In the Midst of Life

his mother. He could not be refused. Miss Jenner had already told him of the operative procedures, and said that when the nurses had made his mother comfortable he could be admitted.
    I went to the visitor’s room myself, because I wanted to prepare him. I knew that the sight of a patient after cranial surgery can be a terrible shock. We were talking together, when suddenly the door flew open and a woman burst in, her hair dishevelled, her eyes swollen and her face red and blotchy.
    ‘Where’s Mummy?’ she cried, ‘I must see her. She needs me.’
    Jamie introduced his sister Maggie.
    ‘It’s been a terrible journey. I’ve had four changes of train, and nothing to eat all day – but I’ve brought these flowers for her. I know she likes roses; they are her favourite flower. She will love them …’ She started to cry, and pulled out a wet handkerchief.
    Itold her that her mother had returned from the operating theatre only an hour earlier.
    ‘An operation? You didn’t tell me about an operation, Jamie,’ she said accusingly. ‘What operation?’
    I said that it had been necessary to open her mother’s skull to suck out the blood.
    ‘Blood! You opened her skull! Oooh, Mummy!’
    Jamie took hold of his sister and explained, quietly and sensibly, what had been done. He and I exchanged glances and I could read his thoughts – was Maggie in any fit state to see her mother? But we could not refuse her.
    We went to the side ward. I told Maggie that we must be quiet, and not disturb her mother. We entered the ward and stood silently by the bed for a moment or two. Then Maggie said, ‘But where’s Mummy?’
    What a dreadful moment for any ward sister. I bit my lip and said softly, ‘Here. This is your mother.’
    ‘No, it’s not. Do you think I don’t know my own mother? This must be the wrong room. Where is she?’
    ‘No. It’s not the wrong room. This
is
your mother.’
    I could feel the panic rising in the woman beside me.
    ‘But it can’t be … that’s not Mummy!’ Her voice was trembling. ‘I don’t believe you. You’re lying. You must be!’ With every word there was a rise in decibels. Jamie took hold of her.
    ‘Maggie, come away. This is no place for you. Come with me.’
    Firmly he led her out of the side ward. Hysterical screams could be heard echoing down the corridor.
    Brother and sister left the hospital. Jamie telephoned at 10 p.m., and the night sister told him that his mother’s condition was stable, and that he should ring in the morning.
    Jamie came to see his mother each day. He did not stay for long, because there was nothing he could do. His mother was unconscious, but there was no deterioration in her condition. Maggie did not come to the hospital, but her telephone calls were so frequent that I had to instruct the main switchboard to limit her calls to the ward to two a day.
    Ispoke to Priscilla in Durham, on the telephone. Her voice had a very clipped accent, pleasant to listen to, but somewhat intimidating. She sounded like the sort of woman who would assume she was in the right and brook no contradiction. There was not a lot that I could say, beyond what she had already heard from Jamie, that their mother’s condition was stable. She said she would remain in Durham.
    About a week later, Mrs Doherty showed signs of regaining consciousness, first by the twitching of the legs and then restlessness which became extreme. Her pupils, which had been tightly closed, responded to light. Grunting was heard, and slurred attempts at speech. Jamie sat by the bedside for some time, holding her hand, and she obviously knew who he was and took comfort from his presence. Maggie came, but she cried so much it would have been better if she had not come at all.
    Mrs Doherty gained consciousness and began to understand what was going on around her. She responded well to questions and instructions from the staff, such as ‘Can you raise your left arm? Can you raise your forefinger?’, but she was severely hemiplegic. She could not move the right side of her body at all, her right eye and her mouth and tongue slumped heavily to the right, and she could not speak. Several times she tried, but the sound was quite incomprehensible. Tears gathered in her eyes as she desperately tried to make herself understood.
    Nursing her was difficult – but it always is with a patient in such a condition – and took a great deal of our time. We moved her every two hours, repositioning her limbs and