"You talk big ... very big ... of course you must talk like that ... it kills some of the pain ... it helps ... I know ... I had two nephews, good at swearing. Dr. Phelan's right ... you know ... you see, I've helped him through the years. Sleep now, my son. Be quiet in your mind, Orville. God will take care of you. You will be all right..."
Orville was thinking:
I've been longing to be alone ... the war's nearly over ... I'm alone ... for sure ... and what have I got?
Waking, he attempted to disregard the pain: curious, how pain warped his shoulder and spread lower, with rod-like jerkings. Strange, how hot that part of his body felt. He wanted to remove the bandages, strip his arm, let it cool. The nurses had applied the bandages too tight. And there was that inner gnawing, in the very marrow: it seemed to pour into the heart valves and scald them. Hand hooked over his face, he tried to remember something that might free him.
Free ... Jeannette ... she could free me ... a face ... not morphine ... not ... got to keep myself from cracking up ... Sister Blanche, let me talk to you ... Paris ... yes, when I recover ... no, I was in Paris as a boy, yeah ... yeah, I liked Notre Dame ... I like those flying buttresses ... they're the best part of the church ... you have to contemplate the church from the rear garden ... apse, by the Seine ... those bronze figures walking on the roof-line ... notable ...
He complained of more pain and they brought ice packs. He sank into a sweaty dream, a war nightmare, woke, and found Sister Blanche giving an injection. When she had finished she bent over Orville and wiped his face with a linen towel, patting the skin, whispering kindness, encouragement.
"What?" he murmured. "What is it ... what did you say?"
"This will help you rest," Sister Blanche said, wanting him well, loving him.
"Ah," he sighed loudly.
Already she had searched his belongings and found his ID: there was little else to go on, just some letters, crumpled letters, love letters. Often Sister Blanche wrote or wired or phoned the patient's connections, knowing what a visit from a loved one or friend could mean. Jeannette's bloodied letters stumped her although she could read a little English; with the help of the British doctor they read Jean's scrawl and made out the address at the hospital. As quickly as possible, Blanche wired Orville's condition. A card from Colonel Ronde gave his Marseilles address: she wrote there.