Outpost Hospital (14 page)

CHAPTER NINETEEN

During the next two weeks the new doctor spent most of his time supervising the building of a small laboratory, using materials and men Mark had meant to use to enlarge the out-patients department. He sometimes helped with the medical work but the bulk of it was still done by Mark and Katherine, assisted by Joseph and Simon. These two, having successfully held the fort while the doctor and nurse were away, now thought nothing was beyond them.

It was obvious that Mark was becoming increasingly uneasy about leaving the hospital in the charge of Dr. Mastingley. Things came to a head when Mark had to go to a neighboring village to attend a patient who was too ill to be moved. Simon went with him and Katherine and Joseph carried on with the usual nursing.

Dr. Mastingley had unpacked his equipment to fit up his laboratory, and had just begun some preliminary tests when a very agitated village woman ran into the hospital crying and moaning.

Katherine got her a chair and brought in Joseph to find out what the trouble was. The only word she could understand was “loketa” and this was repeated several times.

When he had questioned the woman, Joseph said, “The woman says her boy child is ill. She is scared to move him. She wants loketa to see him now.”

“Ask her in what way the child is ill,” Katherine told him. Again Joseph patiently questioned the distressed mother and then said, “The boy has pain in his belly. He’s very sick.”

“It could be any of a number of things, serious or trivial. I’d better get Dr. Mastingley,” said Katherine.

When she went into the laboratory, Dr. Mastingley was holding a test tube over the flame of a burner. He glanced up at her and then went on watching the liquid in the tube.

“Dr. Mastingley, I’m sorry to disturb you but a woman has come to the hospital very upset about her child. He has abdominal pain and is vomiting. Would you go and see him?”

Without taking his eyes off the test tube the doctor replied sharply. “These women get upset too easily! They get hysterical if a child cuts his finger. I can’t leave this experiment. I’ve only just managed to get a start made.”

“But, Doctor, if it’s serious—” said Katherine.

With an exasperated sigh he put the tube in a rack and said impatiently, “He’s eaten something he shouldn’t have eaten
—
that’s all that’s wrong with him. Give him an emetic. Close the door as you go out.”

Katherine hesitated a moment and then quickly returned to the hospital. Putting a few things into a leather bag, she said to Joseph. “You stay here. I’ll go and see what I can do for the child. Dr. Mastingley says it’s not serious, but if Dr. Charlton comes back while I’m away, tell him what has happened and ask him to come and see the child. Now you’d better explain to the mother that the doctor is busy and that she is to take me to her child as quickly as she can.”

As Joseph spoke to her, the woman, who had been moaning quietly began to wail, “Loketa, loketa,” but eventually she calmed a little and led Katherine to a hut in the village.

A small boy lay on the floor whimpering piteously, his knees drawn up to his chest and his arms clasped around them. After a brief examination, Katherine came to the conclusion that Dr. Mastingley was right about the cause of the child’s illness, but she was nervous about treating it on her own.

She bathed the hot little body and then, to her great relief, she heard voices outside the hut. A second later, Mark stooped to allow his big frame through the doorway. He was followed by
Joseph
. Mark’s face was set as he knelt beside the child.

“Ask the mother what the boy’s been eating,” he told Joseph. The African nurse learned that the child had been clutching some berries in his hand when he began to be ill.

Mark nodded and prepared an injection. Twenty minutes later Katherine sponged the boy down again and he fell into a peaceful sleep.

“Tell the mother I’ll look in later, but the child will be all right now,” said Mark to Joseph. Then he ducked through the doorway and walked swiftly to the hospital. Katherine followed him.

When he reached the door of his office he turned to her and said, “Come in a minute, will you, Nurse? Sit down.”

He sat at his table. “Have a cigarette? No? Well you’ll excuse me if I light my pipe, won’t you?” He drew deep on it and then said angrily, “This settles it! I’ve been doubtful about the fellow since I first met him, but now! How can he call himself a doctor?” he demanded, his blue eyes blazing. “He might be a clever man but he’s a damn bad doctor. Even if he was practically certain the child was not seriously ill, he should have gone to make sure, if only to put the poor woman’s mind at rest. It would be the right thing to do anywhere, but here—when it’s so important not to lose the confidence of the people—it’s vital. They have complete faith in us, but if once we let them down we might never regain their trust.” He stopped talking and puffed jerkily at his pipe, a scowl on his face. Then he said more calmly, “You won’t mention this to anyone else, I know, Nurse. I shouldn’t be talking like this about a colleague but I had to, or I would have exploded. I’ve never been so furious in my life. Such stupidity! After the way we’ve worked to get where we are!”

