Chapter 7
January 1632
Justin agreed to work the New Year’s Eve into New Year’s morning shift at the Emergency Room because holidays counted double so he would be able to have two free afternoons. The LPN teachers were clearly stretched thin in (re)designing their classes, with much of the progression seemingly based on what they guessed they might need to treat next. In early fall, they learned about treating burns, smoke inhalation, and “carbon monoxide poisoning,” which he still didn’t understand, before people started using fires to heat their homes in the winter. Before Christmas, it was food poisoning and treating patients who ate spoiled food, and handling cold-related injuries, like frostbite.
With the heavy snowfall tonight, he expected a quiet evening, which he planned to spend studying the women in the hospital. It was better than studying German medical terms, especially when the women dressed so scandalously. A few peaceful hours later, the nurses’ station phone rang and the whole place erupted into action. Unsure what was happening, Justin melted back into his chair, hoping to avoid notice.
“Young man, bring all the gurneys and wheelchairs you can find to the emergency entrance.” The orderly had been given a lot to do in a short time. “You work here, yes? Then work!”
Unhappy at having an orderly order him around, Justin started to balk until he saw Nurse Mary Pat Flanagan, Director MacDonald’s right hand, watching him. Not wanting another lecture from her, he did as requested. As he finished and headed back to his chair, she intercepted him. “Justin, prepare each bay in the emergency room for burn victims, as quickly as possible. We are about to get a lot of people with burns.”
“How bad are the burns? How many people? Was there a fire? Where was it? How many patients do you think I will be treating?”
Out of patience, Mary Pat turned and practically snarled. “You can do what I tell you, and what anyone else on staff tells you, including the orderlies. You are a student, not a doctor, nurse, or other staff member. We all need to work now, not waste time asking questions.” She turned to a nearby nurse’s aide and asked her to call all the students in to help with the emergency.
Hours later, Mary Pat called the students into the break room where pizza, fresh bread, and small beer awaited them. “Director MacDonald and I couldn’t be prouder of how you have helped this evening. No one enjoys debriding burns, and dressing the smaller burns with honey without making a sticky mess took some getting used to, but you are all handling it like pros. Your work made a real difference tonight, for the hospital, the patients, and the families. We even have a few new treatments, thanks to suggestions we received, such as using honey for burns and ‘tape’ to hold gauze in place.”
Mikki was clearly ready to drop from exhaustion but still sharp as a tack. “Quick question. That ‘tape’ is fabric that was woven, not cut, into thin strips. Why do they call it tape?”
“I always wondered that when I had to use ‘bias tape’ for sewing. Tape is defined as ‘a narrow flexible strip or band such as adhesive tape or magnetic tape (cassette).’ And be happy that they helped us out with that. Like the honey, it let us stretch our other resources. Speaking of honey, we tried putting honey on the back of some of the tape to make it sticky. It’s an experiment. If it works, we may have a makeshift, and reusable, replacement for paper tape. Now, let’s dig into this pizza, then go home and sleep!”
* * *
Sam shook the snow flurries off his coat and hat before going inside to talk to Krystal. “The Refugee Center is sending over a new family to live with us. You need to let them use Grannie B and Grandpa Eli’s old bedroom since the other bedrooms are still being used. Don’t get mad! I know you believe they are coming back, but Aunt Sophia and Uncle Donnie Joe aren’t here right now, and Grannie B and Grandpa Eli need the extra rent money. The new family was living in one of those houses that burnt down on New Year’s Eve, so they won’t pay much, but it’s better than nothing. They are planning to build their own house, but they need a place to stay until it’s warm enough outside for building. They agreed to do some work on the garage, too, in exchange for staying here. If your parents come back and these folks are still here, we can kick them out. Okay?”
It was not “okay” with Krystal. No matter what anyone else said, she still believed her old life might come back. She didn’t say a word as she stood up, left the room, put on all her outdoor layers, then slammed the door on her way out. If bike tires could squeal, hers would’ve squealed as she turned onto their street from the driveway, grateful they had only had flurries and not a real storm that week.
She thought about going to St. Mary’s and talking to Father Larry, but he was busy with all the new Catholics in town. Besides, the best people she knew to help her calm down when she was this good and mad were Grannie B and Grandpa Eli, even if it was a lot further to the assisted living home than to St. Mary’s. By the time she got there, she was calmer, thanks to the exercise, but she still had to make a decision.
