Threads of Love (29 page)

D
oc, come quick! Levi Wilson is mighty sick, and he needs a doctor now!” shouted Joe Carlin, the local blacksmith, as he came racing toward the house in a buggy drawn by a sleek black horse. The smithy pulled the animal to a rapid halt in front of the house, where it immediately began snorting and pawing at the dirt, anxious to again run at full speed.

“Let me get my bag. Addie, get in the buggy,” Tessie mouthed to the child who had arrived only minutes earlier. Rushing into the house, she grabbed her bag and some additional medical supplies. Running toward the carriage, she lost no time issuing orders to the blacksmith.

“What do you know about his problem?” she asked as the buggy sped out of town.

“Can’t breathe. I hear tell he’s had breathing problems for quite a spell now,” the blacksmith advised.

Tessie merely nodded, not sure what to expect but hoping her skills would serve her well. Once the carriage had drawn to a halt in front of a wooden shanty that appeared to be no bigger than one room, she didn’t have long to contemplate her abilities. Jumping down, all three of them made their way inside and found the patient sitting up and battling for breath. A hasty examination revealed a goiter, which was almost concealed in the chest cavity. The room certainly was not appropriate for an operating room, but Tessie knew that if something wasn’t done quickly, her patient would die. Issuing a hasty prayer for direction, she turned to the blacksmith and ordered him to remove the door from its hinges and motioned Addie to carry out several wooden boxes. Tessie placed water on the stove to boil and found two barrels, which she then moved outdoors.

“Place the door across these two barrels,” she instructed, as she pulled a sheet from the items she had gathered from home. With a snap of her wrists she watched it flutter across the makeshift operating table. Placing her instruments on the boxes Addie had carried outdoors, she watched as the smithy helped Mr. Wilson onto the hastily constructed table.

“Mr. Wilson, I’ll be back shortly. I need to scrub my hands before proceeding. Addie, come along. You’ll need to scrub also. Stay with him,” she instructed the blacksmith, walking toward the dilapidated house.

“Addie, stand by the instruments; I’ll need your help. You, too,” she instructed the blacksmith, who was heading back toward the house, not sure if he wanted to be a part of the unfolding events.

After administering ether, Tessie made an incision to expose the goiter, which was resting on his windpipe. The mass appeared to be about the size of an apple, and with only small artery forceps, she realized it would be impossible to grasp and remove it. She stood staring at the object, unsure how to proceed.

Lord, I don’t know what to do. Show me how to help this man
, she silently prayed.

No sooner had her prayer been uttered than a tiny feather floated down directly under Mr. Wilson’s nose. The incision that Tessie made permitted her patient to breathe in enough air so that when the feather tickled his nose, Levi Wilson burst forth with a stupendous sneeze. As his large chest contracted, the goiter shot so far out that it lay fully exposed in the wound. Tessie quickly seized it with one hand, grabbed her instruments to clamp the lower vessels with her other hand, and completed the remainder of the surgery uneventfully.

“I believe we’ve had a successful surgery,” she announced to the blacksmith, who had turned ashen. “There’s no reason you need to remain close by if you’d like to check on your horse, Mr. Carlin,” was all the encouragement the smithy needed to get away from the makeshift operating room.

“I’ll help you clean up, if you tell me what to do,” Addie offered, never wavering from her duty station.

“Thank you, Addie. You can wrap those instruments and put them back into my bag. We’ll clean and sterilize them at home,” she instructed, finishing the sutures on Mr. Wilson’s incision.

“Anything I need to be doing?” the blacksmith called out from in front of the shanty.

“Why don’t you see if you can find a neighbor who can come over? He should have someone stay with him unless you’d like the job,” Tessie answered.

“Think I’d better try and locate a neighbor. I’m not too good with sick folks,” he responded.

“Really? I hadn’t noticed,” Tessie answered, giving him a quick grin.

