Die Once Live Twice (9 page)

A week later, Doctor Franklin stopped at Patrick’s bedside and inspected Patrick’s leg. “Nurse O’Reilly said you’d closed the wound in nicely and there is no longer a hole to pack.”

“Doctor, you’ve got to tell me the honest truth,” Patrick said in his officer’s voice. Franklin raised one eyebrow but said nothing. “Will I be a cripple?”

Franklin pursed his lips. “Captain, your leg...The bones are healing, but I suspect they have not aligned perfectly.”

Patrick waited, but the doctor said nothing more. “But I’ll be able to walk, won’t I? Ride a horse? I’ll be able to resume my command, won’t I?”

“That is not up to me. Your commanding officer will make that decision. All I can tell you is that, at six weeks after your injury, your leg is healing as well as can be expected and you can be moved from this hospital. Tomorrow I am sending you to the Rehabilitation Hospital in Washington.”

Patrick felt a moment of panic. He was not going home. “I want to go home to Philadelphia to recover, Doc.”

“I know that. Nurse O’Reilly told me. But she is being transferred to Washington and she wants to oversee your recovery.”

“Oh.” He suddenly felt uncomfortable. In Philadelphia he would be with Katherine every day, waited on by the household. But in Washington... He tried to remember what Katherine’s body felt like, but all he could think of was Patricia’s ample breasts. Two nights before, she had come very late, when all the others were in an alcoholic slumber. She pinched off the candles around his bed and reached across him to bathe his far shoulder. She wore no apron and had unbuttoned three of the front buttons of her bodice, so that when she leaned over him, her breast spilled out and her nipple filled his mouth. As he squeezed her breast and sucked on her hungrily, she inhaled sharply and held her breath, then shuddered. It was but a minute before Patrick climaxed as well.

After all, Katherine would never know, and it is just six weeks more.
“When did you say I go?”

“Tomorrow.”

Chapter Eight

“B
e sure you stay within Campbell Hospital grounds, Miss Lovington,” the soldier warned Katherine as he helped her into the carriage to take her to the hospital. “There is a cholera outbreak at Armory Hospital—twenty-five men sick and ten dead so far. We have quarantined that hospital, but these men came in from the field so it’s possible a contaminated patient was admitted. Captain Sullivan is in the officers’ ward, which gives a measure of safety.”

“The cholera and typhoid at Pennsylvania Hospital have killed more soldiers than injury,” Katherine responded. “All the water is boiled now. Do you do that here?”

He shook his head. “Too many hospitals, too many new sick each day.”

As they bounced their way through the crowded, dusty roads towards the center of town, Katherine was shocked to see that the city appeared to be one large infirmary. Every street corner, every alley, every church and every other available building was thick with hospital carts. Old men in white tunics and young boys in blood-stained trousers hauled litters to and fro. The natural perfume of trees, grass, and rivers was hidden beneath the stench of fouled water and the smoke from wood fires. Katherine’s eyes welled from the hazy layer of fumes as they ventured deeper into the city.

When they arrived at Campbell, the adjunct delivered Katherine to the chief nurse in the Administration Building. “I will meet you here at five o’clock to transport you to the Willard Hotel,” the soldier said. “If I have your schedule correct, you leave on the nine o’clock Army train to Philadelphia in three days?”

“Yes. I will see you tonight at five. Thank you.”

The chief nurse escorted Katherine to the officer’s ward where Patrick was housed. “The general wards are these four buildings that extend out from the Administration Building,” she explained as they walked. “The officers’ ward, though, is separate.” The chief nurse handed off Katherine to a young red-haired woman in a nurse’s uniform and bonnet in the doorway of Patrick’s ward. “May I help you?” Patricia asked.

“Yes,” Katherine answered, surprised to hear a slight drawl in her voice. “I was told I could find Captain Patrick Sullivan here. I’m his fiancée.”

“Oh, my. You must be Miss Lovington. I’ve heard so much about you from the good captain. Please allow me to take you in.”

There were fifty or so beds in the sunlit room, with four large windows along one wall. Loud complaints were noticeably absent—due to the laudanum, she knew, and the whiskey. Suddenly Katherine saw him. He was thin, sallow, almost unrecognizable, but she would have known him if he had become a wraith. The tears she had held off all morning trailed down her cheeks as she rushed to the tiny metal-frame bed. Clasping his hand in both of hers she leaned over to place her cheek against his bearded face to wake him up.

