“Is there anything that can be done?”
I heard her mother’s pained whisper and couldn’t quite hide the grimace that crossed my face.
“I don’t think so, Mrs. Calloway. There is so much damage.” My voice was barely a whisper. I was only a medical student, not a full doctor, but due the shortage at the hospital half the students at school had been forced to help out. There was a violent outbreak of Spanish Influenza that was killing its way through Chicago. Ironically enough, this particular patient hadn’t been touched by sickness but by an unfortunate accident.
“Please, doctor. I’ll do anything. We just lost our boy to the influenza. We can’t lose our daughter too. Not because of some murderous machine.” The girl’s mother was frantic. Missy Calloway was one of the many women that had gone to work in the factories in Chicago, making ammunition for the war effort. One of the machines had malfunctioned and mangled one side of her body. She had lost a lot of blood and needed extensive surgical repair that no one on call tonight was qualified to do, not with half the doctors either sick themselves or dead. All except one.
“I might know someone, Mrs. Calloway. I can’t make promises but…” I trailed off and ran to the desk at the door leading into the emergency room.
“Miss Shelley, where is Dr. Cullen?” I asked the secretary, who was masked like the rest of us, her hands covered by thin leather gloves as she sorted through the huge pile of handwritten patient forms. Her eyes, red and puffy from weeping, didn’t even phase me. She wasn’t the only hospital employee that had been affected by the sheer amount of death we had seen in the last few weeks.
“He’s down in ward four, I think, sir.” It felt strange to have her call me sir. She was older than my own mother. I wondered if maybe the mask made her mistake me for another, older doctor. It was hard to get to know the rest of the staff here when everyone wore face coverings.
“Good. Can you ask someone to get the operating theatre prepared for surgery?” I didn’t even wait for her to agree, I just took off at a swift clip towards the wards. Nearly every ward was packed to the gills with sick people and the smell of vomit and other, fouler things, was barely veiled by the smell of cleaning solution. I slipped through the wards until I found Dr. Cullen, not in ward four, but ward two.
“I will do what I can, Elizabeth.” Dr. Cullen was leaning over one of his patients, a woman who might have been called lovely once upon a time. Sickness had ravished that beauty, leaving her a pale, wasted shell of who she must have been once. Her hair was an odd reddish brown that someone with a wistful imagination might akin to bronze. The young man in the bed next to hers had the same color hair. Family, obviously, perhaps her son. The boy didn’t look much better off than the woman. My heart ached, knowing that neither of them would likely last the night.
“Dr. Cullen?” I spoke quietly, not wanting to startle him. He didn’t turn just yet. Instead he touched the woman’s hair gently and she reached up with weak hands to clutch at his lapels.
“Anything, do whatever you must for my Edward.” Her voice was a whisper, but the desperation was no different than Mrs. Calloway’s. The difference was that there might be a chance to save Missy Calloway. There was little else Dr. Cullen could do for young Edward or his mother.
“Dr. Cullen?” I repeated a little louder, thinking perhaps he hadn’t heard me. He turned then, his eyes dark above his mask, the bruise like shadows under them telling. As one of the few doctors still able to work, he hadn’t gotten much rest of late. He must be exhausted, but I still had to ask him to help.
“Yes, Mr. Higginbotham?” I was shocked that he remembered my name. I had only been introduced to him once, two weeks ago, my face mostly hidden by a mask. The meeting had definitely stuck in my mind, but something about the handsome doctor unsettled me. Perhaps it was only the chill of his hands. It had startled me when we had shaken hands. He was the best doctor on staff, however, and word had it that he was a compassionate soul with the bedside manner of an angel. At least that’s what all the female patients said.
“There is an emergency patient from one of the factories. I hate to ask, but she needs immediate and extensive surgery. Could you be spared?”
“I’ll be with you in a moment. Have the operating theatre prepared.” He didn’t even hesitate. I breathed a sigh of relief until he spoke his next words. “You will assist me. Scrub up, Henry.”
“But sir, I…”
“You’ll have to get the experience somewhere, boy, and there aren’t any other doctors to be spared. Find us a competent nurse. Hurry. I’ll be there in a few moments.”
I only hesitated for a brief moment, watching him turn and gently pull the sheet up over Elizabeth’s now still form. I turned then, and hurried out. I did not want to witness any more death tonight.
One week later
I sat beside Missy’s bedside, holding her hand in my own. Her mother had fallen ill and my heart went out to her. She was in so much pain from her injuries, despite the miraculous surgery Dr. Cullen had performed a week ago. I was still stunned by the quick, efficient way he had put her back together. It looked like she might even be able to walk and possibly use her right hand. Rush Medical College would miss the services for Dr. Carlisle Cullen, for certain. He hadn’t been to work in two days and there were whispers that he might have fallen ill himself. Luckily, two other doctors were back on their feet.
I had spent several hours by Missy’s bedside of late, venting my frustrations and my fears. She was a good listener. Not that she had much choice, bedridden as she was, but she had told me often she was happy for the company.
“How is she?” Missy’s question wrenched my heart again. I couldn’t bear to tell her how quickly her mother had slipped from merely feverish to near death. Her father hadn’t left her mother’s bedside in days and I feared his health as well.
“Do you need another dose of medicine, Miss Calloway?” I answered her question with one of my own.
“The pain is not so much, Mr. Higginbotham. I want to see my mother.” Her eyes flashed mildly, as if she resented me avoiding the question. I noted once again that her eyes were a beautiful brown, deep and full of intelligence. And pain. I had learned days ago that she wasn’t the kind of girl to bemoan her own injuries when her loved ones were hurting.
“I think your injuries are healing enough that maybe I can carry you to see her tomorrow morning.” My words were quiet. I really didn’t want to take her into the sick wards. I didn’t want her to catch the dreadful disease that had killed so many. Despite the mantra so many of my peers chanted about not getting to know patients well enough to grieve their deaths, I could not stay away from this girl and her life was beginning to mean much to me.
“Do you promise?” Her eyes begged for the truth and I sighed.
“I promise, ma’am.” I knew how precious family was. I saw parents and children torn from one another so often of late and I couldn’t bear to deny her what might be the last visit she would have with her mother.
“Missy,” she said shyly and I blinked. I felt a surge of pleasure when she offered me her first name. It was a declaration of affection, one that I could easily ignore if I wanted. It wasn’t proper for a man to use a girl’s first name if they weren’t related or courting. I didn’t have the heart, or the want, to reject her offering. I clicked my heels together and tucked my hand at my waist, giving her a shallow bow.
“Thank you, Missy. My name is Henry.” She smiled, the first genuinely happy expression I had seen and it took my breath away. I squeezed her hand and she squeezed mine back before drifting slowly into a peaceful slumber. I sighed softly and stood, stretching my stiff shoulders. My shift had been over for an hour. I needed to get some rest. I paused at the door and looked back at the girl on the bed one more time. She sighed and murmured in her sleep.
“Henry.” The sound of my name on her lips made my heart skip a little. I was struck by my good fortune to have found a little light in the middle of dark times. I grinned and for the first time in weeks I whistled a merry tune as I stepped out the staff doors. I passed a flower vendor set up across from the hospital and made a mental note to pick up flowers for Missy tomorrow, and perhaps even a small bouquet for her to carry to her mother.
