The Grantville Gazette - Vol 3 Part 25

"I just gave her four of morphine. She's out like a light. She needs the rest and so do you. When she wakes up tomorrow morning, we're going to have a stubborn patient on our hands." James looked past her to see Hayes coming down the hall withGary and a stack of papers. Hayes lived not that far from Beulah and Mary Pat."Hi Gary, Hayes. Hayes, could I ask a favor? If you're leaving, could you walk Mary Pat home? We just admitted Beulah and MaryPat's a little shaky."

"Wait a minute. I haven't even said I'm leaving. Besides, Hayes, I don't want to bother you."

"No bother.Beulah going to be okay?"

"Bleeding ulcer."Mary Pat steadied her voice with an obvious effort. "If she gets some rest and with treatment she should be okay. James is hoping not to have to operate. She's getting blood and pain meds and she's stable right now. I found her when I got home."

"We'll call you if anything changes with her. I promise. Please get some rest. You know she's going to want to get out of that bed tomorrow and take on the world again."

"I'll be glad to walk you home," said Hayes. "Sorry to hear about Beulah. I'll come in for a visit tomorrow if she's up to it." He nodded to James. "Please tell her I told her to get some rest and hope she gets better soon. Let's go, Mary Pat. I'll see you tomorrow, Gary.Night everybody."

His tone may have been a little abrupt but he looked at Mary Pat with concern and crooked an elbow in an old fas.h.i.+oned gesture that brought a brief, wan smile to her face. "How about I make you something toeat? I'm a great cook and I need to eat anyway."

4.

An hour later, Mary Pat was sitting on the couch in the 1633 equivalent of comfy sweats. The scent of old blood still lingered and it was too cold out to open up the house to air it out. She s.h.i.+vered anyway.

Beulah's blood. She'd cleaned up the mess in the bathroom and was now staring at the phone. It was stupid to be staring at an inanimate object this way. She'd kept finding excuses to come stare at it while she was cleaning.And changing her clothes, too.Which was also stupid. It wasn't like she could will Beulah to get better and the phone not to ring. Hayes' knock on the door came as a relief.

"Hi. Look, I really appreciate you going to so much trouble."

"No trouble.Always nicer to eat with company, especially yours. Where do you want me to set it down?

Hope you like pasta. I've got a standing arrangement with Senior Nasi to have some of the special flour I need and good olive oil brought up with the coffee. Took some doing but it's worth it to have the right ingredients. And pasta dough doesn't take long to whip up. I put up some really great sauce before we went toJena this summer. I can't wait til we get some tomatoes going but a white sauce will do for now.

I've made up the tortellinis so if we can get some water boiling, we'll be ready in a few minutes. There's salad, dressing and bread and some wine to go with it."

"This way to the kitchen, master chef. That sounds perfect and very impressive.Especially the wine. A gla.s.s of that would be very welcome right now."

Dinner and the clean up afterward were surprisingly pleasant. The phone didn't ring and Hayes kindly didn't say anything about how many times she stared at it. He just kept up a light conversation to help distract her. Partway through the second gla.s.s of wine, sometime before1:00 A.M. , she fell asleep curled up in a corner of the couch. She didn't stir when Hayes covered her with the brightly colored crocheted afghan from the back of the couch,then opened the work he'd brought with him. He'd be there for her. Just in case the phone did ring.

5.

It was a conspiracy and they were all in on it. Two days after she'd been admitted, Beulah was convinced of it. The old saying about even paranoids having enemies had a corollary. Your friends can make you paranoid in the first place. It wasn't that she didn't appreciate the attention. She was touched.

Really.

"But if I don't get out of this room soon, Mary Pat, I'm going to scream." "You've been out of this room. Hanna caught you trying to sneak up to your office last night. At this rate, we're going to have to post guards outside your door to keep you in this room. I know a couple of Marines who'd love to volunteer."

"I just wanted to look at a little paperwork."

Mary Pat grinned. "Now I know it's bad. You're eager to do paperwork. And you're still not getting out of this room. I know all the arguments about what you have to do and how much you have to get done.

