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Evangelina was a few bike lengths behind Julienne as they pedalled up the final slope back to Nonnatus. It had been a long labour spent in large part on the floor, and her knees and back were sore. She looked forward to a quick bite and then going straight to bed.
“Oh, look!”
The delighted exclamation from Julienne snapped her out of her thoughts. Julienne rolled into the bike shed standing on one pedal and jumped off with an agility that Evangelina had never possessed. Kicking out the stand she left her bicycle and swiftly went back out. She peeked around the corner of the shed before crouching down, holding out a hand and making a high-pitched hissing noise.
“Pspsps.”
Evangelina parked her bicycle and began unfastening her bag.
“What’cha got there?”
“Pspspspsps!” Julienne made the noise a little louder this time, clearly focused and enthralled by whatever was hiding on the other side of the wall. “Come here,” she said in an unusually high pitched voice.
Evangelina picked up her bag and went to unfasten Julienne’s when a few whiskers slowly appeared.
“Ah.” Evangelina watched as the cat slowly approached Julienne’s outstretched hand and sniffed it suspiciously. After a few moments it rubbed its face on Julienne’s knuckles, and then allowed her to pet it. Julienne turned to Evangelina with a beaming smile. “Look!”
Evangelina arched an eyebrow, but couldn’t suppress a tiny smile at the clear joy her new friend was exhibiting. “It seems you’ve made a friend.”
Still beaming, Julienne turned her attention back to the cat. It circled closely around her, rubbing up against her habit. After making a full lap it stopped in front of her, rolled onto the ground and presented its stomach for a belly rub. Julienne was clearly happy to oblige, getting down on all fours to pet the cat, who was now purring loud enough that Evangelina could hear it.
“Can we keep her?” Julienne said in a dreamy tone. Evangelina suspected she was only half joking.
“If she takes care of the rodents, she can sleep in our room,” Evangelina said dryly. “But you know the rules. No pets in a clinical house.”
“I’m sure Sister Ada would make an exception for you,” Julienne said in a voice mostly reserved for speaking to very small children with, still petting the cat. She found a spot just behind its ear that it clearly liked as the purring went into overdrive.
Evangelina looked on for a few more moments. “I didn’t realise you were so fond of cats.”
“There were always strays around when I was a child, wherever my father was posted at the time,” Julienne said wistfully. “I would sometimes sneak away a little something from the table to feed them.” She smiled at the memory.
Evangelina fought to suppress a yawn. “I’ll take care of these, then I’m off to bed,” she said, indicating both of their medical bags.
“I’ll come too,” Julienne said, showing no indication whatsoever that she was getting off the ground.
Evangelina snorted. “No no, you stay out here with the moggy and I’ll do all the work.”
Julienne slowly started pushing herself up, but Evangelina stopped her. “No it’s fine, I’ll deal with this. Promise.” Evangelina meant it. Julienne was the newest arrival and she hadn’t had the easiest time since coming to Poplar. But Evangelina had grown fond of the young woman and didn’t want to interrupt this moment which clearly brought a lot of joy.
“If you’re sure?” Julienne asked, attention split between Evangelina and the cat.
“Quite sure.” Evangelina smiled and gave a quick nod towards the cat. Julienne smiled and returned to all fours. The cat clearly indicated it was not pleased at having lost her attention, but showed that all would be forgiven if it got another belly rub.
Evangelina turned and was on the way to the stone steps leading up to the front door when she heard a strange noise. She looked back at Julienne, who had her head tucked towards her shoulder and convulsed with a sudden rapid but stifled exhalation. The cat had taken on a flight mode stance, ears up and staring suspiciously at her, ready to run.
“Did you just sneeze?”
Julienne appeared not to have heard her. She sniffled and reached out a hand towards the cat, showing everything was okay.
