Winning The Doctor's Heart (Mail-Order Brides of Salvation 3) by Faith Parsons

Author:Faith Parsons [Parsons, Faith]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Sweet & Clean, Texas, Frontier, Small Town, 1890s, Western, Romance, Christian, Historical, Mail-Order Bride, Marriage Of Convenience, Salvation, Forever Love, Bachelor, Single Woman, Series, Doctor, Younger Brother, Secret, Orphan, Tutor, Nursing Scholarship, Destitute, Letter Writing, Pen Pals, Wounded Heart, Diphtheria, Quarantine
Publisher: Faith Persons
Published: 2015-09-10T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter 6

The plague spread quickly. Within days, almost every household in town had at least one afflicted member. The sheriff was quick to notify the railroad company, so that no train stopped at the Salvation’s station. By the end of the week the general store began to run short on supplies. Thankfully, Aunt Beatrice had stocked up on flour, and with the help of other ladies in town, had canned every bit of surplus vegetables from the tiny summer garden in their back yard. But the patients were still getting by on soup, augmented with whatever meals their not-yet-sick relatives brought while visiting.

Daniel soon found himself low on iodine and several tinctures that he didn’t have the ability to make for himself. It was time to start doing triage, treating those who had the best chance of recovery with the remaining supplies, and do what he could to make the rest as comfortable as possible.

He hated this part of being a doctor. He wanted to save everyone.

As bleak as the epidemic had been, it could have been worse. Anne had made the difference. In spite of her obvious exhaustion, she remained steadfast. Feeding the patients who couldn’t feed themselves. Sterilizing his instruments and mixing bowls. Calming the little ones, who missed their parents and woke up frightened in the middle of the night. Even limiting visits from distraught family members, so they didn’t interfere with Daniel’s treatments.

She looked gaunt now due to sleep deprivation and overwork. But beneath her tiredness, there was something else. A kind-heartedness that was determined to alleviate whatever pain she could.

She would have been a worthy wife for Kenneth. Daniel didn’t deserve her. But he took comfort in her presence anyway.

Sighing, he peeled off his last pair of rubber gloves—when train service resumed, he was going to order as many as he could afford—and returned to the clinic waiting room. Anne sat at his desk, hunched over a pile of papers.

She started as he shut the door behind him. “Oh! I was just about to come get you. Look at this.”

He frowned. “You said you were going to get some sleep.”

“Tobacco smoke.”

She’d been pushing herself too hard, and it was his fault for not noticing sooner. He should have been paying more attention. “Anne, tomorrow.”

She picked up a journal and waved it at him. An issue of The British Medical Journal, to be exact. “Tobacco smokers are less likely to contract diphtheria.”

“That’s not exactly—“

“And this.” She picked up a different journal and held it out to him. “A Dr. Koenig claims that when he put tobacco on a live coal and had his patients inhale the smoke several times a day, their recovery rate doubled.”

“Tobacco smoke.” Daniel pinched the bridge of his nose. “That’s not medicine, it’s folklore.”

“You don’t have enough iodine to last beyond tomorrow. What’s the harm in trying?”

“Besides the fact that some of our patients are already having trouble breathing?”

“There could be something in the smoke that kills the contagion.” She shifted from one foot to the other.

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