That still won't get you out of here any faster. The only thing that is going to get you out of here is no more signs of bleeding and no more pain. That won't be for a few days. Deal with it."

She reached into her satchel and pulled out a stack of letters. "These are from home over the last few days. I'm not letting you at anything official that comes into the hospital. I'll be back later tonight. Hayes is bringing over something special for you for supper. He's been consulting medical books and me about what you can have to eat."

"Anything is better than just sitting here. And I'll be sure and tell Hayes thanks when he brings supper.

One of the great mysteries of the universe is how otherwise normal food becomes the dreaded Hospital Food the moment it clears the hospital doors. The phenomena wouldn't dare affect anything Hayes fixes."

6.

Much as she hated to admit they were right, having some time to rest and think was precious. She really needed it. She'd had a couple of days to do nothing but think about the current situation withJena and the need for more modern medical education. The ideas simmering in her brain would mean changing their approach pretty radically.

If Mary Pat had known what was in those letters, she'd have kept them away from Beulah at all costs.

She probably thought they were ordinary correspondence since they came to the house. There were two letters that concerned Beulah. The first letter was from a man named Johannes Schultes or Scultetus in the Latinate version of his name.She knew about him actually because of his work in obstetrics. The Scultetus bandage was still in use. His publications were famous and sometimes infamous, as was the case for his book ill.u.s.trating a Caesarean section surgery,then rarely performed. He was writing to her fromUlm .

She'd had some letters from physicians, mainly over the last year or so. Usually they were asking for specific advice and often wanted to correspond with James or one of the other doctors rather than with her. A few had been willing and able to come to Grantville but they hadn't been willing to do what Balthazar or theJena faculty had done, learn or relearn what they thought they already knew. This letter was different. Schultes was brilliant, comparatively local and his letter reeked of Desperately Want to Learn, Ego Checked at City Limits. She'd hoped that they'd have the courses at least sketched out before outside physicians started coming to them. By now, she shouldn't be surprised that as usual, they were a step behind the need. It had been that way ever since the Ring of Fire.

Looking at the second letter, shethought,make that a step behind in multiple directions. The letter from Debbie Leek contained a not so simple request.Magdeburg was growing at an incredible rate.There was a great need for a more modern medical system. Debbie wanted to be sure that the hospital that they wanted to add had the ability to use or add on up-timer medical technology. That made perfect sense to Beulah. Part of the letter was asking questions about which technology could be incorporated into the new hospital now and which would have to wait another five to ten years for their tech base to get to that point. Beulah could ask some of the people here and have them pull the information together for Debbie.

The second part of the letter was about the need for trained personnel to work in the hospital.Which would be built in the next eighteen months or so. The first part was easy enough to answer.The second, far more problematic. Quite understandably, the Jenaites were already making polite noises about upgrading their facilities inJena . It would benefit them and the students.Which was true. So they'd need even more staff. There had to be a better way of doing this project.

Beulah swung her feet over the side of the bed and used the rail to help pullherself up. She was still pretty woozy even with all the blood and IV fluids she'd been given. She still had an IV line but was otherwise unenc.u.mbered. Poking around in the bedside stand yielded not a sc.r.a.p of paper or even the stub of a pencil. Mary Pat had been thorough but Beulah wasn't ready to give up yet. It was an hour before the aides would be bringing lunch trays. Most of the staff would be busy in patientrooms right about now. If she could just sneak out to the nurses' station, she could find pen and paper and get started on the list for Debbie. She had another idea, too. The fight with Mara may have had something good come out of it. They weren't just putting all their personnel eggs in onebasket, they had all their tech eggs in one basket as well. Leahy. Maybe it was time to change that, although that could lead to one heck of a wrangle. She'd have to think a lot about that and sound out a few people before she brought it up.

She stuffed her feet into her slippers and slid quietly out of bed. There was no dignity in these hospital gowns, or in a woman her age skulking about. But if they caught her, she'd be back in bed with nothing to do but count ceiling tiles. At least the IV pole rolled well. The hospital's floors didn't have carpeting.

