Chapter 23
Carrie secured the lid on the two-gallon glass jar that now held Eugene Astor’s brain in a mixture of alcohol and water.
She and Dr. Compton would study the organ for some time, doing their best to glean all the secrets and details that would help them further an understanding of this particular brain disease.
She even had plans to write and share the information with those doctors who had seen Astor and diagnosed his condition.
As a physician, she knew they would appreciate further insight into the case.
She put the jar into the icebox that Compton had purchased for such purposes and closed the door. She was more than a little anxious to get started with their research, but she and Dr. Compton had agreed that they would work together, and he’d just been called away to see his dog-bite victim.
Returning to the operating room, as they had designated the second examination room, Carrie went to the covered body of Eugene Astor.
The undertaker was to come for him later in the afternoon, and she wanted to check to make sure he was ready for transport.
She pulled down the sheet and rechecked the head.
Amazingly enough, he didn’t look much different than he had before the surgery.
She had taken great care to stuff newspaper in place of the brain and secure the scalp flap in place with the best of stitching.
Bruce had talked with the undertaker about keeping the fact that Astor’s brain had been removed absolutely hush-hush since many people were highly offended at research that involved the dead.
Various religious orders, including Christianity, had a variety of thoughts on the matter of autopsy and dissection.
Carrie had seen mobs gather at the medical college to argue against dead bodies being studied for scientific purposes.
Often Christians felt it interfered with the proper passing of the soul.
They argued that the body must be left intact for the resurrection of the dead.
Others felt it was simply an abomination and obscene practice.
But how else was a doctor to learn? There was so much they didn’t know about human anatomy.
She felt sad for Astor. He must have lived life constantly looking over his shoulder, more than a little aware that he was a hunted man.
Humans fought hard to stay alive, and Astor was no exception.
He knew that if the Pinkertons caught him, he would most likely hang for his offenses.
After all, he had committed treason in his fraudulent acts.
Still, Carrie couldn’t help but wonder what might have been for all of them had Eugene Astor never taken that first step into illegal activities. Might Astor have done something great with his life? Might he have married and had a family? A hundred questions danced through her thoughts.
Carrie put the sheet back into place and then pushed the table to the far end of the room near the door that would allow the mortuary easy access to the body. After that, she finished cleaning up and then headed home.
Working with the dead man had made her quite reflective of her own life as well as his.
She had worked on many dead bodies during her time in research, but she’d never known any of them personally.
She didn’t know Astor well, but well enough that his passing had affected her more than she’d thought it might.
With his connection to Spencer, Carrie felt that she knew more about this man than she had any other patient.
It seemed strange. In all of her time after graduation, she had worked with very few living patients, and most of them were seen by the nurses first, and only after their particular conditions were assessed to fit the criteria needed had the doctors involved themselves.
Truth was, so much of Carrie’s work had been based on tissue samples and detailed patient intake information, with very little time spent with the people themselves.
She had a feeling that was all going to change now.
The patients she’d had in Cheyenne were mostly women struggling with headaches in varying degrees of severity.
Still, she and Bruce had a very detailed plan for what they hoped to accomplish in the future.
They wanted to become well known for brain studies, and that was going to require new and innovative equipment and living patients.
Working with Astor had rearranged her thinking about brain studies.
She had seen this man gradually give way to his condition.
She had heard the disappointment in his voice at being told she could do nothing for him.
She had observed his deterioration, seen death claim his body firsthand.
But there had been the very real, very human side of Astor as well as the clinical and scientific.
She had known about his past . . . about his regrets.
She knew he had been haunted by his taking of another life.
He had lived a criminal life, but not solely to better himself.
Rather he was devoted to his mother, a woman he had to give up ever being with or risk his own demise.
Both had been made to suffer the absence of the other when all they really longed for was a life lived together.
But in knowing him more intimately, Carrie saw aspects of his condition that pushed her to pursue avenues that she might not otherwise have tried.
She had always been cautioned as a doctor not to allow herself to become emotionally involved with her patients, but there had to be a fine line.
Knowing them more intimately opened doors to learning about behavior and past experiences.
These were the very kinds of things that she felt certain would have great effects on brain disease and trauma.
She glanced once more at the covered body.
Her brief time with Astor had given her a completely different view of ways that she might accomplish her desired purpose.
She was more than a little thankful that she’d allowed Spencer to talk her into marriage in his pursuit of Astor.
She had to shake her head at the way God had so intricately orchestrated her life to bring her full circle—back to Cheyenne.
Everything had changed. She had fallen in love, happy that she hadn’t settled for what Oswald was offering her.
She had grown in understanding of her past and the choices made by her parents.
Carrie had even come to realize that others saw her much differently than she saw herself.
She pulled on her coat and stepped outside into the warm spring air. Glancing heavenward, she smiled.
“Thank You, Father. Thank You for opening my eyes to the truth. I’m so very blessed and grateful for all You’ve done.”
At home, Carrie settled down to her desk to read a medical journal article on Dr. Victor Horsley, an English surgeon who was the first to successfully resect a spinal tumor.
The patient had been an army officer who was in terrible pain.
The man was for all intents and purposes paralyzed and incontinent.
Within a year of the surgery and removal of the tumor, he made an almost complete recovery.
Carrie reread one of the paragraphs several times, realizing that her focus wasn’t at all on the information.
She was still thinking about the brain of Eugene Astor and what they might learn from him.
Carrie put the article aside and glanced at the clock.
It was nearly four, and Spencer would be home in an hour or so.
She should try to figure out something for their supper.
It wasn’t that she couldn’t cook or do the other tasks required of a homemaker, but her heart definitely wasn’t in it.
She would just as soon grab a quick bite and be back to work.
However, Spencer changed all of that for her.
She found herself happy to come home, just at the prospect of seeing him again.
Where thinking constantly of her work had once been her only drive, now her love for Spencer and his company often interfered with that focus.
She wanted to care for him as he cared for her.
She looked at the clock again. Spencer had planned to speak to the Union Pacific officials today about the ledger Astor had given him. Was he there now? Was he worn out from all that had happened? Had things gone well?
He hadn’t gone to bed very early the night before.
She had heard him in the front room. From time to time, he stoked the fire, and sometimes he paced back and forth.
She had almost gone to him several times but always felt something stop her.
He needed to process all that had happened.
He had spent most of his life chasing Eugene Astor.
Now his job was done. He had to be wrestling with his feelings. After all, what was he to do now?
“This is all quite fascinating, Mr. Duval,” the Union Pacific official said, closing the ledger. “We had known there were discrepancies in various areas but never suspected this had been going on for twenty years. Nor that so much money had been taken.”
“Eugene Astor was a brilliant man. Had he used it for good instead of self-serving reasons, he might have been able to truly benefit his fellow man. However, that aside, he wanted me to bring you this and let you know that the money is in an account at the bank. How you proceed from here is up to you. I would suggest you start with his lawyer, Colton Benton. His office is on Eighteenth.” Spencer got to his feet. “I’m just the messenger.”
“Far more than that. There will be a reward coming your way for such an outstanding find.”