Fated Memories (16 page)

“Well, for a while you were so delusional that you… um… called Doctor Freeman Richard and… you groped him.” Maggie giggled again. “Did you know that’s really his first name?”

Kitty’s body melted deep into the bed as she buried herself under the blanket. Why couldn’t she have only cursed him out?
Okay, universe, you win. I don’t want to go home anymore. Just let me die right here, right now.

I
n spite of, or as punishment for, her embarrassing gesture, Kitty lived. The diligent nursing care and the gallons of tea helped her body fight off the infection. Just in time, she returned to work at the hospital being careful to avoid Doctor Freeman at all cost. The cold, rain, and food shortages over the winter months kept the clinic hopping and Maggie and Kitty fell into their beds exhausted every night. Aside from the usual nasal miseries and miscellaneous infections, several men suffered from frostbite and trench foot. The sight of these maladies gave the women the skeevies more than any of the battle injuries. They’d even heard stories of men dying in their sleep from the cold. 

Their tent, shored up with logs and mud, stayed cozy with the wood stove and the extra quilts and blankets Carole Brunswick sent them. None of them suffered any more weather afflictions worse than the common cold. And, though they were obviously thinner, at least they didn’t suffer the ravages of malnutrition either.

***

With budding trees and warmer temperatures signaling the advent of spring, the time came for the company to break camp and get ready to move on to another battle campaign. Encouraged by a series of Union victories along the Mississippi, the Union strategists planned to end the war by taking the Confederate Capital. Only the three of them knew for sure that wouldn’t be the case. The company’s new commander, General McClellan, planned to go by ship from Alexandria to Fort Monroe in Maryland. From there they’d advance overland meeting up with reinforcements somewhere close to Richmond for what the brass thought would be the final definitive battle.

For the women, there was only one minor complication. They sat outside mending their sparse wardrobe getting ready for the next journey when Maggie told Kitty the news.

“I’m pregnant.”

“What? Oh my God, Mags, are you sure?” Kitty’s heart stopped for a moment, and she hesitated before gasping her first thought. “It isn’t Leahy’s, is it?”

“Not a chance. That happened way too long ago.”

Thrilled to the bone, Kitty reached over and hugged her with all her might. “That’s such wonderful news. You and Simon will be the best parents in the world. And I’m going to be the greatest aunt in the world. How far along are you?”

“Oh, it’s still early yet, but I’m two weeks late which is weird because I’m never late. You can almost set your watch by my cycles.”

“Well this is a good sign at least. I’m sure Simon must be excited, isn’t he?”

Maggie looked around everywhere except at Kitty’s face. “I haven’t told him yet, he doesn’t know.”

“Oh, but you’re going to, right? I mean you have to tell him. And soon. The regiment is gearing up for another battle.”

Maggie bent to pick up the errant button that had slipped out of her hand. “And that’s the reason I can’t tell him.” She gazed off to where the troops practiced their formations. “We can’t leave the army yet, Kit. We’re not ready and, if I really am pregnant, we need their support.” Her eyes came back to the task at hand and her voice took on a stern, lecturing tone. “I can’t be traipsing around the countryside with no money and no home in that condition. Simon has to stay with his regiment and do whatever is necessary until we’re in a position to leave.” Maggie broke the thread with her teeth, plopped down Simon’s shirt, and plucked the next piece to be mended from the basket.

The words came from the practical Maggie that Kitty loved, but her actions spoke to an underlying anger and frustration.

Maggie’s hands shook so hard Kitty had to help her thread the needle. “And I’m not even sure that this thing is a reality yet. I mean, there are so many reasons why I might be late. Malnutrition for one, we’ve been eating crap for months. Or maybe just this once I’m late.” She took the threaded needle back, calming her voice. “I needed to tell you so we could discuss it, but I can’t tell Simon. He worries about us so much already, especially after what happened when he wasn’t around the last time.” She still shuddered at the memory. “I can’t give him anything else to stress over now. Please, Kitty, promise me you won’t say anything either.”

