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“What do you think, Sister?” The clearly worried mother held up her young son’s shirt to display a rash on his stomach.
“I don’t think it’s anything to worry about, Mrs Wilson. But take him over to the nurses station and we’ll have a proper look, shall we? I’ll be right there,” Sister Evangelina said, giving a nod in the direction of the temporary sick bay.
The woman walked off and Evangelina looked around. She never ceased to be amazed by how quickly humans adapted to new situations. Even in war time, taking cover in a tube station from falling bombs, people were still occupying themselves with the most mundane tasks.
People were gathered in little groups; chatting, playing games, organising collections, knitting. It was early days and morale was high, despite the circumstances. The background hum of many separate conversations in a large space was a relatively calm one.
Certain sounds would occasionally cut through the buzz. One of which was a nasty sounding cough.
Evangelina recognised that cough.
She made her way down the length of the station, snaking her way between crowds and makeshift sleeping arrangements on the floor.
There was no privacy in a shelter like this one, but at least the nuns have a designated spot at the far end of the station which was a little more secluded. As she approached the coughing started again, harsh and wet and louder than before.
She rounded a corner and there, on a thin mattress on the floor, was Sister Julienne. Curled up on her side under a blanket, just like she had been all evening.
Evangelina’s brow furrowed.
She stepped closer, kneeling on the side of the mattress to get a closer look. She leaned forward and reached out to feel Julienne’s forehead with the back of her hand. Julienne flinched a little at the touch and looked up, bleary-eyed.
Evangelina frowned. Her temperature was definitely up again. She sat back on her heels as Julienne turned to cough, before pulling the blanket closer around her, shivering.
“How are you feeling?” Evangelina asked.
Julienne didn’t reply immediately, and when she did her voice was weak and hoarse. “Tired.”
“Have you managed to get any sleep?”
Julienne shook her head into the pillow. “‘S too loud. And bright. And cold.” She curled up impossibly tighter as another shiver wracked her small frame.
Evangelina rested a hand on her own mattress, the one next to Julienne’s. With all the people down in the station, it was actually quite warm. But the tiled floor wasn’t, and the mattresses were very thin. Evangelina looked from her own mattress to Julienne’s and back again.
“Here. Get up. Just for a moment,” she added quickly when she saw the horror in Julienne’s eyes. Slowly and reluctantly, Julienne pushed herself off the mattress.
Evangelina quickly grabbed it and pulled it on top of her own. “There we are. That should help a little,” she said, indicating for Julienne to lie back down.
“But… what about you?” Julienne said, teeth practically chattering.
“Don’t worry about me,” Evangelina said, motioning for Julienne to lie back down. “I won’t be sleeping for hours yet. There’s work to be done.” She regretted it the moment she said it as she saw Julienne’s guilty expression.
“None of that, now,” she said softly. Julienne adjusted her pillow and pulled her feet up under the blanket. She had lost what little warm air she had managed to build up before, but Evangelina reckoned that this would keep her better insulated from the floor and therefore more comfortable in the long run.
She fetched her own blanket and draped it over Julienne. Next she held out her pillow. “It’s not the ideal circumstances for restful sleep,” she said sympathetically, “but perhaps you can use this to block out the worst of the noise?”
Julienne looked uncertain, but eventually stuck out a hand from underneath the blankets to accept the proffered pillow. “Thank you,” she rasped, pulling the pillow over her head to block her exposed ear and part of her vision.
“That’s it,” Evangelina said, squeezing her shoulder. “Try to get some sleep.”
Evangelina lingered only a few moments before turning around and heading back. There was a lot to do, and she was a doer. With a last quick glance at Julienne, she turned and headed back into the crowd.
A few hours later, things were quietening down. Evangelina had to tip-toe around sleeping families when getting back to the nuns’ sleeping quarters.
All of the other Sisters were already asleep, except for Julienne who appeared to be in some fitful half-sleeping state. She had kicked off her blankets and was now hugging herself tightly. Grimacing, she was curled on her side, her feet sticking out from her nightgown, rubbing together, desperate for warmth.
Evangelina had intended to spread her coat on the floor to sleep on, but the scene in front of her broke her heart. She collected her coat, then the blankets which had been kicked to the cold floor.
Shaking out the blankets, she draped the first one over Julienne and then the other, before laying her coat on top. The action brought Julienne back into consciousness and she looked up, confused, until she turned to muffle a cough into her pillow.
Evangelina considered it for a moment, then made her mind up. Carefully she lowered herself onto the mattress next to Julienne.
The shift in weight made Julienne roll against her and she let out a little gasp in surprise.
“Sorry,” Evangelina whispered. “But I thought I’d be your personal radiator tonight.” She shifted to lie on her side, wrapping an arm around Julienne. Even through the many layers she could feel how worryingly thin the young woman had become.
That had started before her illness, though. The stress and loss of appetite had made Julienne lose more weight than she had to spare, but her current condition had sped up the process at an alarming pace. She would speak with Sister Ada about it in the morning, how to make best use of their collective rations.
Evangelina was so wrapped up in her thoughts that she almost didn’t hear Julienne speak.
“But you’ll catch it,” she protested weakly.
“Nonsense,” Evangelina replied quietly. “If that was the case I would have caught it by now. Don’t you worry about me.”
Though Evangelina had offered to be the radiator, she was now starting to feel the heat radiating off Julienne. Yet the young woman was still shivering. Evangelina pulled her closer, hoping that if nothing else she could offer her friend some comfort. Being this close she could both hear and feel the rattle in Julienne’s chest with each strained breath. Not for the first time, she prayed it wouldn’t develop into something more sinister.
Another coughing fit came on, and Evangelina rubbed comforting circles on Julienne’s back all the way through it.
Once it was over, Evangelina pulled her close again. “Try to get some sleep,” she whispered as Julienne was catching her breath. You certainly need it Evangelina thought.