Patrick awoke with a start. Jerking his hand free of Katherine’s grasp, his whole body shifted, causing his traction unit to shake at the end of the bed. He yelped in surprise. Patricia leaned over to him, “Captain, you’re fine. You have a very special visitor. Look!”

Patrick focused on Katherine’s face. “Katherine? Is it....?”

“Yes, Patrick. It’s me!” Katherine leaned to him again, hugging his upper body. Speechless, she held him tightly and then kissed him passionately on his lips. It was six months since they had been together at his father’s funeral. They had spent a week together, making love every night. She was actually surprised she hadn’t gotten pregnant, despite her precautions.

Katherine took his hand, smiling with real joy at being with him. “Well, having seen the other barracks, I must say this is nicer,” Katherine said.

“Yes.” He gazed lovingly at her, then looked away. “It is not so bad, sometimes.”

“Did the Army let you know I was coming?”

“They told me, and I have told everyone you were coming.” Suddenly they became aware of all the nearby patients looking at them. “All my roommates have been waiting to see you. You see, everyone,” he yelled out. “She’s here. I told you how beautiful she is.” There was a chorus of “Pleased to meet you” and then the men all joined in shouting, “Hip, Hip, Hooray” to Katherine.

She turned red slightly, but then smiled and said to Patrick, “I guess I should be flattered. That is, I am. I can see how proud you are of me.”

“We all can attest to that, ma’am,” Abel said heartily. “We can’t get him to stop talking about you.”

Patrick looked questioningly and then said, “Katherine Lovington, this is Abel Johnson. He lost an arm in the Wilderness, but he doesn’t let it get him down.”

“Yep, I’m still able,” Abel said, and looked steadily at Katherine.

Katherine, realizing something was expected of her, turned to Patrick for help. “Yes, our Abel is still able,” Patrick said, and laughed a little too heartily. Katherine’s mouth made a little
O
and she laughed, too. Patrick nodded at Abel and saluted. “That will be all for now, lieutenant.” Abel saluted and lay back.

Patrick turned to Katherine, looking serious. “I am thrilled you are here, but your traveling worries me. You shouldn’t be traveling in this part of the country. The rebels have been retreating south after being routed at Gettysburg. They are taking it out on anyone they can find. Especially women. It’s disgusting what they do. And that’s before they kill them. Some are horribly maimed.”

“I was safe, Patrick. I came here in a military train and I’m being escorted in the city by the Army. You know our company is making uniforms and essentially giving them to the Army, so they show us every courtesy. They told me this was the best hospital for you and arranged almost private nursing for you. Is your care good?”

“Oh yes, oh yes,” Patrick said hurriedly. “The best.” He looked nervous for a minute and then quickly said, “Your trip was okay, then?”

“I couldn’t wait any longer to see you. Letters just aren’t enough.” She raised her head and looked him in the eye. “I’ve missed you every second of every minute for six months.”

Patrick relaxed and a smile etched his sunken face. The jut of his handsome jaw returned. Katherine guessed that he had lost at least twenty pounds since she had last seen him and his customary vigor seemed drained out of him. “I’m primarily worried about your well-being, my darling,” she went on. “I have confidence you’ll heal from the gunshot wound, but there’s a cholera outbreak in the city and that’s more dangerous. Do not drink any water that is not boiled.”

“I don’t think we boil water. Why do that?”

“It kills the germination of cholera and typhoid. We do it at Penn Hospital. These diseases kill more soldiers than guns. I’m going to tell your nurse to boil all the water for this ward. I’m here for three days so I’ll be sure they make that change.”

“I’m sure Patricia will do it.”

“Patricia?”

Patrick frowned again. “Oh, yes. The nurse who brought you to me. She’s been...very helpful. You can’t know what it’s like, being here day after day.”

Katherine squared her shoulders and raised her head. “I’m sure I can do a better job of taking care of you than she. We need to take you out of here.”

He reached over and held Katherine’s hand. “Tell me about the business. Are you getting cotton for the mills?”

“Yes, there is cotton available. The South has to sell their cotton to pay for the war. So we buy their cotton and make uniforms for their enemy! The South is beat now. Gettysburg was the crucial victory for us. I don’t know how long they will hold on, but we will win.”

