Didn’t think you’d give in that easily,” Evangelina said, looking back at Julienne in concern. “You must really feel awful.”
Julienne looked at Evangelina, then at Monica Joan. “But I don’t understand,” she said sleepily. “I’m not normally this affected. And you both drank more than me last night but you seem fine.”
Monica Joan and Evangelina looked at each other blankly, before breaking into fits of laughter.
“What?” Julienne said in a small voice, feeling left out.
“You’re not hung-over,” Evangelina said, forcing herself to stop laughing. “You’re ill.”
“No, but last night, the game and the drink-” she protested, before being interrupted by Monica Joan.
“You have been deteriorating for days and it was clear that you were not going to give yourself time to rest. But we were determined that you would.”
“So you tricked me,” Julienne said, beginning to realise what had occurred the previous night.
“Not tricked,” Monica Joan said innocently. “It was merely… a benign ruse.”
“For the good of your health,” she added quickly, nodding meaningfully.
Julienne let her head fall back on the pillow with a thud, then immediately regretted it as the pain shot through her head and down her body.
“I feel like such a fool.”
“There, there,” Evangelina said, rubbing Julienne’s arm gently. “They say that admitting you have a problem is the first step to recovery.”
“So now that you’ve admitted to feeling terrible, we can start working on your recovery,” she added brightly.
“But I have so many things to attend to,” Julienne said weakly.
“No to worry,” Evangelina said warmly. “Sister Bernadette will return tomorrow, and Sister Monica Joan and I will hold the fort ‘till then. Won’t we, Sister?”
Monica Joan nodded. “All is in hand.”
Julienne wanted to protest, but found that she didn’t have it in her. While a day in bed was a luxury she rarely if ever afforded herself, the idea seemed very appealing. And the Sisters were not making it easier to resist the temptation.
“I might… stay in bed until lunchtime,” Julienne suggested as a way of compromise.
“If I say yes, will you go back to sleep?” Evangelina asked.
Julienne swallowed thickly, throat still burning and head pounding. Sleep sounded like bliss. She nodded.
“Good.”
Evangelina held out two aspirin. “Take these, then we’ll have this conversation again when you wake up.”
Julienne frowned at that but didn’t say anything. She accepted the pills gratefully and swallowed them down.
“And now, you must sleep,” Monica Joan said, squeezing Julienne’s hand. She rose from the bed and the Sisters made their way across the room, pleased that their joint effort had had a successful outcome.