Yankee Mail Order Bride

by Susan Leigh Carlton

  “Yessir,” she said, and hurried down the hall to get Maybell.

  He carried Anna to the wagon and gently laid her on the makeshift bed in the back of the wagon. He helped Beaulah into the bed of the wagon. He shook the reins, and cracked the whip over the horses' heads. He drove them as hard as he dared, trying not to listen to the moans coming from the woman he had come to care for so much.

  Even though he drove the horses hard, it took nearly an hour to travel into Cheyenne. The Catholic Diocese had opened St. Mary's DePaul Hospital in Cheyenne in the past year and it was here he took Anna. He carried her in and asked a nurse wearing a nun’s habit for help. She directed him to a bed in a nearby room, and sent someone for a doctor. He said, “Sister, Doc Williams is our doctor. Can you send someone for him?”

  “I will send for him and our doctor will look at her while we wait.” The nurse took Anna’s temperature. “Her temperature is elevated.” she said to the young doctor that had just walked in.

  “She said her side hurt really bad, before we left the ranch,” Josiah informed the doctor. The doctor palpitated the abdomen, and Anna cried out in pain.

  “I think she has appendicitis,” the doctor said.

  “Think? How can you tell for sure?” Josiah asked.

  “She has the classic symptoms, A fever, abdominal tenderness and rigidity,” answered the doctor. “It needs to come out. If it ruptures, she could die.”

  While he was talking, Doc Williams came rushing in, carrying his battered old black bag. “What is it, doctor?” he asked the young man.

  The young doctor said, “Fever, abdominal tenderness and rigidity. I think it’s appendicitis.”

  “I agree with you,” Doc Williams said, “Will you operate?”

  “Wait. Stop! Doc, I want you to operate. Anna would want that too,” Josiah said.

  “Josiah, this young man is a surgeon. He knows a lot more about this than I do. Anna has a better chance with him doing the cutting.”

  “Doc, are you sure? I can’t lose Anna, Doc. I can’t,” Josiah said on the verge of tears.

  “Then let him do his job. I’ll be in there the whole time. It’s her best chance, Josiah.”

  “Okay, Doc. If you say so,” Josiah said in surrender.

  Two nurses materialized, and draped a blanket over Anna and moved Anna to a stretcher which was then carried down the hall by two men wearing gowns. Josiah started to follow, but was prevented by the doctor. “It’s sterile there and you can’t go back there. Doctor Williams and I will go scrub up and we’ll take care of your wife, Mr..?”

  “Moore, Josiah Moore, doctor,” finished Josiah.

  “One of us will be out to keep you informed, Mr Moore,” the doctor said and moved quickly after the stretcher.

  Josiah went back to where he had left Beulah. “It’s appendicitis, Beulah. They’re going to have to take it out.”

  “Lord help,” she said, “Is she gone be all right?”

  “I’m praying she will, Beulah. She can’t be taken too,” he said.

  One of the nuns came over. “We have a small chapel down the hall here if you feel the need to talk to God,” she said.

  “Thank you, Sister. I do. Will it be all right if she comes too?”

  The nun looked at Josiah strangely and said, “She’s a child of God too isn’t she? Of course she’s welcome.”

  “Thank you, sister. Beulah is one of the family,” he said.

  Two hours after they had taken Anna away, Doc Williams came out. Josiah rushed over to him. “How is she, Doc?”

  “She’s holding on. Josiah, that young doctor has gifted hands. He got to her just in time. Much longer and the appendix would have burst and I think would likely have killed her. It’s like nothing you’ve ever seen in there. Everyone wears a gown, a mask and gloves. He’s very strong about sterilization. It prevents infection and infection kills. I’m going back in there. I want to watch him work. I’ll keep you posted.”

  It was another hour before the weary Doc Williams came back out. “She’s all closed up now. She should be waking up from the ether in half an hour or so. Josiah, she lost the baby. That’s what has taken so long, Jonathon was trying to save the baby, but it wasn’t developed enough to take the trauma. I’m sorry. I know how much this meant to her.”

  Shortly after Doc Williams left, Dr. Cartright came out. “Mr Moore, I’m very sorry. I tried everything I knew to save the baby, but it’s heart had not developed enough to survive the strain. Your wife is still asleep. The nurse will come get you after she wakes up. Unless she develops an infection, I think she will make it. I used carbolic acid to try to give her as much chance as I could. She’s in my prayers and so are you.”

  After the doctor left, Josiah remarked, “He seems like such a gentle man.”

  “That’s probably because he’s also a priest. He had an angel on his shoulder tonight.”

  It was two hours before they took him to see his wife. She was covered in a white blanket pulled to her neck. She looked so pale and weak when he looked at her. He sat by the bed and took her hand. Her eyes fluttered open and she smiled a thin smile. “Hello, honey. Welcome back,” he said. Doc Williams had suggested he not tell her about the baby until she had regained some strength.

  She lightly squeezed his hand, and grimaced. “Hurts,” she muttered. Her eyes drifted closed. A nurse came in to check Anna’s vital signs. She took the temperature and listened to her heart.

