War Girls Complete Collection Chapter 64

Chapter 9

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nna arrived early at the Charité, and like every day in the past weeks she paused a moment to admire the red brick building and to marvel at what a privilege it was to be able to work with Professor Scherer’s team.

The modern building hadn’t sustained any severe damage during the recent air raids. Anna knocked on wood at the thought and strode past the Pediatric Clinic, a building erected at the beginning of the century. Back then the architecture had been of novel design, and the huge successes the Charité enjoyed in the fields of bacteriology and hygiene were partly attributed to that design.

A towering lecture hall dominated the center of the complex; the wards for patients extended to one side, whereas the actual Polyclinic building occupied the other side of the huge campus. Another breakthrough novelty had been the separate row of quarantine barracks that were connected with a gangway to the normal wards. That gangway could only be passed by persons with special clearance and only under strict hygienic precautions.

In contrast to the rest of the complex, the quarantine barracks looked rather rundown from the outside, as no non-medical personnel were allowed to access the restricted area, in order to prevent the possible spread of diseases and outbreak of an epidemic.

Anna had never been in the quarantine barracks, and except for a short visit on her first day, she hadn’t spent time in the patient wards either. The bacteriology labs were located in the part of the compound with restricted access to the public.

She approached the building and showed her employee card at the gate.

“Good morning.” She greeted the doorman with a smile.

“You are early again, Fräulein Klausen,” he answered and waved her past.

Since working here, she’d never had problems getting up in the morning. In fact, she jumped out of bed before the alarm went off, eager to start her day’s work.

Greeting her coworkers, she changed into her lab coat and started to work. Since she’d been assigned to carry out different experiments with bacteria cultures, her first task in the morning was to examine what had happened during the night, write down her observations, and present conclusions.

Her conclusions would be revised by her supervisor, and every other day, Professor Scherer himself would check up on her progress. She had become used to the professor’s encouraging words and the help he offered to all of his employees, but in the secret recesses of her heart, she yearned to see Peter.

“Anna, Professor Scherer wants to talk to you about the last experiment you completed,” Peter said, sauntering into the lab and flashing her a huge smile.

Anna felt as if she’d conjured him up from the depths of her fantasies. Her heart always thumped in staccato when he burst in like this, partly from her attraction to him and partly from what still lay undiscovered underneath his twinkling eyes. But after a few days of working at the Charité she’d decided that a man working this closely with her admired mentor couldn’t be a bad person.

“Good morning, Peter.” She washed her hands with special soap and wiped them dry, before she walked over to where he stood. While it wasn’t necessary or even usual to shake hands every day, she enjoyed the touch of his warm, calloused palm on hers too much to let the opportunity slip by her.

He seemed to feel the same way, because their handshake always lasted seconds longer than was appropriate. Today, he moved his thumb in a caressing gesture across the back of her hand, and she felt tingles spreading across her skin.

“You look beautiful today,” he said with another of his devastating smiles.

Anna scoffed, but inside her heart sang. “You’re a charmer.” She knew very well that she didn’t look her best in the white lab coat that made her pale skin look pasty, and wearing the white cap to contain her hair.

“How can you say that? You’re the most beautiful woman on earth,” he said, putting his left hand across his chest with a mock expression of hurt.

Blood shot to her face. Well, at least she wasn’t pale as a ghost anymore.

“I’d better not let the professor wait,” she said, and pulled her hand out of his grasp. Then she rushed past him, butterflies wreaking havoc in her stomach. Minutes later she knocked on Professor Scherer’s door, still slightly out of breath.

“Come in,” his distinguished voice called out.

“You wanted to see me, Professor?” Anna entered the office that looked so different from all the other rooms in the Charité. Most of the doctors and professors who worked here had used the standard furniture. Not him. An immense mahogany desk occupied almost half of the space, with scientific magazines, research papers, and books stacked in neat piles on either side of the black writing mat. A glass of ink and an expensive-looking fountain pen lay at the ready to document his next brilliant thought.

“Yes, Fräulein Klausen. I’ve compared the results of your last week’s experiments with the tuberculosis bacteria to a similar approach I’ve read here,” he said, holding up a prestigious medical magazine, “and I think you’re on to something.”

“Oh,” Anna muttered for lack of a better word.

“In fact, I think you should do another series of tests with a slightly different approach.”

Anna took out a notebook and pencil and jotted down his suggestions.

“Come back to me as soon as you gather results. I believe with the knowledge we’ll learn from these iterations, we might see a breakthrough in treating this disease.”

“Thank you, Professor.” Anna beamed with pride.

“Don’t thank me, Fräulein Klausen. You have done the brunt of the work. I merely hinted at the right direction to you.” Professor Scherer stood to walk her to the door and added, “I’m glad to have you on the team.”

She returned to the laboratory with a bounce in her step, intent on doing her share to find a cure for the dreadful disease of tuberculosis.