Katherine listened to this tirade, wondering where it would lead. When he started railing about Dr. Mastingley, a hope had sprung in heart. He had said, “This settles it!” Did that mean he had decided to stay? She thought it did, but was afraid to believe it.

“Will you ask the Mission Society to send someone else?” she asked tentatively and held her breath while she waited for his reply.

“No!” he said vehemently. “They might send someone even worse next time. What can they have been thinking of, sending a backroom boy to a place like this?”

“Then
...
you mean you are not going to leave after all, Doctor?”

“No, I’m staying,” he said forcefully. “I’m going to write to the Society and withdraw my resignation. Dr. Mastingley can stay too. I daresay he’ll do valuable work, but I can’t let him cover himself with glory at the expense of my people.”

This was the first time he had talked to Katherine of his work and his patients in this personal protective way. Probably he himself had not realized how deeply attached he had become to the courageous Africans. It was only when he came to the point of leaving Ngombe that he discovered how close he had drawn to them.

“He’s staying, he’s staying, he’s staying!” The words sang in Katherine’s mind and heart. Forcing herself to speak calmly, she said, “I’m glad you’re staying, Doctor.”

“So am I, Nurse,” he replied quietly, “so am I.” And he did look happier than he had for many weeks. The anxious expression had lifted from his face.

Katherine stood up. “I’d better put these things away,” she said, picking up the bag she had taken when she went to see the little village boy.

Mark nodded and smiled. “Very well, Nurse. When you’ve done that go off duty. I have some letters to write. Then I’ll go down to the village to make sure that child is all right and have a look around here. I may be late for supper. Tell Miss Kennedy not to wait for me, will you? These letters may take quite some time.”

Katherine went to her room, washed, then changed into her blue linen dress.

When she went into the living room Andrew was there alone. He got up and came to her. “You’re looking very happy, this evening, Kathie,” he said.

“Don’t I always look happy?” she asked, smiling.

“Not lately. You’ve seemed rather worried. It was because Charlton is leaving, wasn’t it?”

Not for the first time, Katherine wondered uneasily if Andrew had an inkling of her feeling for Mark. But looking at his kind, open face, she was reassured. After all, it was quite natural that she should be concerned about the threatened change of doctors. After a second’s hesitation, she said, “I suppose it was. I didn’t like the idea of working with a new doctor, and Dr. Mastingley is not the right man for the job. But, Andrew—
”
her eyes shone as she told him the good news “—he’s not going. Dr. Charlton, I mean.”

“Not going? But why? What’s happened?”

“Well, you must have noticed that he wasn’t satisfied with Dr. Mastingley,” explained Katherine. “He was doubtful whether he—Dr. Mastingley—would look after the patients properly because he seemed to be more interested in his test tubes and slides. Then, today, a woman came to the hospital and asked for the doctor to go and see her sick child. Dr. Charlton was away visiting and when I asked Dr. Mastingley to go, he refused.”

“He refused to go and see the child? That’s bad.”

“Yes. Though as it turned out the boy wasn’t seriously ill. Dr. Charlton returned in time to treat him. He was furious when he learned what had happened. Now he’s decided to stay.”

“Can he do that? After sending in his resignation and when Dr. Mastingley has been appointed doctor in charge here?”

“Oh, that will be all right. He’s writing to the Mission Society to explain. He says Dr. Mastingley can stay, too, and devote himself to his research. It’s wonderful, isn’t it?”

“I suppose so.” Andrew sounded very doubtful.

“Why, what do you mean, Andrew? Aren’t you glad about it?”

“I mean that it’s a good thing if Charlton is quite sure he’s made the right decision this time and will still think so in a few months from now. It would be unfortunate if he changed his mind again. These people need to know they can rely on us all the time.”

“Oh, Andrew,” said Katherine reproachfully, “You know him better than that. He’s not irresponsible. He was going to leave, I know, but now he’ll be more settled than before. This business has made him realize how important his work is to him.”

Andrew smiled a little. “He’s certainly got a loyal champion in you, my dear.”

Katherine felt her cheeks grow hot. She had defended Mark too forcefully. That was a mistake.

“I admire him very much; he’s a very good doctor,” she said.

“Of course you do, and he is,” Andrew replied gently, “but don’t get admiring him too much or I’ll start to be jealous.”

“Don’t be silly, Andrew,
”
said Katherine rather sharply.

