Chapter XV: A Heavy Fall

PATTIE knew in an instant that it was Dot—her pet and companion, and the being in the world whom she most dearly loved. Before Mrs. Cragg had got beyond a bewildered "What's that?" Pattie had flown out into the passage, and had dropped on the ground beside a little heap at the foot of the stairs. The nursery girl stood on the landing above, uttering frightened shrieks.

"It isn't Dot! It can't be Dot!" cried Mrs. Cragg, horrified, coming after Pattie. And though she could not be described as an especially affectionate mother, her flushed face lost its high colour, and she had a strange feeling at her heart, as if the whole world were at a standstill. This silent huddled form her little Dot—her bonny merry child!

"Don't move her! Don't lift her yet!" entreated Pattie, as Mrs. Cragg was going to seize Dot's arm. "Oh, don't!" she implored; and she had herself to grasp Mrs. Cragg's hand. "Wait, please! It might do harm. We don't know yet where she is hurt—or if any bones are broken."

Mrs. Cragg recoiled, and stood staring helplessly, while Pattie very very gently tried to stir Dot into an easier position. A faint moan was the only sound in response. The girl who had charge of Dot, a mere child of fifteen, came blundering down the stairs, sobbing, and loudly protesting that it was not her fault; she had tried her very best to stop Dot, and Dot would rush away, despite all she could do.

"I dare say you were idling your time somewhere. You'd no business to let Dot be near the stairs alone," Mrs. Cragg said, in angry distress. "You're always doing that sort of thing. Well, you won't get any character now, I can tell you! How far did Dot fall? All down this long flight! Why, it's enough to have killed her!"

"Eh?—what's this?" another voice asked, breaking into Mrs. Cragg's angry chatter, as Cragg walked through a door. "I thought I heard something fall. DOT!"

Cragg groaned aloud. He looked from his wife to Pattie.

"I think she is stunned. Not—killed!" said Pattie, in a tone which sounded unnatural to herself. There was a sound just now—a moan. "I'm afraid to try to lift her! Please bring her to my room, if you don't mind. That is the nearest. And some one ought to go for the doctor."

"I'll be off myself in a moment."

He raised the child tenderly in his arms, walked to Pattie's room, which was on the ground floor, and laid her on the bed. Again there was a faint moaning, but no other sign of consciousness.

Cragg bent over the pillow with a look of unspeakable sorrow, and then hurried away. Pattie loosened Dot's clothes, and spread a light shawl over her. As Cragg had done, she stooped once to kiss the cold white cheek. Mrs. Cragg stood by, making no offer to help, seemingly stupefied.

"Sweet Dot! dear little Dot!" murmured Pattie; and Dot's eyes half-opened. Though they closed again, Pattie's heart bounded with hope. Perhaps, after all, the child had received little harm.

"Dot!—little pet!" she tried again; but no second response came.

"She don't hear you! She don't understand! She never will again! She's killed!"—and Mrs. Cragg burst into noisy shrieking sobs, holding the foot of the bed, and shaking it with her movements.

"O hush! please, hush! If she comes to, you will frighten her. Did you not see just now that she opened her eyes? I thought you saw! She may be only stunned; not much hurt. Please stop crying, or go away," implored Pattie. "Please, for Dot's sake!"

But Mrs. Cragg, accustomed only to think of herself, paid no heed to this appeal. She went on sobbing loudly, swaying herself about, and still shaking the bed. Dot moaned again; and Pattie, almost beside herself, went to Mrs. Cragg, and resolutely unwrenched the hand which held the iron bar of the bed.

"Mrs. Cragg, you must not behave like this," she said. "It will not do. You are hurting Dot. She cannot bear the movement. Go out of the room, please, until you can be quiet."

Mrs. Cragg's only concession was to move a few paces off, and there to stand, holding now to the table, and sobbing still in a strident fashion. Pattie went again to Dot, and leant over her, and held her little hand very tenderly. Then, to her relief, Cragg came in, bringing the doctor, a young man with a kind manner, who lived in the next street. Happily, Cragg had found him at home.

"No crying or noise here, if you please," were his first words, as he sat down by the bed. He glanced round, and his eyes fell upon Mrs. Cragg. "I think you had better take your wife into another room until she is quiet," he said to Cragg. Then to Pattie—"You can stay."

He asked a few questions as to the manner of the fall, felt Dot all over, examined her carefully, and looked with especial attention at her head. She opened her eyes, as she had done before, not seeming to know any one. He asked for a lighted candle, which he held close before the child's face. She flinched, and turned away, with a little fretful wail.

"That will do," presently remarked Mr. May; and he went into the next room with Cragg. The latter soon returned.

"The doctor wants a word with you, Pattie. I'll stay here," said Cragg. He had left his wife elsewhere, still violently sobbing, half with genuine distress and half with annoyance at being ordered away.