Evangelina arched an eyebrow but didn’t repeat herself. She suppressed another yawn and headed back inside. She had been reaching the end of her on call shift when Mr Jamesson phoned, and as she was still supervising Julienne she’d woken her up and brought her along to attend her first multiplet birth. Evangelina filled and started the autoclave, then updated the logbook. She quickly made herself and ate a cheese sandwich before heading off to bed.
When she awoke a few hours later, Evangelina felt rested and the aches and pains from the delivery were mostly gone. She went to check the call board and logs. Sister Ada was away on retreat and Sister Monica Joan’s sister had just had a baby, so she was off meeting her new baby nephew. This meant their numbers were limited for a few days, and Evangelina wanted to stay on top of things.
She was in the middle of studying Sister Constance’s latest updates when she heard a very loud sneeze. Then another. And yet another. Immediately alarm bells were ringing. She could tell the sounds were coming from the yard, and she wasn’t surprised when she found Julienne out there. Julienne was on her knees in the vegetable garden with a small rake in one hand and a sodden handkerchief in the other.
As Evangelina approached it quickly became evident that something wasn’t right. On top of the sneezing and runny nose, Julienne’s eyes were red, puffy and watery, but most worryingly of all she could immediately hear the wheeze in her breathing.
“You’re allergic to cats, aren’t you?” Evangelina said more accusingly than she’d intended.
Julienne looked up at her, terrified. “I-, um, as a child I…” She trailed off as her eyes unfocused and she turned to sneeze into her elbow. She brought the handkerchief to wipe her nose. “I hoped I’d outgrown it,” she added, looking ashamed.
Evangelina sighed. “Come on, let’s get you inside.”
Julienne sniffed. “Thought being out in the fresh air would help.”
Evangelina pointed down at Julienne’s habit. “You’re covered in cat hair. Unless a gale blows it clean off, being outdoors won’t solve anything. Why on Earth didn’t you change your clothes?!”
Julienne looked down at her guimpe and scapular, mortified. Something clearly irritated her nose as she had to turn and sneeze again. She raised her arm to wipe her eyes with the sleeve.
“No!” Evangelina pulled Julienne’s arm away, pointing at the sleeve which was also full of tiny little hairs. Julienne’s eyes were overflowing with tears and she squinted and blinked at the visible irritation around her eyes. Evangelina pulled out a clean handkerchief from her pocket and pressed it into Julienne’s hand. “Use that for now. But you need to get out of these clothes. Now.”
With that, she pulled Julienne by her elbow into a standing position. Julienne clearly had trouble seeing through the swelling and tears, so Evangelina led her by the arm to the nearest bathroom. “Breathing okay?” she asked when the wheezing became a little more audible.
“Mhm.” The noise Julienne made was entirely unconvincing.
When they reached the bathroom, Evangelina started filling the tub. Any thoughts she might have had of letting Julienne continue on her own from here evaporated when it became clear that both her eyesight and respiration were declining. As efficiently as she could she helped Julienne out of her cat hair covered habit. The Sister was clearly uncomfortable, likely a combination of her symptoms and unexpectedly undressing, Evangelina figured.
Once the work apron and outer layers of the habit were removed, Evangelina helped Julienne step into the bathtub. She grabbed a few clean cloths from a cabinet. She knelt at the side of the tub, rinsed the cloths and took one and carefully wiped Julienne’s eyes. She put another in Julienne’s hand. “Here.”
Julienne accepted it and started wiping her arms and hands. Her breathing had calmed a little but she was still wheezing a little. “Slow, deep breaths,” Evangelina encouraged. Julienne struggled to follow the instructions but clearly gave it her best effort. Evangelina briefly considered fetching the oxygen tank, but after a little while Julienne’s breathing calmed a bit.
When Evangelina felt it was safe to leave Julienne for a few minutes, she pushed herself off the floor. “I’m going to take these to the laundry,” she said, indicating the pile of clothes on the floor, “and then fetch your dressing gown and slippers.”
Julienne sat with her head bowed. She sniffled and wiped her nose and eyes with one of the cloths. “Thank you. Sorry.”
