The Ecstasy of Sister Amata

9.Saturday 21st July, 2018 - early evening

Beatrice got up and turned the lamp on. The rain had become heavier, tapping angrily at the window, and although it was only late afternoon it seemed quite dull and dark outside. 'Is anyone cold? Miserable day out there.'

The others both said they were fine. Susie pointed at the woodburner in the fireplace. 'That looks like fun, though, for the Winter.' She looked around and voiced the same thought Ella had had. 'Looks cosy in here, Bea. Quite a nice little cottage, really. Not too big for one person.'

'Yes. And I can hammer stuff out on the piano without disturbing anyone.' Bea hesitated, and decided to return to the sofa rather than the piano stool. Raphaela had spread out a bit from her corner, but there was still plenty of room. 'Talking of living arrangements, did anyone ask you about the baby? Ella said we had to pretend you were married.'

Susie laughed. 'Funny, isn't it? I really don't give two hoots about it mostly, but I was pretty nervous about telling the Sisters that Ollie and I haven't tied the knot. Anyway, no, no-one really asked, I think they assumed. And if I call myself "Doctor", I can use my maiden name anyway as that's who I qualified as.' She pointed at them both in turn. 'If we ever do get hitched, you're both coming. Don't hold your breath though, we've been together seven years already.'

'How did you meet?' Bea touched Ella's arm briefly. 'Sorry if you know all this.'

Ella shook her head and stood up, tugging the hem of her dress down. 'Gonna pop to the loo, so go for it, Suze.'

Susie leant back while Ella went through to the kitchen and started upstairs. 'Well, you know I didn't get the grades to do medicine straight off?'

'Yes. I'm sorry.'

'Old history.' Susie waved her hand. 'Anyway, I did go to Nottingham, but did Biology instead then a conversion course. Ollie and I met in our anatomy lectures. Eyes locked over a decaying corpse, and that was it.' Susie chuckled. 'Not really, but you know. We hit it off from the start, and here we are.' She patted her bump.

'That's nice. So he's a doctor as well?'

'Yeah, but he works in research, in the labs at the hospital. He might go for an academic post sometime, but for now he's happy enough playing about with petri dishes.' She stroked her belly. 'The little one was an accident, but we should be alright. He earns OK, and the Trust's been brilliant at letting me go part-time, which should hold even after my maternity leave. It just means it'll take me a bit longer to finally get there.'

'You are qualified, though?'

'Yeah, yeah, I'm an actual doctor. What they call a junior doctor, like you've probably seen in the news? Just, after that you have to do another two years in whatever specialism you choose. In General Practice, that often involves more placements in a hospital department, to get as broad an experience as possible – which makes sense – and I've already done a fair bit of community medicine one way or another. You never know what someone might come in with, and I could do with knowing more about cancers and psoriasis and so on. Hence where I am now.'

'It must be quite varied, the whole process.'

'And some.' Susie rearranged a cushion behind her. 'The worst was psychiatry. I don't mind poking about inside someone's body, you kind of know what's supposed to be where and what it should all look like. But the mind's a different matter. I just didn't know how to deal with them. I mean, how do you talk to someone who's not on the same plane as you?'

Beatrice felt a shiver of understanding, and the pang of a painful set of memories. 'Mmm, I can imagine.'

Ella came back downstairs. Susie called out, 'Raffy, can you flick the kettle on?' She reached for her handbag. 'That OK, Bea? I fancy a fruit tea – I've brought my own.'