Mr. Wilson had regained consciousness when his neighbors, the Madisons, arrived with the blacksmith. Mr. Madison and Joe supported and half-carried the patient into the house and placed him on the bed, which Mrs. Madison had quickly covered with clean linens. Tessie gave her a grateful smile.

“If you two men will dismantle my outdoor operating room, I’ll go over the patient-care instructions with Mrs. Madison,” she directed.

It was obvious that Mrs. Madison had taken care of more than a few medical emergencies, and Tessie knew Mr. Wilson would be in good hands.

“I don’t think I’ll need to see you again, Mr. Wilson. Mrs. Madison has assured me she’s removed many stitches, and she lives much closer than I, so I’ll leave you to her care.”

He nodded his head and whispered his thanks for her good care.

“I think you owe your thanks to the Lord,” Tessie advised. “He’s the One who deserves credit for the success. Someday when you’re in town, I’ll explain,” she told him, as he drifted back to sleep.

It was suppertime when the trio finally loaded back into the buggy and headed for town.

“That was quite a spectacle,” the smithy said admiringly.

“Well, thank you, Mr. Carlin. I appreciate your assistance,” Tessie replied, realizing the blacksmith was genuinely surprised at her ability.

“Thank you, too, Addie,” she said, placing her arm around the child and hugging her close. Addie merely nodded, but her eyes were full of adoration.

The buggy pulled to a stop in front of the house, and the blacksmith quickly jumped down, lifted Addie to the ground, and assisted Tessie. “It’s been a real pleasure, ma’am. If I’m ever in need of a doctor, I sure hope you’re the one I get,” he stated.

“Well, I hope you won’t be needing my services, but I sincerely thank you for the compliment,” she replied, feeling embarrassed by his continued adulation. “Come along, Addie. Let’s make some dinner; you must be starved,” she said to the child, taking her hand and walking toward the house.

Addie proved an able assistant in the kitchen, and within a short time they had prepared a fine meal. “You are such a good helper. I don’t know what I would have done without you today,” she praised the child.

“I like helping you,” Addie answered, beginning to clear the table.

“Let’s leave the dishes, Addie. I can do them after you go home. Why don’t we just sit on the porch and enjoy the evening breeze? There hasn’t been much time to visit and enjoy each other today,” she said as they walked outdoors.

“Could I be a doctor someday?” Addie asked as they settled on the swing.

Tessie’s mind reeled. Without the ability to hear, how could anyone be a doctor, let alone make it through college and medical school? How should she answer without destroying a young girl’s dreams?
Help me, Lord
, she silently prayed.

“I believe that with God’s help we can do anything. You must remember that sometimes God has very special plans for us, and even though we don’t understand them, He knows best,” she answered.

“I think God wants me to be a doctor, and that’s why we’ve become friends,” the child answered, obviously pleased with her deduction.

“You could be right,” Tessie answered, hoping the child would not be disappointed, while at the same time, Tessie mentally chastised herself for not doing further research into the article on deafness she had read in the medical journal.

“I have an idea for some fun this afternoon,” Tessie told her young visitor several days later as they finished a glass of lemonade.

“What?” Addie inquired, her interest piqued.

“Come outside, and I’ll show you,” Tessie responded.

Striding toward the house, Charlie smiled as he watched Addie attempting to gain her balance on Tessie’s bicycle. Tessie was running alongside holding on to the handlebars and back of the seat. From the look of things, he wasn’t sure if they were having fun or punishing themselves.

“Let me help,” he offered, coming upon them and grabbing the handlebars just in time to prevent a collision with a large elm tree.

“That would be wonderful,” Tessie admitted, gasping for breath.

When Addie finally arrived at a point at which she was able to stay astride the bicycle for a short period of time without teetering to one side or the other, they decided to rest and hoped she wouldn’t want another lesson until sometime in the future.

“Addie tells me this was your idea,” Charlie said, plopping down on a chair in the parlor, still short of breath.

