“She shook her head at us, so we didn’t go in,” Carl said, standing solid while Inga danced around.
“That’s wise.” Astrid shared a grin with her mor and Ellie, and then she and the children trooped down to the barn.
Astrid leaned on the stall’s half wall. “Well, old girl, you are doing just all right.” The calf was up and nursing already, the cow glaring at the humans in warning. Inga and Carl looked through the slats in the gate.
“Is it a boy calf or a girl calf?” Inga asked.
“We’ll find out later. Leave them alone for now.” She checked the water pail in the corner, and it was still full.
When the tent erectors arrived at the farm, the women and older children carried the food outside. Reverend Solberg said the blessing, and everyone took plates to fill at the table.
Astrid went over to Manny to ask what he wanted, but ten-year-old Linnea was already there.
“If you want I will bring a plate over to you.” When he nodded, she asked, “What would you like?”
“Anything is good.”
“Then I’ll give you a bit of everything.”
He never raised his eyes to look at her. “All right.”
“Didn’t your mother teach you to say please?” Linnea asked.
He nodded and muttered please so quietly she could barely hear him.
When she brought him a plate brimming with roast beef, small new potatoes, gravy, lettuce salad, and a buttered slice of bread, he did have the grace to say thank-you.
“You’re welcome.” She started to leave and then threw over her shoulder, “I like the way you talk.”
Astrid and Penny shared a covert smile. “Did you prompt her to do that?”
Penny shook her head. “No. Never thought about it. That’s Linnea though, always watching out for the underdog.” They went to fill their plates. “Did you know Linnea and Johnny have been practicing together? She picks up the chords naturally. Elizabeth says she has a good ear and is learning more of the music for sing-a-longs and even some of the dances.”
Astrid wagged her head. “All this has been going on, and I never knew about it.”
“Well, it’s not exactly like you’ve been out looking for things to do. Joshua is a good teacher too. He plays with them when they get together in the evening. Makes me wonder if any of our immigrant workers are musicians.”
Trygve stopped by the bench where Penny and Astrid were sitting on his way back to the table. “We need to get to the station in half an hour.”
Astrid gasped. “Oh mercy. I forgot to watch the time.”
Penny shrugged. “Well, he didn’t, so all is well.”
“Guess I got to enjoying myself too much.” Astrid finished mopping her gravy with the last of her bread. She glanced over at Manny, who was talking, or at least listening, to Johnny Solberg. “I’d forgotten, but Manny mentioned they had a banjo at their house at one time, so perhaps we have another musician there.” She rose and took her plate into the kitchen, where Ellie was setting up the dishpans with soapy water on the cooler part of the stove.
Ellie grinned. “Thank you.”
“What did you do? Beat Freda off with a stick?”
“No, I just mentioned she should go sit down and relax with the others for a while. My mor taught me how to do dishes long, long ago, and I felt it was only fair she share the work through me around here.”
Ingeborg grinned. “Good for you, Ellie.”
“Wagon’s leaving,” Trygve called from in front of the house.
“Can I stay with Grandma? Please, Pa, please?” Inga never did anything low key.
Astrid walked out the front door to hear Thorliff saying, “Did Grandma say it is all right?”
“She said I could spend the night if I wanted, and I do. And if you said I could. And since Ma didn’t come, I can’t ask her too.”
“Tell Grandma fine for now, and I will phone her later.”
“About staying all night?”
“Ja.” Thorliff walked over to the buggy and untied the horse from the hitching rail. “You can ride with me, Astrid. Easier than the wagon.” He tipped his hat at Trygve. “See you in town.”
Once they were trotting down the lane, she turned to Thorliff. “Why did Elizabeth not come?”
“She was sleeping, and I didn’t want to wake her. She didn’t sleep well last night, and this whatever has made her tired. She was up coughing during the night. Thelma said she’d tell her.”
“She seems to catch everything that comes around. Not good for a doctor.”
“I know. I was hoping she would move more into administration so she didn’t have so much contact with sick patients, at least for a while.”
“I tried, but she kept leaving that for me. I know we are going to have to find someone to run the hospital business, but . . .”
“You could write to Mrs. Korsheski and see if they know of someone.”
“I could, but the hospital cannot afford to pay someone like that. You know that Elizabeth and I do not take out wages. We’ve got to get it on its feet before that can happen.”
“And get more paying patients?” He gave her a big brother look, a big brother who probably did know best in this situation, but Astrid had no answers for him.
“Just drive.”
Thorliff chuckled. They could hear the whistle to the east on the tracks when they stopped at the train station. “Elizabeth was planning to be here to help welcome them, but I doubt she will be.”
“That’s fine. You’re greeting your workers, right?”
“I’ll walk them out to their tents. Sophie has agreed to serve them supper out in the backyard until we see how healthy these men are. I hope we do not have any sick ones like last time.”
“Me too.” Together they walked to the center of the wooden platform, where Daniel was waiting with a handcart.
“How did you get here so quick?” she asked.
“I left a while ago, but you and Penny were visiting so happily that Mother and I came on in. She wanted to make sure there was lemonade ready.”
