The Nightingale Nurses by Donna Douglas

right, you don’t have to pay me back. Just don’t let me see your face around here again, all right?’
    He stared down at the coin nestling in his giant paw. ‘I – I truly don’t know what to say, Nurse.’
    Dora smiled as she watched him shambling out through the double doors. She felt very pleased with herself for her good deed, not to mention for averting another drama with Sister Percival.
    No sooner had he shambled off across the courtyard than Penny Willard arrived.
    ‘Oh, my, is that the time?’ She made a big pretence of looking at the clock above the booking-in counter. ‘My alarm clock must be slow.’
    Dora sent her a sceptical look as she wrote that day’s date on a fresh page in the booking-in ledger. ‘It’s a good thing Percival’s not coming in until late this morning.’
    ‘Isn’t she? I’d forgotten all about that.’ Penny didn’t meet her eye as she pulled her copy of the
Daily Express
from under her cloak. She sat behind the desk, calmly flicking through the newspaper.
    Dora stared at her. ‘What are you doing?’
    ‘I have to read my stars every morning before I can start my day.’
    ‘What about the patients?’
    Penny’s heavy-lidded gaze moved slowly across the empty waiting room. ‘I don’t think we’ll be overwhelmed by the rush, do you?’
    ‘If we don’t have any patients in Casualty we could always make a start on today’s Outpatients list?’
    Penny gave her a lazy smile. ‘Do calm down, Doyle. We might as well make the most of it, since Percy’s not here to crack the whip.’
    She consulted her horoscope and then insisted on consulting Dora’s, too. A couple of patients arrived, but Penny took their names and sent them off to wait on the benches until she was ready to receive them.
    ‘You’re going to have an unexpected encounter today. Ooh, that sounds interesting, doesn’t it?’ Penny read out.
    ‘Not really,’ Dora replied. ‘Every day’s an unexpected encounter in this place. You never know what you’re going to see.’
    As if to prove her point, the double doors suddenly flew open and a young policeman came through them, hauling a man with him. From the firm grip he had on the man’s arm, it was hard to tell if the policeman was holding him up or stopping him from escaping.
    Penny Willard sat up straighter behind the counter and pulled a strand of blonde hair from her cap. ‘Hello, who’s this? He looks rather nice.’
    Dora recognised the policeman immediately. She watched as he strode up to the desk, dragging the man behind him.
    ‘We arrested this one trying to break into a warehouse this morning,’ he said. ‘Funny thing is, as soon as we got him to the station he started complaining of a bellyache.’
    ‘I’ve got appendicitis, I know I have.’ The man tried to wriggle free from the policeman’s grasp, but he held on grimly.
    ‘You’ll have a broken arm, too, if you don’t pack it in.’ The policeman looked up and noticed her. ‘Dora?’
    ‘Hello, Joe.’
    ‘I didn’t know you were working in Casualty?’
    ‘I started a couple of weeks ago.’
    Penny looked from one to the other. ‘Do you two know each other?’
    ‘I should say.’ Joe gave Dora a warm smile. ‘Dora and me are courting. Ain’t that right?’
    ‘I—’ She was aware of Penny’s interested look. But before she could say any more, Sister Percival arrived and threw herself into the middle of the situation like a fizzing ball of perpetual motion.
    ‘You two. What are you doing?’ The words came out short and sharp, too fast for Dora and Penny to defend themselves. ‘I hope you’re not flirting when there are patients waiting? I know what you young nurses are like. Man mad, the lot of you.’ Her eyes darted to Joe and the man. ‘Can I help you?’
    ‘PC Armstrong has brought in a prisoner, complaining of abdominal pains.’ Dora stepped in quickly while Penny was still trying to slide her copy of the
Daily Express
under the counter.
    ‘Then you’d