A Harvest of Hope by Lauraine Snelling Read Free Book Online Page A

It’s not critical, but she’s needed.”
    â€œI will.” She rushed out the door. “We need to hurry.”
    The two women broke into the half run, half walk they had used for years when a patient needed them. They were both puffing by the time they arrived at the hospital, and Deborah pointed them in the direction of the patient.
    Vera met them at the door. “The bleeding has slowed way down.”
    â€œGood. What have you done?”
    â€œChanged the packing as often as needed. What else is there to do?”
    Astrid headed into the room. “Massage her lower belly. Theafterbirth looked to be intact, but the light was poor there. Does anyone here speak Italian?”
    They all shook their heads.
    â€œAnd she doesn’t speak English. Although her husband does some. I want to know if she carried any other babies to term or lost them early.”
    Vera shook her head. “If only Miriam were here, she could ask those things.”
    â€œShe’ll be back on Sunday,” Deborah Norton said softly.
    There it was again. Deborah knew and Astrid did not. “When did you learn that?”
    Their most experienced nurse hesitated. “Why, I think there was a written message that Mrs. Korsheski had telephoned from Chicago to say Miriam was coming on the Sunday train. I think it is still on the desk.”
    â€œDo you know when it came?”
    â€œEarly this morning, I think.”
    â€œThen how did Trygve know she was coming?”
    Deborah shrugged. “Maybe she wrote to him.”
    â€œAnd we have no idea who took the message?”
    â€œCorabell was on duty. She must have forgotten to mention it in all that was going on this morning. They had a boy in here with projectile vomiting shortly after you left. It was a real mess. He is sleeping in the ward. His mother is with him. Poor woman was up all night with him.” She paused then added before Astrid could ask, “We put him way at the end in case he is contagious.”
    â€œI see.” But all Astrid really saw right now was that an important message had been nearly lost. However, all the patients were as well cared for as possible. Her resolve strengthened. They needed more training for emergencies so that no matter how severe the pressure, no one panicked and forgot what they were to do. Astrid thought back to her experience at the Indian village that had been so decimated by measles. How she had gone from tipi to tipi to see who could possibly be saved and then stipulatedcare. They’d not managed to save all the sick ones, but those who lived would have died without their care. Her father had been there with them. She kept from looking at her mother by sheer will. While that trip sometimes seemed far in the distance, other times it seemed like it had happened last week.
    An epidemic was not beyond possibilities right here in Blessing. Or some other catastrophe. While these thoughts had been racing through her mind, another track focused on the woman with the bleeding. The good old trick of pressure on an artery could stop bleeding, but not in this case. There were several possible vessels involved and located too deep in the abdomen to reach.
    She returned her attention to the patient. Her mother was sitting by the young woman’s bedside, gently washing her face, murmuring softly, and with her came a sense of peace that made even her daughter relax. Color had begun to return to the woman’s face. Ingeborg washed and dried the limp hands and arms, then began on the upper torso, her croon continuing.
    Astrid knew for certain her mother was praying all the time, perhaps singing her favorite Bible verses. All the nurses needed lessons from her mor in how to care for a patient, especially those who were unconscious. She moved silently to the opposite side of the bed and checked her patient’s vitals. Her pulse was fast, which wasn’t surprising with the blood loss. The woman was breathing