Read Online Where the Heart Lies by Ellie Dean - Free Book Online Page B

her coat and scarf along the way as Lily poundedafter her. ‘Do you know what stage of labour Franny was in when she was admitted?’
    Lily followed her into the bedroom, gathering up the discarded clothes Julie flung about as she frantically changed into fresh uniform. ‘I took the call and tried to calm ’er down, but she was in a bit of a dither and wasn’t making much sense,’ she said. ‘Apart from saying the waters had broken, she didn’t seem to know anything.’
    Julie was fully dressed in her uniform by now. She grabbed her overcoat and struggled into it. ‘I’ll be at the hospital if Matron asks,’ she managed. The fear for Franny was making her pulse race and her head spin.
    ‘They won’t let you near ’er,’ Lily warned. ‘Relatives aren’t allowed to treat their own.’
    ‘I know that,’ Julie replied, already halfway through the door, ‘but the uniform will give me answers I won’t get as a civilian. Thanks, Lily,’ she called as she raced down the stairs and slammed the front door behind her.
    The maternity hospital was across the road, and by the look of it had escaped any damage from the raid. A large pale-grey stone building, it took up most of the block and towered over the surrounding houses. Julie ran along the curved driveway and raced up the steps into reception.
    ‘Frances Harris, brought in about two hours or so ago. I’m her midwife,’ she panted to the rather startled nurse behind the desk.
    ‘She was taken straight into theatre,’ the nurse replied, eyeing Julie with barely disguised curiosity – most midwives didn’t come charging in here out of breath. ‘I don’t know anything else, but she should be out by now and in the recovery ward on the third floor. You can go up if you . . .’
    Julie didn’t wait to hear any more but took the stairs two at a time, incurring more startled and disapproving looks from the other nurses she passed on the way. She stopped running as she reached the endless corridor and walked as fast as she could until she reached the recovery ward. Taking a deep breath and trying to calm her fears, she pushed through the swing doors.
    The nurse on duty was at her desk, a reading light illuminating the charts and medical notes that were strewn across it. ‘Can I help you?’ she asked pleasantly.
    ‘I’m looking for me sister, Frances Harris,’ Julie replied, her gaze trawling over the numerous beds in search of her.
    ‘She’s not here, I’m sorry,’ replied the nurse.
    ‘But I was told she went into surgery over two hours ago, and she was only due to have a C-section.’
    The nurse stood and patted her arm. ‘I can tell you’re worried,’ she said kindly, ‘but I really can’t help. Why don’t you go down to the ground floor and the ward next to the theatre? Someone there will know what’s going on.’
    Julie hesitated, unwilling to accept that Frannyhad been kept downstairs. Her sister must be in deep trouble. ‘You’re sure she’s not up here?’
    The nurse shook her head. ‘We have four wards on this floor and I have all the patient notes here. Frances Harris isn’t among them.’
    ‘Thanks,’ Julie said briefly and shot out of the door, plummeted down the stairs and raced towards the theatre wing. If Franny was down here in the special ward, then it could only mean she was still classed as an emergency.
    ‘Please let her be all right,’ she muttered as she flew down the corridor. ‘Please, please be all right.’ She came to a skidding halt outside the door, her heart hammering, her fears making her tremble. She should have got Franny into hospital earlier – should have gone back to check on her instead of seeing Stan.
    She stood there, afraid to go in. Eventually, her years of training and discipline took over and, realising she must look like a mad woman, she smoothed her hair, straightened her cap and apron and pushed through the doors.
    There were only four other patients and when she saw Franny, she knew