Part 1
Jean Craig, Graduate Nurse
FALCON [Illustration] BOOKS
_Jean Craig, Graduate Nurse_
BY KAY LYTTLETON
As Jean Craig finished her training and prepared for graduation, illness struck--first in her own family, and later in epidemics that swept the village of Elmhurst. It was with a deep feeling of satisfaction that Jean was able to give trained and efficient aid at the hospital. It was with equal satisfaction that she watched romance blossom between Dr. Benson, the fresh young intern, and Eileen Gordon, the new Supervisor of Nurses, and discovered that her sister Kit was practically engaged. But the joy of the family reached a new peak when Doris, the youngest daughter, won a music scholarship. _Jean Craig, Graduate Nurse_ is another heartwarming and happy story about the Craigs of Elmhurst.
_OTHER JEAN CRAIG BOOKS_
Jean Craig Grows Up Jean Craig in New York Jean Craig Finds Romance Jean Craig, Nurse
_JEAN CRAIG, GRADUATE NURSE_
by KAY LYTTLETON
THE WORLD PUBLISHING COMPANY CLEVELAND AND NEW YORK
FALCON BOOKS are published by THE WORLD PUBLISHING COMPANY 2231 WEST 110th STREET · CLEVELAND 2 · OHIO
WP 8·50 _COPYRIGHT 1950 BY THE WORLD PUBLISHING COMPANY MANUFACTURED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA_
Contents
1. Illness Strikes! 9
2. A Villain Unmasked 21
3. Fresh As Paint! 30
4. Emergency Operation 42
5. April Wedding 52
6. Dr. Benson Confesses 62
7. Ralph Returns from Europe 73
8. Jean and Ralph Discuss Their Future 80
9. Polio Claims a Victim 89
10. Kit at the Capital 99
11. Kit and Frank 113
12. An All Night Vigil 122
13. The Doctor’s Dilemma 133
14. Mercyville 145
15. Graduation! 158
16. Double Triumph 166
17. Judge Ellis Is Trapped 174
18. Just Among Girls 184
19. Elmhurst vs. Mercyville 194
20. Sweethearts’ Dance 205
21. Summer’s End 212
JEAN CRAIG, GRADUATE NURSE
1. Illness Strikes!
The small village of Elmhurst, Connecticut, was enjoying a balmy early spring. The March winds were soft breezes coaxing the New England earth to life again.
Night had settled after a long twilight, and gay sounds could be heard coming from the nurses’ quarters at the Gallup Memorial Clinic. The clinic, now almost two years old, was the pride of the community. Before it was built, Dr. Gallup, gentle, wise and able physician, had tended the sick, brought babies into the world and guarded the health of the community with constant vigilance.
Like the noble man he was, Dr. Gallup refused to retire from active practice until he had helped to provide for the future medical care of his beloved patients. And because the town loved and respected him, they backed him solidly. Together the people of Elmhurst created the Gallup Memorial Clinic. And now, the white clapboard house which had once belonged to a wealthy native was a small but efficient combination hospital and clinic for the community.
Dr. Edward Barsch, eminent surgeon, had come down from Boston to serve as head of the clinic. His staff was small but competent, and he had managed to open an accredited nursing course.
It wouldn’t be long before the first class of nurses would graduate. Standing high in the class, Jean Craig, one of the very first girls interested in the clinic, was looking eagerly toward the summer day when she would win her cap.
But tonight there was no thought of graduation. The nurses were planning a party. For there was a wedding in the offing, and the excited girls were wrapping presents and prettying themselves for Ethel Simpson’s wedding shower.
Ethel had come down from Boston with Dr. Barsch to act as supervisor of nurses. As is told in _Jean Craig, Nurse_, Jean and her classmates had been taught and guided by the lovely, competent girl through their year and a half of training. They had also laughed and cried with her during her courtship and subsequent engagement to Dr. Ted Loring, staff pediatrician. And now they were planning many gay and exciting parties to celebrate the coming wedding.
The party was to be held at the Craig farmhouse just outside of town. And while the girls were getting ready, Mrs. Craig was making a final inspection of her home. When she was satisfied with the preparations, she threw open the front door of the farmhouse and took a deep breath of the fresh spring air.
It would be a happy spring, Mrs. Craig thought. Each year that passed seemed to push the war and the hardships that followed farther back in the shadowy memories of the family. Here in this simple village they had found peace and happiness.
