Prologue
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
“Nurse Turner, please come to my office when you’re done.”
Evie had her back to the older woman but nodded. She was focused on the porcelain bedpan in her hands. Why did she have to get sick to her stomach?
She sighed and straightened, feeling a little better.
For all her years of nurse’s school and advanced training, she still struggled to overcome her weak stomach.
Since she was just a little girl, Evie had wanted to work with her father, the great Dr. Roman Turner, and she’d been working to become a nurse since she was seventeen.
They spoke of creating a hospital for the poor and friendless, tending to those who couldn’t afford the extravagance of good health.
The entire community of Minneapolis knew about them and their plans.
Unfortunately, no one counted on Evie’s inability to deal with blood and injuries.
Even now as she cleaned out the bedpan, Evie wondered what in the world she was going to do.
On top of everything, she was now going to have to explain herself to Nurse Conway and receive another lecture on being ill-suited for nursing.
She sighed, went to the dirty laundry cart, and disposed of her surgical robe.
How can I be so good at something and so bad at it all at the same time?
That question had haunted her for years.
All this time, she had done whatever she could to hide that she had no stomach for the job.
In the beginning, when much of their schooling had been book learning, it wasn’t hard.
But then came situations like disease and childbirth.
Sadly, even the latter tended to cause Evie a bit of queasiness.
She found that by focusing her attention on the instruments used by the doctor and then the infant, which was generally turned over to the nursing staff, she could manage to get through without vomiting.
But at times when the birth was complicated and the outcome questionable, Evie had to fight against her body to maintain her decorum.
After that came more difficult situations.
Traumas and injuries. Men and women who had suffered multiple wounds from accidents or attacks.
Evie didn’t manage those situations well at all.
She remembered the first time she witnessed a man’s mangled arm after a machinery accident.
She nearly fainted. Thankfully, her supervisor noted her lack of color and moved Evie from the table before she grew worse.
Evie had left the room in shame and promptly lost the contents of her stomach.
She had nearly quit school at that point, but Nurse Conway encouraged her to stay.
Perhaps now she would tell Evie how she regretted that decision.
Making her way to the head nurse’s office, Evie smoothed down the apron on her uniform, then reached up to make sure her cap was straight. She knocked lightly on Nurse Conway’s office door and awaited instruction.
“Come in.”
Evie did and closed the door behind her.
“Take a seat, Evelyn.” Nurse Conway usually addressed her this way when they were alone, but Evie could hear something in her tone that left her uneasy.
She sat in a straight-backed wooden chair opposite the one Nurse Conway occupied. At least she wasn’t behind her desk in a more formal manner. Evie forced a smile and took her seat.
“Are you feeling better?” Nurse Conway asked.
“Yes. Thank you, ma’am.”
For a moment, the older woman just sat there looking at Evie. Her expression was one of compassion. Evie knew she cared a great deal about her students. She was strict and punishing when rules were ignored but equally compassionate and lenient when such actions were deserved.
“Evelyn, I know you’re about to journey home. Have you figured out what you’re going to do?”
Evie shook her head and gazed toward the ceiling.
“No. I’ve prayed and asked for direction, but nothing ever seems to come to me.
The entire city is counting on me taking up a nursing role with my father.
Everyone there is so supportive. I’ve received cards and letters of encouragement, all telling me what a marvelous nurse I will be. ”
“You are a marvelous nurse. You simply have a weak stomach.” Nurse Conway gave a hint of a smile. “Thank God in Heaven for peppermint oil.”
Evie used peppermint oil under her nostrils and sucked on peppermint candies to soothe her stomach during difficult situations, especially surgeries.
As a gifted surgical nurse, she was often requested by doctors who knew her skills.
Without the peppermint, Evie didn’t know how she could have made it through.
“I would have been lost without your suggestions,” she admitted.
“But now the time has come that you’ll return home, and then what? You can hardly fool your father. You have no joy in what you do, even if you are very good at doing it. Evie, you’re going to have to stop lying to yourself and to them.”
“I know. I just don’t know how to face this.
I hate disappointing anyone, but especially my father.
He’s my hero, and I know he’s looking forward to me serving by his side.
We don’t even have that many years left to do so.
He’s already sixty years old and bound to retire before long, if my mother has her way.
Maybe I can just force myself to do the job. ”
“We both know that isn’t the answer, Evelyn.”
Evie nodded and tried not to imagine the look of disappointment that her father would try to hide. He wouldn’t want her to feel bad for this. He would be the first one to tell her that nursing was apparently not the right direction for her.
“They’re all so proud of me.” Evie returned her gaze to Nurse Conway.
“The newspaper wrote articles telling about my progress, and they’d get quotes from my father about his ongoing plans for a charity hospital focused on women and children, since they haven’t been comfortable at the current one.
My father is even now readying the place to receive patients. ”
“There are other nurses, Evelyn.”
“I know. And I know in time Father will be just fine working with someone else. But this has been his dream, and I hate putting an end to it.”
“If he’s half the man you believe him to be, he will manage to overcome his disappointment. He cares a great deal about the destitute and will no doubt put his focus there.”
“I’m just so afraid it will change everything between us.
” That was the very heart of the matter.
Evie feared not her father’s anger, but his disappointment.
She feared he’d stop talking to her about his desires and plans, that once he knew how nursing turned her stomach, he’d see her as less than desired.
Seeing that look of disappointment in his eyes was more than she could bear.
She’d witnessed it once or twice when he was dealing with her twin brother, Evan.
He was far more of a wild card, sometimes really testing the limits set for him.
He’d settled down after a time and now was a practicing lawyer, but there had been moments of concern and frustration, to say the least.
She didn’t want to cause that pain for her father and mother.
“Perhaps you can write them a letter. There’s still time for it to arrive before you do.”
“No. I’m going to give this my best try. I made a promise, not just to my father, but to the entire town. I’m going to do what I can to fulfill that promise.”
“Then I leave you with this.” Nurse Conway got up and retrieved a small wooden box. She handed it to Evie. “It will help for a time.”
Evie noted the stamp on top of the box. “Peppermint oil.” She smiled. “I pray it will.”