Anything Could Happen

[Elegant Ella]

"I'm Ella, or Mrs. Coatsworth, if you want to be formal," replied Ella.  "I'm pleased to meet you, Dr. Griffin.  How are the wounded troopers doing?  I had concerns about whether three of them would survive the trip back to the fort, but I was not equipped to keep any more in a make-shift field hospital." 

[Scarlet Angel]

The Dr.'s cheeks turned slightly red upon realizing his mistake.
"Greg if you don't mind informalities ma'am."

He took a deep breath. "I'm sorry to say one of them didn't make it, the worst of the three. I really don't know if he would have made it anyway regardless of moving him, he was pretty shot up. I suspect one of the bullets hit a lung. One we are watching closely, he slips in and out of conciseness. It will be sometime before the third is off the recovery list but I expect him to return to full duties without any problems."

He reached into his jacket and pulled out an envelope. "Some of the men just wanted to send you a note of thanks." He said as he handed the envelope to Ella.

"This is some place." He said indicating the buildings around him "like your own fort."

[Elegant Ella]

"He had a sucking chest wound when I did triage.  When I got back to him after finishing the survey, I got the bleeding stopped, but had neither the facilities nor time to do major surgery.  I hoped controllling the bleeding and cleaning the wound would be enough, but his chances were pretty slim just from the amount of blood he lost.  The head wound was the most vulnerable to getting further injury from being moved, but again I didn't have the facilities to do anything.  I hope Captain Fields learned something from the experience.  He did not make a favorable first impression.  He did not even ask about the troopers under my care."  Ella accepted the envelope, and tucked it into a pocket for private reading. 

"Yes, it is a lot like a fort," replied Ella briefly, not wanting to discuss the Starr's defences.  "Let me show you the infirmary, and review the charts for the patients with you."  She led the way into the building.  First stop was the small ward, where John Smith and T.J. were in bed.  "Private Smith will go with you back to the fort.  He suffered a chest wound that missed the lung, as well as the same close-range leg wound as all of the troopers.  He was unconscious, probably from blood loss, for a day, but he is gaining strength rapidly.  I've written out the recipe for the tonic I use for patients who need to rebuild blood volume.  T.J. will stay here.  I have removed the bullet that was lodged next to his spine, but he should not move any more than needed until that wound heals."

She pointed to the closed door off the anteroom, "The surgery is there," and headed through the other open door.  "This is the main ward.  It was designed for up to four patients, which is usually plenty for a ranch this size.  As you can see, it is a bit crowded with seven."

Sean called out, "Attention" as Ella and Greg entered the room.  Three other troopers snapped to attention, even Andrews.  The three with broken legs saluted from as erect a posture as they could manage. 

"Thank you, Sean," said Ella, which was the signal for the men to relax.  Andrews tested a moan, but silenced himself after a glare from Sean.   "These four are fit to return to light duty.  Their wounds still need to be bandaged daily, to keep dirt and water out of them.  I would like to keep Sean here to serve as an orderly and help care for the three with broken bones."

Ella noticed that Greg was sniffing the air.  Sean and the other two had done a good job cleaning up this morning.  The windows were open except for the gauze curtains that filtered out most of the ranch dust.  There was some disinfectant odor, and only a faint trace of bedpan, in the air. 

"What do you smell?" she asked. 

"I was trying to tell if you use carbolic acid, according to Lister's recommendations," he answered. 

"I use herbal disinfectants.  They appear to work as well, and smell a lot better," answered Ella.  "Lister has certainly improved the survival of his surgical patients by generous use of carbolic acid, but I think some of the improvement was due to improved cleanliness rather than to virtue specific to carbolic acid.  Any observant housewife knows that a cut suffered during dishwashing or laundry will heal more quickly than a cut suffered in the garden or stable."

She led him from patient to patient, pointing out the features of the traction arrangements that Bill had created to support broken bones.  "If their leg wounds continue healing cleanly, I should be able to put them in casts in another week, which will give them a little mobility, and make it possible for them to return to the fort as well."