“Hey! No need to get het up. It was only a wee joke.” He was watching her closely and she was painfully aware of her flushed face. She tried to smile.

“I’m sorry, Andrew. I didn’t mean to snap at you:” She put her arms around his neck and laid her hot cheek against his cool one. “I must be tired. Forgive me.”

“Of course, my pet,” he said, kissing her tenderly. As she leaned against him, Katherine thought, “Dear, kind Andrew.” But, involuntarily, came another thought. "Mark is writing to Elizabeth Frayne now, telling her he is staying in Ngombe. Or could he have had second thoughts, after all? When his anger had cooled, had he decided to let his resignation stand and to do as the beautiful Elizabeth wished?

Mark came in a little later and she tried to read the answer in his face. He looked happy and content. That must mean that he was satisfied with his decision to stay in Ngombe; otherwise he would be a little ashamed, as he had been since he agreed to go back to England when Elizabeth Frayne asked him to.

CHAPTER TWENTY

T
he evening meal over, Mary Kennedy, as she often did, retired to her room. Dr. Mastingley who did not seem at all abashed at Mark’s altered plans, went back to his laboratory. Katherine, Mark and Andrew sat at the table, leisurely drinking their coffee.

The flickering light of the oil-lamps softened the harshness and ugliness of the room and its furniture, almost lending it an. appearance of comfort and beauty.

There was silence for a few minutes. Mark pushed away his cup and saucer and put his elbows on the table to rest his chin on his hands. He was wearing a short-sleeved, cream silk shirt, and Katherine noticed how strong and muscular his arms were. Probably few people outside the profession realized how much physical strength a surgeon needed, she reflected. He took a package of cigarettes out of his pocket and handed them around; then he took one himself saying sadly, “I’m down to my last tin of tobacco, so I’ll have to use it sparingly—only at moments of great stress and strain. The cigarettes are running low, too. Let’s hope fresh supplies arrive soon.”

“The boat’s due in a few days,” said Katherine.

Mark nodded. “We are utterly dependent on supplies coming through regularly, aren’t we? It would be disastrous if they ever failed us—and I don’t only mean because I need more tobac
c
o,” he added with a smile.

“Yes, they are our lifeline,” agreed Andrew, “and when you think of the journey that every roll of bandage and bottle of medicine has to make, it’s quite remarkable that we’ve never been let down once. After all, they travel thousands of miles by ship, train, donkey-cart and canoe.”

“We’ve been very lucky,” said Mark. “I thought we’d come unstuck last month when the river was so swollen that the boats couldn’t get here. I don’t know where the men dug up that ramshackle old Ford, or how they managed to drive it all the way from Makurdi through dense undergrowth, forest and mud.”

“I think they pushed it a good part of the way,” answered Andrew. “Your fame has spread far and wide, Charlton, so as soon as it was known that the cases contained medical supplies, you had no shortage of volunteers.”

“It was a great relief to see that muddy old jalopy trundling up to the hospital,” said Mark thoughtfully, “but it’s a risky business; too risky where life and death are concerned. I’ve been wondering if we could obtain the services of a helicopter when conditions are bad. I’ll make some inquiries.”

“That would be grand, wouldn’t it?” Andrew enthused, and Katherine added, “It would be wonderful for bringing seriously ill patients to the hospital too, especially those who live a long way off.”

“Steady on!” laughed Mark. “Don’t let’s get carried away. It’s only an idea at the moment, though it may be a practical one. However, I have something else in mind that will be easier to bring about.”

“What’s that?” asked Andrew.

“Well, now that I’m staying here I want to get to work on a house of my own. Mastingley can share it with me. We’ve trespassed on your hospitality long enough.”

“You’re more than welcome, you know that,” replied the clergyman warmly. “I wish we could offer you more.”

“You’ve done all you could to make us comfortable and I’m grateful, but we do need more space. A single-story building won’t take long to put up.”

As the two men discussed the new project, Katherine was not listening. She had not heard any of the conversation since Mark had said, “Now that I’m
staying ... With
those few words he had lifted a weight from her heart and removed the last stubborn fear that he might have changed his mind again about staying. Now she was content. Content to know that she still loved Mark and always would; accepting that he did not love her and never would; happy that Andrew loved her and that, in a different way from her feeling for Mark, she loved Andrew.

Also she was thinking that Mark’s change of plans meant that his love for Elizabeth Frayne was not as strong as Katherine had supposed.

