Daniel, his face red, shrieked, “Get a doctor. Do it now. My pregnant wife is bleeding something terrible. If you don’t do something immediately she’ll die.”
A half dozen people, mostly well dressed, were seated in the nearby, stark waiting room. Their faces registered curiosity and alarm. Daniel failed to notice any of them.
The nurse moved her bulky body at an abnormal speed and walked rapidly through a swinging door. “Dr. Reynolds. There’s an emergency. There’s a woman with a great deal of blood loss and an overwrought husband. Please come immediately.” Despite the fact she used the word “please”, it was a command.
A tall, thin man with a mustache immediately answered the summons. He wore a blue shirt and blue striped tie underneath a white lab coat. A relieved Daniel saw the doctor moved rapidly. “What caused the bleeding?” Daniel motioned to the outdoors and both men ran into the parking lot.
“I don’t know, but she’s pregnant.” Daniel found it difficult to breathe, the result of anxiety. Not exertion.
“Has she been getting vitamins and proper prenatal care?”
Daniel knew she probably hadn’t, considering the conditions under which she’d been living. He groaned. “I’ve been away for several months so I haven’t been able to properly look after her. But I kind of doubt it. I just got back yesterday.”
He’d been going to tell the doctor he hadn’t known of the pregnancy. He decided against it. If the child lived, he wanted everyone possible to believe him the father.
* * *
Daniel reached the car before the physician. When Dr. Reynolds arrived, he peeked in at his new patient, “I believe she’s lost consciousness. We could get a stretcher, but it might be faster if you carry her.”
“Of course,” He gently but quickly lifted his wife out of the car. The adrenalin-charged Daniel found her light as eider down.
The doctor closed the car door and followed Daniel and Anna into the hospital.
Within seconds, a stretcher arrived. Two staff members in white lab coats wheeled Anna up to the operating room. Blood continued to pool under Anna.
Please God. Please make Anna live.
Dr. Reynolds and Daniel followed the stretcher down the long hallway. As they walked, the doctor explained, “We’re going to do an emergency C-section.”
Daniel didn’t know what that meant and he felt too frightened to ask for an explanation. However, he was relieved Anna appeared to be in qualified hands.
A nurse appeared; this one tall with dark curly hair and a florid complexion. Daniel would have found her attractive in other circumstances.
She took Daniel by the elbow and guided him to another room. It smelt of antiseptics, “Dr. Weinstein will do the operation. He’s an expert on the procedure.”
The nurse closed the door behind them yet still spoke softly. “Your wife has excessive bleeding. The placenta has to be removed. It’s dangerous. We’ll give her blood transfusions. She’ll have the baby by Caesarean Section.”
She opened the door and motioned for Daniel to follow her. “You’ll have to wait in the room with the other expectant fathers.”
* * *
Daniel’s throat was dry as he entered the waiting area. It was a sunless space with comfortable looking brown furnishings and a green rug over dark linoleum. Magazines littered the wooden coffee table. He spotted several copies of National Geographic.
He found the room occupied by three men. One quietly read a newspaper. He wore a green work shirt and dark blue overalls. He smiled at Daniel. “You look nervous. This must be your first. Edith, my wife, is having our sixth. There’s rarely something to worry about. Sit down and relax.”
Despite the comfortable looking furniture, Daniel knew he couldn’t sit. He was filled with fright. However, he knew he’d have to respond to this man. “This is Anna’s third.” He found he still couldn’t say “our. “And there’s plenty to worry about. Anna has lost a lot of blood. She might die.”
Daniel felt as if he’d been hit with a hammer. Suddenly, his head felt too weak for his body and he lowered it. He looked as if he examined the floor. Talking about the situation had made it more real.
All three men looked shocked and grave and introduced themselves.
Doug was a handsome blond young man with a terrific grin. Andy was short with sandy brown hair and freckles. Andy said, “We’ll be praying for you. So don’t you worry.” Steve was the man who’d first spoken.