Astrid tucked her arm around his. “You are the best husband ever. How come I am so lucky?”
“Thank you, but you are easy to love.”
The train hissed and screeched to a halt, steam billowing out. The conductor waved, jumped down, and turned to bring out the step. Three young women stood waiting on the inside steps.
“This must be them.” Astrid stepped forward and smiled. One by one, the conductor helped them down. The first resembled a frightened rabbit, timid with a red nose that she held a handkerchief to. The second wore a grin as wide as her face. Her eyes locked on Trygve. And the third, the smallest of the three, with wild black hair that was supposedly confined in a net with a hat perching like a bird in a nest, descended with a firm step.
“I am Dr. Astrid Bjorklund Jeffers, and this is my husband, Daniel.” She extended her hand to the timid one. “And you are . . . ?”
“Corabell Nester.” Even her handshake was weak.
“I am Vera Wells, and I am delighted to be here.” This one shook hands with Astrid firmly and smiled brightly at Trygve, who seemed to have eyes only for the third.
“I am Nurse Miriam Hastings, and I am pleased to meet you. I have heard so much about the doctors Bjorklund.”
Her gaze snagged on that of Trygve’s, and she raised her chin slightly before looking back to Astrid. “Our luggage is in the car behind the passenger cars.”
“Yes. Mr. Knutson and Mr. Jeffers will see to that. I do hope your train ride was satisfactory.”
“It was. Thank you.”
She had a lovely lilt to her voice, and they all spoke English well. What a relief that was.
“Since we have a very small town, I will show you where you are to stay until your boardinghouse rooms are ready. Then we will go to the hospital for a tour. Unless you are all too weary.”
When they all murmured that they were all right, she motioned them to head east on
Main Street.
Glancing over her shoulder, she saw two men helping a third off the train. Oh please, Lord, don’t let this be a repeat of the last group of men that arrived.
Chapter 24
And that concludes our tour of the hospital. Easy, wasn’t it?”
“Dr. Bjorklund, everything looks so new.” Miriam stared around her.
“Well, yes, the hospital has not been open very long. Your hospital in Chicago is quite old in comparison. We are still trying to bring in needed supplies, but we learned years ago to make do with what we had, which wasn’t much. Tomorrow we’ll show you our offices at Dr. Bjorklund’s house.” When someone snickered, Astrid continued. “Perhaps I should start using my married name, Jeffers, but everyone is used to me being Bjorklund, so it can be confusing.”
“How many staff are on each shift?” Corabell asked.
“Well, much of it depends on how many patients we have here. We always have one nurse, and what you might call an orderly on duty. Here each of us just does whatever needs to be done—not laundry but sometimes cleaning. We have someone come in during the day to do the laundry. The drying lines are behind the hospital. I know we need a regular cleaner too, but we don’t have one right now.”
“Are we to understand that money is a problem here?” Miriam questioned.
“Yes and no. We are not totally self-supporting, by any means. We are a part of the hospital in Chicago, and they help support us. We are praying we will grow to meet all of our dreams. The need is here, but—”
The bang of the front door against the wall snapped their attention around. Two men were carrying or rather dragging a man by his shoulders. Thorliff had held the door open for them.
“We have a problem, Dr. Bjorklund. A serious one.”
Astrid and Deborah MacCallister got to the patient at the same time.
“Let’s get him into the examining room.”
Nurse Deborah ran down the hall and opened a door. “Bring him in here.”
“Does he speak English?” She looked to the two men helping him. “To start, do you speak English?”
One man nodded. “He does but with a heavy accent. He understands more than he can speak.”
“What nationality?”
“Irish. I’ve worked with him before. He’s a good carpenter.”
Together they hoisted him up on the padded table.
“Can you open his shirt so I can listen to his chest?” The men did as she asked and then stepped back. She moved the stethoscope around, then said to the men, “We will keep him here, but could you tell us what you know before you leave?”
“His name is Seamus O’Flaherty. He’s had a cough ever since I knew him, maybe two, three months. We had a job repairing a building down on the piers in New York, and when that was done, we couldn’t find no more work. Then we heard of a man looking for workers to go to North Dakota. We signed right up.”
Astrid looked over. Miriam had picked up some paper and was writing down what the man said. Looking to the other new nurses, she said, “Would you two please go scrub in case I need more help here? Thank you, Miriam.” She turned back to the man. “Sir, what is your name?”
“Harvey, ma’am. Harvey Jessup.”
“Does he have a family?”
“Yes. We all do. But we had to get work and so we came.”
“I see.” She looked to Thorliff, who was leaning against the doorjamb. “Could you help them undress Mr. O’Flaherty and move him into the room we are going to go get ready?”
“Of course.”
She turned to the two new men. “Please, before you leave here, scrub at our sink, just in case we are dealing with something contagious. And then thank you very much. We appreciate your help. I know supper will be served at the boardinghouse, and you must be famished.”
“Thank you, Doctor.”
Astrid laid a gown on the table and left the room, beckoning to her three new nurses. “There are aprons hanging in the nurses’ room. Please put one on and scrub. We need to get the private room ready. We’re going to isolate him.”