Then came a less welcome thought. How would Elizabeth Frayne take the news? Would she accept it philosophically and let him go or would she fight back, perhaps even return to Ngombe to try to persuade him again to leave.

On the whole, Katherine did not think the clever and lovely doctor would lower her pride to plead with a man after he had rejected her, nor would she want to risk another defeat. “Hey! Wake up, Kathie!” It was Andrew’s voice that brought her back to reality.

“I’m sorry,” she said, “I was dreaming. What did you say?”

“Charlton wants you to help with the new house,” Andrew told her.

“Oh, yes, of course. I’d like to!” she answered, looking at Mark. He smiled, “Thanks, Nurse. We’ll have to do our shopping from catalogues, but you will know what to choose better than I. I have a few things at home that I’d like to have here. My desk and my books especially.”

Dr. Mastingley came in then, so the other three left the table and Katherine went to find a boy to clear away the coffee things. When she went back into the living room, the two doctors were talking earnestly together.

Andrew got up. “Let’s leave these two medicos to talk shop,” he said to her. “Let’s go out onto the porch, shall we? It’s a nice night.”

Outside, the moon was shining clearly, silvering the river and making deep, black shadows in the forest behind it. The air was fresh and comparatively cool, and Katherine breathed it in gratefully. It was a pleasant change after months of heavy, damp heat. She said, “It’s a beautiful place, especially at night.”

Standing beside her, Andrew nodded, “Yes, it is. Yet, you know, when I first came here and for quite a long time after, I didn’t like it at all. It’s all so very different from Scotland. After miles of open, windswept moorland, the forest seemed to stifle me; but, gradually, I came to appreciate the delights of this country—the magnificent trees, the river with its little islands, the feelings of throbbing life all around.”

“But the beauty of so much of the country does make the other side—the poverty and disease—worse somehow,” said Katherine.

“I know. I’ve often thought that myself, but we can only do our best to relieve the misery, and hope that one day it will be possible to wipe it out altogether.” For a few minutes, they did not speak, then Andrew put his arm around Katherine’s shoulders and said, “Listening to Charlton talking about building a new house and buying furniture and so on reminds me that this place could do with a bit of renovating.”

A bit of renovating! Katherine smiled to herself. It could do with being pulled down and completely rebuilt. The porch railing, which her hand was resting on, felt as if it would break away at a slight push. She said, “Yes, it could stand a little brightening up.”

“Of course, we can’t do much about the house itself, but we can sport some new curtains and rugs. Then, later on, before we are married, we might do something more ambitious—get a few new pieces of furniture, perhaps. There now, aren’t you a lucky lass?”

Katherine rubbed her cheek affectionately against his arm. “Yes, I am. Very lucky, Andrew,” she said softly.

His arm tightened around her. “You’re sweet to say that, Kathie. Most women getting married expect a nice, modern house with electricity and all the labor-saving gadgets. They take them for granted.”

“If those things were important to me, I would not have come to Ngombe, would I? I knew I wouldn’t have them here and I didn’t think it mattered. I still don’t. Anyway, girls who have modern houses and all the rest, don’t have four helpers to do the work. I’d rather have Moses than a vacuum cleaner any day, so stop worrying about it.”

“I will, pet, but we’ll do what we can to cheer this place up.”

Thinking over this conversation as she lay in bed that night, Katherine mused that the lack of modern conveniences was the least of her worries in connection with her marriage. Her biggest worry was Mary Kennedy. Katherine had not liked to ask Andrew whether or not his sister would return to Ngombe after the wedding, but she earnestly hoped that Mary would stay at home in Scotland. All Katherine’s attempts to be friendly with the prickly Scotswoman had been met with a coldness that bordered on rudeness. Indeed, the older woman was hardly polite to anyone except Andrew. If her attitude did not alter, and there seemed no reason to believe it would, then life would be very uncomfortable for the three of them. With Mark and Dr. Mastingley in their own house, it would be even harder to keep up an appearance of normality.

But it was unlikely that Miss Kennedy would want to return to Africa after seeing Scotland again, Katherine thought hopefully. She had never liked Nigeria and had only come out of a sense of duty, in order to run the house for her brother; so surely she would be only too pleased to be relieved of the task.

The flaw in this argument, which Katherine could not hide from herself, was that Mary Kennedy was deeply attached to her brother. Even a solitary creature, such as Mary Kennedy was, might not wish to live thousands of miles from the one person she loved. Katherine felt sorry for her; so lonely and unhappy, but that did not make her any easier to live with.