[Scarlet Angel]

Greg was obviously impressed by the entire set up, mostly with the woman who was in charge.

"The men were lucky to have someone with your skills tending them.  I was told you were a healer, never expected anything to this extent."

Greg smiled again; he was embarrassed to admit he'd never expected any woman to be as skilled as a doctor, and in charge of what was going on. Maybe he shouldn't be surprised, he'd met Scarlet, never expected any woman to be like that either.

"I'm very impressed." He looked around the room. "This place looks newer, how long have you been here?"

[Elegant Ella]

"According to Grammy, who started training me when I was eight, 'Healer' is a higher calling than 'Doctor', and much higher than 'Surgeon'," replied Ella.  "Of course, she did not say that when her doctor son-in-law could hear!  Grammy was part of a long line of healers, going back to Mohican wisewomen before white men came to America.  Her mother had married a doctor, and Grammy learned from him as well as her mother.  Then Grammy married a doctor, and learned some more, and taught him as well.  I've continued that tradition.  Doctor Coatsworth is a surgeon, currently in Europe studying more."  While she was talking, she had guided Greg to her office, where she had her notes on all the troopers waiting. 

"I came to visit over New Years, and decided to stay when Marshal Ross offered the whole group of us deputy positions.  There was a little infirmary here already, but Johnny offered to build me a new one to my requirements.  Where did you train?"

"Yale Medical School.  I just graduated last year," replied Greg.

Ella was suitably impressed at that.  She knew that Yale was one of the few medical schools in the country that made a serious attempt to emulate the better European medical schools. 

"With a Yale degree, you can go into practice almost anywhere in the country.  Why work for the Army?" she asked. 

[Scarlet Angel]

"With the Army I get a lot of practice, of all kinds, from a scrape to a horse bite, bullets and everything in between." He paused for a long moment "I also felt had there been a good doctor when my older brother was wounded perhaps he would still be alive. The women of your family then have had no formal schooling, just passed the training from one another?" The tone of his voice told Ella he was curious not insulting.

[Elegant Ella]

"Until my generation, there wasn't any formal medical training available to women!  For that matter, until the American Medical Association formed and focussed on consistent training, most 'doctors' in this country got their training by being an apprentice to an older doctor.  And too many of those older doctors still depended on what they had been taught of Aristotle, Galen and Hippocrates as the only sources of knowledge.  Grammy kept notebooks, writing down what she had been told and adding her own observations to it," Ella paused in her rant.  "In what battle was your brother wounded?"

[Scarlet Angel]

"Guess I've been doing a good job showing my ignorance the last few days about women." Greg said apologetically. "My brother was wounded towards the end of the war, April of sixty-five at Amelia Springs in Virginia. I remember traveling to the hospital to see him. Seemed like he hung on until we arrived."

[Elegant Ella]

"I missed that battle," replied Ella.  "I had been sent to Point Lookout prison to care for Confederate prisoners by then.  There had been a fuss in the government about whether prisoners were getting appropriate medical care.  The hospital authorities, who barely had the personnel they needed to care for the wounded Union soldiers, were required to send medical personnel to the prisons.  Being the youngest nurse around, and assumed to therefore be least valuable to the Union cause, I was part of that medical support.  I think I made a difference to those Confererate boys, while my aunt and uncle and Dr. Alan continued to help the Union side." 

Greg protested, "You aren't any older than I am.  How did you get to be part of the War?"