She smiled as she thought of her family. It was truly growing up. Jean, her oldest daughter, was an adult. In a few months she would be twenty-one. It was exciting to have an adult daughter, Mrs. Craig thought fondly. Jean would be old enough to vote. She would be a registered nurse, and lastly, but most important of all, she would soon be a bride herself.
Five years ago, when the Craig family had moved to Elmhurst to forget the misery of the war years, Jean had met Ralph MacRae, a handsome young Canadian boy from Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. _Jean Craig Grows Up_ tells how Ralph sold his Elmhurst farm to the Craig family, and lost his heart to Jean in the bargain.
Next came Kit. Mrs. Craig smiled in spite of herself as she thought of her nineteen-year-old impetuous daughter. Kit was the family scholar. She had been sent to Hope College in Delphi, Wisconsin, by a crotchety old uncle, and she had endeared herself to the elderly scholar by turning into a scholar, herself. The tale of Kit’s entrance to Hope College is told in _Jean Craig Finds Romance_. Mrs. Craig chuckled as she remembered how Kit and Uncle Bart had stumbled upon a secret while they were examining an ancient Egyptian mummy case, and how the money awarded to Uncle Bart was now providing her daughter with the chance for her education. Although Kit was many miles away from her family, Mrs. Craig could almost feel the vitality of her daughter halfway across the continent.
Doris was the youngest daughter. Mrs. Craig thought of her sweet, pretty seventeen-year-old with tenderness. Doris was shy. In her demure way, she often made her mother think of girls of generations past. There was something almost old-fashioned about the feminine child. But Doris was also very talented. Right now, while Mrs. Craig waited for the guests to arrive, she could hear Doris softly playing a Debussy etude. The music blended with the soft evening air and made the atmosphere nearly perfect.
As Mrs. Craig thought of her son, Tommy, her mood changed. No one could think of fifteen-year-old Tommy without smiling in amusement. Tommy was all boy. His head was full of eager projects, and his legs were long and still awkward. But he was a businessman, too. His chickens had provided him with enough money for spending and for a good start on his future college education. During the years that Mr. Craig had been invalided after the war, Tommy had been the man of the family. But though he knew the value of a dollar and the rich returns for hard work, there was mischief and play in the boy. Baseball season was just around the corner, and this, to Tommy, was as important as the money he was putting away for the future.
Mrs. Craig frowned suddenly. She was thinking of Jack, the Craigs’ adopted son. Several years before, the homeless waif had found his way to the Craig’s home and into all their hearts, and he had never left. Jack was now thirteen. Two years ago, Mr. Craig had formally adopted the boy, and he was now as truly a member of the family as any of the other children. But Mrs. Craig was worried about him. Perhaps he was growing too fast. For the past month, Jack had been listless and pale. His appetite was poor ... a sure sign that something was wrong.
As she fretted about Jack, Jean came out on the porch and slipped her arm around her mother’s waist. She was wearing a simple, pale blue party dress which set off her sparkling eyes and curly brown hair.
“Everything’s ready,” she said. “Doris and Becky have organized the whole party. And whatever are you baking in the kitchen? I can hardly wait to find out!”
Mrs. Craig squeezed her daughter’s hand. “I wonder if we’ve ever tried to have any sort of party in this house without Becky’s help,” she mused.
Jean laughed. “Aunt Becky would be positively insulted if you didn’t ask for her help, and you know it,” she answered.
“Aunt Becky would be lost without the Craig family to look after, you mean,” Mrs. Craig laughed. “Ever since she urged us to come to Elmhurst in the first place, she’s been watching over us like a mother hen.”
Jean giggled. “I would give anything to be at the hospital now. Did I tell you that the doctors have taken over for the nurses tonight? So that the girls could all come to the shower. I can just see Dr. Daley and Dr. Jenkins running to answer patients’ calls.”
“It was lovely of them to volunteer,” Mrs. Craig said.
Jean nodded. “Oh, they’re all like that. I guess you have to cooperate if you have such a small hospital. Oh golly,” she sighed, “the wedding makes me want to cry.”
“I know how much you miss Ralph, dear,” Mrs. Craig answered. “Just a few more weeks and he’ll be back again.”
“He’s in Norway now. Did I tell you, Mother?” Jean asked.
Mrs. Craig laughed. “Yes, dear. You told me. In fact, you read me his last letter.”
Jean blushed. “That’s right. I guess I’ve told you a hundred times.”
Mrs. Craig smiled. “I think it’s wonderful that you want to talk about Ralph so much.”
Doris came out on the porch and breathed deeply of the fresh air. “What a night for a party!” she exclaimed. “It’s just about perfect!”
