Streams of Mercy (6 page)

Beside her, Miriam grinned. “I saw him making eyes at Gretchen. You know how many of your student nurses end up marrying here in Blessing.”

“You, for instance.” Astrid chuckled. “Hmm. I wonder what we can do to encourage that. Let’s have Gretchen clean up this mess, and I want you to check on our mystery patient with me. She’s been here what? Four days now? And we still have no idea who she is.”

“She still doesn’t speak, but then for a bit, I wasn’t sure if she
was going to pull through. Have you talked with Thorliff yet? To see if any of the area farmers know anything about her?”

“I mentioned it. He didn’t have any information.” Together they entered the room and stood by the bed, Astrid’s hand going immediately to check the pulse. “Have we gotten her to eat?”

“Some, but not enough.”

“Bring her soup and warm milk every two hours. Feed her if necessary. I think we need to bring Mor in on this. She can get a stone to talk.”

Miriam nodded.

“How old do you think she is?”

“Maybe seventeen or eighteen. I think she understands Norwegian, but I’m not sure how much English.”

But when Astrid asked the girl her name in Norwegian, she did not respond either.

“A puzzle, that’s for sure. If there is nothing else, I’ll be at home. Thank you, Miriam. You did a fine job.” Astrid stopped by her office to pick up her coat and scarf. “Call me if you need anything.”

“Will Dr. Elizabeth be in tomorrow?”

“Ja, she insisted. And I’m sure Mor will come too.”

“Oh, did you hear the news?”

“What?”

“Dr. Deming and Vera are expecting a baby.”

“How wonderful.”

The two had been married the summer before at Vera’s family home in Chicago, then returned to Blessing. Theirs was one of the houses finished last fall, and while Dr. Deming still helped with some of the boardinghouse construction, his dental practice was growing as he became known beyond the borders of Blessing. The nearest dentists were in Grafton or Grand Forks. Vera worked part time at the hospital too.

Bits of snow and ice needled what bare skin was visible as Astrid went from a fast walk to a trot. And to think the fickle weather had teased them with a touch of warmth before winter blasted back. The thought of spring put a bounce in her step as she mounted the stairs to the porch.

“I’m home,” she called as she closed the door behind her.

“I’m in the kitchen,” answered Amelia.

“Is your son back yet?”

“No. I’ll put the coffee on in a minute.”

“How about tea for me?” Astrid hung her garments on the rack by the door and inhaled an unusual smell. “What are you doing?”

“Making candles.” Amelia smiled from her position beside the stove reservoir where she dipped a rod with four candles tied to it in a kettle of melted wax, then hung the rod on hooks beneath the shelf and retrieved another. “Third dip. They’re coming along.”

Astrid inhaled. “What fragrance did you put in?”

“Roses and some mint. A little bit of mint oil goes a long way. It takes a lot of rose petals to make the oil strong enough. I didn’t get much of that made last summer. I just wanted to use up the remaining beeswax. After all, we’ll have more this summer.”

Astrid leaned over the kettle and inhaled. “That hand lotion you made last summer still smells good. You and Mor come up with the nicest things that smell good.” She moved the teakettle to the hottest spot and added wood to the firebox. “Do you want some tea too?”

“Of course. These will need to hang awhile before I dip them again. I added rose petals to the teapot too. How is little Melissa?”

“Not so little anymore, but it was a clean cut, no glass in it, and it didn’t look to have severed any nerves. That was my big
concern.” She heard boots kicking against the steps, announcing Daniel’s arrival, and reached for a third cup.

“Why didn’t you call me?” Dr. Jason Commons asked with a slight bite to his tone the next morning. “I was on call, after all.” Dr. Commons had come to them last August as the first intern from the doctors in training at the hospital in Chicago. As it was with the nurses, the hospital in Blessing would now be a training ground for doctors in training.

Astrid clamped her teeth together to keep from saying what she actually thought. No one wanted to work with this man because of his supercilious attitude, which was evident right now. It was time to talk with him again, a job both she and Elizabeth disliked. They had even discussed shooing him back to Chicago, but Ingeborg had reminded them that God had a purpose in sending the young man to Blessing. He was a pain, though. He had an overdeveloped case of real-doctors-are-male, so he didn’t care to be working under two female doctors. And on top of that, Dr. Astrid was younger than he, which made him even more uncomfortable.

“I’m not sure why I was called instead, but probably because Mr. Valders asked for me.”

“And you had Nurse Knutson close. But that still is no excuse for not calling a medical doctor.”

“Please follow me.” Astrid turned and headed for her office. The nursing desk was not a place for a discussion like this.
Lord, give me the best words, not the words beating through my head.
How to get this young man to work as part of the team. She’d heard rumors that he was rude, especially to the two student nurses, but she’d found Miriam gritting her teeth
one day too. She and Elizabeth should both be at this discussion, but Elizabeth had been up half the night with baby Roald, so Astrid told her to stay home.

She held the door to her office open for him and motioned him to the chair beside her desk, then closed the door, careful to not let it slam.

“Dr. Commons, it appears to me that you don’t really care for women in the medical professions.” Might as well hit the problem head on.

“Ah.” He stared down at his hands, then looked up at her. “Everyone knows that this is a profession where men excel.”

“And what gives you that perception?” She kept her voice even and tone mild.

“I know you and Dr. Elizabeth managed to get through medical school, but . . .”

Keep calm!
She took in a deep breath. “Here in Blessing and at the Morganstein Hospital, we believe a person’s gender has nothing to do with his or her ability to make a fine doctor. I am not sure how you got this far in your schooling in Chicago with your beliefs, but here we work as a team, with everyone learning all they can and taking responsibility for what they do. We train both nurses and doctors and have trained women to be nurses on the Rosebud Indian Reservation. I’m sure you knew or at least knew of Dr. Red Hawk, who has returned to help his people.”