"Grammy died when I was 13, in 1863.  My aunt and uncle were working in the Union hospitals at the time.  They came home for the funeral, and planned to leave me home to continue at school in the care of servants when they returned to war work.  I fussed up a storm and got them to agree to take me with them when they returned to the hospitals.  We got there just before Cold Harbor.  The aftermath of that battle almost made me change my mind and agree to go back, but Daddy always said that 'Stubborn' is my middle name.   I stayed, and nursed the wounded.  Aunt Lena and I kept a lot of soldiers alive that the doctors wrote off.  We sure saw a lot of doctors who thought that a wound from a bullet, being as that was a hot, dry thing, had to be treated with cold, wet dressings because that was the theory of humors they had learned.  I won't amputate a limb.  I say too many arms and legs cut off and tossed into a heap because doctors knew a bullet wound was just going to lead to gangrene.  Of course, the way they treated the wound made sure of that!  Shoulder wounds and body wounds they left to the nurses because their knowledge didn't give them anyway to treat them.  Aunt Lena, Uncle Willard, Doctor Alan and I found out a lot about what worked to treat bullet wounds on the patients that the head doctors ignored.  Actually, Uncle Willard and Doctor Alan learned that Aunt Lena and I knew from Grammy ways to treat wounds that worked just fine for bullet wounds.  Uncle Willard started respecting Grammy's teachings then, even though he had dismissed them as superstition before that."

[Scarlet Angel]

"I requested an assignment where I might come into contact with people who believed in superstitions and wives tales. They fascinate me. Some of the stories are interesting but it was the way they practiced medicine that intrigued me. I kind of figured there had to be something to it or they still wouldn't be spoken of or seen. I am new here and have found the people I hoped to speak with are not fond of talking to me. There was one Mexican lady who told me how to make poisons from herbs. I was very excited to hear one of the people who had patched up the troops was at the Fort, even better when she came in and would speak to me, although I got the feeling Scarlet seemed somewhat guarded when asked where she learned about medicine. I did appreciate very much her suggestion to meet with you though. I would like it if you would compare and discuss treatments with me sometime. The manT.J. for instance, did you do anything different for him than perhaps a surgeon would have done?" 

[Elegant Ella]

"I'll be happy to discuss and compare treatments with you.  Perhaps when the last four troopers are turned over to your care, I will come to the fort for a visit," replied Ella. "Dr. Coatsworth subscribes to several medical journals, both American and European, and we would both read them and then talk about some of the articles over dinner, such as the provocative articles on contagion from Louis Pasteur in Paris and Jacob Henle at Göttingen.  I get some of that type of conversation here, but Doctor McDowell is a chemist instead of a medical doctor.  I've been learning from Scarlet about the herbs native to this area, which are often different from the European and northeastern herbs I was trained to use."

She pulled out the notes on T.J.'s care, not that she needed them to refresh her memory, and handed them to Greg.  "When I got here, Rose and Jimmy had him on the operating table, and were cleaning his wounds.  The immediate problem was that he had lost a lot of blood, so he had an extremely weak pulse.   If only there were a way to safely transfer blood from a healthy person!  We have read about various injections to replace blood, but milk seems totally unsuitable and water sterilized with brandy not much better.   I keep sterile saline on hand in the surgery, to use for irrigating and cleaning wounds.  Dr. McDowell prepares it for me, and sterilizes it in a large pressurized cooker.  I injected two pints of it into his veins, which did strengthen the pulse.  I delayed removing the bullet from his back, partly to see if he was going to survive at all, and partly so I could rest before trying a delicate surgery."

[Scarlet Angel]

"Siphoning blood from one person to another." Greg considered the statement for a moment. "That would be something." He was looking over Ella's notes. "I'm going to enjoy reading these. You would be welcome to borrow some of my books if you found anything you like." He noticed the bouquet of roses on Ella's desk mixed with herbs it made a beautiful display. "I noticed the extensive flower garden. I've heard they use rose hips, rose water and the petals for things from healing scars to preventing scurvy. Do you find that to be true?"

