A Harvest of Hope (2 page)

C
HICAGO
, I
LLINOIS

H
ow come God didn't make our mother better? I prayed so hard.”

If only I knew.
But Miriam couldn't tell Truth, her baby sister, that. As their mother had said so frequently,
“God's will be done.”
Instead, Miriam held her close and let her cry. It seemed as if the tears would never stop—for her too. Tonio had taken time off from his job at the railroad for the funeral and burial. Perhaps that was the best way to get through, just keep on working so one did not have time to think.

Besides, she had heard her mother pray to be released from the pain and uselessness. She didn't blame her a bit, but oh, how she, they all, hurt. This was far worse than when their father died those three, or was it four, years ago. She laid her cheek on top of Truth's head and rocked them both.

They had all made it through the funeral and burial without collapsing. The few mourners had gathered in the church after the burial, and several had brought memories of their earlier life, the life before their father died. And now both of their
parents were gone—together again, but leaving their children bereft. That evening they were all gathered in the rooms they called home, if one could call the tenements of Chicago home. But it had been before their mother left. She had been able to make anything a home, just with her presence.

“My job is going real good,” Tonio said as he paced the room. “They say I've been doing a good job, so that's encouraging.” He turned and continued to pace. “We can continue to pay the rent here.”

“I wish I could stay.” Miriam watched her brother, who had become the man of the house in the last year. Having a steady job had made such a difference.

“But you can't, Miriam. You know you signed a contract, and you have to honor that. Mother would not want anything else. She got her wish, to be able to see all of us together again before she died. We've been managing so far, and I don't see any reason to think we can't continue as we have.”

Joy dabbed at her eyes, a continuing action of all of them. “I can get some of the mending done tonight.”

“You are becoming a good seamstress too,” Mercy said. She now did all the mending and sewing for the hospital and brought much of it home. She'd been teaching ten-year-old Joy to help on some of the easier pieces, and even eight-year-old Truth was learning how to sew. Mercy occasionally helped with the evening meal at the hospital too.

Miriam nodded. The plan Mrs. Korsheski had put into place seemed to be working. She looked to Este, who at fourteen seemed to have grown a foot since she'd left for North Dakota. He still could have hidden behind one of the bean poles out in the garden at the hospital, where he spent half of his time. He also worked with the cook in the hospital kitchen.

“I used to bring Mother fresh vegetables from the hospital garden. One day we carried her outside to sit in the shade and watch us working. I wish we had done that more.”

“But she was so weak.” Mercy rolled her lips together. “I wish you could have seen her face, Miriam. She seemed to absorb the sun and glowed. I hope there are gardens for her to enjoy in paradise.”

Este straightened up and gritted his teeth. While his eyes were swimming in tears, they did not fall. He sniffed them back. “Tonio and me, we'll take care of our sisters.”

Miriam thought about her life in Blessing, so different from their life in Chicago as to be almost unbelievable. The clean air, for one. Here, her nose burned from the rank stench of the tenement. Clean houses, green trees, and vast horizon-ending fields, children laughing while they played and people who visited together. The hammering and sawing could not begin to compare with the cacophony of the city. It was like a whisper to a whirlwind.

“How will you keep warm this winter?”

“We can buy coal. And besides, we're not here most of the day, so it will take a lot less.”

Tonio had an answer for everything. Clearly he'd been thinking on the same things she had. Pride in her brothers and sisters edged out the burning grief, or at least dulled it for the moment.

“Will you stay here with us tonight?” Mercy asked.

“Yes.” Nurse Korsheski had given her the guest room at the hospital, since her former room now housed another nursing student. But tonight she'd stay at home with her siblings. “I have a meeting with Nurse Korsheski in the morning and will be speaking to the nursing students in the afternoon. She says if you come at lunch, you can listen if you want.”

“We have school,” Truth reminded her.

“Perhaps you can get out a little early.”

“You can help me in the garden,” Este offered with a grin.

“Or me in the kitchen at dinner. Cook likes little girls a whole lot.” Mercy settled on the floor by Miriam's knees. “Cook really likes you too. She says you're the best nursing student they have ever had.”

Miriam started to refute the comment but decided not to. Cook did her best to take care of all the student nurses and future doctors from that program. Between the two schools, the hospital was well served. Not like the paucity of help in Blessing. If they ever had an accident or epidemic of some kind, that little hospital would be in serious difficulty.

“Tell us more about Blessing.” Truth prodded her sister. “You wrote about a little girl named Inga.”

“She's younger than you are—she's only five—but what a mind that child has. I always thought you asked a lot of questions, but Inga is a never-ending fount of whys and whats. She loves her grandma Ingeborg, and I know she must be crushed that her grandfather died. She spends a lot of time at their house.”

“Her grandma lives on a farm?”

“Yes, and lots of calves were born this summer. She has a little dog named Scooter, and her best friend is Benny, a boy with no legs below his knees. He used to live here in Chicago, but after he was injured, Dr. Bjorklund found a family in Blessing to adopt him. He gets around on a low wagon with wheels.”

“By himself?”

She nodded. “Or the other children pull him.”

“You said there is a school for the deaf there too?”

“There is. I left before all the students returned from summer vacation. But all the children in Blessing know how to talk in sign language. The students from the deaf school go to the regular school during the day once they've learned signing.”