She'd made it a few feet past her door when she heard the sound of a fretting child coming from a few doors down. Kid sounded congested.From crying or something else? She changed direction and headed down the hall toward the sound. She almost made it.

"Ahem."

Beulah wasn't sure if the polite throat clearing was from Dean Johann Gerhardt or from Dean Werner Rolfinck. Judging by the folded arms and the frown on Werner's face, it had probably been Johann.

Either way, she was busted.Again.

"I'm going to have to sign up for some special ops training in order to learn proper sneaking technique. I was just going for a little walk when I heard the crying."

"I'll check on the child. Johann, if you'd escort the Professorin back to her room, please?"

"Thanks, both of you. By way of the nurses' station if you don't mind. I was just thinking about you two and needed some pen and paper to jot a few things down."

"I'll get the pen and paper after I see you to your room." Johann gestured courteously but firmly toward her room.

7.

"Beulah, you have got to be nuts!" Mary Pat snapped, hands gripping the arms of the kitchen chair she'd brought into Beulah's living room for this informal meeting.

Beulah looked from Mary Pat to James. He and Johann were in the room's two arm chairs. Werner shared the worn floral pattern couch with her. Mary Pat wasn't through holding forth on Beulah's temporary insanity by a long shot.

"You just got out of hospital a few days ago. Now you want to move toJena ?" Her attention was caught as James stood up and retrieved a leather wallet from his back pocket. He pulled ayankee dollar from it and handed it across to Beulah. "What's going on?"

"I do so admire a man who pays his gambling debts promptly." Beulah graciously acknowledged James before turning back to a confused Mary Pat. "James bet you would wait to hear what I had to say before you freaked about me going toJena ."

Werner chuckled. "And what would he have won if she hadn't, ah, freaked?"

"My Top Secret Family Christmas Ham recipe."

"You must have been sure I'd freak if you were willing to bet that. Okay, you two have gotten my attention. Unveil the great plan." Mary Pat sat back in her chair.

"I've spent the last week with nothing to do really but think. I've thought about what we're trying to do and the things that have happened in the last six months. It was pretty clear that we were going to have to make some changes in our plans. I'm not proposing going toJena for another few weeks. I really can use the rest and it will give me time to figure out what I want to take with me."

Johann nodded. "It would also give me time to catch up with my students inJena and for Werner and the others to catch up with their patients."

"Yes and no," Beulah replied. "I'd like Phillip and half the students to remain here in Grantville. Or maybe go back toJena for a few weeks and then be here the first of the year. I don't know what other plans they have. Phillip, Ernst, and Heinrich are working on trauma and surgery. Mary Pat, you're our trauma and military medical expert. You're the one who can best prepare them for that. They can even accompany you on deployments to see battlefield conditions and our MASH system if you can get clearance for it.

They can also keep learning more surgical techniques from James. Phillip and all the students here can have intensive clinicals and cla.s.s time for, say, three months."

"And the rest of us?"Werner asked.

"You, Willi, Kunz and I will start work on the curriculum inJena . I can also do more teaching of public health content to those like Kunz and Georg who are interested. We can still have Grand Rounds in the clinic inJena . We can also coordinate with the other deans and faculty about some of the courses we'll need from them."

"I still don't like the idea of you being the one to go. If you had any problems, you'd be pretty far fromLeahy." Mary Pat looked uneasy but Beulah could tell she was thinking now, not just reacting protectively.

"That's part of the reason I'm not proposing leaving right away. I'll be here for several weeks and I'll rest up." Seeing the varying degrees of open skepticism on the faces off the other four, she decided to change the topic. "I know it isn't what we'd planned but if we delay opening the revised programs, I think the downside is offset by a couple of things. For one, we all get some of the pressure taken off. We also get more time to prepare and we'll be more ready if we have the curriculum set up and the faculty and med students have a chance to get more up to speed."

"If we switch the students and faculty between here andJena say, the end ofMarch, that would give us the summer to polish up the curriculum." Werner said thoughtfully.

