The Santa Claus Girl by Patricia P Goodin

Author:Patricia P Goodin [Goodin, Patricia P]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Patricia P Goodin
Published: 2022-07-19T00:00:00+00:00

“So you never got to meet him,” Megan asked as David realized he should have, “the man who wrote the editorial?”

“No, regretfully. You have to remember, I was very young when it was written, and as time went on—”

“Time! What time is it?” Megan asked anxiously.

David looked at his watch and told her it was almost three o’clock. Megan promptly backed up her wheelchair, explained she had to be somewhere, and zoomed like a bat out of hell into the hallway.

David attempted a feeble “Uh, goodbye.”

“That young lady—” Virginia mused and shook her head.

“Megan McGuire, right?” David asked.

“Yes.”

“She had polio?”

Virginia shared with David that Megan did indeed have polio when she was admitted last February, explaining that Megan was paralyzed from the neck down. David wasn’t sure he understood Virginia correctly, and he motioned toward the door with his thumb, asking if Virginia meant that Megan, the teenager who’d just left. Virginia assured him it was that Megan she was talking about and surmised David was somewhat stunned by the young woman’s level of progress. Virginia explained that Megan was fortunate, that in her specific case the nerve damage wasn’t as severe as others and therefore not entirely permanent. Virginia shared with David the news about a young girl who had just been admitted and who was now going through what Megan went through, but whose condition was far worse.

“Worse? What can be worse than paralyzed from the neck down?”

“Her breathing is extremely difficult. She needs a respirator.”

“An iron lung?”

Virginia confirmed the patient needed an iron lung and explained that every respirator in the hospital was already being used. She assured David that the hospital had contacted every other hospital in the area, emphasizing that all hospitals were dealing with more polio cases this year than ever before. She explained that other hospitals were not as well equipped with respirators as New York General, as it was the primary center for polio patients who were critically ill and required treatment in an iron lung. Virginia sensed from the expression on David’s face that her words were getting through to the young reporter, who had stopped taking notes.

“I—I’d read that this was a record year.”

“Close to fifty-eight thousand cases this year alone.”

“Whew.” David exhaled as he sat back in his chair and absorbed the staggering number, feeling a bit small. “But they’re getting close to a vaccine, right?”

Virginia stood up from her desk to get the circulation flowing in her legs and walked toward the window as she told David, “Let’s hope so, but that’s not going to help her today. She needs a respirator.” Virginia looked out of the window to the sidewalk below, watching people come and go toward the hospital entrance. “And she needs it right now,” she whispered to herself. She gave David a moment to process the hard statistics she’d just presented, then turned to return to her desk.

“But that’s not the story you came in for today, is it?”

“Uh, no, but—no—no, it’s fine, but, uh, getting back to the editorial.

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