“Ester, there is a gentleman asking for you.” Professor Petters said entering the dining room where Ester was setting up the table for the evening meal. “I told him to go around the back to the kitchen door.”
“Thank you, Professor. I will attend to it now.”
Ester couldn’t imagine who it could be. It must be one of the food vendors Mrs. Petters had asked to come for a delivery. She thought as she walked to the back door.
“Olof! What are you doing here?”
“I’ve come to get you. William sent me. Elsa is in the hospital.
“Oh no, what happened? Why did she go to the hospital?” Ester asked.
“Ester,” Olof said. “Mr. Yungdahl took Elsa to the hospital. He sent a message for William to come immediately. I don’t know anything else.
“I will have to ask Mrs. Petters if I can go. Wait here. I will be back shortly.” Ester said as she took off her apron and rusted back through the kitchen door leaving Olof standing on the back porch.
“Mrs. Petters,” Ester called as she knocked on the front room door.
“Come in Ester, What is it?”
“Sorry to bother you but my friend Elsa has suddenly been taken to the hospital.” Ester said.
“What is the problem?” Mrs. Petters asked.
Ester answered, “She is about to have a baby but there is something wrong. Her husband left word for me to come as soon as possible. I was just setting the table when Professor Petters told me a friend was here to take me there.”
“By all means, you must go.” Mrs. Petters said. “Leave me word about tomorrow if you need to stay with her. You know we have that dinner party in the evening, I will have to ask the housekeeper to stay. Hopefully, your friend will be fine.”
“She was expected to have the child at home this month. But the problem must be serious if she had to go to the hospital. Thank you, Mrs. Petters. I will be going now then.” Ester said as she left the room. She returned to the kitchen to gather her things and leave with Olof.
Olof had walked over to the Petters so they both hurried to catch the streetcar to get to Saint Francis Hospital on Ridge Avenue. It wasn’t the hospital they thought the Carlson’s would normally have gone, since it was a Catholic hospital, but it was the closest for an emergency.
“Olof.” Ester said, “You will have to talk in English. I’m not so good.”
Olof assured Ester he could talk in English as they entered the hospital. They went to the small desk in the entrance where a woman dressed in a long white robe and large veil greeted them in English.
Olof asked. “Vee look for Carlson an wife having baby emergency?”
The woman asked them to sit down in the waiting room and she would inquire about the Carlson’s. Just as she talked to another woman in a white veil, Mr. Yungdahl came down the main hospital hallway.
Ester rose to greet him. “How is Elsa, Mr. Yungdahl?”
He couldn’t speak. He just stared at Olof and Ester. His silence frightened them.
Ester pleaded, “Please tell us what is going on? What happened to Elsa? How is the baby? Please Mr. Yungdahl.”
Olof lead him to a chair where he sat down. Ester sat on the chair next to him and watched the man wept.
“Oh no, no, no.” Ester whispered, her eyes filling with tears.
The woman in the white veil came over to them. She asked, “Are you Miss Nilsson and Mr. Johansson?”
Olof answered, “Yaj.”
The woman replied. “Mr. Carlson is asking for you. Come with me this way.” She then led them all down the hallway. She took them to a large room they called a ward. William was sitting alone by an empty bed.
“William, where is Elsa?” Ester asked. “Please tell us what happened?”
The woman in the white veil spoke to William. “Mr. Carlson, you can see your baby boy now.”
William wept covering his face and he mumbled shaking his head. “She’s gone.” And then a wail came out of him so loud it shock them all. “She’s gone.” He screamed.
Ester fainted. But fortunately Olof caught her before she fell to the floor. The white veiled woman rushed to help Olof get Ester to a bed and more attendants came to their assistance.
Once Ester was sitting up drinking some water, Olof said to her. Come see the Carlson baby.” He motioned for her to stand up.
“Wait!” Ester gasped. “What happened to Elsa? Why is she gone? I must see her?”
Again, the woman in the white veil addressed the weary group. “I am very sorry for your loss. Mrs. Carlson, hemorraghed after birth. There was nothing the doctor could do.”
Ester weeped uncontrollably in Olof’s arms. He whispered, “There is nothing we can do now except to go with William.”
William was being held up by Mr. Yungdahl as they all walked down the hall to see the child. When they saw the tiny boy, William and Elsa’s son, no one could speak. Ester held William’s hand. On his opposite side Mr. Yungdahl held William up. Olof held Ester around her waist. They could only hold on to each other while the woman in the white veil spoke to them. But none of them seemed to hear or understand what she was saying. It wasn’t their language. Their grief was so numbing nothing penetrated. Then only the soft cry of William and Elsa’s baby boy brought them some comfort.
Pastor Wendell, from the Swedish Lutheran Church approached them as they stood in the hospital hallway. He talked quietly to the group offering to take them to the chapel to pray for Elsa. As they sat in the chapel, the Pastor prayed for Elsa and William and their newborn. The familiar Swedish prays gave them all comfort. After Pastor Wendell assured William he would take care of arranging the service and burial for Elsa in Wunders Cemetery on Irving Park Road. Mr. Yungdahl and Olof helped William home. Olof decided he would stay with William even though Mr. Yungdahl was next door. Ester stayed at the hospital to make arrangements for baby Carlson. She hoped the baby could stay in the hospital for a few days until arrangements were made to help William care for him. Pastor Wendell told Ester that he would have Mrs. Wendell help find a wet nurse.
William could only moan and sob as they took him to the vehicle. He muttered over and over, “Elsa, my love.”
When they got to Carlson home Olof said, “Yungdahl, I will stay with William.”
“Yaj, good.” Mr. Yungdahl said, “He needs to get some sleep. I will go talk with Pastor Wendell to confirm the service arrangements. I told Ester I can provide any transportation she needs. The poor boy is so lost without his Elsa. He will need us to keep him going until he can take care of his little boy.
Olof got William into the kitchen and gave him a strong drink. He made William drink and then took him into his bedroom.
“Johansson, get me more drink” is all that William could utter.
Still at the hospital, Ester waited while Pastor Wendall talked with the hospital staff and called his wife to get support from the congregation.
“Pastor Wendall, I have to inform my employer what happened today. I will not be able to stay with the child now.” Ester said.
“My wife will arrange for the ladies of the church to help out until some permanent arrangements can be made. You must deal with your own grief. Take strength in the Lord. He will comfort you. Just your presence will support your friend, Mr. Carlson. We will all pray for him and Mrs. Carlson.” Pastor Wendall said.
After getting these reassurances from the Pastor, Ester went back to the Petters to inform them of what happened to her friend and tell them she would not be at work tomorrow but expected another day off for the funeral. Even though Mrs. Petters asked her what happened during the childbirth, she just didn’t know. Ester didn’t understand what the hospital staff had told them. The shock of Elsa’s death was all consuming. She couldn’t talk more about any further arrangements. She just wanted to be alone in her grief to pray for Elsa and William. The short walk from the Petters to her room brought back memories of her friendship with Elsa. She hadn’t known her very long but Elsa’s friendship had filled up her life more than she imagined. With Elsa there, she was not alone in a strange country. Elsa supported her when she had to face the loss of her own child. She had become her sister and her family, but now she was gone. Ester felt very lonely and numb, thinking of her future here without Elsa.