Cherry Ames 09 Cruise Nurse Read Online Free Page B

them in her offi ce after she had given Cherry a sketchy idea of what her duties aboard ship would be like.
    “It’s all very fl exible, Miss Ames.” She smiled. “Miss Davis highly recommended you. Said you had an uncanny knack of being able to get along with all sorts of people. That’s important.”
    The compliment made Cherry’s dark eyes dance. “I like all sorts of people,” she admitted.
    “Good. Of course,” Miss Henry went on, “people do get seasick off Hatteras. And every now and then a member of the crew has an accident. Even more rarely a nurse has to assist at an emergency operation, such as an appendectomy. But, by and large, the people who go on our pleasure cruises are a healthy lot. They go for the fun of it; not because they’re invalids or convalescents.”

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    She swiveled around in her chair and pointed out the window. “You can get a glimpse of the J ulita now. The snowstorm last night delayed her arrival. She docked about an hour ago.”
    Cherry leaned forward eagerly. Riding in a taxi along the pier-lined North River, she had seen lots of ships.
    Now she was going to see her own. But, straining her eyes, she saw nothing but two black smokestacks rising above a row of lifeboats. Nevertheless, those smokestacks were the chimneys of what was going to be her home-at-sea for twelve whole days!
    “It all sounds so wonderful,” she told Miss Henry. “I love my work, but I hope everybody stays well. I can’t imagine anything more disappointing than getting sick on a pleasure cruise.”
    “As a matter of fact,” the secretary went on, “we did have a really serious case on the Julita’s last trip. One of those unpredictable, once-in-a-lifetime things. Pulmonary thrombosis. The patient, a man of seventy-odd, died shortly after they took him ashore in Curaçao.” She looked up as the door behind Cherry opened.
    “Ah, here’s Dr. Monroe. He’s in charge of sick bay aboard the Julita. He’ll teach you the ropes after you’re aboard ship. Doctor, this is Miss Cherry Ames.” Cherry jumped up and wheeled to face the young man in the doorway. He was as tall and well-built as Charlie, with gray eyes and thick, wavy, brown hair.
    Cherry thrilled at the sight of his navy-blue uniform with the gold caducei on his sleeves. The second day out, when the weather turned warm, he would change 24 CHERRY
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    to whites. With his deep coat of even tan, Cherry decided, he would look very handsome in whites.
    With sudden embarrassment she realized that she was one of the two principal actors in a little mutual-admiration scene. Dr. Monroe’s eyes were dark with approval as he grinned down at her fl ushed, rosy face.
    “He likes my looks, anyway,” Cherry thought. She hoped he wouldn’t notice how her pulse was racing when they shook hands. “Now, if he only likes me, we should make a grand team.”
    Cherry was glad she had worn her new chocolate-brown suit and the cream-colored blouse that tied in a perky bow under her chin. Melted snow glistened in the dark curls that peeped out from under the brim of her poinsettia-red hat.
    Dr. Monroe shook hands warmly. “I’m awfully glad to meet you, Miss Ames.” His voice was deep, sin-cere, and pleasantly husky. His fi ngers were the clean, strong, cool fi ngers of a born surgeon.
    “I like him already,” Cherry admitted frankly to herself. “He’s one of those people who are born nice.” Dr. Monroe took two long steps into the offi ce, handed a portfolio of papers to the secretary. “The report on the pulmonary thrombosis case is in there,” he said, very sober now. “Hate to lose a patient, but, of course, there was nothing anybody could do. Kind of a nice old fellow. Eccentric, but very co-operative.” Then with a “See you Friday morning” to Cherry he departed.

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    Cherry, after thanking the secretary for her instructions and advice, left soon afterward. A glance at the nurse’s