Streams of Mercy by Snelling Lauraine

Author:Snelling, Lauraine [Snelling, Lauraine]
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Tags: FIC027050, Triangles (Interpersonal relations)—Fiction, Mate selection—Fiction, FIC042030, FIC042040, Widows—Fiction, Man-woman relationships—Fiction
ISBN: 9781441229076
Publisher: Baker Publishing Group
Published: 2015-08-28T04:00:00+00:00

Devlin watched Dr. Astrid count the medicine glasses in the dispensary closet.

She turned to him. “Do you think a dozen are enough?”

“Aye, unless, of course, ye happen to have thirteen patients.”

She half smiled, and that pleased him immensely. Lately, she hardly ever smiled. And her face looked so drawn.

He offered, “I raided the kitchen car on the train, and I think we have enough there. They not be marked glasses with which to measure dosage exactly, but they be about the same size. They’ll serve. Use one graduated glass to measure with and the train’s glasses to serve the medicine in. So I suggest ye can dismiss the needs on the train. Yer main concern is to have enough for the hospital, particularly if new patients come in.”

“Not if, Mr. Devlin. When. I am terrified that the disease will spread into the town. So many of our people are vulnerable. And the children . . .” That was not mere worry or concern in her eyes. That was cold fear.

“Mayhap I can go out around town and round up some more.”

“Yes, would you, please? And spoons. We are very low on spoons.”

“How about rubbing alcohol? Miriam mentioned she’s low on alcohol.”

“We’re low on everything.” Dr. Astrid flopped down into a chair. “You have a good idea of our needs and what we have. And you have a better idea of what’s available in the train than we do. Can you go out and find as much as you can for us? Even if we’re not out of something but you think we will be, get more.”

He chuckled. “An Irishman above all is a forager. We be grand at scrounging. I shall do me best.”

“Take the wheelbarrow in our backyard.”

“The very thing! I shall return as rapidly as I can.” He walked out into the sun and fresh air, away from the smell of misery and death. Once upon a time when he was young, he was torn between choosing a life in medicine and the life of a priest. He occasionally regretted the choice he had made, but not today. He would have failed miserably as a doctor. He hadn’t the heart or the stamina for it. This nursing job was bad enough. How those women could be doctors day after day after day, he could not understand.

For one thing, he had a headache. It wasn’t a massive headache such as he very occasionally got, with pounding temples. Just a . . . a . . . O God, no! He crossed himself rapidly. What if he was getting sick? And here he was waltzing about town as if he were the king of Spain. He himself could be the person who triggered Dr. Astrid’s deepest fear by spreading the pestilence out into the town. And yet they desperately needed supplies. He stood there for a moment.

It was probably just an ordinary headache, to which he was frequently prone. But what if . . . Sore throat? No. But that meant nothing—yet.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.