scabs off with them. Both wounds looked better. She blew out a sigh of relief.
“Gonna live, am I?” said Benjamin.
“Yeah. You are.” She pressed at the edge of the exit wound. The excess heat was gone. She tested his skin down at his elbow for a comparison. Hardly any difference at all in temperature. It wasn’t as puffy now, and it wasn’t as red. The wound was still an ugly thing, but the scabs that had formed were doing their jobs now, and she would leave them alone.
To Edith, she said, “What do you think about using mercurochrome on this?” The stuff hadn’t been used in American medicine for a long while, and she knew little about it, except her grandmother still had some in her medicine cabinet.
“Hasn’t hurt anyone yet.”
“But because of the depth of the wound, I’m wondering if that’s best, or….?”
Edith stepped closer. “It seems to be healing on its own. I’d be sparing with the use of anything we have, as we don’t have much.”
“At least I have clean bandages now.” Coral dabbed a bit of the mercurochrome at the edge of one of the scabs, where it looked slightly redder than the rest, and padded each side with a square of clean cotton, then tied another strip of clean cotton around it. “In a couple days, if it’s still healing, and if you’re someplace warm inside, like the kitchen, or Levi’s office, or here, leave it open to the air.”
“My arm hardly knows what air is any more.”
She washed her hands in soap and water, then turned back to him. Edith had put the trash into a can kept on the box of kindling. Anything burnable—and the old gauze bandages were—got burned for heat in their stove. Edith had quit feeding the fire an hour ago and had banked the stove, preparing for the end of the day.
When Coral turned back to Benjamin, he was easing on his jacket again.
“I wish that jacket wasn’t so dirty.”
“The shirt is clean,” he said.
“Maybe you can borrow another coat for a couple of days while this one gets laundered and dries out. That’d be good.”
“What about yours?”
“Mine, too. And our sleeping bags and blankets, if they’ll do those. I assume they have heat in the laundry so things dry quicker?” she asked Edith.
The woman nodded.
“Show me how to close the clinic up for the day.”
“I can do it.”
“No, I need to learn, so you can take your days off soon. You’ve done more than your share today. You kept me from screaming at that Gloria person, for one thing.”
“She can be a trial,” said Edith. “It’s easy to tidy up and close. Shouldn’t take us five minutes.”
Benjamin leant a hand, and Edith was right. In five minutes, they had everything put away, the floor was swept, and the chairs in the waiting area straightened out. Someone, probably Edith, had left a couple books in there, like magazines left in a regular doctor’s office. One Coral glanced at had pictures of African animals, so you could entertain a kid with it while you were waiting. As she put it down, it struck her than none of these children would ever again see a zoo or get a chance to look at a giraffe or zebra in real life.
Edith had a key for the clinic door, and she locked it. “One of the few places we do lock,” she said. “Along with the kitchen and food stores.”
They didn’t entirely trust each other, then. That made Coral feel marginally better about staying in Boise. Otherwise, it was a little too Stepford Wives for her. The Stepford Survivors. That they understood there would be theft among the small community made them seem more human to her.
Edith walked with them for a few minutes then split off to go home.
When she was out of earshot, Benjamin looked around to make sure they were alone and said, “Let me tell you about my day.”
Chapter 12
“That doesn’t sound good,” said Coral.
Benjamin glanced around again. “It’s not awful—but it’s strange.”
“Levi, you mean? Or Parnell?”
“A few things.
“Gonna live, am I?” said Benjamin.
“Yeah. You are.” She pressed at the edge of the exit wound. The excess heat was gone. She tested his skin down at his elbow for a comparison. Hardly any difference at all in temperature. It wasn’t as puffy now, and it wasn’t as red. The wound was still an ugly thing, but the scabs that had formed were doing their jobs now, and she would leave them alone.
To Edith, she said, “What do you think about using mercurochrome on this?” The stuff hadn’t been used in American medicine for a long while, and she knew little about it, except her grandmother still had some in her medicine cabinet.
“Hasn’t hurt anyone yet.”
“But because of the depth of the wound, I’m wondering if that’s best, or….?”
Edith stepped closer. “It seems to be healing on its own. I’d be sparing with the use of anything we have, as we don’t have much.”
“At least I have clean bandages now.” Coral dabbed a bit of the mercurochrome at the edge of one of the scabs, where it looked slightly redder than the rest, and padded each side with a square of clean cotton, then tied another strip of clean cotton around it. “In a couple days, if it’s still healing, and if you’re someplace warm inside, like the kitchen, or Levi’s office, or here, leave it open to the air.”
“My arm hardly knows what air is any more.”
She washed her hands in soap and water, then turned back to him. Edith had put the trash into a can kept on the box of kindling. Anything burnable—and the old gauze bandages were—got burned for heat in their stove. Edith had quit feeding the fire an hour ago and had banked the stove, preparing for the end of the day.
When Coral turned back to Benjamin, he was easing on his jacket again.
“I wish that jacket wasn’t so dirty.”
“The shirt is clean,” he said.
“Maybe you can borrow another coat for a couple of days while this one gets laundered and dries out. That’d be good.”
“What about yours?”
“Mine, too. And our sleeping bags and blankets, if they’ll do those. I assume they have heat in the laundry so things dry quicker?” she asked Edith.
The woman nodded.
“Show me how to close the clinic up for the day.”
“I can do it.”
“No, I need to learn, so you can take your days off soon. You’ve done more than your share today. You kept me from screaming at that Gloria person, for one thing.”
“She can be a trial,” said Edith. “It’s easy to tidy up and close. Shouldn’t take us five minutes.”
Benjamin leant a hand, and Edith was right. In five minutes, they had everything put away, the floor was swept, and the chairs in the waiting area straightened out. Someone, probably Edith, had left a couple books in there, like magazines left in a regular doctor’s office. One Coral glanced at had pictures of African animals, so you could entertain a kid with it while you were waiting. As she put it down, it struck her than none of these children would ever again see a zoo or get a chance to look at a giraffe or zebra in real life.
Edith had a key for the clinic door, and she locked it. “One of the few places we do lock,” she said. “Along with the kitchen and food stores.”
They didn’t entirely trust each other, then. That made Coral feel marginally better about staying in Boise. Otherwise, it was a little too Stepford Wives for her. The Stepford Survivors. That they understood there would be theft among the small community made them seem more human to her.
Edith walked with them for a few minutes then split off to go home.
When she was out of earshot, Benjamin looked around to make sure they were alone and said, “Let me tell you about my day.”
Chapter 12
“That doesn’t sound good,” said Coral.
Benjamin glanced around again. “It’s not awful—but it’s strange.”
“Levi, you mean? Or Parnell?”
“A few things.
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