"They tried ... they tried."
"Who?"
"The doctors, several doctors were in and out. Yes, Orv, they tried."
"What were they, hacks?"
"Our best."
"Did they use antibiotics?"
"Yes ... injections ... they tried ... you saw the oxygen tank ... I came over often ... I know what went on in that room."
Orville covered his face with his hand and hid from Jeannette.
Jean bit her lips: death on the battlefield, death at home: these things were driving him farther and farther inside himself: they were taking him farther away. Unable to think of anything more to say about Lena, she thought of her own problems at the hospital, daily chores, the endless rounds--patients who required special care.
"Get Bichain to start a fire in the fireplaces," he said after a while. "I have to wash ... have to change ... must go now."