ℭ𝔥𝔞𝔯𝔩𝔬𝔱𝔱𝔢 𝔖𝔲𝔩𝔩𝔦𝔳𝔞𝔫 ¤ 𝔇𝔬𝔠𝔱𝔬𝔯 𝔚𝔥𝔬

Chapter 6

Charlotte gently placed the kingfisnher in the pocket that was on the front of her apron.

She walked over to the room Nurse Anne said she'd be in at lunch. Charlotte slowly walked up to the door, wondering if she should knock or walk through.

As if to answer her question, Nurse Anne opened the door.

"Oh, hello Charlotte" Nurse Anne said. "What are you doing here? I thought you were with Pearl"

"Can you help me fix something?" Charlotte said. "It belongs to Pearl and she wants me to fix it for her birthday"

"When's her birthday?" Nurse Anne asked.

"Next month" Charlotte replied.

"Well, I'll have it fixed by next week" Nurse Anne said.

"I want to fix it though" Charlotte said, making Nurse Anne look quite surprised.

"Charlotte, dear" Nurse Anne said. "I'm afraid that sewing something is very hard to do, and it's very painful if you don't pay attention"

"It's just I want to fix it, because Pearl is my friend" Charlotte replied.

Nurse Anne was silent for a few moments before she turned back to Charlotte, who still had the kingfisher in her hand.

"Alright..." Nurse Anne sighed. "Charlotte, if you help me with collecting some things I'll need, then that'll count as helping to fix Pearl's toy"

Charlotte nodded. Smaller things always became bigger things in the end, for better or for worse. Her mother had always said that. The mention of her mother made Charlotte want to cry for her. She bit the bottom of her lip. Her mother was most likely back home in London.

"Okay, well I'll need a needle and some blue string so it can blend in with the blue feathers on this handsome fella" Nurse Anne. "Oh, and watch out! The needle is sharp"

Charlotte nodded and walked over to a small pink box Nurse Anne was pointing to. She pulled out a pale blue string and a small thin piece of metal which must've been a needle.

Charlotte placed them both on Nurse Anne's desk gently, as if they were tiny baby animals. Nurse Anne placed the string through a tiny hole in the top of the needle that Charlotte hadn't noticed earlier.

"Okay, next I'll need a tiny black button for this guy's missing eye" Nurse Anne said. "They're all in that little gold and blue box on that shelf over there. See it?"

Charlotte saw the box after having to line up with where Nurse Anne was pointing.

Charlotte was quite taken aback by the weight of the box. When she opened it up, she realised why. Instead of just buttons being in the box, there were also stamps and parts of toys and all kinds of different things.

"What's all this for, Nurse Anne?" Charlotte asked.

"Oh, well..." Nurse Anne sighed. "Can you keep a secret?"

Charlotte nodded. She was brilliant at keeping secrets.

"When I was your age, I used to live here" Nurse Anne said. "Except the nurses weren't very nice, they were very strict to everyone, even the little ones"

Charlotte couldn't bear the imagine what it must've been like for Nurse Anne.

"One day, I was told to go collect something from the basement" Nurse Anne continued. "I found all the dolls and toys that every child here had been forced to leave behind. I promised myself that I would never let that happen to any child here at the Hospital, because I still remember, to this day how I felt when I lost my teddy bear. I actually miss him still, secretly"

"What was his name?" Charlotte asked. She wanted to cuddle her doll so much.

"I called him Violet" Nurse Anne said. "Because his bow-tie was purple. I know it's a girl name, but it suited him too much"

"I think he had a beautiful name, Nurse Anne" Charlotte replied, making Nurse Anne smile.

"What is your doll called, Charlotte?" Nurse Anne asked as she took the button that Charlotte had chosen.

"I.... I never actually gave her a name" Charlotte said, feeling a little embarrassed.

"Well, do you want to give her name now?" Nurse Anne asked. Charlotte nodded.

"Okay then, describe her to me and we'll pick something that suits her" Nurse Anne said, not taking her eyes of her sewing.

"Well, she has red hair in pigtails and she wears a blue dress. Oh, and she has a small flower in her hair. I think it's a rose, because my mum told me"

"How about Rose?" Nurse Anne suggested. "I think it's a very pretty name for a pretty little girl"

"I think so too" Charlotte replied. "Thank you for helping me pick a name, Nurse Anne"

"It's alright, dearie" Nurse Anne said. "Oh, that's the bell! You better go find Pearl and get to your class"

"What about Pearl's hummingbird?" Charlotte asked.

"If you come find me in here at the end of the day, I'll have Pearl's hummingbird fixed and you can hide it somewhere before her birthday" Nurse Anne explained. Charlotte understood and started to open the door.

"Oh, Charlotte?" Nurse Anne said, making Charlotte turn around.

"What is it, Nurse Anne?" Charlotte asked.

"When it's just you and me, you can call me Anne if you want to" Nurse Anne smiled.

"Okay, Anne" Charlotte said. "And you can call me Lottie"

With that, Charlotte shut the door and walked quickly down the corridor to find Pearl waiting outside the classroom for her.

"Where were you?" Pearl asked before they walked into the classroom.

"I had to do something important" Charlotte said, which wasn't technically a lie.

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Author's note:

Sooooooooo, I made a Doctor Who reference without realising. Rose... wow.

I was up late making the chapter and was so tired that I didn't realise till the next day. Anyway, Charlotte is just beginning her adventure. She's going to be a part of something huge when she's older!

See you guys for the next chapter!