“All right, no problem, I won’t. This is between the two of you anyway.” Kitty tried to be upbeat to ease her mind. “I’ll just keep my fingers crossed. Aunty Kitty, that sounds awesome. I hope it’s a girl. You can teach her to sew and I can teach her to fight. We’ll spoil the crap out of her.”

Maggie glanced back at the troops. “Yeah, we will.”

***

Three days later the regiment left Langley for Alexandria where they boarded the ship taking them downriver. The cruise was short and, since they all stood the rocking seas without getting sick, they disembarked in good spirits.

“This place is the largest stone fort ever built in the United States.” Simon lectured with pride as their ship arrived. “It was built in the early eighteen hundreds to protect the Hampton Roads and inland water from attack by sea.”

The sprawling complex housed numerous barracks, a balloon airfield, a naval port and a hospital. After being stabilized at the front line of nearby battles the sick and injured Union soldiers and Confederate prisoners wound up at this hospital for treatment. The patient capacity of the main building and the surrounding wings seemed overwhelming to Maggie and Kitty. Nurses here had their work cut out for them. But, after living in tents for so long, even the stark real living quarters they’d seen were like the Waldorf in comparison.

After his briefing, Simon joined Maggie and Kitty on the grass in front of the main building. “So what’s the scoop, Simon, what are we doing?” Kitty asked.

Simon picked a blade of grass, hesitating before giving them the news. “The command told us this is only a staging area, so we’re moving out again tomorrow.” Simon talked faster now, blurting out the rest. “Look guys, don’t get upset, I know you’re used to going wherever our regiment goes, but this time I want you two to stay here where you’ll be better protected. I’m sure the hospital can use your help and this way I won’t be stressed over your safety.”

Kitty’s heart jumped for joy. It would be nice to live indoors for a change. But Maggie’s face went dark and her hands shook. “And you think we won’t be concerned for yours?”

Well aware of what she meant, he grasped at any argument to convince her. “At least you won’t have anyone shooting at you while you’re distracted with worry. Besides, look at the clouds. There’s another storm brewing, and that means more heavy rain. It may be a long, wet slog through muddy roads before we get to Richmond.”

Kitty had been trying to stay quiet and let the two of them talk it out, but she hoped that last statement caught Maggie’s attention the way it caught hers. She’d done enough ‘slogging through the mud,’ and, if this pregnancy turned out to be real, Maggie needed to take better care of herself for the health of the baby.

Maggie paused for a moment before voicing her appeal. “Please Simon, tell me you’ll be careful and not take any unnecessary risks. I lost you once. I couldn’t bear for it to happen again.”

Simon took her hand and brushed her knuckles with his lips. “I love you Maggie McGrail Reiger, and there’s not enough hell fire on this earth to keep me from coming home to you. I just need to know you’re safe.”

Maggie glanced over at Kitty and, for a split second, it seemed as though Maggie might tell him about the possible pregnancy. But she didn’t. Even if they couldn’t go, he had to, and fighting a war was enough of a burden.

***

The women stood in the pouring rain before dawn the next morning, to say farewell to Simon and their friends. Lulu gave them a tearful hug before leaving with her husband. As Kitty turned to say goodbye to John Gruber, he embraced her longer and tighter than the others as he whispered in her ear. “I hope when we return from this battle you’ll let me call on you, Miss Kitty.”

She’d have to check with Maggie later, but it sounded as if he’d just asked her for a date. “Sure, that would be nice. You just be careful and come home safe.”

The bugler called the troops to formation so, after a quick chaste kiss, he ran off to take his place leaving Kitty to stand under the tarp with Maggie for their mutual support.

“What was that all about with you and Gruber?” She asked as Kitty joined her. “He ran off with such a huge smile on his face, if I didn’t know better, I’d swear you promised him more than a hot meal when he came back.”

“I did no such thing. He said he wanted to ‘call on me.’ I think that’s a date, right?”

“Sounds like it. And you said yes, right?”

“I said he could call on me, nothing more.”

“Good for you.”

The drums started their cadence, the pipes and flute their song, and more than a hundred thousand men, horses, and wagons began their march onto Richmond. The women pasted their stock fake smiles of bravery on their faces, and ignoring the heaviness in their hearts, stood under a leaky tarp like drowned rats and waved, what for some would be their last goodbye.

