NOT MANY OTHER SEVERELY BURNT EX-FIGHTER PILOT POLICEMEN
HE FELT MORE NERVOUS THAN HE HAD EVER DONE before in his life.
More nervous than he had been when sat in the cockpit of his Hurricane fighter, waiting to take off and face the might of the Luftwaffe. Once in the air, adrenaline would kick in and the nerves would disappear until he landed back at his airfield, and he would start to shake again with nervous relief.
More nervous than waiting for the agony of yet another operation to try to repair his burnt ravaged face, more nervous than ever he felt as a policeman on the beat, confronting a knife-wielding drunk on a Saturday night brawl.
He paced back and forth, he reached into his pocket for the inevitable cigarette but fought down the urge; he did not want to meet her reeking of tobacco smoke.
He checked his watch again for maybe the twentieth time.
He had not contacted her to let her know he would be waiting outside the hospital at the end of her shift (he had discreetly enquired when this might be from the personnel department) and he was suddenly fearful that she might have forgotten him (unlikely, since there were not many other severely burnt ex-fighter pilot policemen in town) or that she might be offended because he had not contacted her before, or that she might be with somebody else.
All sorts of imagined scenarios knotted up his stomach with anxious tension. At last, he saw her coming down the hospital steps; she was with two other nurses, chattering gaily and at first, she did not see him but she lifted her head and stopped in her tracks. The other nurses looked around to see what had so suddenly brought her to a halt, saw her staring at Yarrow, and discreetly scurried away, whispering amongst themselves and giggling.
‘Hello,’ he said nervously, ‘I…er…was wondering if…’
‘Yes,’ she said before he could finish his fumbling question.
‘What?’
‘Yes to whatever it was you were wondering. Unless of course, you were wondering if you didn’t want to see me.’
‘No, no, not that. Most definitely not that.’
‘Good, so where are you taking me?’ Nurse Alison Worthywool asked, taking his arm.