Daniel softly stated his own name. None of the other men spoke further about Daniel’s worries but three pairs of eyes conveyed their sympathy. They obviously could think of nothing further to say.
Daniel paced around and around the large room. He couldn’t bear to just sit. The movement helped him relax just a little. He smoked cigarette after cigarette until he ran out. He was too agitated to make the trek to the smoke shop so he was forced to do without.
As he silently paced, he thought of Anna and her story of rape. Suddenly he felt like a jerk for not initially believing her. And he could understand why she couldn’t have an abortion. He would be a father to the child he secretly wished would be a girl. He didn’t want a junior Willy around.
Doug finally left his chair and tapped Daniel on the shoulder. “Doctors can do a lot these days. Let’s go down to the cafeteria. You need to relax. You look as if you’re about to explode.”
Daniel tried unsuccessfully to smile. “No thanks, I’m going to stay right here. I don’t want to be away when they come to tell me about Anna. And you’re right, I’m about to explode.”
Daniel knew the men just tried to help. But no one but God could help him. Please God. Don’t desert us.
* * *
Soon Steve, Doug and Andy had left the waiting room with happy congratulations from the nurses. Other expectant fathers, all of whom conveyed sympathy with words or gestures, soon replaced them.
Hours passed and Daniel still paced. He longed for a cigarette, his familiar antidote to tension. But he knew he wouldn’t leave. He hadn’t eaten all day but didn’t feel hungry.
Finally, at about six o’clock p.m., a short, slight man entered the waiting room and approached Daniel. Like every other doctor he’d seen, he wore a white coat splattered with blood. Anna’s blood.
This must be the surgeon, Dr. Weinstein. He looked tired and wan but he spoke with energy. Daniel thought he detected relief in the doctor’s eyes. Daniel willed God to let this intuition be right.
Daniel held his breath as the man spoke. His voice sounded deeper than Daniel had expected it to be as Dr. Weinstein was a small man. Daniel had never listened to anyone more attentively. “Your wife, thanks to transfusions, is going to be fine. In a moment, we’ll bring you your daughter, who is also just fine.” The doctor had small, white teeth and a genuine smile.
Daniel felt the tension leave him with a wonderful sense of relief. Anna would be all right. God had answered his prayers. Thank you, God. Thank you.” He grabbed the doctor’s hand and pumped it so hard Dr. Weinstein winced. “You’re a good doctor. No, you’re a great doctor. Thank you.”
Moments later, a petite red-haired nurse came in carrying a baby wrapped in a pink blanket. The nurse pushed her long hair behind her ear, and smiled. “Would you like to meet your daughter?”
Daniel, still shaking with emotion, took the child, a tiny perfect bundle who appeared awake but not fussing. She had dark hair and a rosebud mouth and a complexion like Anna’s when he’d first met her. In fact, everything about her looked a lot like Anna. He could and would love this child.
She didn’t look wrinkled and crushed as Amber and Crystal had. Perhaps it had something to do with the C-section birth.
He said to the nurse, “Yes, this is my daughter. I love her.”
* * *
Two days later, the hospital staff finally let Daniel see his wife.
After meeting the baby, he’d gone home to look after the girls. They’d enjoyed playing with their cousins.
Playing mothe
r hadn’t been easy. They’d survived almost exclusively on peanut butter sandwiches on stale bread. And canned soup, which he managed to burn. Furthermore, the laundry piled up and he’d had no idea how to do it. He realized anew how much he appreciated what Anna did at home. He wondered how he’d ever contemplated living without her.
* * *
He wore his navy blue suit and a white shirt and blue-striped tie the day he went to visit Anna. Maisy whistled in appreciation when he came to drop off Amber and Crystal.
Maisy’s blue eyes were bright with happiness. “You look great, brother-in-law. I can see everything’s working out and I’m glad. I love Anna like a sister. In fact, I love her more than my sister because Louise is too bossy.”
Daniel grinned then. His wide, lopsided grin. “I like Anna better than Louise, too. Say, do you happen to know where there’s a good place to buy flowers? I want the best for Anna.”