“Grannie B, I know my parents are still out there. I can’t give up on seeing them again. You know I can’t. And my friends at college! But mostly Mom and Dad, and all my grandparents, and all my relatives on Mom’s side. I can’t give someone else the last bedroom. Where will they stay when they get here? It’s like I don’t believe I’ll see them again if I do that!” By now, Krystal was practically crying in frustration, anger, fear, and all the other emotions she tried to keep hidden away.
“Baby girl, what would your parents want?”
“What?”
“It’s a simple question, my not-so-little-great-grandbaby. If you could call your parents and ask, would they want our old bedroom to be kept empty waiting for them, or would they want you to let a family whose home just burnt down, with what little they owned in it, use the room?”
Krystal tensed up, then let out a big sigh. She finally had an answer she could live with. “Since they can’t use it, they would want someone in need to use it. Thank you, Grannie B.”
“Besides, I heard the only person in town who isn’t taking in refugees is Jimmy Dick Shaver. You do not want to be like Jimmy Dick. That boy has been trouble since Ike was President.” Grandpa Eli liked to add his two cents. “If they bring chickens, promise to bring me to see them. I miss having chickens and fresh eggs at the house, and I miss having the milkman deliver milk. The old coop was still in the garage when we moved here. Pretty sure the milkman was dead, though.”
“Eli, Krystal just told you a bad fire burnt up all their things and here you are fussing about chickens and milkmen. But he’s not wrong about the chickens or the chicken coop, Krys, it was there. And chickens do a good job of eating all kinds of bugs, especially ticks. You should try to get some chickens. Kids love running around after chickens.”
* * *
Poor as it was, the housing that burnt down was an improvement over having nothing. Moving into the house with Krystal and Sam was a miracle to Gretchen Dieter and her family, even if it had only been one day so far. “Agatha.”
“Yes, Frau Dieter?”
“It is Fräulein Krystal. She cries so hard again. We stay in our room to not make her sad, but we still hear her.”
“It’s not you. Really. She misses her parents and family that were left up-time. And every time I try to talk to her, she ends up feeling worse, so it’s definitely not you. I’ll ask Mutti to talk to her this time.
“Krystal.” Anna Maria knocked gently, then opened the door and entered slowly. “What is it, child?” As she sat on the bed and held Krystal, gently stroking her hair, Krystal gradually quieted from the violent sobbing only a devastatingly deep loss causes. Her worries and hurt spilled out. Losing loved ones and home were easily understood and clear immediately after the Ring. Others had taken longer to come into focus but were starting to hit her harder. The distress of knowing she would lose patients to diseases, like tetanus, that most people had forgotten up-time. The frustration of knowing that cowpox could reduce the threat of smallpox but being unable to do anything with the knowledge. The plague. The horror of how commonplace torture, rape, and murder were down-time. Guilt over living in a home full of someone else’s things. Worry about Grannie B and Grandpa Eli without up-time medicine. The stresses seemed to multiply daily.
“Sometimes I feel like everything gets me down. I miss blue Doritos and soda. Kurt and I had plans to see Shanghai Noon, and now I’ll never see that or understand why he likes, liked, whatever, Jackie Chan so much. And Julie Marie, my best friend in the whole world, and I planned to see Coyote Ugly for her birthday in August. It’s all gone! My life is just…gone, and I have no idea how to fix it.” Tears streamed down her cheeks again and she started hyperventilating.
“Shhh, you need to calm.” Anna Maria rubbed Krystal’s back while pushing her head down between her knees. “This will help. It’s hard, but try to slow your breathing. It may take a minute. You panicked a bit. It’s okay. You’re fine. Your body will feel better in a few minutes. Feelings may take longer, but your body will feel better soon.” She continued talking, rubbing her back, and generally helping Krystal calm down until she was back to the neighborhood of normal.
“Thank you, Anna Maria. I feel better now. Really. Yesterday, I promised Grannie B and Sam to let a second family move in here, into the master bedroom, the room I had been saving for my parents. The one I haven’t let your family use. They both said that if Mom and Dad show up, whoever the new folks are, they’ll move out, but I know that isn’t true. I know they don’t believe I’ll see my parents again. No one believes it. Letting Frau Dieter and her family stay there feels like I’m giving up on them and my whole old life up-time. My parents wouldn’t ever give up on me.”
Seeing tears welling up in her eyes again, Anna Maria rushed to stop that train of thought before she had another panic attack to contend with. “No, no! Your parents won’t think you gave up on them. You still have to live your life. That’s what parents want for their children: to live a happy life. I promise you that any family will move out if your parents arrive. If they don’t want to move, my family will help make sure they do. Now, before you cry again, I believe Gisela is baking. Let’s go sneak a sample. It smells like she is baking fresh bread, and you can have a nice cup of chamomile tea with it.” At the word “sample,” Krystal forgot all her cares for a few minutes.
