The Sharp Edge of Mercy by Connie Hertzberg Mayo

Author:Connie Hertzberg Mayo
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: General Fiction
Publisher: Heliotrope Books LLC
Published: 2022-04-15T00:00:00+00:00

Though the hospital had many windows, Lillian had been so absorbed in work that she hadn’t looked outside all afternoon, and she was dismayed to find even worse weather than her last trip to Dr. Bauer’s. Not only was it raining, but the wind had picked up and the temperature had dropped since the morning. By the time she rang his bell, Lillian was shivering.

When she removed her dilapidated shoes outside of the study, she realized one reason why she was so cold. She must have stepped in a puddle or two in her haste to get here on time; she could see that both her cotton stockings were soaking wet up nearly to her ankles. She knew she needed new shoes, but a recent review of her finances showed that most weeks she was spending more than she earned. The little nest egg that Michael had given her was dwindling quickly, with much of her salary going to Josephine. And yet she knew Josephine was underpaid. But even if she could get more hours at the hospital, she would need more hours from Josephine. The circularity of her problem was maddening.

And then she thought about the embarrassment she was about to feel going in to see Dr. Bauer. She had not remembered to wear her best stockings, and the ones she pulled out of the drawer while she was rushing this morning had a hole in one foot and a big smudge of dirt on the top of the other. She pulled the stocking with the hole over the top of her foot and scrunched her big toe to hold it. Still shivering, she knocked and entered the study.

Dr. Bauer looked warm and cozy in his chair by the fire, a book in his lap. “Assistant Nurse Dolan, good to see you on such a stormy night!” He smiled. Like a cat with a saucer of cream, Lillian thought. It was unnerving to see him in such an affable mood.

She moved to the chair opposite him by the fire and let the blazing warmth wash over her. Dr. Bauer commenced some weather-related chit chat on which Lillian could barely focus. Between the exquisite heat of the fire and the peculiarity of Dr. Bauer’s mood, it was all she could do to respond with nods and yeses at the appropriate junctures.

Finally, a pause in Dr. Bauer’s stream of words allowed her to ask, “Can we speak of Mrs. Banerjee?”

“Of course, and I know precisely what you want to know.”

“So were you aware —”

“It was pancreatic!” he exclaimed and snapped the book on his lap shut. The sound caused Lillian to jump in her seat. “The mass that I felt in her abdomen was a red herring, a benign—”

“Dr. Bauer, I was meaning to talk to you about her religion.”

He frowned. “Religion?”

She realized that he likely didn’t even know about Mr. Banerjee’s visit to the hospital. She had heard Dr. Bauer was needed at Presbyterian in the afternoon and had left right after his surgical exploration.

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