"No, no," she urged, "that's rough on the other and not enough for me. Give it me all!"
The Matron yielded:
"Nurse Brettan relieves Nurse Gay!"
In the room the boy lay motionless as if already dead. From the mouth breath no longer passed; only by holding a hand before the orifice of the tube inserted in the throat could one detect that he now breathed at all. As Mary took the seat by his side, the force of professional training was immediately manifest. She had begged for the extra work with almost feverish excitement; she entered upon it collected and self-controlled. A stranger would have said: "A conscientious woman, but experience has blunted her sensibilities."
On the table were some feathers. With these, from time to time throughout the night, she had to keep the tube free from obstruction. Even the briefest indulgence to drowsiness was impossible. Unwavering attention to the state of the passage that admitted air to the lungs was not merely important, the necessity was vital. A continuous, an inflexible vigilance was required. It was to this that the nurse, already worn by the usual duties of the day, had pledged herself in place of the absentee.
At half-past nine she had cleansed the tube twice. At ten o'clock Kincaid came in.
"I am relieving Nurse Gay," she said, rising; "Nurse Bradley's head is very bad."
He went to the bed and ascertained that all was well.
"It'll be very trying for you; wasn't there anyone to divide the work?"
"I wanted to do it all myself."