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ady jumped on a horse and was on his way.
She fisted her hands at her waist. Well, that was annoying. She shrugged and returned to the infirmary, and began piling up medicines, salves, sewing tools, clean towels, and bandages. In her mind she went over what sort of injuries those involved in an accident—if only she knew what the accident was—would have need of.
Hot clean water was always a necessity, so she hurried to the kitchen and put on large pots of water to boil. She moved Glory and Peter upstairs, putting them both together in a bed in her extra bedchamber since the little boy was no longer at the contagious stage of his influenza.
With no idea what she was facing, she paced the infirmary, waiting. Walter was not with her today since his mother needed his assistance and she allowed him the day off. That left her alone with ten new patients coming from an accident. She broke into a sweat but told herself whatever it was she could handle it. Father would be very disappointed if she fell apart.
About forty-five minutes after the man had hurried from the house, he returned. Noise and confusion reigned as they entered, with some people being helped in, limping and crying, a few carried on a stretcher and one who walked in on his own accord, with a cloth over his eye.
“Please put each patient in a bed and I will meet with them quickly to see who needs help immediately, and who can wait a bit.” As the men carrying in the patients did as she bid, she asked, “Can anyone stay and help?”
“No, ma’am. I’m sorry, but we still have a lot to transport to hospital and the other doctors in town.” It seemed within minutes all the beds were full, wails, groans and complaints raising the noise level.
She checked the closest woman to her who was unconscious. “What happened?” She threw the question out to no one in particular.
One of the men who’d carried in a few people said, “Two trains collided.” He shook his head. “There’s some fatalities.”
Rayne offered up a quick prayer for those who were killed and for those now suffering. The man who originally came into the infirmary tugged on the brim of his hat. “We will be going now, Doctor.”
“Yes. Thank you.” She took a quick look around and fought the urge to run from the place. She was a doctor, and these were people suffering. Even though she was alone, she had to do this.
She ran the back of her hand over her forehead and moved to the next patient. Once her heart settled, she was able to think clearly. As she moved from bed to bed, she wrote down each patient’s name, age, and injuries. As the list grew, she felt better. Organization always calmed her.
“What’s this?” The familiar voice that Rayne had been hearing in her mind for two days rose above the din. She whirled around to see Lord Sterling leaning heavily on his cane as he took in the chaos.
“Oh, thank God you’re here. I need so much help.” She closed her eyes and choked down the tears. If she cried it would only upset the patients and they had enough worries and pain to handle. Even though she was quite certain Edwin didn’t know a bandage from a splint, he was two more hands.
“I am at your service, good doctor.” He made his way over to her. “What has happened?”
She took a deep breath, so grateful for his unexpected appearance. “There was a train accident and from the little information I got, many were injured and,” she lowered her voice, “some were killed. Hospital is full, and I believe most, if not all, doctors in Bath are in this same position.” She waved her hand around.
Edwin nodded, shrugged out of his jacket, and began to roll up his sleeves. “What do you want me to do?”
“I hate to give you the messy job, but all these patients who have cuts and scrapes need to have them cleaned, salve and a bandage put on the minor ones, and a notation if you believe a cut needs sewing up, or if it seems serious.”
Edwin continued to roll up his sleeves as she resumed her examination of one of the patients. “While you do that, I will be checking for broken bones and life-threatening injuries.”
Without another word, Edwin moved to the patient closest to him and spoke with the young man.
Rayne breathed a sigh of relief. Even though he had no medical training, just having someone else with her worked to calm her. She looked up at one point and Edwin was returning to the room. She hadn’t even seen him leave. Too busy to ask where he’d been, she returned to her work.
He dove right in again and continued to speak to the patients. He was apparently using his charm on a few of the ladies who were not seriously injured, but probably upset. A giggle once in a while had Rayne smiling to herself.
“We’re here to help,” Lottie and Addie swept into the room, followed by Pamela.
“What?” She stared at her three friends, each of them moving to a bed to speak with a patient. They each wore a long apron that covered their dresses. Yes. It appeared they had arrived to work.
“I brought Cook with me. She will fix a meal for everyone,” Addie said, totally ignoring Rayne’s stunned expression. Her friend was always an organized, take-charge person.
“How did you… Why are you…?” She fumbled, not sure if she was even making sense.
Addie dipped a linen in a pan of hot water and began cleaning the wound on an older man’s forehead. It was quite a gash and it would require stitching. “Lord Sterling sent word to my home that you were in a bad position and needed all the help you could get. I had heard about the train accident, so I assumed that was what you needed assistance with. I took my carriage to Lottie’s house, then Pamela’s and we are all here to help you.”
“He did that?” She looked over at Edwin who was busy wrapping a bandage around an older woman’s arm.
* * *
Edwin had not been sure if Lady Berkshire would appreciate receiving a note from him. After his major misstep and foolishness with Mrs. Westbrooke, he most likely occupied a prominent position on the ‘dastardly devil’ list for the women who called themselves the Merry Misfits of Bath.