“Where’s Becky?” Mrs. Craig asked.
“Oh, she went upstairs to see Jack for a minute.”
Mrs. Craig sighed. “Has Jack gone to bed? So early?”
Jean turned around to face her mother. “I thought he and Tommy were going over to Billy Ellis’s for the night.”
Mrs. Craig shook her head. “Tommy went, but Jack said he didn’t feel well.”
Doris sat down on the porch swing. “Becky went up to give him a tonic. She said something about springtime and sulphur and molasses....”
“And sulphur and molasses never hurt anyone,” Aunt Becky said as she came out to join them. “I tell you, you have to get winter out of a growing boy’s bones. The way that youngster has been mizzering around lately just proves it. When he passed up the chance to spend the night with us, I knew something was wrong.”
“Is Jack in bed, Becky?” Mrs. Craig asked.
“Yes, he is. He’s just plumb tuckered out. No wonder. He didn’t eat enough supper to keep a bird alive.”
Mrs. Craig said, “I’ll go up to him in a few minutes. After the guests arrive.”
Just then a car turned into the Craig driveway. Doris stood up. “Here they come. Don’t forget, Mother, Becky. This is a surprise party.”
The car door opened and Hedda and Ingeborg hopped out. The student nurses ran up the steps while Ethel switched off the ignition and headlights and climbed out after them.
“Evening, Mrs. Craig, everyone,” the girls called as they came up to the porch.
“Good evening, girls,” Mrs. Craig replied, grasping their hands. “Ethel, dear, you look lovely this evening.”
Ethel slipped off her white wool jacket and displayed her silver-green party dress. She whirled around. “See the skirt,” she laughed. “Ted helped me pick this out.”
“He has lovely taste, then,” Mrs. Craig said.
“For a man,” Hedda added. “It’s simply gorgeous.”
Ethel smiled as she thought of her fiance. “You know, it’s wonderful,” she said softly. “I haven’t any father or mother to help me prepare for the wedding, so I have a fiance who can be so helpful and wonderful in these things!”
Mrs. Craig smiled fondly at the girl. “Well,” she said briskly, “let’s go inside.”
The girls drifted into the living room. Doris sat down at the piano and began to play a popular tune. They all grouped around her and began to sing as Mrs. Craig slipped out to the kitchen.
Jean heard sputtering and backfiring in the driveway. “Here come Helen and Eileen,” she cried.
In a few minutes, the two girls appeared in the doorway. “Old Bessy made it up your hill,” Eileen giggled. “There’s life in the old rattletrap yet.”
“How’re the doctors making out over at the clinic?” Ingeborg asked.
Helen chuckled. “Oh, just fine. Can you imagine Dr. Jenkins making formula for the babies? He certainly looked fussed and awkward.”
“Wait till Ted’s bachelor dinner,” Jean teased. “Then I suppose we’ll have to do all their work.”
“Dr. Barsch is at the desk,” Helen continued. “Any calls tonight are going to be answered by St. Peter himself,” she said irreverently.
Lucy Peckham and Sally Hancock came in the door just as Mrs. Craig brought in a large bushel basket decorated with white and gold paper. The basket was heaped with shower gifts for Ethel.
“Here you are, my dear,” Mrs. Craig said. “And you know we all wish you great happiness with every gift.”
Tears glistened in Ethel’s eyes as she looked at the basket.
“I sort of knew it would be a shower,” she admitted. “But I never had a basketful of presents before in my life. You just shouldn’t have done it!”
Doris started to play the _Wedding March_, and the girls clustered around Ethel as she slowly opened her presents. Mrs. Craig waited till the first gift was opened, and then she slipped out into the hall. As she started up the stairs, the door opened, and Mr. Craig and Ted Loring came in.
She turned around and came down to greet her husband and the young doctor. “Why, Ted,” she said fondly, “how nice to see you!” She smiled at her husband.
“Ted and I have some things to talk over, Marge,” Mr. Craig explained. “We thought tonight would be a fine time.”
“Then you didn’t come to join the party?”
Ted stared at her in mock horror. “Heaven forbid!” he exclaimed. He peeked through the entranceway into the living room. “They do look lovely, don’t they?”
Mr. Craig smiled at the sight of the radiant girls. “Yes, they do,” he agreed. “Now Marge, if you’ll excuse us, I’ll just take this young man into the study.”
“Oh, of course,” Mrs. Craig said. “I’m on my way upstairs. I’ll bring you some hot chocolate later, if you like.”
They both smiled and nodded as she went upstairs.