Pattie found the doctor alone.

"Is Dot badly hurt?" she asked.

"It is too early to say much. We shall know better in a few hours. I do not find tokens of actual injury, beyond a blow to the head— hardly severe enough to account for the symptoms. At all events, no bones are broken. My fear is that the spine may have sustained some injury. At this moment she is suffering from shock, and quiet is essential. She will need great care during the next few hours, and the question is—who will give it? A nurse cannot be got at once."

"A stranger would startle Dot, if she came to herself. I think I could keep her as quiet as any one."

"But—" The doctor hesitated, looking Pattie over.

"I am older than you think. I am nearly seventeen, and I have nursed people since I was ten. Our old doctor used to say that I was born a ready-made nurse. Will you let me take Dot for to-night? You might not find a regular nurse so soon. Then you will see if I am able to manage."

"Unhappily there is much illness about, and nurses are difficult to find. But you do not look strong, Miss—"

"My name is Dale. I am strong enough for nursing. It comes to me naturally."

"Mr. Cragg gave me to understand that he could not ask it of you— that—in fact—"

"That I am no relative," suggested Pattie readily. "No, I am not. But Mr. Cragg has been a kind friend to me; and I love Dot. I would do anything for her."

"Well, I confess you relieve my mind. I do not imagine Mrs. Cragg is capable of much. And I am told that there is not a servant in the house who can be trusted. If you are willing to sit up this night, it will be a great help. I shall telegraph to know if a nurse can arrive to-morrow. If Dot does not improve quickly, you must of course have help. A nurse for night-work would be needful. Meanwhile, we must depend upon you."

"Is Dot likely to get better soon?"

"Impossible to say. I will look in again later. She must be put to bed, and kept absolutely quiet. Absolutely—you understand? I should prefer that only you should be with her. There must be no crying, no talking and discussing of her symptoms, no whispering. If Dot rouses and shows an inclination to talk, you must discourage it. I will come again in two or three hours, and then you shall have fuller directions."

"Wait—one moment." Pattie was thinking seriously. "I will do my best, but I cannot make Mrs. Cragg do as I wish. Before you came in, I had asked her to leave the room if she could not stop crying, and she would not go. If that sort of thing is bad for Dot—"

"It mustn't be allowed for a moment," declared the young man. "I shall speak to her and to Mr. Cragg. If you undertake the nursing, you must have the entire management of the sick-room until a hospital nurse comes."

Pattie evidently had no fears as to what she was undertaking, and she soon proved that her confidence was well-founded.

As she had told the doctor, she had been early trained in nursing; and though she could not be reckoned equal to a fully trained nurse, she had by nature a gift in that line. She was quiet, placid, not easily flurried; she had much self-possession; her manner was gentle; she knew how to be firm; she did not worry her patient; she did not think of herself; and she recollected all directions given to her by the doctor, following his orders implicitly. He came again that night; and when in the morning he reappeared, he expressed himself satisfied with all that she had done.

"There is certainly some improvement," he said. "No,—I consider her by no means out of danger. It is impossible to say what turn may come next. Her state is not satisfactory; and I have little doubt that the shock to the spine has affected her brain. But on the whole she has gained rather than lost ground."

"You think you can trust me?" asked Pattie.

The doctor looked gravely at Pattie, before replying.

"I think you may take your full share," he said. "My own impression is that we may be in for a long illness. That means of necessity two nurses. I hope to have one here in three or four hours. She will want to sleep in the day-time, and some one then must take her place, following out her directions. If you are willing to do this—"

"I am willing to do anything."

"Then that, no doubt, will be the best plan. It may be only for a few days—it may be longer. You had no difficulty last night, I hope—as to keeping the room quiet?"

No; Pattie could assure him of this. Cragg, warned by the doctor, had taken the matter in hand, and had insisted on his wife's compliance. The doctor had spoken to Mrs. Cragg also, telling her plainly that Dot's life might hang upon the question of absolute quiet, and desiring that Pattie should be allowed to decide who might or might not be present. "She seems a sensible girl," he said, "and evidently knows a good deal about nursing. Let her use her commonsense, and I do not think it will lead her astray."

But if Pattie had had no actual difficulties, she foresaw very actual disagreeables. Mrs. Cragg's look, when she did enter the room, was by no means pleasant.

"You've got your way, and you can manage my husband and the doctor as you choose," she muttered.

"But what can you mean? I am only trying to do my best for Dot," said Pattie, in a low voice.

"Oh, I know!" retorted Mrs. Cragg. "Some folks are never happy without they’re managing everybody. I know."

Then Cragg, hearing the loud whisper, interposed:

"Now, my dear, this is just what doctor forbids!" Mrs. Cragg walked grumbling to herself; and Pattie turned again to the bed, her eyes full of tears.