Jean made a wry face. “Don’t say that!” she cried. “You’ll put a whammy on us! Just for that, we’ll probably have a half dozen calls before morning!”
But as the night hours passed, Kit had all she could do to keep awake. No outside calls passed through the switchboard. She sat silently for a while staring at the mural which Jean had painted for the clinic, and which now hung above the fireplace in the center of the lobby. She studied the figures of the farmer and his wife and son holding hands and the motto, “Co-operation, Ingenuity, Labor.” She smiled as she remembered Jean painting the sturdy picture with Ted Loring’s words in mind. Resolutely, she shook her head to clear it of the cobwebs of drowsiness. It was a good motto, Kit decided. She felt pleased with herself and with her community.
13. The Doctor’s Dilemma
As suddenly as the virus pneumonia epidemic had broken out, it stopped. The staff couldn’t believe that Kit had had no calls through the long night she sat at the switchboard. Ted Loring, who had stretched out for a cat nap on Dr. Barsch’s sofa, woke to find that he had slept all night. He jumped up guiltily and looked out of the window. The summer sun was already high in the blue sky. Quickly Ted looked at his watch. “Eight-thirty!” he cried. “I must have thought this was a hotel!” He smoothed out his rumpled clothes as best he could and ran a pocket comb through his tousled hair. Then he banged open the door of the office and almost knocked Dr. Barsch down as he started out.
“So, you’ve decided to let me into my office,” the older doctor said.
“I’m sorry, sir. I had no idea it was so late. I left a call....”
Dr. Barsch shook his head in gleeful despair. “Too bad, old man,” he said. “If business falls off any more the way it did last night, you’ll be out of a job!”
“No new patients?” Ted asked incredulously.
“No new patients,” Dr. Barsch replied. “And so if you’ll excuse me, I’ll ready my office for my out-patients’ calls. Office hours in a half an hour, you know.”