Green for Danger

[Man] To the assistant commissioner

of the police, Scotland Yard.

Sir, the amazing events

which I am reporting...

may be said to have begun...

on the evening

of August the 17th, 1944.

New paragraph.

A postman was cycling

up Heron's Hill...

on his way to deliver mail

at the hospital.

His name was Joseph Higgins.

I begin with him

because he was the first to die.

The hospital itself lay a mile away...

an Elizabethan manor

requisitioned and converted...

in the emergency of war.

Another new paragraph.

In the operating theatre that night...

there was a surgeon,

Mr. Eden...

Nurse Woods...

Nurse Sanson...

the, uh...

the theatre sister, Bates...

Nurse Linley...

and the anesthetist,

Dr. Barnes.

August the 17th, 1944.

By August the 22nd...

two of these people

would be dead...

and one of them a murderer.

[Bell Jingles]

What's up? Had a puncture?

No, that second doodlebug this afternoon

dropped right behind the post office...

just as I was askin'

if these were sorted out.

They were sorted out, all right.

So were we.

That's the lot. Five.

And a bill for Dr. Barnes.

Might be a receipt.

[Chuckles] Might be.

I shall be late on duty. So long, Mac.

- Can't be in two places at once.

- Our old warden takes a different view.

- All right for darts Saturday, Joe?

- You bet. Have a quiet night.

- [Air Raid Siren Blaring]

- Some hopes.

[Man]

What is good morale?

Discipline and confidence,

the one dependent on the other.

I repeat:

Discipline and confidence.

And you cannot have confidence

without positive thinking...

be you students or nurses,

under bombardment or otherwise.

A small instance...

You may smile when I tell you

that one of my first acts...

when I took over this hospital

a month ago...

was to order the word "waste"

to be painted out from the refuse bins...

and instead to substitute

the word "salvage".

"Salvage".

A humble example of the difference

between positive and negative thinking.

[V-1 Passing Overhead]

An essential fact

in the building and maintenance of...

[V-1 Continues]

Morale.

[V-1 Continues]

[Radio:
Woman Speaking]

Another of them coming.

Tried to race me on me bicycle.

- Bit late, aren't you, Joe?

- Yes.

- Doodlebug dropped right...

- [V-1 Stops]

[Radio:
Woman Continues]... is only V-1.

It remains to be seen what other numbers...

- will be suffixed to the letter "V."

- [Explosion]

[Radio:
Woman Continues]

As the desperate Churchill...

lies frantically to save his face...

London and the home counties are reeling

under the incessant fire of our terrible V-1.

This is Germany calling.

This is Germany calling.

There.

That's all, Sister.

I thought it wasn't

a diverticulum.

- Is he all right?

- Hasn't turned a hair.

- You all right, Nurse Linley?

- Yes, thank you, sir. Perfectly.

It's always a bit of an ordeal

the first time.

- Wonder where that doodlebug dropped.

- Somewhere near the village?

I hope it missed my house.

What a life.

- Well, it can't last forever.

- Nurses stand up to it awfully well.

So do the doctors, sir.

One can get used to anything in time.

Still, it must have been a bit of a change

for you too, sir, considering.

- Considering what?

- Your past.

- Mmm?

- Thank you.

I mean Harley Street...

Rolls-Royce, lovely ladies.

All, all are gone,

the old familiar faces.

They left their appendixes behind them.

- They were happy to be in the fashion.

- And even happier to be in your consulting room.

It's those eyes, of course.

The wounded stag look that no woman can resist.

- I...

- Woods.

Why aren't you tidying up?

There's plenty to do.

Yes, Sister.

Clear out the swabs

and get some fresh saline.

- There may be more casualties in.

- Yes, Sister.

- You look tired, Esther.

- Oh, I'm all right.

I'll make you a cup of something

before you go to bed.

Thank you.

Sanson, will you take the patient

back to the ward?

Yes, Sister.

- Yes, Sister.

- [Barnes] I can see that. But after all...

I'm not being in the least unreasonable.

I naturally thought you'd go with me tomorrow.

Darling, it's just a tatty little hospital hop,

not a ball at the Dorchester.

- Does it matter who goes with whom?

- I suppose not, but...

I was about to add,

Eden had a nerve to ask you.

Surgeons quite often ask nurses

on informal occasions.

- I know, but...

- I don't suppose he thought twice about it.

- I wonder.

- Now you're being ridiculous.

- Am I?

- Not to say pompous.

- I'm being nothing of the kind.

- Must you shout?

You know, it's really amazing how you

always contrive to put me in the wrong.

Well, you seem to think you can even dictate

who I'm to go to a dance with.

I don't want to dictate to anybody.

I've none of the instincts of a dictator.

- Then why dictate?

- What is the matter with you these days, Freddi?

I simply took it for granted

you were going with me, that's all.

- I don't like being taken for granted.

- Well, we are supposed to be engaged.

You mean, we were.

- Is that remark intended to have any point?

- Yes. We can't go on like this.

Nurse Linley. As you have nothing to do here,

would you please move outside.

Dr. Barnes, I do hope you won't be long.

We've still a great deal of clearing up to do.

Don't know what's happened

to hospital discipline this evening.

[Eden]

Ready, Barney?

Let's hope that's all

for this evening.

Sorry, Sister.

Time for a hundred up before dinner.

- Coming?

- Yes. Right. I'll follow you down.

Get some rest, Nurse.

You're on night duty, aren't you?

- Yes, sir. I'm just going off for now.

- Good.

- Oh, uh, good night, Sister.

- Good night, Mr. Eden.

[Bell Ringing,

Faint, Growing Louder]

Casualties. Woods, you'll be needed

in casualty reception with Dr. Barnes.

I'll finish here.

[Man Narrating] And a little later

they brought in Joseph Higgins.

[Muttering, Moaning Softly]

- Well, Nurse?

- Uh, fractured tib and fib.

And he's had a quarter of morphia.

In shock too.

Got his name?

No. It's left blank.

- No identity disk?

- He couldn't have been wearing one.

We'll have to make room for him in St. Cath's.

Someone's sure to come forward.

- Tell Mr. Eden.

- Yes, sir.

[Moaning Continues]

Compound. Otherwise straightforward.

No internal injuries.

- You haven't cleaned him up, Nurse?

- No, sir.

He was still badly shocked

when they brought him in.

Quite right. They fixed him up with a splint.

It's best to leave him as he is for a while.

- X-ray first thing in the morning.

- Yes, sir.

Then we'll take him out to the theatre

and operate at 10:00. All right?

- Very good, sir.

- Good.

- Clean him up a bit now, but don't worry him.

- Yes, sir.

Had any more of those nightmares?

- No.

- Meaning yes, I suppose.

Why don't you take a leave?

I might later.

I'd sooner work now.

I suppose you were right

coming back here so soon after...

My dear, it isn't the best of atmospheres

for you, you know... constant reminders.

There are lots of jobs outside

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