[Elegant Ella]

"Siphoning blood from one person to another has been tried several times, with mixed results.  About half the time, the recipient dies, sometimes painfully.  If the people are closely related, the failure rate is lower, but still unpredictable.  There must be some factors we just don't know about yet.  At least sterile saline can do no harm," replied Ella.  "I have seen that rose hips prevent and cure scurvy as effectively as the limes the British Navy relies on.  I use rosewater in lotions to soothe inflamed eyes and irritated skin, and it is an important ingredient in my ointment to minimize scarring.  I've planted as many of the herbs I use routinely as possible.  There are a few that I cannot get seeds or starts for, like ginseng."   

Ella laughed, "Horses and Roses are Mrs. Longknife's passions.  I am not sure what would happen if one of the horses developed a taste for eating roses.  She and I have a compromise regarding use of her roses.  She puts fresh flowers in the house every day, and I collect yesterday's flowers for medicine and perfume making."

[Scarlet Angel]

Greg chuckled at Ella's comment. "Sounds like a winning situation for everyone. Is it difficult to maintain the garden you do have?"

[Elegant Ella]

"I worried about it over the summer, because of the heat and dryness here.  But on advice from Mrs. Longknife and other gardeners, we built a trellis to give partial shade to the herbs while supporting the vining plants, and Doctor McDowell ran plumbing from the bath house to my garden, so that I can water with the used bath water.  The residual soap is actually beneficial at keeping down some insect pests," replied Ella.  "By the way, there is another patient for you to take back to the fort.  We captured one survivor from the outlaw band when his gun blew up in his hand.  I did basic repair, but he will never regain much use of the hand, even if he does escape hanging."

Greg looked at her, startled by the hardness in her voice, "Why do you want him to hang? and if you want him to hang, why did you treat him at all?"

"He was part of a band that tried to capture me, probably to treat the outlaws who were wounded when First Sergeant King led the counter-attack on the ambush.  The outlaw was aiming at Marshal Ross's back when the gun blew up," replied Ella.  "Denying treatment is counter to the Healer's oath Grammy taught me."

[Scarlet Angel]

"I've seen that. Deny medical attention to the enemy.  The outlaws are lucky you are a lady who stands by your convictions.  From the looks of the men I saw when I rode in they are a hard group." Greg paused for a moment and smiled remembering the orders given the men before they left the fort. "We were briefed before we left the fort this morning once we reached the Southern Starr to STAY on the road to the main house and NOT to show disrespect to anybody there.  I wondered why until I saw some of the men, old hard soldiers, I'm guessing with little tolerance of the Union Army, others cowboys loyal to the brand. At times it is difficult to live among the soldiers and their ideas of how I should do things, what order folks should be treated in and who shouldn't be treated at all. Do you ever get any of that?" He asked curiously.

[Elegant Ella]

"Just from Andrews," replied Ella.  "I threatened to let him wait for treatment until he got back to the fort, so that the doctor there would just cut off his leg instead of treating the wound.  That made him settle down and be polite for about 5 minutes.  I do use the vigor with which patients complain about waiting as a way to identify the ones who can safely wait longer." 

She paused, thinking, then continued.  "Since you are likely to get an earful from Andrews, I might as well tell you more of the story.  The outlaws who ambushed the patrol with the horses had earlier captured two Indian boys who were away from the tribe learning to hunt, in the care of their uncle.  They killed the uncle and gravely injured the older boy, then dumped all three of them with the patrol, after shooting both boys in the leg the same as the troopers.  The younger boy is the son of Miss Valentine's adopted brother, and she is fond of him and his cousin.   Actually, if the boys had not been there, Scarlet would probably have summoned medical care from the fort for the troopers instead of fetching me.  But medical care from the fort would have included people whose first reaction to wounded Indians would be to finish them off."

Greg interrupted, "Not me."

"Not you.  And Fields probably would not finish them off if he thought he would be able to use them to find the tribe's home ground.  I puzzled over why the boys were captured and dumped with the patrol, and over why the patrol was wounded instead of murdered.  I think the goals were to convince the Army that Indians were responsible for the attack on the patrol and to arrange for a relief patrol to run into a party of Indians out hunting for the boys.  That would probably guarantee the beginning of a new Indian war in this area!"