“Come in, Ted,” Mr. Craig said, opening the door to his study. They sat down in comfortable chairs and pulled out their pipes.
Mr. Craig smiled disarmingly at the boy. “You might call this a trial run for me, son,” he said.
“I don’t understand, sir,” Ted replied, lighting his pipe.
Mr. Craig leaned back and stared out of the window. “I guess you know that our daughter will be getting married pretty soon. When young MacRae comes back from Europe, probably. I guess he’ll want a few words with me beforehand. So I thought I’d ... well, I’d practice on you.”
Ted nodded. “You don’t know what this means to me, Mr. Craig,” he said warmly. “You and Mrs. Craig have been like a second father and mother to Ethel, and this gesture just about completes the picture.”
Mr. Craig nodded. “Fine girl,” he mused. “I can’t remember knowing any finer girl, as a matter of fact. Well, I guess all young people have to listen to some old man recount the blessings and pitfalls of marriage sooner or later. Your mother is still living, isn’t she, Ted?”
“Yes, sir. She will be here next month for the wedding. She and Ethel have been corresponding for several months, now. Needless to say, Mother is thrilled.”
The older man nodded. “I’m glad to hear that. Now, Ted, I’m in no position to ask you impertinent questions about your bank account or your ideas about marriage or anything else. But I just want to give you a little advice. Advice which I think you can use. In some ways, you and I are very much alike. Before I went into the Army, I was pretty absorbed in my work. Perhaps I knew as much as the average husband and father about what was going on in my family. But it took a war and a serious illness to prove to me that no work in the world is one quarter as important as a man’s wife and children.
“I know what medicine means to you, Ted. I have some idea of the demands it makes on you. But never forget that you will have a wife who will stand beside you and will help you fight whatever battles come along. Just don’t forget to let her help you in the fight....”
Mrs. Craig knocked softly at the door.
“Come in, Marge,” Mr. Craig called. “We could use some hot chocolate.”
“I’m sorry,” Mrs. Craig said as she closed the door behind her. “I didn’t intend to break in on you quite so soon. But, dear, I’m worried. Jack is upstairs in bed. He isn’t feeling at all well.”
Mr. Craig tapped the heel of his pipe in his hand. “Something he ate for supper?”
Mrs. Craig shook her head. “No, it’s a cold, or, well, I don’t exactly know what. He has some fever.”
“How high a fever, Mrs. Craig?” Ted asked.
Mrs. Craig smiled almost apologetically. “Hardly any at all. His temperature registers just over ninety-nine. But he feels so bad. He says he aches all over.”
Ted started for the door. “If you don’t mind, Mrs. Craig, I’m going to take a look at him,” he said.
2. A Villain Unmasked
Jack was lying face down on his cot when Ted and Mr. and Mrs. Craig came into his room. He turned his head with a grimace and looked up at them listlessly. Ted walked quickly over to him and sat down on the floor beside his bed.
“Just let your head down, Jack,” Ted said as Jack tried to look up at his mother and father. “Now tell me where you hurt.”
“All over,” Jack whispered.
Ted nodded. “Does it hurt to talk?”
Jack nodded.
Ted looked up at Mrs. Craig. “How long has he been feeling this way?”
Mrs. Craig said helplessly, “I don’t think it’s ever been this bad. He’s been sort of listless ever since he had a cold last month.”
Ted picked up Jack’s arm gently. He pressed against the elbow. Jack winced.
“What kind of cold was it?” Ted asked.
Mrs. Craig smoothed Jack’s forehead. “Well, he first had the sniffles, and then a sore throat and then a cough. Pretty much like all his colds. Then, a while later, he got another sore throat. He ran some fever.”
“Uh huh,” Ted said, nodding his head.
“Mother, my head aches,” Jack moaned.
Ted sighed and stood up. “Well, we can’t do anything here. If you don’t mind, I’d like to run him over to the clinic and let Dr. Barsch and Dr. Jenkins have a look at him. I came on a social call, and I don’t even have a stethoscope with me.”
Mrs. Craig straightened up. “Is it serious, Ted?” she asked.
Ted hesitated and then nodded. “It might be, Mrs. Craig,” he said. He picked up Jack’s wrist and looked at it. “There’s some swelling here. You see?”
Mr. and Mrs. Craig both nodded.
“Well, let’s get him to the hospital,” Ted said. “If we can wrap him up in blankets, we don’t need to bother him with clothes.”
