Darkness

Samuel Duncan

Dare I hope that this yellow fever outbreak is already ending? One death, somewhere around twenty patients, and only five are left here in the infirmary. If this is the end, we got off light. I have heard of outbreaks that last all summer, that infect half the population, that kill dozens of people. I’m not going to get my hopes up too high yet, though. This illness seems to come in waves, so it is possible that another group will start in a day or two. And of course for a week or so after a patient seems to have recovered, one must be attentive to the signs of relapse. I have given each patient very careful instructions as they are released what to watch for, and told them to notify me immediately if they fall ill again.

Although, after watching what happened with Smith, I know that even if they come to me sooner than he did, there might be very little I could do.

I shouldn’t dwell on that either. A physician should be neither unduly optimistic nor pessimistic, should simply take the patients as they come, manage one case at a time, remaining calm and level-headed no matter what comes along.

I think I’ve been doing a pretty good job so far. I have to say, though, that without Gregor’s help, this would have been a lot more difficult to manage. Having the facility, staffed by his crew, was invaluable. And especially having him come and be the nighttime relief worker was what kept me going.

I am still exhausted, though. I might have been able to get a few hours of sleep each night while he tended the patients, but it wasn’t enough, and I have been busy every moment. If I can discharge the rest of these patients, and if no new cases arise, I definitely intend to take a day or two off, try to catch up on my sleep, before getting back to tending my normal patients, in my regular office. Hopefully everyone can wait a few more days to have their minor illnesses and injuries tended to.

The patients have been served lunch by Gregor’s staff, and all seem to be doing all right, so I’m in the little office trying to update the patient charts. I have to close out Smith’s chart, and it makes me sad. I might not have liked the man, but I tried to save the patient.

“It wasn’t your doing.”

I look up, and see Gregor standing in the door of the office, leaning against the doorframe, clearly able to tell what I’m thinking about.

I sigh and push the papers away from me. “No doctor likes to lose a patient,” I say. Then I add, “Thank you for sending the pastor to him. He stayed with him until the end. I’m sure he could sense that he wasn’t alone.”

He nods, probably not wanting to dwell on the patrolman. “How’s it going otherwise?”

“Quite well. Just a few patients left, and if they are still doing all right by dinnertime, I am going to ask them if they’d prefer to stay here overnight once more, or sleep in their own beds tonight. Unless they take a turn for the worse, I think they are about ready to be discharged.”

“Why don’t I go and check in on everybody,” he offers. “You can finish up your paperwork. Then who knows- maybe if they all go home tonight, you can actually do the same and manage to have an entire uninterrupted night of sleep!”

I lean back in my chair. “That’d be living the dream,” I say, with a deliberate tone of hopeless longing in my voice.

He chuckles and moves back towards the patient hallway, and I spend a few more minutes finishing up the notes.

When I’m done I go out to make my rounds, and find Gregor sitting on the side of the bed of one of the patients, an older man who I wanted to keep for observation for another day. The very old and the very young are more vulnerable to complications. Gregor’s hand is on his shoulder, and they are laughing together, despite the fact that this fellow has been mostly silent and morose throughout his stay.

“Heya doc,” he says, “I think I’m about ready to be sprung. Whadya say?” Pretty sure that is more words than I have heard him speak since he arrived. Gregor seems to be putting him in a much better mood.

“Well, let’s see,” I say, moving over to his bed to conduct an examination, while Gregor stands and steps aside to get out of my way.

He murmurs, “I’m going to talk to my crew, I’ll be back in a few minutes, we can talk after you finish your rounds.”

I nod and turn to my patient. It doesn’t take very long, going from room to room, to discover that all five of them seem quite recovered, and every single one of them wishes to go home before dark.

Well then. I move into the parlor to let Gregor’s crew know that we’ll need transportation up to town. Before I get the chance to go into the kitchen where David is probably chatting up Polly, Gregor walks in the front door, a grin on his face, with Ben and two of his other crew members coming in behind him.

Ben is smiling at me, his warm brown eyes sparkling over his beard, and says, “Wagon is waiting outside!”

I smile and shake my head, then turn to Gregor. “You knew, didn’t you?” He had just finished visiting all my patients while I was doing my charts, and apparently indulged my desire to examine them one more time rather than just telling me his opinion that they were all ready to go. I’ve actually come to quite respect Gregor’s medical acumen, his ability to care for patients and bring them comfort, even without any specific experience. He would have made a good doctor.

“Yep.” He gestures to his crew to move into the back, and very quickly Ben and the others are helping the patients move out the door, loading them onto the wagon, and driving them away.

Gregor is standing next to me, hands in pockets, as we both watch the wagon heading up the hill. I turn to him, slightly astonished at how quickly this seems to have wrapped up.

“So,” he tells me, grinning, “can I have my boarding house back now?”

Gregor

Poor Samuel’s head is spinning. He was anticipating at least a week or two of intensive management of the outbreak, rather than the few days that have passed. This was not a normal outbreak, of course. Samuel doesn’t know how much Wolk and I have been able to do during the nighttime hours, how much healing has occurred that would otherwise never have happened. I know that more than Smith would have died.

Wolk assures me that there are no active cases in Natchez, even unreported, so I feel confident enough to insist that Samuel just go home. There is no guarantee that there won’t be more cases, but at least for tonight, the good doctor can rest. “Leave the notes and supplies to sort out tomorrow,” I tell him, “just go get dinner and go to bed. I’ll send Ben along as soon as he’s finished helping deliver the patients home. You’ve earned a good long rest.”

The weariness that he has been staving off through sheer force of willpower seems to descend on him, and his shoulders slump with fatigue, but he smiles. “You too, my friend,” he tells me. “You have been working even harder than me, between the cabin and the infirmary. You get some rest as well.”

I nod and clasp his shoulder, and see him out the door. Alone in the boarding house extension, I look around to see the disarray that has been caused by its use as an infirmary rather than an inn. Medical supplies are piled on shelves and tables, I know that the rooms are disheveled with beds that need sheets to be changed, assorted linens are scattered in the parlor, the office is full of Samuel’s papers, and the kitchen has been in constant use. We can sort it all out before the steamboat comes back. We still have about a week, probably, and assuming there are no more patients, this building can start operating as an inn for steamboat passengers, as intended.

We’ll see.

I go into the kitchen, where Polly and a couple other members of the crew are cleaning up. “Hey folks, great work,” I tell them. “The last of the patients are gone, I have chased Doctor Duncan away to go have a meal and sleep, and I think we’re done here. Go ahead and take tomorrow off, we shouldn’t need a sick duty roster. Starting Monday I want to clean up this place and get it in order before the steamboat arrives, but you have earned a day off tomorrow.”

David grins at Polly. They have manned the infirmary every day since it opened, and their joint management has been quite smooth. They work very well together. I hope they celebrate the success of their efforts in an enjoyable way tonight.

Soon the crew has gone back to the main boarding house, and I am left alone here. Phew. This has been quite a week. I’m ready for a rest myself. My household staff all have tomorrow off since it is Sunday, so maybe Rosalind and I can just enjoy a quiet day alone together with our baby.

I close the door behind me, and go to walk up the hill, heading home again.