***

Maggie and Kitty had changed into their whites and reported for duty to their new boss. As head nurse and administrator, Mrs. Dickson oversaw the operations of the entire hospital, from budget and supplies to staffing and logistical issues—a formidable job. If appearances meant anything, she no doubt had the skills to handle it. A woman in her mid-to-late forties, she wore her grayish-brown hair parted in the middle and drawn up in a tight bun in the back. Her stern face showed dark, deep-set hooded eyes, thin lips and heavy jowls. A slender woman, tall for her time, she matched Maggie in height and wore a plain black dress with a narrow white collar. The overall effect spoke of no-nonsense efficiency. Maggie and Kitty hurried to keep up as she escorted them to one of the post-op wards. Mrs. Dickson gave them a brief, but firm, rundown of the policies she had instituted concerning discipline and expectations of conduct, then handed them over to the nurse in charge, leaving her to explain their specific duties.

The fast-talking young woman pumped their hands as she introduced herself. “I'm glad to meet you. My name is Rory, we’re so grateful that you’re here to help us. For the most part we've had male attendants looking after our patients, so it's wonderful to see more women around here. Wow, you're really tall, aren't you?”

A dizzying little bundle of energy, Rory had dark hair tucked under a white cap and plain, but not unpleasant, features. She dug through a drawer of linens as she spoke, at last coming up with the goods. “Ah, here they are.” She gave them each the same starched, upside-down cupcake-holder caps she wore, telling them that, as part of their uniform, they had to wear them every day. “Unless your name is as distinctive as mine, we've gotten into the habit of calling each other by our last names as the men do, so what should we call you two?”

Rory had been talking nonstop since they met her, so they waited a beat to be sure she had finished before answering. They'd been Simon's wife and his sister at the other camps, so everyone assumed they had the same last name, but that would be too confusing here. “I'm Kitty Trausch and my sister is Maggie Reiger or if you'd rather...”

“Okay, well there are forty men in this ward, all of them amputees of some sort and needing care.” Rory continued her instruction as she led them down the aisles between the two rows of beds, pointing out specific care duties as they walked. “Every morning we give the men their morphine to ease their pain and check the stump sites for signs of healing. If any of the men develop fevers, we need to tell doctor right away so the soldier can be moved to the isolation ward. So make sure you make an entry in the logbook on what you saw, and if you gave any medication, for the doctor to see. It's good that you're here now to get acquainted, 'cause I expect we'll be getting many more patients once General McClellan reaches Richmond.” That was not a comforting thought. “By then they'll need to move this ward to a bigger room, but for now, here we are. There are supply closets at either end of the ward. The locked one is for linens and bandages and such, and the other for stocks of medicines. You’ll find the quinine, morphine, laudanum and medicinal whiskey in there. Just make sure you knock before entering any of the closets. Any questions? Okay, well I have an appointment now, so Sloan there will help you with anything you need.” And with a rustle of skirts she disappeared.

Maggie and Kitty just stood and stared at each other in stupid disbelief. “What did she say?”

“I'm not sure, but let's start cleaning up this place. It's a mess.”

Sloan, a rather quiet black man, presumably from one of the ‘Colored Units,’ proved invaluable. After he returned with the cleaning supplies they’d requested, he unlocked the linen closet for them. Without hesitation, he started out with the mop and bucket while they opened windows, changed and tidied up each bed. As she went along, introducing herself to each soldier, Kitty found many with wound infections that weren’t being treated. First she checked for a key, and Sloan directed her to the medical supply room at the other end of the ward. As a bizarre twist, she found it unlocked. Was it a sign of the time that blankets were more valuable and more prone to theft than morphine or laudanum?

Armed with several bottles labeled tincture of iodine, and a couple containing morphine, Maggie and Kitty made their rounds. First they administered the morphine, then painted the wounds with the dark red iodine and re-bandaged them with clean dressings. Kitty remembered reading a chapter on using iodine in her research to help her sister, Patty, with a nursing school project. Although an adequate antiseptic, it stings like crazy when applied. Even though they gave a dose of morphine before the treatment, the patients needed an extra little top-off afterwards.