She sighed, "Back to Andrews.  During the night out in the field, the older boy was fevered from his wounds, and Andrews objected to the noise.   I told him he was doomed to suffer what he could not pity, which seemed to give him bad dreams.  Unless that set of gestures and chant from Grammy really did work as a hex.  Andrews has been claiming to be suffering great pain, but I think it is intended as an excuse not to assist the others in the chores I have been assigning.  If he doesn't know I'm in earshot, he talks big and brave."

[Scarlet Angel]

"Fields and Andrews are quite the pair." Greg sighed. "Suggestions to the mind sometimes are very powerful; I will not discount the chant either. Folks believe in prayers of all kinds. I think if a person believes in good they must believe in evil, it's up to the individual what form it takes, how they interpret it. Andrews for instance once got kicked by a horse. Nothing broken, nothing fatal. Bad bruise and I'm sure it was very uncomfortable. To hear him you'd have thought he was marching on a broken leg. I didn't know what to do for him and I got tired of hearing him say what a rotten doctor I was. I'll admit it wasn't nice but I brewed coffee with things I found around the fort stables. I told him it would taste awful but it was a very strong pain killer he shouldn't drink it more than twice a day. Amazing how good he felt." Greg chuckled mischievously.

[Scarlet Angel]

Jimmy was handing the lead line to the string of horses he and Scarlet rounded up when he noticed one of the ranch hands and one of the soldiers bringing back the man he'd called Capt'n.

Capt'n was what Jimmy would consider a coward and a lair but he'd been fairly harmless and quiet since being stuffed in the marshal's cell. But now there was something different, the man's eyes had changed. They were darting back and forth, he knew he was in trouble, eyes of a desperate man. It was the way he looked at Marshal Ross and Rebecca then back to Rebecca and to the weapons of the men who were escorting him that set Jimmy's nerves on end.

Jimmy shoved the rope at the mounted soldier and stepped back. "Chuck!" He yelled at the ranch hand just as Capt'n went for the solider's side arm. The soldier grabbed the gun keeping it holstered. Capt'n spun and grabbed Chuck's sidearm, pulling the hammer back and firing as he unholstered it, sending the bullet into Chuck's thigh.

Jimmy had his pistol unholstered by the time the first shot was fired. "Ross!" He yelled hoping if Ross saw Jimmy's gun sweeping them he would push Rebecca out of the way and away from Capt'n.

His actions did just as Jimmy'd hoped. Tensleep looked at him. It was reflex when he saw the pistol crossing Rebecca's path. He grabbed her "Look out." He said moving her behind him going for his own pistol.

The soldier's pistol had just cleared it's holster when the sound of the second gunshot shattered the air. Capt'n's body collapsed to the ground. The soldier looked down at the body. It lay lifeless, a small stream of blood down the side of his face, a single shot through the man's temple. He looked in the direction where the gunshot had come from. Half the soldiers that had been mounted had dove from their horses. The man who had fired stared at the fallen man with the cold eyes the soldier had seen in killers, waiting for what the soldier was not sure.

"He's dead Sir." The soldier said holstering his own weapon.

Jimmy straightened up and holstered his own gun. Once his gun was holstered everybody who had drawn followed suit.

Someone called for Ella but she had already reached the door to the infirmary followed closely by the Army doctor.

[Scarlet Angel]

Jimmy walked over to Chuck. The soldier stood looking at the dead body.

"You never gave him a chance." The soldier said in disbelief.

Jimmy looked at the boy; musta skipped that age he thought to himself.

"I was a soldier once son. My instructor taught me if I was going to draw my gun I better have the balls to kill the man I'm aiming at because I could bet he would kill me."

The solider looked back down to the body.

"Disparate mans worse than a wounded animal." Jimmy said waiting for Ella to come over and look at the wounded man.