Maisy, demure in a red checked housedress covered by a white apron, smiled back. “I would try the hospital’s gift shop. They’ll have flowers.”
Sure enough, Daniel found a dozen red roses, Anna’s favorite flower. The florist told him red roses signified passion. Something he felt almost as much as tender love. He carried them through the maze of corridors that constituted the obstetrics portion of the hospital until he found Anna’s room. Fortunately, she was the only occupant.
Anna, dressed in a shapeless hospital gown, sat up in bed holding the baby with a wide smile on her face.
The infant was bundled in a pink blanket Daniel surmised must have been supplied by the hospital. He hadn’t thought to bring any of Amber’s or Crystal’s baby clothes but he knew there must be some around the house. Anna never threw out anything useful.
Anna smiled tentatively when she saw Daniel. The smile widened when she saw the flowers.
Someone had combed Anna’s hair, and although she appeared pale, she looked rested. She winced with the pain of movement as she reached out her hand so Daniel could hold it. “Thank you for the flowers. They’re beautiful.”
Daniel put the vase of flowers on the table next to Anna’s bed and he noted how much they brightened the sterile room that had been painted a hideous green.
Daniel pulled up a chair and placed it so he could be as close as possible to his wife, “Those flowers have nothing on you, kid.”
He clasped Anna’s hand between his two large ones. “I’ve been a first class heel. I believe you were raped. I love you and I’m grateful to God you didn’t die. I could never live without you.”
Colour returned to Anna’s cheeks. She sighed with happiness and smiled. “I love you too. So very much. I’m relieved you believe me. It’s true, even if hard to fathom. And Pearl is beautiful and a part of me. I hope you’ll get to love her.”
Daniel reached out and pulled back the blanket so he could once again take a look at the baby, a miniature Anna. “I love her already. Pearl, is that what we’re calling her?”
“Yes, if you like.” Suddenly, Anna once again became beautiful. Her cheeks glowed and her eyes appeared warm with happiness. She looked just like she had on their wedding day.
“I like. She looks like a luminous pearl. My daughter is beautiful like her mother. I’ll always love you.” Tears of happiness filled Daniel’s eyes.
The red-haired nurse entered Anna’s room. “You’ll have to go now. Mrs. Armstrong needs her rest.” She spoke with compassion.
The nurse left. Daniel planted a chaste kiss on his wife’s cheek. I’ll always love you.”
PART 4
1957
Chapter 12
May brought spring all new and fresh. Anna had spotted more than one robin, a harbinger of this delightful season, and the grass was green and beautiful.
Anna looked ahead to the coming summer. Besides her vegetable garden, she planned to plant some rose bushes and carnations. Together the two flowers made beautiful bouquets.
The Armstrong family drove to Lethbridge in Daniel’s aging blue Chevrolet. Everyone had things they wanted from town. Daniel needed hardware from McLeod’s, Anna groceries, and all three girls wanted nail polish.
They even planned to paint their toenails. Anna told them they could each choose a polish. She knew they would all choose red, the colour currently so much in style.
Anna gazed at her reflection in the rear-view mirror and pondered just how good the last five years had been for the entire family.
Certainly their finances had much improved. And Anna bought and grew the best of food. It not only reflected on her face, which had filled out, but also on her figure. Her chest and hips were fuller. And despite the birth of three children, her waist remained small.
The feminine clothes of the 1950’s suited her. Like a page out of her mother-in-law’s style book, Anna wore black under her new spring coat. The dress featured a fitted bodice, nipped-in waist, and a flared skirt. She wore silk nylons and black pumps. She’d had her hair cut so soft waves framed her face. Daniel loved the hairstyle and said it made her look like Lauren Bacall.
They’d all purchased new clothes for Easter and were glad to once again have an opportunity to wear them.
Anna glanced into the back seat to check on her children. Miraculously, they weren’t fighting or giggling. They all seemed to be engrossed in their own thoughts.
Amber, now eleven and looking more like her father daily, appeared radiant in a gold dress and matching sweater.
