Matron joined Holly after she had seen the men safely into their beds and left the junior nurses washing them, and helping herself to a cup of tea, she asked, ‘Is Parkin a relative?’

‘No, he’s a doctor I used to work with at a field hospital in France.’ She daren’t tell the woman that she had once believed he was the man she wanted to spend the rest of her of life with until she had discovered that he was actually her brother!

‘Oh that’s a relief.’ The matron smiled as she sipped at her tea. ‘It would have been quite difficult for you had he been someone you were close to.’

Holly managed a weak smile as she rose from her seat. It was part of her job to oversee the junior nurses and she didn’t want to appear lacking in her duty.

‘I’m sorry, it was just a bit of a shock seeing him, because we believed that he had been killed,’ she explained.

‘I quite understand, nurse. And oh, seeing as he is a doctor you could perhaps make sure that he has a private room. I do like to show respect to the doctors and officers.’

‘Yes, Matron.’ Holly slipped away with her emotions playing havoc. She was shocked, elated and sad at seeing him all at the same time because it only brought home to her how futile it was to grow too close to him again.

As it happened Richard had already been placed in a private room. She peeped through the door to see a young junior nurse just finishing giving him his wash and waited until she had gone before slipping into the room. As she looked down at his frail form pity flooded through her. He seemed to be half the size he used to be and his lovely hair had been hacked close to his head, no doubt to try and prevent it being infested with lice. His skin was sallow and without even realising she was doing it her hand rose to finger the ring he had given her, still lying close to her heart. She had never taken it off and even though she knew it was useless she still indulged herself from time to time by placing it on her finger and imagining how things might have been.

She crept in to see him again before going off duty but he was still asleep so she tiptoed away again, leaving him in the capable care of the night staff.

She slept very little that night in the nurses’ quarters, painfully aware of how close to her he was and she went in early for duty the next morning without even bothering with breakfast.

The doctor had been to examine the new intake of patients the night before and as Holly slipped into Richard’s room and quickly read his report she was relieved to see that apart from being severely emaciated and lacking in vitamins there didn’t appear to be anything else seriously wrong with him. They had hooked him up to a drip during the night to get some fluids into him and already she thought his skin didn’t look quite as yellow as it had the night before. But then she knew that this could well be wishful thinking.