“Yes, I thought it would be something special for her. Obviously, I didn’t think it out very well,” she admitted sheepishly.

“It will be wonderful for her, but I believe either she needs to be a bit taller or the bicycle a bit smaller. It seems to me her legs aren’t quite long enough, but she doesn’t want to give up.”

“Perhaps I can temporarily delay future rides until she’s grown a bit,” Tessie responded.

“By the way, I heard quite a story about you two shortly after my arrival this morning,” he said, changing the subject.

“What about?” she inquired, not sure if she liked the idea of folks telling stories regarding her or Addie.

“Seems you’ve garnered quite a reputation for yourself. Joe Carlin, the blacksmith, is telling everyone he meets what a miracle worker you are—how you saved Levi Wilson’s life operating on him out in the backyard,” he related.

“Well, it’s very kind of Joe to give me the credit, but I told Mr. Wilson and Mr. Carlin that if it hadn’t been for God’s help, I’d have never successfully completed that operation,” she told Charlie.

He listened intently as she related the events surrounding Levi Wilson’s ailment and the ensuing surgery. “Sounds to me like you, a bird with a loose feather, and the good Lord worked hand in hand on that one,” he responded as she finished the tale.

“I was fortunate to have Addie with me also,” she told Charlie. “She became quite an assistant,” Tessie praised, giving Addie a smile.

“I must say that I am surprised to see you today. I don’t recall your mentioning a trip to Florence this week,” Tessie stated inquiringly.

“It wasn’t planned in advance, but there were some things that needed attention. Besides, it meant an opportunity to visit with you,” he said. “I hope you’re pleased by the surprise.”

“I’m always pleased to see you, Charlie,” she responded, a tinge of color rising in her cheeks.

“Well, that’s good to hear because I was hoping we could go to dinner and then work off our meal at the skating rink. Of course, that plan was made before I’d spent an hour running behind a bicycle,” he confessed.

“Oh, I am sorry, but that won’t be possible this evening,” she answered.

“May I inquire why not?”

“Certainly,” she said with a smile. “I promised Lydia that Addie could spend the night with me. It will be the first time she’s stayed over with me, but since tomorrow is Sunday and she doesn’t have to go to work in the morning, I thought it a splendid plan,” she advised.

“Why does Lydia want Addie to spend the night?” he inquired, confused by the turn of events.

“She has a date with Floyd, a salesman she’s been keeping company with for some time now. I didn’t ask, but I got the impression that she may be planning on staying out after the curfew and didn’t want to take a chance that Addie would give her away. I’m not sure, but she acted as if she was hiding something when she asked me,” Tessie explained.

“Do you really think you should be a part of this?” Charlie asked.

“Charlie, I thought we had an agreement,” she stated firmly.

“We do, and I think I’ve been keeping my part of the bargain. I’m not quite so sure you’re keeping your eyes open, however,” he answered.

“I like having Addie with me. If I felt Lydia was taking advantage of me, I’d call her on it. You know I have no trouble speaking my mind.”

“That’s a fact, but I can’t help thinking there’s more going on here than either one of us realizes,” he answered.

“How would you feel about having dinner here with Addie and me?” she inquired.

“I couldn’t refuse that offer,” he told her. “I’ll expect the two of you to accompany me to the skating rink afterward.”

“We’ll see,” she responded, not sure if she was quite up to an evening of skating.

Once dinner was over and the kitchen duties completed by the trio, Charlie knelt down in front of Addie. “How would you like an evening at the skating rink?” he asked the child.

Addie wasn’t sure what Charlie was asking since she had never seen a skating rink but agreed that she would be happy to go along. “It’s two to one for the skating rink,” Charlie told Tessie, pleased he had gotten the upper hand at least once.

“Charlie, I’m not sure I can even stay upright on roller skates. It’s been ages since I’ve tried,” she admitted.

“I’ll be right at your side, more than happy to hold you up,” he bantered, not willing to take no for an answer.