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Dr. Finch’s office was full of sick people. Five people were in the waiting room when I arrived. All looked like some variation of near death. I wanted to wait outside, but the nurse had me take a seat. She gave me a glass of water and said, “Looks like you could use this. It’s okay, it’s clean.”
Maybe I looked worse than I thought.
It turns out I actually was sicker than I thought. The doctor did not do much of an exam before telling me he was sending me to the hospital. I objected, “All I need is some medicine. My sister is coming with my nieces, and I need to be home when they arrive.”
His matter-of-fact approach made me pay attention. “You do not need to be around your sister. You have advanced stage influenza. We will give you medicine, but most importantly, you need to be with nurses day and night.”
The next thing I remember is going to the hospital in an ambulance. I think the sirens were screaming. Or was it just me? I felt a cloth over my face. It was damp with some foul smelling medicine.
After the best sleep I have ever had, I opened my eyes to see Ethel there. She was sitting beside my bed holding my hand. Tears streamed from my eyes. It was so good to see my sister. Ethel told me I had been mostly asleep for three days. She said, “I started to worry about whether you would wake up. I want to meet this Jonathan fella who keeps bringing flowers every day.”
She gave me a Nash girl’s hug and told me about it. “You sure enough have the flu, little girl. They have been cooling your fever with wet rags, keeping you asleep with medicine, and giving you fresh orange juice with a pill to help with aches and pains. Dr. Finch comes by each morning to check on you. I asked what can be done to make you well. He said, ‘There’s nothing we can do except what we are doing. A strong body can often take care of this—and faith.’ You had me scared! I am glad for you to see me.”
I asked her where Marie and Suzy were and she told me she and the girls had taken a taxi cab to my rooming house from the train station. My friends there told her I was in the hospital. They offered to keep the girls so Ethel could come to the hospital to see me. Ethel was going back to the rooming house at night to be with the girls. I had to laugh when Ethel said my friends had cleaned my room of all the cooties before she and the girls arrived! It’s a good thing I told them my sister and nieces were coming!
Of course, Ethel wanted to talk about Jon. She said, “Mr. Walsh sneaks by to see you every evening and brings these flowers. The nurses say he is as handsome as Clark Gable. He sits by your bed and talks for an hour or so. Yowza! Annie, it looks like you have landed a really good man.”
That made me feel so happy. Ethel and all my friends at the rooming house cared for me. I had no clue Jon would be so attentive, so Ethel’s news was exciting. I asked her what time it was.
Ethel looked at her watch and grinned. She said, “He should be here any minute. I won’t stick around to meet him tonight. I’ll let you two be and go to your place and get it ready for you to come home. But tell him so far I approve of him.”
Early the next morning Dr. Finch checked in on me. “Well, well, Annie. You seemed to have kicked the flu hard! I am glad to see you looking so well.”
He gave me instructions to stay home and rest. He said since my body was still compromised that I should not go to work or be around crowds. He told me to give it a few more days and to keep taking the aspirin, drink plenty of orange juice, and eat when I was hungry. Oh, and to nap at least an hour every day.
I grabbed his hand and squeezed it and said, “I can do that, Doctor. Thank you. Thank you. I feel so well!”
I had time to bathe and get dressed before Ethel came through the door. I was sitting up in bed diving into a bowlful of buttered grits, just like momma used to make. I greeted her with “I am going home today, Sis! I can’t wait to see those girls!”
Ethel admired the giant bouquet of red roses on the night table and asked me to tell her about last night with Prince Charming. I gave her the highlights then smiled like I had a secret and said, “Jon and I both think I must be well. He said I had lots of vitality.” Ethel raised her eyebrows and said, “Does he now? It must have been quite the reunion.”
A weird silence fell over Ethel, then I remembered how it feels to be sad for the want of something you don’t have. I have felt jealous and sad much of the time because I don’t have a children like my sisters. I wondered if Ethel felt that way because Jon is here for me but George is gone.
As if she could read my mind Ethel said, “I am so happy for you, baby sister. You have a really good man around. These are the times I really miss George. When he was killed trying to fix that truck that slipped off the jack and fell on him, I thought I would never be happy again. I remembered that ridiculous children’s book Dianne told me about—The Little Engine that Could. Just like Dianne had to do when she lost Joe, I know I will have to get over losing George, someday somehow. Today is that kind of day—seeing you so happy.”
We left the hospital together, bringing the roses with us. Ethel had delivered the other flowers to people in my ward who had no flowers. A blue car drove up and stopped at the front of the hospital just as we were walking out. “That’s a fine jalopy!” I shouted to the driver. I was admiring the whitewalls and convertible top. The driver stepped out and asked, “Want a ride, dolls?”
“Heck yeah!” Ethel said.
I ran over and planted a kiss on the driver’s luscious lips. Ethel laughed and said, “You better be Jon Walsh!” After a long dreamy kiss, Jon smiled back at Ethel and said, “You are darn right I better be!”
It is not like Ethel to chatter on and on, but she did on the trip home. She talked about the car, Washington, how quickly I got well (according to the doctor), and her daughters. Then she became more like Ethel and said, “Mr. Walsh, you seem like a good guy with a good job, but I have to tell you Annie is really the only sister I have close now, and if you hurt her, I am going to come after you!” Jon and I laughed, but I knew she was dead serious. I loved her for that.
Jon dropped us off at the front door of the boarding house. He told us he would let us settle in but would be back at six o’clock with Chinese food for dinner. As I closed the door to the house, Ethel said, “Chinese food? What the heck?”
“You are gonna love it!” I said. “So will the girls. You eat it with chopsticks.” Ethel just shook her head.
Suzy and Marie were on the couch in the parlor. They ran to me, then stopped a foot away. “Can we hug you, Aunt Annie?” Marie asked, and from Suzy came, “Are you all well now?”
“You are darn tootin’ I’m better, and you must give me hugs! Lots of them!”
They ran in for hugs, and I realized how tall the girls were getting. Of course, the tears came, and I looked at Ethel and said, “Nash girls hug, right here! Come on in, Ethel!”
All four of us sat on the couch and talked about their trip up to Washington on the train, what it was like to sleep in a hospital, all the ladies that live in this house, and everything else the young ones could think of.
Marie changed the subject. “Mom says you have a boyfriend. Can we meet him? He is nice?”
“He is nice, Marie. He may be the nicest man I have ever met. He has an important job in the government. He can be very serious, but also gentle.” Ethel cleared her throat to signal that was enough talk about gentleness.
