‘Katherine, may I introduce you to Irena Kraszewska, a medical student from Poland?’ Richard said to the attractive, freckled-faced woman with thick, curly hair and a cheerful, open expression. They’d met in a crowded tea room in the Old Town, close to the Royal Infirmary.
‘Irena, this is Katherine, the old friend I told you about.’
‘Not so much of the old, Richard.’
She held out her hand. ‘Pleased to meet you. Now, shall I order us some tea?’
Irena smiled. Did the British ever drink anything else? ‘I’d prefer coffee.’
Richard summoned the waitress and gave the order.
‘Irena is going to be working at the Polish medical school at the Western,’ Richard explained. ‘She’s staying at Charlotte Square with Mother for the time being.’
‘I’m a student nurse – otherwise known as a slave – at the Royal Infirmary,’ Katherine said. ‘It’s the best hospital in Scotland. As least we think so, although the girls in Glasgow would beg to differ. They say we’re too old-fashioned, but they’re just jealous.’ She chewed her lip. ‘We might be a little traditional, but we like that. Most of the time.’
‘We’ll be having our lectures at the Royal,’ Irena said when Katherine paused for breath. ‘We might come across one another there.’
While they drank their tea, Katherine made them laugh with her stories of life on the ward. After a while, Richard got to his feet.
‘If you ladies would excuse me? I have somewhere I need to go.’
‘A woman?’ Katherine asked with a teasing glance. ‘Anyone I know?’
He shook his head and tweaked her nose. ‘A gentleman never says.’
Katherine turned back to Irena. ‘He’s incorrigible. It’s bound to be a woman. He always has one in tow.’
Irena wasn’t quite sure what to say to that. Richard’s love life was no concern of hers.
‘How do you know Richard’s family?’ Irena asked when they were alone.
‘You mean, how can I, a lowly student nurse, move in aristocratic circles?’ Katherine smiled, apparently not in the least bit offended by the question. The truth was it was exactly what Irena had been thinking. In Poland it was the same; they had their counts and countesses and they rarely mixed with the lower and middle classes.
‘I suspect I wouldn’t have been taken on by the Royal if Dr Maxwell hadn’t put in a word for me. She and my mother have known each other since they were children, and I’ve known Richard since I was a baby. Mum – she’s a midwife – used to meet Dr Maxwell in the park and Richard and I played while they talked. Well, not played exactly, more me following him around like a puppy, if I’m honest. I thought he was wonderful. Then we sort of lost touch for years until one day we bumped into each other at a club. He was with some of his chums from the RAF. We had quite a night.’
‘Aleksy, my brother, is in the RAF too,’ Irena said. A woman carrying a crying toddler pushed the door open with her shoulder and sank into a chair with a sigh of relief. ‘He also managed to escape from Poland.’
‘Did he really? Tell me more. It’s all so thrilling. I can’t wait until I can join the QAs so I can get in amongst it all.’
‘The QAs?’
‘The Queen Alexandra’s Imperial Military Nursing Service – it’s a bit of a mouthful so everyone calls them QAs for short. They’re out with our forces right now. I hope to goodness the war doesn’t end before I finish my training.’
When Irena kept quiet, Katherine covered her mouth with her hand.
‘Oh, I’m sorry. That was stupid and thoughtless. You must be desperate for it to end. Me and my big mouth. I open it and all this stuff just seems to pour out. Mum says I’m like a leaky bucket.’
‘You shouldn’t wish to go to war. It’s horrible and bloody and heartbreaking. The wounded and the dying are so young, and you don’t have enough medicine, or supplies. Conditions are rarely like you’re used to in hospital.’
‘That’s what Mum says.’
‘And she’s right.’
Katherine slid her a glance. ‘Did you hate it all the time?’
Irena thought for a while. She hated what the war had done – was still doing – to those she loved. She’d been terrified of going behind the fence of the ghetto and she’d hated not being able to save more of the people, particularly the children inside it, but she’d been thrilled when those she’d treated had got better. And, at the beginning of the war, when Warsaw was under attack, being in the thick of life-and-death decisions at the hospital had exhilarated her. It didn’t seem right, but looking back, that was how she’d felt.
She realised Katherine was waiting for an answer. She chose her words carefully. ‘I hated it when there was nothing I could do for a patient and very often I was scared that I wouldn’t know what to do, but mostly, if I’m honest, it was the most exciting time of my life. It’s what we nurses and doctors train to do, isn’t it?’
‘I knew you’d understand! Perhaps you can help me persuade Mum that I should join the QAs then,’ Katherine said. ‘I’ll be twenty-three by the time I finish my training and no longer a minor, but I’ve always done what Mum wants.’
In many ways Katherine seemed younger than her years. On the other hand, it could be because Irena felt so much older than her own twenty-three years.
‘Tell me more about your brother,’ Katherine said. ‘If he’s in the RAF does that mean he knows Richard?’
‘They’ve never flown together, but they have met. It was Richard who found him for me. We lost touch when Germany invaded Poland.’
Katherine placed her cup back on its saucer. ‘Richard might like the fast life but he’s a good man at heart.’
Irena wondered if Katherine felt more than friendship for Richard. She hoped not, for the nurse’s sake. Although she didn’t know much about him, she strongly suspected Richard was unlikely to settle with one woman.
‘Have you seen your brother?’ Katherine continued. ‘You must have been so delighted to discover he was safe.’
‘It was a big relief. And yes, I’ve seen him. He’s stationed in Dumfries. Richard came with me on the train and was kind enough to agree to get off at a place called Carlisle so we could go and see him. Aleksy and I only had a short while together, but I hope to visit him there again when I can, or perhaps he’ll visit me in Edinburgh when he has leave.’
‘When you go and see him, I could come with you. If it coincides with my day off, that is,’ Katherine offered. ‘It will be a day out.’
‘I would like that.’
‘Now that that’s settled, shall we go shopping when we finish our tea? I’m in desperate need of some new nylons.’
Irena was in urgent need of more than nylons, but she still didn’t have money. Until she did, darning and mending what she had would have to do. In the meantime, Katherine’s cheerful, uncomplicated company was a balm to her bruised soul.