“May we ask what your probable diagnosis is?” Miriam looked up from her notes. “Pneumonia?”
“I hope so.” Astrid shook her head. “I know that sounds cruel, but the possible alternatives are . . .” She looked to the nurses for answers.
“Uh, influenza? Uh, what did his lungs sound like?” Corabell Nester stammered but was trying.
“Please don’t say consumption,” Vera Wells added.
“When we have him settled, we will give him a bath. Since we do not have a male orderly, we will have to bathe him . . . uh . . . discreetly. Then you will each take his temperature and listen to his lungs. Nurse Hastings, please continue with the record keeping. We have to have accurate records, but make sure you listen too.” Record keeping was one of the things that too often fell through the not-enough-workers cracks. And one of the duties she often found herself catching up on late at night.
Deborah fixed two buckets of soap and carbolic acid, to be ready for them to wash the bed frame, the table beside the bed, and finally to mop the floor. “This is going to be one fast room preparation. Come on, ladies.”
Astrid returned to the examining room and knocked on the door. “How are you doing?”
“Nearly finished,” Thorliff answered.
“He will be more comfortable with his head higher, so take that padded V frame there in the corner and get him braced against it for now. The room isn’t quite ready.” She paused a moment. “Gentlemen, I have another question. Have you seen him cough up any blood?”
“Not that we know of.”
“Thank you.”
She fetched a stretcher and leaned it against the wall by the door. When it opened and the two men came out, she pointed to it and asked, “Can you please stay long enough to help carry him into the other room? Has he regained consciousness yet?”
“Don’t think he was ever out, just too weak or something to answer. That train ride was mighty tiring. ’Specially when you are sick.”
“Was he sick when you left New York?”
“Not like this,” the other man added.
Good. He can speak English too. Possibly German. But unsure of what accent she was dealing with, she just asked, “What country did you come from?”
“Holland. I have been in this country almost a year. My brother wrote and told me to learn English, so we did as much as we could before we came.”
“You were very wise. Life here will be much easier without a language barrier.”
When the room was ready, she brought her nurses in. “While they hold the stretcher, we are going to lift him over. You know how, correct?”
They nodded and lined up along the table opposite of the stretcher. “Now we will lift and you men slide that under him.” The four women slipped their hands underneath the sheet he was lying on and lifted on the count of three. Even at that, the strain on Corabell’s face was not good.
In the room they repeated the drill, only this time Thorliff helped too, and once their patient was on the bed, she excused the men and thanked them again. Then they set a V frame under the mattress to raise the head and spread a sheet over their patient.
When she saw him trying to say something, Astrid leaned closer.
“Th-thankee,” he strained to say.
“You are welcome. I’m going to make something for you to drink that will soothe your throat. Are you more comfortable?”
He nodded, closing his eyes again.
After all three nurses finished the observation and had him drink the honey, lemon, and whiskey in hot water, they left the room.
“All right, what did you observe?” She nodded to Corabell first.
“His lungs are congested, rattling like pneumonia, but he is not running a high temperature.”
“Anyone notice anything else?”
“His skin color is gray, and his nails are on the blue side. He is not getting enough air.”
; “Good. Anything else?”
“No, but the V frame should help relieve his breathing. We could do percussion on his back to loosen up the congestion in his lungs.” Miriam turned at the sound of the man coughing. “Do you have squares of muslin he can use and possibly a spittoon? That way we could see if there was any blood.”
“And you could ask him about that when he is awake enough.”
“The more fluid he drinks, the more his lungs will loosen too.”
Astrid smiled and nodded at the same time. “Very good. I know you are used to having a doctor who lays down the law, but we do things a bit differently here. Because we are so short-staffed, we work as a team. So you will be called on to help with diagnoses, charting, and treatments of all kinds. There are many old-time treatments that are very effective, and since my mother is an expert in those, we learn from her also. Observation and paying attention to what you sense are critically important.
“For right now, the treatment plan is to force fluids, give him good food to help rebuild his system, and keep him comfortable so he can get well. Any questions?”
The three shook their heads. “Then we will return to my house, where Mrs. Jeffers will most likely have supper ready. And I am sure you are weary enough to drop, so a good night’s sleep will be appreciated. You will not be on call tonight. I was hoping to introduce you to the other Dr. Bjorklund, but we will wait until tomorrow for that.”
I sure hope she feels well enough to help with the classes. The thought of all she had to do made Astrid feel as if she were sinking into a mud pit. In just over a month the two Indian women would be here, and Kaaren would be starting school, so she would not have time to help, as she did with the others.
Thank God Far was doing better, so maybe Mor could help. But she had already taken Manny in and was continuing to work with getting him stronger. There was a limit to Mor’s time and energy.
The other men they had isolated at the school. She would ask Elizabeth to read up on consumption. Perhaps there were some new things that could help more. If that was indeed what they were dealing with.
Amelia Jeffers did have a supper of sliced cheese, bread, salads from the garden, and a dessert of raspberry pie ready for them.
To Everything a Season Page 19