* * *
Like all the nurses, Beulah MacDonald, Director of Nursing, was a busy woman. Too busy, really, to take time to talk to a former-and-possibly-future student, but helping a struggling youngster was so much more enjoyable than paperwork, and everyone could see Krystal Reed was struggling even more since the fire. “Come into my office and talk to me. Are you upset about your family, child? Are you missing them?”
“No. Yes. That’s not what this is about. Frau Banz and her son died. They were living in that awful shanty town that burnt down. When they moved out of refugee housing, they said they were going there. I had heard it was dangerous and I should have tried harder to get them to move. It’s my fault they died.” When she saw Mathias Heydman after the fire, Krystal thought his whole family was safe. When she found out about his wife and newborn, the news devastated her.
“No. Stop that right now. You are not even slightly to blame. You warned Frau Banz, but her determination to move out of refugee housing immediately was too great. Her husband agreed, or they wouldn’t have been there. The fire department couldn’t determine the exact cause, but the poor construction and dangerous conditions were, to us up-timers, as plain as the drink or cigarette Wooly always had in his hand. Wooly, God rest his soul, bears responsibility for the construction and generally unsafe conditions. Frau Banz and her husband bear responsibility for choosing to live there, especially after you tried to warn her. You do not. You tried to show her the danger, which is more than most would have done, and you have taken one of the families into your own home.” She looked severe as only a strong-willed old woman can.
“Yes, ma’am.” Krystal paused. “But that’s not how it feels.”
“You did nothing wrong and that’s a fact, not a feeling. If you truly feel like you owe that family something, figure out a way to help ensure other families don’t have to endure something like this. Not today, though. A project like that bears thinking on for a while, so take your time. I know you want to be an RN, not ‘just’ an LPN when we get that program set up. I understand why you dropped out last fall, but all your work with the well-baby clinic, the residents at the Bowers, the Refugee Center, and the pharmacy mean that you are extremely well prepared now. I would love to see you as part of the incoming class next year. In fact, talking to you about it was already on my to-do list for the spring. Is that something you might be interested in?”
Deep breath. “Yes, ma’am. I want to try again. Working with Ursula, Nurse Sims, and Doctor Sims on the well-baby clinic has helped me a lot. I’m getting comfortable with herbal remedies now, so I won’t be as worried about it next year. Thank you for allowing me to return. Do I need to take any exams or fill out any paperwork?”
“Fantastic! No paperwork or anything. You were already accepted. If you are interested, I’m going to recommend you join our teams that go out into the surrounding communities to provide general medical care, not just the well-baby clinics. Experiencing different areas will help you figure out what kind of nursing you want to specialize in. With all that experience, you will be starting ahead of your classmates.” Beulah was pleased that Krystal was receptive to her suggestions. Privately, she also hoped Krystal would share her experiences with her classmates, allowing them to see more facets of nursing and medical care.
“Unfortunately, it’s time for my next appointment. You should remember Justin Marbury from your original class. Please show him in as you leave.”
“Yeah, I remember him.” As she opened the door to walk out, Krystal stopped short and left out an irritated huff. “Justin, I can’t leave until you get out of my way.” Throwing a glare over her shoulder at the young Englishman as he walked into Beulah’s office, Krystal headed for the front door.
“Mr. Marbury, what can I do for you?”
“Frau MacDonald, I appreciate the ‘opportunities’ you believe you have given me, but the events on New Year’s Eve were the final straw. I am a gentleman. I will not take orders from underlings like these ‘orderlies.’ I quit your program.”
Beulah frowned at the disrespect in his tone and the form of address. “It is Director MacDonald to you, young man, and you should be talking to Director Szymanski, not me. However, I will relay your resignation to her. Your instructors have noted your struggles to fit in so this is not the surprise you might think it is. If you change your mind, please let us know. What are your plans now?” Please, Lord, don’t let him change his mind! I know we need trained people, but he’s such a condescending little prick!
“For the next few months, I will do research at the libraries here. The moment the weather allows, I will return to England any way I can.” Justin was pleased with himself for not letting his feelings show. These jumped-up “nurses” thought they were so special! As if they had any medical knowledge or skills worthy of a gentleman and future doctor.
“Before you leave, please stop back. We could use your thoughts on how we can improve the program for down-timers. You can use the time to refine your thoughts on the matter. If there is nothing else you need, I will let your instructors know.” Dismissed and relieved to be out of the program, Justin took his leave.