Free The Forgotten Room by Karen White Page A

I wasn’t sure if the Army had notified them, or if your family expected you in South Carolina by now. You weren’t supposed to come here. It was a bit of an emergency and I’m afraid the paperwork might not have been a priority.” I put the chart down on the chaise longue and began reparations to my hair before anybody else saw me. “We haven’t heard anything back yet, but it’s been less than a week. I would expect a telegram any day now, or they’re already on their way to see you.”
    A shadow flickered behind his eyes, and I wondered if he was thinking of his Victorine and wondering why she hadn’t written back, or if she was on the first train to New York. I hoped she was. The sooner she got here, the sooner I could refocus my efforts on being the best doctor I could be without the frivolous thoughts and feelings this particular patient seemed to evoke.
    There was a small knock on the door before it was pushed open by Nurse Hathaway carrying a tray of syringes and small paper cups of water. “Good morning, Doctor,” she said cheerily as she made her way to the captain’s bed. “I hope you don’t mind that I let you sleep. I took Captain Ravenel’s vitals and his fever was completely gone. And he was complaining of being hungry and he managed to talk me into bringing him breakfast. I brought it from the doctors’ dining room since the foodthere is typically more appetizing. Dr. Greeley wasn’t there yet, so it’s probably his. I saved yours in the kitchen so nobody would eat it. I hope that’s all right.”
    She winked at me, and as much as I wanted to, I didn’t wink back. “Thank you, Nurse. If he throws it all up because his stomach isn’t ready for solid foods yet, I’ll know who to get to come clean it up.”
    â€œYes, Doctor.” She busied herself with the patient, taking his temperature again and giving him water to drink. “I also thought you should know that Dr. Greeley is on the warpath this morning. Apparently a file was taken from his office and he wants to know by whom. But I think he’ll discover that he simply misplaced it, and if he searches for it again he’ll find it where he thought he left it.”
    She picked up the breakfast tray and placed it outside the room before picking up the medicine tray again and heading toward the door. “I’ll be back later to sponge bathe the patient. Unless you’d prefer to do it again?”
    Heat flooded my cheeks as I remembered the frequent cold baths I’d given Captain Ravenel to bring down his fever. I hadn’t even paid attention to his muscled torso or long, lean legs. At least, not in a nonmedical way.
    â€œThat will be all, Nurse Hathaway. Thank you. For everything.”
    I moved to the windows to push aside the blackout curtain, hoping my complexion would return to normal by the time I was done. The city sprang to life beneath the window seven stories above the street. Since nearly the beginning of the war, New York at night became a tomb of dark-clad people moving silently throughout the dimly lit city, headlights of cars half-covered with black paint. But in the daylight people became like hibernating animals after a long winter, emerging from their caves into the sunshine. I wondered how much longer the war could last. With news of German defeats and the success of the Alliedinvasion of France, I felt sure it would be over soon. But we’d all been saying that for more than a year.
    When I turned around again, my gaze fell on the sketch. I picked it up, unable to resist, and studied it as my mother had once taught me to study artwork.
The skill of the artist can be determined from the lightness of his paint strokes and the delicate lines of his sketch work.
“Are you a professional artist, Captain Ravenel? You really are very good.”
    He shook his head, his face marred with something I could only think of