Katherine continued with her description of the state of Donovan & Sullivan for long minutes. Arthur Hampton, the firm’s attorney, was the face of the company now that Jeffrey Sullivan was dead and her grandfather was incapacitated from cancer, which had spread throughout his body. She was included in all decisions by Arthur, who sat on the Board, so that the men of Philadelphia and New York did not know that they were dealing with a woman.

“I hope the war is over soon,” she said. “It’s so disruptive. Look at the mess this city, our Capitol, is in. I’ve asked Arthur if there is anything we can do about it, but he says it’s not our responsibility and we have enough on our plate already. I want you to help me,” she said earnestly.

Patrick’s eyes focused suddenly. “Help you with...”

“Help me convince Arthur to do something about all the deprivation.”

“Who’s Arthur?”

Katherine looked confused for a second and then brightened. “Oh my, I’m sure I’m tiring you out. And you don’t need to hear everything about the business right away. We’ll talk about it later.”

Patrick suddenly grasped her hands with almost as much force as he used to have and looked at her with frightening intensity. “Katherine, I can come home in a month. I may... may not be able to walk quite properly. They won’t tell me if I’ll walk normally. I think I’m done with the Army. I don’t think they want me with only one good leg. But I want to come home with you anyway.” His eyes pleaded with Katherine.

“I’m already preparing—”

“I may be a goddamned cripple,” he whispered fiercely.

“Patrick, you
will
be my husband,” she replied, equally emphatic. “Whatever you are, whoever you become, you will be mine and I will be yours.”

He gazed at her, almost with awe. “You will? Really, you will?”

“Yes, my love.” She smiled widely, her eyes shining.

He pulled her back to him and they kissed passionately while his roommates applauded. “It was as good as it looked,” Patrick hollered out.

“I’ll tell you more, Patrick Sullivan,” Katherine said, still hugging him with her mouth near his ear. “I have our wedding planned for Christmas week. We will celebrate the Lord’s birth and the birth of our marriage at the same time!”

Patrick leaned away from Katherine and reached under his bed. “We have to celebrate!” He poured some whiskey into his only glass and he gave it to Katherine, clinking the bottle to her glass. “To my wife!” he called out and lifted his bottle to the room. He then chugged from the bottle while Katherine sipped from her glass. He hesitated, then corked the bottle again and set it back under his bed. Katherine now knew for sure he was drinking all day.

Patricia brought a basin with soap. “Would you like to bathe him, Miss Lovington?”

“Yes, I will,” Katherine replied, eager to feel his body. As Patricia turned, Katherine said, “Nurse—what is your name?”

“Nurse O’Reilly.”

“Yes. Could you please boil all the water you use with Patrick? Even this bathwater. That’s what we do at Pennsylvania Hospital in Philadelphia. It reduces disease.”

Patricia pursed her lips. “We don’t do that. I...I suppose...I’ll ask the chief nurse.” Patricia turned to go.

“If there is any resistance, please tell me tomorrow. Thank you.”

After Patricia left, Katherine whispered to Patrick, “An ineffectual young woman. Do you think she’s really competent as a nurse?”

“Don’t think about her,” Patrick said, gesturing towards the washrag and soap. “Just please, a bath...” As Katherine bathed Patrick’s thigh she felt an erection rub against her hand. She blushed and stole a look at his face. He mouthed words to her, “Rub it.”

Taken aback, she shook her head, whispering, “No. Not in the middle of the day with all these men watching.” He sighed and closed his eyes for the rest of the bath. As she dried him off, he said in a low voice, “Tomorrow. Can you stay later? After dark?”

“Patrick,” she whispered back just as Patricia strode up to the bedside.

“Your carriage is here, Miss Lovington.”

“Oh dear, already? Thank you.” She kissed Patrick passionately again, as Patricia watched with a sour look on her face. “I will be here tomorrow late morning, my love.”

Patrick pulled her close. “Oh, Katherine, I love you so,” he said, not caring that Patricia heard him.

“I need you,” she whispered back. Patricia stomped away.

As Katherine walked out, she took one look back over her shoulder. “Damn this war!” she muttered aloud.
He is broken in spirit. I will bring him back to his old self. He will regain his pride!