Crystal was, as always, beautiful. Her long blonde hair almost reached her waist and her blue eyes were fringed with thick, dark lashes. She wore emerald green.
Pearl, in her fifth year, wore a pink coat, white leotards and black shoes. The colour pink suited her. She wasn’t as beautiful as her sisters. She was, after all, sired by Willy, not Daniel, but she exuded her own special brand of prettiness.
More importantly, Pearl had a delightful personality. There was no evidence of Willy’s nastiness. She reminded Anna of Crystal. Both girls were placid and even tempered. And, compared to their older sister, unambitious.
Pearl loved to sing. She would listen for hours to songs on the radio and then sing them. Anna would’ve liked to get a piano for Pearl but they lacked space in their home for such a luxury.
Pearl enjoyed a happy existence with few people remembering her conception. She believed Daniel was her father in every sense of the word. Anna hoped she’d never have to learn otherwise.
Even George and Grace now accepted her although it hadn’t all been easy. At first, they’d avoided Anna and Daniel and the girls as if they all had smallpox before the vaccine.
Then, about four years ago, this changed. Crystal spotted George and Grace at school. They’d come for a special meeting. She ran up to them. “Granny, Grampa, I miss you.”
She’d peered up at them, her face as cherubic as an angel. “You never stop in to see us, you just drive by. And I miss Christmas Day at your house.”
A tear had filled her left eye and run down her cheek. “You’ve never even met Pearl and she’s really nice and pretty too with dark eyes. Why don’t you come see us anymore?”
That had been enough for Grace and George to issue an invitation for dinner. It didn’t hurt that Daniel happened to be the only son who’d produced girls.
Now Anna had no reason to fear her in-laws. They almost ceased to treat her like a heathen. The Armstrong clan was less divided.
Life was good. They’d built onto their house. It now contained three bedrooms and the veranda Anna had always wanted.
They purchased rocking chairs. Anna and Daniel loved sitting out on the veranda on warm summer nights when the mosquitoes weren’t too ferocious.
* * *
The short trip to town ended and the Armstrong’s were all in the elegant post office building gathering their mail from box 571. Daniel turned his key in the lock and opened the brass door. Numerous bills, advertisements and even letters fell out of his hands and onto the floor.
One particularly interesting
looking envelope caught Anna’s attention and she bent to pick it up. She saw the return address originated from an apartment in Birmingham, England. Anna immediately recognized her sister, Patsy’s handwriting. It was a pleasant surprise because Patsy rarely wrote letters.
Anna tore open the envelope and shrieked with joy. “It’s a wedding invitation from Patsy.
“Mum said she went with a fine chap but I didn’t know she was getting married. This is very exciting. She doubts we’ll be able to come but on the chance we can, she wants me to be her matron of honour. Wouldn’t that be great? It’s too bad we live so far away.”
Anna caught the eye of a large, stout man also gathering his mail. He glared at her and she realized she made way too much noise.
Daniel rubbed his chin. An indication he was mired in concentration.
After a couple of moments elapsed, he smiled happily. “Maybe it’s not impossible. The crops have been good for several years now and we’ve got quite a bit of money in a savings account in the bank. I’m sure Jim will do the chores.”
He took the invitation from Anna and glanced at the careful writing, as if to ensure its authenticity. “The wedding isn’t until June, after the crops are seeded. So I say we go. That is if you can stand another voyage.”
Anna felt herself fill with shock. She had dreamt of this, longed for this and now it would happen. She’d be able to see her parents and Patsy and Robert and England, the land she still thought of as home. She began to smile and it broadened until her cheeks ached.
Daniel continued to plan. “I guess we’ll have to be gone for about eight weeks. At least four will be devoted to travelling but that should still give us time for a nice visit.” Daniel’s eyes were clear and untroubled. Crystal clapped her hands. “We get to meet our other grandparents, and we’ll see England. Mother has told us so much about it. I can’t wait.”
Till The Wind Blows Silent Page 18