Celia listened to Elsie grumbling about the prisoners yet again. She was tempted to snap at the nasty woman but didn’t dare antagonise her, in case Elsie began to watch her and Otto more closely and catch an unguarded look passing between them.
It made her worry about how everyone would look at her and Otto if they did end up being together whenever this war ended. The unfairness of their situation infuriated her. What if the war didn’t end, or continued for years? What would they do then?
If only she had someone to confide in. Phoebe had always been her confidante but Celia could hardly write to her admitting what was happening between her and Otto, especially given how harsh she’d been when Phoebe had confessed her own feelings for a patient. She sighed, realising she felt further away from her sister than ever. If only they could spend a few hours together to catch up with each other, share their thoughts about their family, comfort one another. She missed Phoebe so deeply, now more than ever.
‘Celia? What’s happened?’ Elsie asked, her voice filled with concern. ‘Are you all right?’
Celia took a steadying breath. ‘Yes,’ she lied. ‘I’m fine.’
‘What utter tosh.’ Elsie frowned at her. ‘Something’s happened and I’m not leaving you here until you tell me what it is.’
‘Why do you care all of a sudden?’ Celia asked without thinking.
Elsie’s thick eyebrows rose in shock at her reaction. ‘We are colleagues, Celia,’ Elsie said quietly.
‘I can’t tell you,’ Celia murmured, aware that Elsie was one of the last people she could ever confide in. But it was clear her colleague had no intention of letting this go. She needed to tell her something to satisfy her. ‘Fine.’ Celia sighed. ‘I was overcome thinking about my parents and brother.’
‘Really?’
‘Yes.’ She realised she had said it more sharply than she had intended but Elsie’s nosiness had annoyed her. ‘I’ll get on then,’ she said, not wishing to spend any longer with Elsie in case she began questioning her about something else.
She sensed Otto watching from his bed further along the room but was determined not to catch his eye. Celia had no intention of giving Elsie any chance of suspecting that their feelings had changed from nurse and patient to two people who had formed an attraction towards each other.
It frightened her to find herself in this position. She had imagined that she might fall in love and marry at some point in her life, but having been focused on her nursing for the past few years, was happy not to rush into anything. Now, not only had she developed feelings for one of her patients, she’d also fallen for someone she struggled to imagine a future with because their countries were at war with one another.