excerpt
Tyne pursed her lips and looked down at the table. Several seconds
passed in silence while she moved her mug of tea in circles in front
of her. Then she looked up. “All right, Auntie, tell me what I’ll have
to do.” She could not hide the excitement in her voice.
She attended her first meeting of the Furnishings Committee of
the Emblem & District Hospital the following Thursday evening at
Millie’s home. Three other members greeted Tyne with enthusiasm.
“Your help will be invaluable, Tyne,” Laura Charters said. “I’m so
glad your aunt persuaded you to come. How’s your dad, by the way?”
“He’s doing well, thank you,” Tyne told the mother of the girl who
had been her best friend through high school. “He’s determined to
fight this thing, so that helps.”
Jennifer Sears, a young school teacher whom Tyne had not previously
met, nodded her head in agreement. “I’m pleased to hear he’s
getting better, Tyne. I met him when he came to see me about Jeremy’s
grades. I like your dad.”
Goodness, could this be one of Jeremy’s teachers? She looked far
too young.
The third member of the committee was the wife of the Royal
Bank manager. Edith Siebold was getting on in years being, it was
said, at least ten years older than her husband. Tyne had always had
the greatest respect for her, and regarded her as one of the most
charming and cultured women she knew.
Tyne helped her aunt serve coffee as the women gathered around
the kitchen table. Then Millie called the meeting to order. Catalogues
with information on everything from hospital beds to overbed tables
to stainless steel supply carts were spread out over the Formica top.
Even after the first hour Tyne was overwhelmed by the number
of decisions and the amount of research the committee had to face.
She wondered how they even knew where to begin, but was pleased
when, a number of times throughout the evening, they called on her
for advice.
“After all,” Laura Charters pointed out, “who is better equipped to
deal with these things than a recently graduated nurse?”
Manolis Aligizakis 