  “Her heart sounds strong,” she told Josiah, She lifted the dressing to check for bleeding, and sprinkled carbolic acid on the wound. She smiled at Josiah’s concerned look and said, “Doctor’s orders.” Satisfied, she left the room and Josiah was left alone with his wife. He closed his eyes, and said a silent prayer.

  “I had better go talk to Beulah,” he said to himself. He went out to the room where Beulah sat, alone with her thoughts. “I just saw her, Beulah. She was awake for just a few seconds and went back to sleep. The nurse said she’s going to be doing that for a while. The doctor said if she doesn’t get an infection, he thinks she will make it. Beulah, she lost the baby. The doctor said it was just too small to stand the shock.”

  “Lord, hold her hand,” Beulah prayed.

  “Beulah, I want you to go back to the ranch with Clay and see to Rebecca. Tell her her mother is sick and I’m going to stay with her. Would you have someone bring me some clothes please?”

  “Yes sir, I’ll surely do that. You take care of yourself, Mr Josiah. You got to be strong for her and Rebecca. Don’t you go getting yourself sick,” she said.

  “Come on, I’ll walk you to the livery stable. That’s probably where Clay stayed.” They walked down the hall and out of the building. After they met up with Clay, Josiah went back to the hospital to keep his vigil over his wife.

  CHAPTER 16: A HOSPITAL STAY AND THEN HOME

  Surgical ward…

  Josiah pulled a chair to the side of Anna’s bed, and sat there, holding her hand in his. The room was warm and his eyelids became heavy and slowly drooped closed. A movement startled him awake. Anna’s eyes were open, her lips were dry. She spoke in a scratchy voice, “What happened? Where am I?”

  He squeezed her hand. “You had appendicitis, and you’re in the hospital in Cheyenne. The doctor removed your appendix. He said it was on the verge of rupturing and you likely would have died if it had burst. We were very lucky and getting you here instead of having the doctor come to us probably saved your life.”

  “Can I go home?” she asked.

  “No, the doctor says you will need to stay here for ten days if all goes well and you have no infection.”

  “I can’t stay here ten days, I have to read Rebecca’s bedtime story. I want to go home.”

  A nurse came in and checked her heart rate with a stethoscope and checked her temperature. She asked Josiah to leave the room while she checked the incision. He waited in the hall, observing the actions of the nurses and doctors as they moved in and out of rooms. The nurse fi
nished her inspection and came out of the room.

  “Sister, how is she?” he asked.

  “Her heart sounds fine. The temperature is elevated a bit, but that is common after surgery. Her incision is fine, and has no suppuration or bleeding. I would say she is doing fine,” said the nurse/nun. “We will have her on a soft diet for a few days until all of the anesthetic is out of her system.” She moved around him and continued her rounds.

  The young surgeon came into the room on his morning rounds. He checked her incision and expressed his satisfaction with the healing process.

  Alone again in the room, Josiah found Anna had drifted off to sleep again, a pattern that would continue for several days,

  Josiah took a room at the Inter-Ocean Hotel, and spent his nights there after he was chased from Anna’s room. He took his meals in the cafe next door to the hotel. The rest of the time was spent by the bedside of Anna. The third and fourth day saw more periods of wakefulness.

  On the fourth day, the doctor came in and pronounced his satisfaction with the healing of her incision and told them he felt the big risk of infection was past. He left the room after making some minor changes to her diet.

  Anna asked, “Why has no one said anything about the baby? Is our baby all right?” A stricken look came over Josiah’s face. “What are you not telling me? Josiah, tell me, Josiah Moore. Tell me now.”

  He took her hand. “Honey, you were very sick and had a high fever. Our baby’s heart was not strong enough to survive the strain. We lost our baby. The doctor told me not to tell you until you regained strength. I’m so sorry, I had to keep it from you. They tried for over two hours, but couldn’t save it. It was too early to tell whether it was a boy or girl.”

  She began crying uncontrollably. Tears poured down her cheeks. Josiah leaned on the bed to put his arms around her and hold her close. He didn’t know any words he could use that might console her. He tried, but they wouldn’t come. Tears came instead. The nurse walked into the room. “What happened? Are you in pain?” she asked.

  “She asked about the baby. She knows we lost it,” Josiah said.

  The nurse moved to the bed, she checked Anna’s pulse. She tried to comfort Anna using soft words relating to God’s will. “What kind of will does He have that He would take my baby?” she choked out as her heavy sobbing continued. “I wish you had let me die instead of my baby.”

  The nurse said, “You need to be calm and still before you break open your stitches and hurt yourself.”

  “What difference does it make now? I can’t be hurt more than I have already been. Josiah, I don’t know what I did. I would never have hurt our baby.” Her crying continued. The nurse left the room and returned shortly thereafter.

  She had a small glass containing a liquid solution. “Dear, drink this. It will make you feel better,” she said. Anna drank it down. In short order she fell asleep.

  “What did you give her?” he asked.

  “It was chloral hydrate. She will be asleep for some time. Hopefully, when she awakens, she will be more calm.”

