Peter. The conductor came strolling through the car, a weary look on his round mustached face. David and Nancy had already closed their eyes again, so she followed suit. After a few minutes she slept again.
A pandemonium of crashing sounds and frantic screaming woke her up! At the same time she was hurled forward and surrounded by darkness! In the next instant she was thrown in a different direction and something heavy struck her or fell on her. In a brief flash of recognition the thought that the train had been wrecked streaked across her mind. Then it was only darkness!
Voices were shouting around her! There was pounding and men cursing impatiently! Yellow showed somewhere, flames licking the dark night! But it didn’t matter she was too far away to care! A frightened face was thrust into hers. The face of the mustached conductor, bloodied now and his official cap gone!
“She’s alive!” he screamed in a needlessly loud voice.
She stared up at him and was ready to reprimand him but couldn’t form the words. Her lips would not move and no sound would come out. She wondered why David was allowing all this senseless nonsense to go on. Then she was movedonto a litter of some sort and men were carrying her away from the flames and the screaming. She lapsed into blackness again.
The next time she opened her eyes she was in a bed in a tiny white-walled room. She reached up and touched her aching temple and found there was a bandage around her head. And her body ached in every muscle.
A matronly nurse appeared in the doorway of her room and seeing her with her eyes opened, the nurse smiled and said, “How fortunate!”
“A drink,” she said in a low, weak voice.
“There’s a pitcher here,” the nurse said. And she came in and poured out some water in a glass. Then she went to her and raised her up a little and placed the glass to her parched lips. “You’ve come around! We were worried you mightn’t.”
She drank a little of the water and then finding it too much effort wanted to lay back. The nurse eased her onto the pillow. The nurse said, “You are lucky. Aside from your head injury and general bruises you seem to have no other injuries.”
She tried to take this in, wondering why she should be injured and in a hospital bed. She asked, “What happened?”
“A dreadful train wreck,” the nurse said frowning. “They aren’t half careful enough. Only the fact there weren’t many passengers in your train and the other was a freight prevented it from being a terrible disaster. As it was, seven were killed and nearly two dozen injured.”
“Where am I?”
“In a hospital in Philadelphia,” the nurse said. “Now you mustn’t try to talk too much. You’re being well looked after and it will be all right.”
She stared up at the nurse pathetically. “The others? My husband?”
“Most of them escaped with only minor injuries,” the nurse said. “Now you rest a while.”
She didn’t want to rest; she wanted to ask more questions. Insist that the woman summon David and bring him to her. But she could not make the effort. Somehow she slipped off again into a state of semi-stupor.
Nurses came and went. She was fed warm broth which they assured her would make her feel better. One nurse even smiled at her tenderly and helped comb out her matted hair. Fanny was grateful to her but too tired to thank her.
Morning came again and she was more alert. She wondered what day it was and how many days she’d been in the hospital. And where was David? Why hadn’t he or some of the others come to see her?
The matronly nurse came in and gave her some gruel for breakfast. Then she had a cup of strong tea. The nurse watched over her and said, “I have a surprise for you! You have a visitor!”
“Oh?” She raised herself a little and the headache and dizziness returned. But she fought these feelings as she asked, “My
A pandemonium of crashing sounds and frantic screaming woke her up! At the same time she was hurled forward and surrounded by darkness! In the next instant she was thrown in a different direction and something heavy struck her or fell on her. In a brief flash of recognition the thought that the train had been wrecked streaked across her mind. Then it was only darkness!
Voices were shouting around her! There was pounding and men cursing impatiently! Yellow showed somewhere, flames licking the dark night! But it didn’t matter she was too far away to care! A frightened face was thrust into hers. The face of the mustached conductor, bloodied now and his official cap gone!
“She’s alive!” he screamed in a needlessly loud voice.
She stared up at him and was ready to reprimand him but couldn’t form the words. Her lips would not move and no sound would come out. She wondered why David was allowing all this senseless nonsense to go on. Then she was movedonto a litter of some sort and men were carrying her away from the flames and the screaming. She lapsed into blackness again.
The next time she opened her eyes she was in a bed in a tiny white-walled room. She reached up and touched her aching temple and found there was a bandage around her head. And her body ached in every muscle.
A matronly nurse appeared in the doorway of her room and seeing her with her eyes opened, the nurse smiled and said, “How fortunate!”
“A drink,” she said in a low, weak voice.
“There’s a pitcher here,” the nurse said. And she came in and poured out some water in a glass. Then she went to her and raised her up a little and placed the glass to her parched lips. “You’ve come around! We were worried you mightn’t.”
She drank a little of the water and then finding it too much effort wanted to lay back. The nurse eased her onto the pillow. The nurse said, “You are lucky. Aside from your head injury and general bruises you seem to have no other injuries.”
She tried to take this in, wondering why she should be injured and in a hospital bed. She asked, “What happened?”
“A dreadful train wreck,” the nurse said frowning. “They aren’t half careful enough. Only the fact there weren’t many passengers in your train and the other was a freight prevented it from being a terrible disaster. As it was, seven were killed and nearly two dozen injured.”
“Where am I?”
“In a hospital in Philadelphia,” the nurse said. “Now you mustn’t try to talk too much. You’re being well looked after and it will be all right.”
She stared up at the nurse pathetically. “The others? My husband?”
“Most of them escaped with only minor injuries,” the nurse said. “Now you rest a while.”
She didn’t want to rest; she wanted to ask more questions. Insist that the woman summon David and bring him to her. But she could not make the effort. Somehow she slipped off again into a state of semi-stupor.
Nurses came and went. She was fed warm broth which they assured her would make her feel better. One nurse even smiled at her tenderly and helped comb out her matted hair. Fanny was grateful to her but too tired to thank her.
Morning came again and she was more alert. She wondered what day it was and how many days she’d been in the hospital. And where was David? Why hadn’t he or some of the others come to see her?
The matronly nurse came in and gave her some gruel for breakfast. Then she had a cup of strong tea. The nurse watched over her and said, “I have a surprise for you! You have a visitor!”
“Oh?” She raised herself a little and the headache and dizziness returned. But she fought these feelings as she asked, “My
Similar Books
