“You’re a swell kid, Ferg! Everybody’s missin’ you!”
“Been one twenty-four years! Tell ’em hello, Jumbo!”
After he was gone Sally Ferguson pulled the sheets over her head and sobbed dryly for five minutes. Then she tiptoed over to the washbasin, put cold water under her eyes and got back into bed.
Her mouth was set. Her head was very high.
He was as innocent as she was and ... by God ... she’d prove it. But you couldn’t prove anything lying here being policed every pulse counting. You had to get out and think and....
She rang her bell; when the student nurse came, she smiled wanly and said:
“Dr. Mattus and Dr. Sterling said I might get up for a while this afternoon. Will you bring me my clothes now? They said from three to five.”
The girl drank the smile. When she returned with the clothes she apologized:
“Can you manage alone, Miss Merriweather? The other nurse has the cramps and doesn’t want to report off duty, less she has to. So I’m doing most of...?”
“Sure,” Sally smiled. “Poor kid!”