  She slept for several hours. Josiah was still by the bed when she awakened. “Josiah, if you want me to leave I will. You will not want to stay with me after I lost our baby. I don’t know if I can live with it.”

  Doc Williams came in daily to check on her condition. On this day, he found her still sobbing in her wakeful moments. Standing by the bed, he took her hand. “Anna, losing the baby was not your fault. A bad appendix will poison your body. It was killing you. The baby was not strong enough to overcome the poisons. There is nothing you could have done differently. No one knows why some people develop appendicitis and others don’t. It just happens. There is no reason you can’t still have a baby or babies. This is all part of the life God has given us and we have to accept it with all of the trials and tribulations. I want you to concentrate on getting yourself. You still have Rebecca.”

  “Rebecca is his daughter. I wanted our daughter. Was that selfish of me?” She failed to notice the look on Josiah’s face when she renounced Rebecca.

  “I don’t think it was selfish at all. I think it was natural. It can still be. You just have to let it happen.”

  “Will I lose the next one? The one after that? I can’t take that, Doctor,” she said.

  “I think you underestimate yourself, Anna. You are a strong woman and have the ability to have many babies,” said the doctor.

  Josiah came to the hospital after not having come the day before. “I missed you,” a pale and thinner Anna said.

  “I went home to see my daughter,” he said.

  Anna picked up on the coolness in his voice. “How is she,” she asked.

  “She’s fine,” he said.

  “Josiah, what’s wrong?” she asked.

  “”Nothing’s wrong. I just went to see my daughter, that’s all. The doctor says you can leave the hospital tomorrow. I brought the carriage with me. It will give you a smoother trip. I’ll be back in the morning to take you home.” It was the first time he had left without kissing her. He was back at the hospital early the next morning, but they had to wait for the doctor to dismiss her before they could leave.

  The doctor pronounced her sound, imposed some lifting restrictions, and directed them not to resume relations for six weeks. Josiah then went to all of the nurses that had attended Anna and thanked them for their care and attention. The nun who had been her primary nurse talked with Anna for a few minutes and then said. “Vaya con Dios.”

  It was a quiet, somber drive home, with little talk passing between them. Anna went into the house, walking gingerly. Josiah put the carriage away and took care of the horses.

  Both Rebecca and Beulah were overjoyed to see them. She stood, “Welcome home, Miss Anna,” Beulah said. She saw a wan, sad woman in front of her. “Child, you have lost some weight, but my cooking will put it back on in a hurry. You must be wore out after the ride home. Come on, let me put you to bed so you can get some rest.”

  Rebecca followed them into the bedroom. “Are you all well, Mama?”

  “Not yet, honey. I’m not very strong and I can’t pick you up for a while, yet.” She sat on the bed. “I am tired and I think I will take a nap now.”

  In the kitchen, Josiah said to Beulah, “I’m worried about her. She doesn’t have any spark. She doesn’t seem to care or have any interest in anything. She blames herself for losing the baby.”

  “Lordee, that wasn’t her fault. She couldn’t help it.”

  “I know. I’ve told her that, the doctor told her that and so did the nurses. I don’t know what to do…”

  CHAPTER 17: WHAT TO DO

  Three weeks later…

  “Mr Josiah, she just eating enough to keep a bird alive. She’s not doing anything with Rebecca’s music or my reading. I don’t know how long it’s been since she played the piano. Most evenings she don’t even read a bedtime story to Miss Rebecca.”

  “I know, Beulah. It won’t do any good to take her to Doc Williams. He doesn’t know what to do. She just tells me nothing’s wrong. She isn’t even affectionate with me. I’m going to have a long talk with her, and if that doesn’t help, I don’t know what to do.”

  Later that day…

  “Anna, come, let’s take a walk with me, please,” Josiah said.

  “I don’t feel like it, Josiah, maybe some other time, when I feel better.”

  “That’s just the problem. You’re not even trying. You have everyone in the family worrying about you and you don’t even try,” he said.

  She began crying… again. “You don’t understand.”

  “No, I don’t understand. I’m your husband, and I might as well be a snake. A snake would probably get more attention. Rebecca is totally lost. She doesn’t understand what happened to the woman who wanted to be called Mama, and was teaching her to play the piano. The highlight of her day was the bedtime story. Look in the mirror.” He took her arm, pulled her to her feet. “Look at yourself. You are a beautiful woman
and look what you’ve let yourself become. How long has it been since you had a bath? Have you even had one since the hospital?

  “Anna, I love you. I don’t love what you’ve become,” he said.

  “It’s all my fault, Josiah. I have no interest in anything,” she said.

  “Well, you need to snap out of it and at least show signs of trying,” he said.

  “Do you want me to leave?” she asked. “I can go back to Plymouth.”

  “I don’t want you to leave. I want you to be my wife, and my companion. I want you to be Anna.”

  “Josiah, I don’t know how,” she said. “Tell me what to do.”

  “Anna, I can’t tell you what to do. All I can do is tell you to try,” he said.