“This is truly a memorable occasion for the Gallup Memorial Clinic,” he said. “This is our first graduating class of nurses. I don’t need to tell you how proud we are of our girls. I can see our pride reflected on your faces, too.
“These girls have done the almost impossible. Usually when girls start training they don’t have to jump in and perform as regular nurses, too. But our girls did. We didn’t have enough registered nurses, so they just went right to work. Without neglecting their studies, they stepped right in and helped where they were needed. Don’t ask me how they did it. Because frankly, I don’t know.”
The audience applauded.
Dr. Barsch smiled fondly down on his girls. “And because they did work so hard, our later classes won’t have so much to do. Also, people of Elmhurst, because of them, we have a much better clinic today than we ever dreamed we could have.”
The audience applauded again as Dr. Barsch sat down and Dr. Gallup rose. The applause for the revered doctor was deafening. He waited for a moment, nodding his impressive white head.
“What do you want me to say about my girls?” he asked the audience. “Why, I brought most of them into the world!” He rubbed his eyes. “You’ll forgive the meanderings of an old man, but I keep thinking about how quickly time passes. It seems like such a short time ago that I gave Sally Hancock her first spanking.” He paused. “Hm,” he continued, “and it wasn’t too long ago that I handed a diploma to a painfully scrubbed youngster by the name of Edward Barsch and welcomed him to the medical profession.”
In the front row, Hedda leaned over and whispered to Jean, “Where’s Ted?”
Jean looked up at the stage. “Why ... I don’t know. He was up there a few minutes ago.”
“And now,” Dr. Gallup continued, “I’m supposed to pretend that enough years have gone by to turn my Edward into a stuffy old executive and my babies into efficient nurses....”
The audience tittered. Dr. Gallup looked pleased with himself. But the titter grew into a loud laugh, and the elderly doctor turned around. Ted Loring was trying to steal, unnoticed, onto the stage. He carried a huge bouquet of red roses. He held them behind him in an unsuccessful attempt to conceal them.