Fever 1793 by Laurie Halse Anderson

not warm. She lay under the faded bedding like a rag doll losing its stuffing, her hair a wild collection of snakes on the pillow, her cornflower blue eyes poisoned with streaks of yellow and red. It hurt to look at her.
    After the sun set, Eliza set a candle by her bed.
    "You grandfather is sleeping at old man Carris's house," she explained.
    "Just as well," I said. "Are you going home?"
    "I must," she said. "My brother is expecting me."
    I nodded. Eliza lived with her brother's family. They would be very worried if she didn't come home.
    Til be fine," I said. "I think she'll sleep through the night."
    Eliza kissed my forehead. "Don't forget your prayers," she said. "I'll come early and try to bring a doctor with me."
    After she left, I locked the doors and closed the shutters. A church bell struck ten times and I shivered. The coffeehouse was filled with shadows and dark noises. I took two extra candles from the clothespress and hurried upstairs to watch over Mother.
    She did not notice when I entered the room. Her face was pulled taut in pain, and she jerked in her sleep.
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    I so wanted to touch her. The tops of her hands were roped with muscle and veins, but her skin was wrinkled and soft. Had she ever enjoyed anything? Had every day been a struggle? Perhaps death would be a release, a rest for the weary.
    A slight breeze waltzed through the room. Silas strolled in and jumped onto the bed. He settled himself so gently by her feet that she did not stir. No mice would disturb her, that was understood.
    Mother wrinkled her brow and moaned. I smoothed her hair.
    "I'm here, Mother," I whispered. "Be still."
    She shook her head from side to side on the pillow.
    Tears threatened again. I sniffed and tried to control my face. No one could ever tell what Mother thought or felt by looking at her. This was a useful trait. I needed to learn how to do it. There were so many things she had tried to teach me, but I didn't listen. I leaned over to kiss her forehead. A tear slipped out before I could stop it.
    I quietly sat beside her and opened my Psalm book, praying for deliverance, or at least the dawn.
    I must have dozed off. One moment, the room was still, the next, Mother flew off the pillows and was violently ill, vomiting blood all over the bed and floor. Her eyes rolled back in her head.
    I jumped up from the stool.
    "Eliza!" I screamed. "Help!"
    There was no answer. Eliza was gone. I was alone.
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    I forced myself back to the bed. Mother panted heavily.
    "Everything will be fine," I said as I sponged her face clean. "Just lay still."
    Her eyes opened and I smiled at her. Tears pooled in her eyes and spilled down her cheeks. She opened her cracked lips.
    "Go ... away," she whispered. "Leave me."
    I recoiled as she leaned over the bed and retched a foul-smelling black fluid onto the floor.
    "Oh, stop, please stop," I begged.
    "Leave me!" Mother shouted in a ragged voice. "Leave me, go!"
    I tried to help her back onto her pillows, but she pushed me away and shook her head.
    "Go away!" she repeated.
    I ran sobbing to the window. Breathing in the fresh air helped calm my stomach. The houses along the street were shuttered tight and dark. I had to help her. She was depending on me.
    "Let me clean you up," I began as I turned away from the window. "You'll feel better in a clean shift. Maybe a bath. Would you like a bath again?"
    She was breathing as fast and heavy as a runaway horse. Her hand fumbled along the mucky sheet until it found the small book of Psalms I had dropped.
    "I'll put some water on to boil."
    Mother threw the book weakly at my head.
    "Out," she croaked. "Don't want you sick. Go away!"
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    CHAPTER TEN
    September 6th, 1793
    The patient is to be placed in a large empty
    tub, and two buckets full of water, of the temperature 75 or 80 degrees Fahrenheit's
    thermometer,... are to be thrown on him.
    -Dr. Adam Kuhn
    Philadelphia, 1793
    Eliza shook my shoulder. I woke at once, with a sharp breath. Outside the sky was