“ Mr. Daquin has had a very serious attack. Heart trouble. Brought on by acute indigestion. We’ve given him a double injection of strychnine and nitroglycerine to speed up his heart action. At first I couldn’t get any heart action even with my stethoscope. Thought he was gone. He’s resting now. Keep him quiet. I’ll be back in an hour or so.”
Mimi felt, as Dr. Adams uttered his crisp, staccato sentences, as though she were a condemned criminal standing before a judge, hearing a terrible sentence pronounced upon her. Jean—her Jean—gentle, uncomplaining, always kind—dangerously ill. It didn’t seem possible.
“I’ll tell Mrs. Adams and Hilda to come over and do what they can to help you,” Dr. Adams promised as he left the house. …
The news of Jean’s illness spread rapidly. Before Mimi and Mrs. Daquin could finish dressing they began to come with offers of help. Mrs. Adams and Hilda were the first. Hilda and Mimi held each other close, all differences melted away by the sadness which had come to Mimi. For a long time now Hilda had known from Carl’s attitude that her