Sister Peters in Amsterdam by Betty Neels

Author:Betty Neels
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
Published: 1969-08-25T04:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER SIX

THE professor was well known and liked in Amsterdam and the publicity about the bus accident was considerable, but he shrugged it off politely. Adelaide, too, came in for a large share of praise and admiration, which tried and embarrassed her. Miep had been admitted to the ward with fractured ribs and a perforated lung, and she went each day to see her.

A few days after the accident, Miep’s parents had found Adelaide in the office. It was not yet nine o’clock, and there was no one else there. They had shaken her by the hand and thanked her over and over again for the part she had played in Miep’s rescue. The more they talked, the less she understood, and when at length the professor arrived, she had no hesitation in introducing them to him and slipping out of the room. Ten minutes later she walked quietly into the office again and wished the doctors good morning. Piet Beekman greeted her in his usual friendly way, but the professor, already sitting at his desk, gave her a baleful glance.

‘How can you wish me a good morning after the shabby way you treated me just now? I am surprised at you, Sister. You ran away.’

Adelaide felt indignation swell inside her and began a hot denial, caught the professor’s eye and said rather lamely:

‘Well, you didn’t need me, sir.’

The professor looked critically at his beautifully kept nails.

‘On the contrary, Sister, I find your presence essential,’ he said gently. He looked across at Piet. ‘Don’t we, Piet?’

Dr Beekman agreed cheerfully. ‘Can’t find a thing when you’re off duty, Adelaide.’

She laughed. ‘What nonsense you talk! You just don’t look.’ She turned back to the professor, her starched apron crackling fiercely.

‘Are you ready to start, sir?’

She spoke in a bright, professional voice that caused both men to look up at her openmouthed; she had remembered, just in time, her resolve to be pleasantly friendly but cool, and very, very efficient.

The weather turned warm, the clinic seemed more crowded than ever. The shops were full of summer clothes, and holidays were the main topic of conversation.

Miep was nearly well again, and was going home in a day or so. Adelaide had bought her a new dress, ready for the great day, and took it along to the ward on the evening before Miep was to be discharged. The little girl was sitting up in her bed, playing Snakes and Ladders with the professor, who was lounging on the counterpane, thereby breaking a strict rule enforced by Zuster Zijlstra. He was demanding and accepting advice from the children in the nearby cots, and the noise was considerable. Zuster Zijlstra, writing her report as Adelaide went past her office, shrugged her shoulders and waved her on to the ward. She pushed open the door, took one look, and decided to go back later. Miep hadn’t seen her, and the professor’s head was bowed over the game. However, she had hardly got her hand on the door handle when he bellowed above the din: ‘Don’t go away, Sister, I want to see you.

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