Evangelina waved her off and picked up the discarded pieces of the habit, heading towards the laundry. She was halfway down the corridor when she heard a great big echoing sneeze from the bathroom. She made a mental note of deep cleaning any area the cat hairs may have ended up in.
A few minutes later, Evangelina returned with the dressing gown and slippers. “How are you feeling?”
Julienne took an unsteady deep breath. “Better. I think. Thank you.” She rubbed a cloth over her eyes and nose. “It still itches, but my nose isn’t running as much.”
“And your airways?” Evangelina asked, silently monitoring Julienne’s respiration regardless.
“Better.”
Evangelina nodded. “Good.” She hung the dressing gown on a hook beside the door and put the slippers underneath. Then she put a clean towel where Julienne could reach it.
“Just leave your underthings here when you’re done and I’ll fetch them later,” she instructed.
“Yes, Sister Evangelina. Thank you. I’m sorry.”
Evangelina tutted. “Enough of that now. Go on, best get out of there before you turn into a prune,” she said lightly. Julienne gave a faint smile which didn’t reach her eyes.
“Should we call for Dr Green?” Sister Constance asked. They were standing outside Evangelina and Julienne’s shared room. Julienne had left the bathroom a few minutes earlier and made her way back to the room. She seemed to be doing better, but her eyes were still swollen and nose running quite a lot. Evangelina had anticipated this and put a stack of folded handkerchiefs on her bedside table.
“Unless she gets worse I think we should just let her rest for now. I’ll monitor her for a bit just to make sure, if you could mind the telephone?”
Sister Constance agreed and Evangelina stepped into the room. Julienne was in the process of laying out the pieces of her second habit. “What’s going on here?”
“Oh.” Julienne sniffled. “I will go back out and finish as soon as my hair dries-”
“You will do no such thing,” Evangelina said firmly. Julienne’s face and shoulders fell simultaneously. “We might open the window to get you some fresh air,” Evangelina continued, “but you’ll do no more work today, and the only thing you should change into is a nightgown.”
Julienne looked taken aback.
“But-”
“No buts. I’ll make you a tray later unless you absolutely wish to eat in the kitchen. Then it’s an early night for you while I do some cleaning.”
Julienne looked ashamed. Then she sniffled again, reaching for a clean handkerchief.
“Here,” Evangelina said, handing over the cup of tea she was holding. “I put some honey in there. Might help a little.”
Julienne blinked slowly with her swollen, watery eyes. She accepted the cup, taking a small sip. “Thank you. That’s very kind.”
They sat in silence for a while as Julienne slowly sipped the tea, having to stop occasionally to wipe her eyes or blow her nose.
After a minute of staring into what Evangelina suspected was now an empty cup, Julienne spoke.
“I truly am very sorry.”
Evangelina waved it away. “Don’t be.”
Julienne looked up. She looked tearful, though Evangelina wasn’t sure if it was due to emotion or lingering symptoms. “Why are you being so kind to me?” A tear fell and rolled down her cheek. “You have chewed people’s heads off for much less, including mine.” Another tear fell.
Evangelina unsuccessfully tried to suppress a smile. She reached out and handed Julienne a fresh handkerchief.
“I haven’t seen you smile like that since you got here. I… I know it hasn’t been entirely easy for you. It was nice to see you so excited about something. Even if it couldn’t last.”
Julienne sniffled and nodded, wiping away the tears with her handkerchief.
“Did it help?” Evangelina asked, indicating the cup.
“A little, I think.”
“Here. I’ll make you some more.” She reached out a hand.
“Please. Thank you.” Julienne handed her the cup and Evangelina made for the door. Just before leaving she turned back.
“And Sister.” Julienne looked up at her. Evangelina’s expression and tone were sympathetic as she continued. “I am very sorry that you’re still allergic to cats.”
Julienne let out a surprised little chuckle. “As am I,” she said with a faint smile. “As am I.”