The sun had set while they visited. Mercy and Joy brought out their hand sewing and handed Truth a dish towel to hem.

“I could help, you know,” Miriam said, nudging her sister.

“But you are a guest.”

“I think not.” Miriam felt like she'd stepped back in time, to before she started nursing school, when they'd sit like this. But their mother, when she was healthier, had occupied this chair.
No one ever wasted a moment. There was always more mending to do, or hemming. Their mother and Mercy did most of the sewing on the fine dresses they'd been hired to create.

By the time they went to bed, Miriam in their mother's bed with Truth snuggled up at her side, life in Blessing seemed as far away and as gossamer as the clouds playing hide-and-seek with the moon. Except for a certain young man who had insisted he had fallen in love with her. Could she possibly ever love him in return?

Resolutely she forced herself to concentrate on life here in Chicago and how she could help provide for her brothers and sisters. As the oldest, that was her job.

The next morning, Miriam greeted Mrs. Korsheski right on the mark at nine thirty. “Thank you for making such provisions for my family. I know Mother died in peace, knowing they are provided for.”

“You are welcome. Your mother is missed here too. So often I would find someone sitting by her bed, even ambulatory patients. She had a peace about her. You couldn't pass by her bed or when she was sitting in a chair, which didn't happen too often, without feeling that sense of comfort. I've never seen anything like it.”

Miriam rolled her lips together, sniffed, and blinked. She would not cry again. “Th-thank you. And thank you for bringing me back so I could say good-bye to her. I will never forget those last days we had together.”

“She wanted to see you again so terribly. I would see her staring at the wall, and it was like she'd already had a glimpse of glory. I moved her to a bed where she could look out the window, and it was like I had given her a new life, she was so overjoyed. I often wonder what she saw on that brick wall out there.”

“I think she was living in her memories. She used to tell us stories of her life before coming to this country. How she loved
England and then she fell in love with my father, who was from near London, and he taught her all about gardens. She always had at least one thing growing until she became so weak last year.” Miriam blinked and mopped at her eyes with her handkerchief. “Thank you for reminding me of the good parts. I won't forget your kindness to her.”

“She left a legacy here too. We won't forget her.” Mrs. Korsheski cleared her throat and blinked. “Now, I want a full report on your time in Blessing.” She nodded to a paper in front of her. “I have a list of questions here, so I will go down it.”

Miriam used her handkerchief again and heaved a sigh. “The first thing—student nurses are desperately needed there. With the three of us, that doubled their staff. The two Indian women are not much help yet, and part of our responsibility has been to help train them in simple basics of patient care, along with our regular nursing duties. Dr. Elizabeth is no longer able to be part of the active staff. Due to her health, she has had to assume more clerical duties that she can do from home. Dr. Astrid has put her on bed rest—while not on strict, close to it.”

“And do you know the problem?”

“Dr. Elizabeth is pregnant, and I have a feeling, based solely on my observations, that she had trouble before and has lost several babies.”

“She nearly died giving birth to Inga.”

“I see.” That explained a lot. No wonder everyone was so protective of her.

“Do you know when the baby is due?”

“After the new year—February, I think.” Interesting what one could learn just by paying attention and thinking things through. While no one had laid out all the facts to the students, rumors ran rampant. She watched as Mrs. Korsheski wrote herself a note.

“What do you think would help them the most?”

The question caught Miriam by surprise. She repeated it to herself, shaking her head. “Barring a major crisis . . .” She
started to say they could use a more experienced nurse, but stopped. “I think Dr. Astrid can handle either the teaching or the patients, and maybe the way things are, she won't have to do so much administrative work. But they were strapped having two doctors, and now with just one . . . I know I'm rambling but . . .”

“Ramble on. This is what I want to know—your observations.”

“The biggest problem is surgery. We had a young boy there with a compound fracture, a really bad one, of the femur. Dr. Astrid knew most doctors would have taken the leg off, but she decided to try something unusual. She tried to nail the two bones together. We kept the infection out for a few days, and then we had to go in again and remove the nail and dead bone, so his right leg is shorter than the other. But the leg finally healed, and Manny gets around real well on crutches. We are hoping he can start using just a cane pretty soon.”

“That is quite an accomplishment. I wish Astrid could work in a big hospital where research is going on. She has unusual insight for such a young woman. I'm convinced that someday there will be a way to hold bones in place to heal.”

“She devised a traction device that kept the muscles from contracting and stabilized the bone. Said she'd seen a picture of one.”

“I wonder if we should send one of our final-year residents out there.”

“You know, their only student nurse before the three of us arrived was Annika Nilsson. Annika has since returned home, so it is now only we three. I am certain both doctors would say they need all the help they can get.”

“Astrid told me Annika has an excellent position in Minnesota now, a rural area with limited medical resources, much like Blessing before the hospital was established. How are our other two nurses doing there?”

“You were so right that we'd have new experiences not avail
able here. We are expected to do whatever needs to be done, including scrubbing down a room and disinfecting it when needed by a patient. Or translating. An Irish man was speaking Gaelic, and I know a bit of the language, so I was able to translate for him.” She didn't mention her part in assisting the priest.

“Corabell was on duty when a woman was at the hospital for something else, and her baby decided to come right then. Dr. Astrid got there as Corabell caught the baby and waited while Vera followed the entire routine. And did well.”
Even though she was shaking
for a long time after
.