"We should be able to take in more students than we'd originally planned." Beulah said. "That should help offset the delay. I'm also concerned that right now, all of our medical personnel are pretty much here in Grantville. Granted, we have a few elsewhere but not many."

James followed her train of thought immediately. "We aren't at risk of too many battles in the near future here in Grantville but if there is an epidemic, we could be in trouble."

There was silence except for the crackling of the fire for a few moments while everyone thought about the implications of the changes she was proposing. Beulah looked contentedly at the fire. She loved a nice fire on a cold, snowy day like today.

"There's another thing I've been thinking about. We have a very diverse student body, to use the up-time phrase." Beulah took a sip of her coffee, savoring the taste. Although it was very weak, this was the first cup they'd let her have. All her protestations that coffee could be considered a clear liquid too had gotten her precisely nowhere in the hospital. "Let me give you a couple of examples. Fritz is literate and by the time the cla.s.ses start, he'll have completed the LPN training and have a little experience at that level. His formal education before coming to Grantville was fairly minimal though because his family needed him in the bakery."

"Ah. The reverse will be an issue as well for the up-timers," Johann chimed in. "While they have stronger math and science backgrounds than any of us, they will need preparation for our type of university education."

Mary Pat nodded. "We've also got a wide array of experience and education for those who'll be going into the MD and RN programs, not just the fact that some will be up-timers and some down-timers."

Werner nodded as well. "For the medical students and faculty, most of us will need fairly standardized content. We all need to know similar basics. For the incoming students it will be different. If we can get them better prepared now, on, what is the phrase, a more even playing field, then things should go more smoothly and the students will be better able to learn."

"I think this is the best idea I've had in a long time. This will solve a lot of problems. Granted, it isn't what we'd originally planned but this way, we'll be able to enroll a lot more students in the fall and be able to teach them better too."

Chapter Nine.

Early January, 1634

"Here, let me get that." Mary Pat took the sweater from Beulah's hands and folded it herself. "Are you sure this is a good idea? You've only been out of the hospital for a month now. Why don't you sit down a minute?"

Beulah obediently sat on the edge of her bed. Mary Pat was still not too sure about Beulah moving toJena for months on end away from Leahy and James' eagle eye.And hers, of course. If sitting on the bed for a few minutes and letting her help pack eased her mind a bit, Beulah was willing to let her do it.

Mary Pat made one final, rather weak attempt. "I still don't think you should be the one to go. I could go instead. Or maybe Balthazar could go.It's slow season for spies, isn't it?"

"Actually, I thinkit's heavy duty plotting season for spies. I'll be counting on you, Balthazar, Starr and James to get the ones staying here ready, including your three trauma junkies."

Mary Pat reached into Beulah's closet for another sweater to fold and pack. The bright yellow thing was a going away gift from Garnet. Beulah had no idea where she'd found thread dyed that vivid a shade to knit the sweater and matching mittens.Much less the time.

"I have to admit, I was pretty surprise by Dean Gerhardt's idea about the high school cla.s.ses. I wouldn't have thought they'd have gone for something like that," Mary Pat said.

It had been Johann's suggestion that selected faculty and students from the other schools plus half the med school students and Phillip take the basic science and math cla.s.ses at the high school with the high school students. Beulah hadn't been too sure about s.h.i.+fting their problem onto the already busy high school teachers but they'd kept it down enough that there were only three or four more students in each cla.s.s. Some of them were taking junior high cla.s.ses too. They were still hitting the books at night in some adult education style cla.s.ses. Between that and the clinical time, there was barely time for the Jenaites to sleep but it didn't seem to faze them a bit.

They'd figured out who would be enrolled for MD or RN school in the fall and were designing specific plans for each of them to help them prepare. All the texts were going to be translated into English or German. Skipping the Latin had been a compromise for the Jenaites. In exchange, the students would be getting enough astronomy to squeak through any discussion with outsiders but most of the physics would be health related.

"Johann's a very practical sort. I'm looking forward to staying with him and his family inJena ."