Mrs. Craig picked up Jack’s blankets and wrapped them around the bewildered boy. Ted smiled at him and said, “Cheer up, son. These things happen to the best of us. We probably won’t keep you at the clinic very long.”
Mrs. Craig started for the door. “I’ll get my coat,” she said.
Mr. Craig caught her arm. “Let me take the boy over, Marge,” he said. “The girls will need you for their party.”
Mrs. Craig whirled around. “I can’t leave him now!” she cried. “My boy is sick, and I’m going to stay with him!”
Mr. Craig put his arm around his distraught wife. “Of course, dear,” he said. “And please don’t worry.”
“Get your car ready,” Mrs. Craig said to Ted. “Mr. Craig can carry him downstairs. We’ll be ready when you are.”
Mrs. Craig ran downstairs and took her coat from the hall closet. She looked into the living room where the party was in full swing. After a minute she caught Jean’s eye.
“Jean,” she said softly, as her daughter came to the doorway. “Jack is sick, and Ted and I are going over to the clinic with him. Don’t tell the others. I don’t want to break up their fun. But you’ll have to manage without me.”
Jean gasped. “Oh, Mother! I’ll go over with you!” she cried.
“No, dear,” Mrs. Craig said firmly. “You stay with your guests. I’ll call you as soon as we know anything.”
Mr. Craig bundled Jack into the car, and Mrs. Craig and Ted started off with him toward town. Ted drove slowly, avoiding the bumps in the country road. Mrs. Craig supported Jack tenderly, trying to brace him against the swaying of the car. She noticed that Ted was scowling angrily, and she suddenly felt cold with fright. As if he could sense her terror, Ted reached over and patted her hand.
“I think everything’s going to be all right, Mrs. Craig,” he said reassuringly.
Dr. Barsch was at the desk when they came into the hospital. Ted exchanged a few words with him. The head doctor nodded gravely and came over to Mrs. Craig and the boy.
“So you’ve caught yourself a bug, Jack,” Dr. Barsch said. “Well, let’s get you upstairs, and Dr. Jenkins and I’ll go over you, and see just what is the matter. If Dr. Loring will take over at the desk, I’ll have an orderly take you right up.”
“May I go, too, Doctor?” Mrs. Craig asked.
Dr. Barsch hesitated, and then Mrs. Craig said, “No, I’ll wait here. I shouldn’t have asked. I’m sorry.”
Dr. Barsch nodded. “It’s all right, Mrs. Craig. I know you’re worried. I’ll let you see Jack as soon as I can.”
After the orderly had taken Jack upstairs, Ted sat down behind the desk facing Mrs. Craig, who paced nervously back and forth.
“Please sit down, Mrs. Craig,” he begged her. “You’ll just wear yourself out.”
Mrs. Craig smiled and sat down in an easy chair across the desk from Ted. “I must seem like a foolish mother hen,” she said apologetically.
Ted looked at her in wonder. “I wish there were more mothers in the world like you. Some of the mothers I’ve seen wouldn’t be this anxious about their own children, let alone an adopted son.”
Mrs. Craig thought a moment. “I wonder why people don’t understand,” she said softly. “Jack is every bit as much my own child as if I had given birth to him.”
Ted nodded. “Of course _I’ve_ always thought of him as your own, because he’s been with you as long as I’ve known you. But I’ve often wondered, Mrs. Craig, why you and Mr. Craig adopted another child. I mean, when your family is as large as it is.”
Mrs. Craig smiled softly as she remembered Jack when he first came to her house. “We didn’t exactly adopt Jack. He adopted us. He turned up one day looking for work. When he was just a bit of a thing. His mother was dead. And his father!” she made a face as she remembered the distasteful man. “He was frightful! He dragged that mite of a child along with him on box cars! He ... he rode the rails, I think the expression is. And then he found that Jack was too much of a nuisance, thank God! And he dumped him off at Elmhurst.”
“You mean he ran away from his own son?”
Mrs. Craig nodded. “And so Jack came to us. Then, just about two years ago, his father turned up again. I suppose that was fortunate, too. He wanted Jack back. You see, Jack and Tommy make quite a bit of money from their chickens. So he wanted Jack’s money. Mr. Craig made a settlement with him, and he gave us permission to adopt Jack. So, you see, Jack is our very own child. And that dreadful man has no claim to him, whatsoever!”
Ted smiled. “Jack was lucky,” he said quietly.
“And so were we. I can’t imagine how, but that boy, brought up in filth and horrible conditions, was as fine a boy as you can imagine. Right from the very start. Oh, Ted, if anything happened to Jack, we’d be lost!”