She waited for his response. At a barely perceptible nod, she continued. “We do the best we can with our limited resources, grateful for our partnership with Chicago. We ascribe to the Golden Rule: Do unto others as you would have them do unto you, and we expect you to do the same. You are here to practice medicine, to learn all you can. Agreed?”

“Yes.” He continued to look down, obviously not wanting
to meet her gaze. She studied his reddening ears as she spoke. “I know your father is a physician too, correct?”

Another nod.

“Are you planning to join his practice on your graduation?”

He shrugged.

The urge to shake him blew on by. “You have a choice, Dr. Commons. You can remain here and get all the medical training we have to offer—excellent training in a small-town medical practice—as long as you agree to work as part of a team, accepting the full value of all those working on this staff and treating them accordingly and with respect. Or you may return to Chicago on the next train.” She did not add “
with your tail between your legs
,” but she thought it. Letting the silence stretch, she studied the top of his head as he studied his hands.

“I hope I have made myself clear?”

“Yes, Doctor.” His slight emphasis on the title made her want to send him off. How would they get through to him?

“You will be on call for the rest of this weekend and through Monday. And I will leave instructions to that end. We will be having a staff meeting on Monday. That includes all doctors and nurses. I hope I do not hear any further murmurs of rudeness.”

“What time?”

“After the morning shift change. We will be finished in an hour so those just getting off duty can head for bed. Any questions?”

He shook his head. “May I leave now?”

“Yes. You are on duty now?”

“Yes.”

“Would you please assess the woman in room two?”

“The one who wants to die?”

That gave her pause. “Why do you say that?”

“She doesn’t want to eat, refuses to communicate, and—”

“Are you sure she isn’t just too weak to eat?”

“Her vitals seem stable. A bit thready but not something to be concerned about.”

“And what kind of treatment do you recommend?”

“Send her home.”

“Do you know her history?”

“A man brought her in, diagnosis possible pneumonia. Her lungs are clearing, her temperature has returned to near normal, she is pregnant.”

“And her name?”

“Unknown.”

“Address?”

He shrugged. “Nothing on the chart.”

“So where would we send her?”

“Surely there is someone who knows of her. If she stays here, who is going to pay her bill?”

“Ignore that part.”

“But if someone brought her in, someone knows her or about her, and . . .”

Astrid waited, watching his reactions.

He straightened. “And how would we find that person is your next question, right? And I have no answer for that, since you have no police to assist you.”

“But why police? We have no certainty of wrongdoing.”

“He deserted her, dumped her like a bag of garbage.”

“True. But at least he brought her here. He could have just left her out in the snow.” She waited again. “Well, I am asking you to examine her again and see if we can ascertain anything else. Our job is to save her life and that of her baby. And hopefully, give her back a life along with it.”

“Then we’d better force-feed her.” He stood and turned to exit the door.

“Have you ever attempted to feed someone who is unresponsive?” Astrid stood.

“That is a nurse’s . . .” He caught himself. “No.”

She motioned him through the door. “What do you suggest feeding her?”

“Warm beef or chicken broth, and then hopefully graduate to soft or finely chopped food.” The two walked across the hall to room two. They paused in the doorway to watch Miriam giving the patient a sponge bath, all the while talking softly in hopes of getting a response.

She glanced up. “I will be finished in about five minutes.”

“Are you using the lotion Ingeborg left?”

Astrid looked to Dr. Commons. “We care for the whole patient. The lotion also helps prevent bed sores.” She turned to Miriam. “When you are finished here, please come to my office.” Pausing again, she looked to the young man beside her. “And you will implement the treatment you decide to use and then explain what you expect to all of us. Correct?”

His jaw tightened, he took in a breath, and he nodded. “Of course.”

O Lord, if his staying is your will, please give us all the grace we need to accomplish your plan. Whatever that might be.
She made a mental note to herself.
Get the prayers focusing on Dr. Commons
and the situation here.

C
HAPTER 5

W
hat do you suppose Toby wants to talk with us about?”

Rebecca turned to Gerald. “Well, I’m sure I have no idea, but supper will be ready when he gets here.” By the time Toby got back from the hospital last night with Melissa and Anji, Rebecca had already served supper to the rest of the family and they had postponed their discussion for a day.

“Toby usually just comes over, not official like this.”

Rebecca turned from sliding a pan of biscuits in the oven. “I made his favorite, so that should put him in a good mood, not that he is ever in a bad mood.” She laid her hot pads up on the stove warming shelf and looked to her husband. Gerald was leaning against the doorjamb, hands in his pockets.

Anji reached up for the plates so that Lissa could set the table. Her hand was still wrapped with bandages, but she wasn’t in pain today.

Anji’s thoughts went to the strange situation with Toby and Gerald’s parents. Toby Valders had always lived with his mother and father, taking care to see the house was maintained, sometimes trying to be a calming agent when one of them was irate, which was often. He’d not been successful at that venture in
the last years. When Anner insisted Hildegunn leave with him, Toby had continued as usual, both he and Gerald as confused at their actions as everyone else.

“Do you suppose he heard from your mother?”

“Possibly. It would be helpful if someone did. I mean it seems a shame that all that house is not being used. Not with this housing shortage.” Gerald shook his head and sighed. He turned at the sound of Benny’s wheels on the hall floor and the giggles preceding him. “Here they come. Be prepared.”

Benny sat with Annika and Swen in front of him and Joseph pushing. Annika waved her arms at her mother when they stormed into the kitchen.