Chapter 24

Bern, February 1915

The winter cold seemed to have settled into Rebecca’s very soul, making her shiver constantly and have a dreary, grouchy disposition. She was afraid to cry for fear her tears would freeze, and she pushed herself to walk toward the hospital. There was never enough warm clothing to shield from the snow and frozen wind on the way to the hospital, no matter how hard she tried. She would never dare complain to Hannah or Mother about her misery, though. It wouldn’t do to allow Mother to gloat about how going to the university was dangerous to her health. She simply had to survive this part of her training, no matter what!

Lara was waiting for her by the stairs as she entered the hospital. “The women’s ward. Hurry!”

“Yes, Dr. Silber,” she said, already running down the hallway behind Lara.

“How many times did I tell you not to call me Dr. Silber!” Lara yelled back.

Rebecca smiled as they both arrived at the ward. Lara had finished her training and was now a full-time resident. She had earned her title.

Rebecca pulled her coat, scarf, and hat off and threw them on a chair as she entered the large room. The ward wasn’t usually full; few women had time to be ill and away from their families. It was the same today, with only a few beds occupied, their inhabitants trying to rise and observe the excitement in one of the beds by the far wall. Several nurses and students were gathered there, where a labor was clearly taking place, given a woman’s anxious cries and moans.

Rebecca hurried, following Lara past the crowd. She pushed a medical student out of the way and found herself by the bedside of a large and rather disheveled woman who appeared entirely too old to be giving birth. The woman was held by her arms by two orderlies as she frantically struggled to get up off the bed, while several nurses attempted to talk her into staying put.

“Help me get up! My dance card is full, can’t you see? Ahhhh!” The woman screamed and strained her back as her stomach contracted, her uterus working to expel the baby.

“How long has she been in delirium?” Lara asked one of the nurses.

“For the last hour, Dr. Silber. She’s been asking to go dancing. Before that, it was swimming in the Aare.”

“Toxemic?” Rebecca asked.

“I think so. Frau Kuntz was here a year ago and had toxemia then.” Lara was busy checking the woman’s cervix for dilation, as she continued to scream and strain against the orderlies.

“How many children has she had?”

“Eight she gave birth to, but only three alive,” one of the nurses said. “Dysentery took the last boy.”

“I told her last year she could die if she had any more children,” Lara said, crossing her arms.

“It’s not her choice, it’s her husband’s. You know how it is,” another nurse said.

“Oh, I do. I very much do. And now she’s going to die because of him.”

“Is there really nothing we can do?” Rebecca asked, watching the woman tearfully. The woman’s whole body seemed to be spasming in agony.

“Did you test her urine?” Lara asked the nurses.

“We haven’t had the time yet. But she has the fever.”

“Well, there’s really no time now. You see the edema on her, Rebecca? That and the delirium are definite signs of toxemia. The child is not ready to be born but it has to be delivered or the mother will die. She may still die, but we can at least try. Take the patient into surgery,” she ordered the staff. “Rebecca, will you tell Mark we are coming?”

“Of course.”

“And you can observe if you’d like.”

A rough hand grabbed Rebecca’s arm as she ran out of the women’s ward.

“You are going to fix my wife, right? I don’t have time for this.”

“I’m sorry, Herr Kuntz. Your wife requires an operation. The pregnancy is making her ill. Your child has to be born surgically,” Rebecca said, narrowing her eyes, trying not to judge a man who was about to lose his wife.

“Surgically? What does that mean?”

“Your wife is sick. She can’t continue carrying your child safely.” Rebecca tapped her foot in agitation. There was no time to waste.

“I won’t agree to it!”

“Then your wife and child will both die,” Lara’s voice struck from behind them.

“God will protect my son and damn my wife for not doing her duty!” The man hit the wall with his fist. Rebecca had a strong feeling that he really wished to pound either her or Lara.

“You have lost five children already. Do you wish to lose another?” she pleaded with him.

“You’re women. You don’t understand what a man has to do for his wife and children. Are you going to be the ones doctoring my wife? Is that why Anna is having trouble?”

“Yes, I’m your wife’s physician. My name is Dr. Silber. I’m the doctor for all the deliveries here today.”

“I want a man doctor or I’m not paying for any of this!”

Rebecca touched Lara’s arm and whispered, “We have to rush to surgery, ignore him. Just obtain his permission.”

Lara squeezed Rebecca’s fingers tightly. “I understand your feelings. Do you wish for your child to be born with our assistance or do you wish to take her elsewhere? I need the decision now.” She opened the door to the women’s ward, and Frau Kuntz’s screams poured into the hallway immediately.

The man paled and sat down on a bench. “Take her. I want my son saved.”

Lara nodded, and the women ran to surgery. An hour later, Rebecca sat in the washroom with her hands in the sink, watching the bloody soap rivers slowly run into the drain. Mark and Lara were still working on the child, trying to revive it, but she knew it was hopeless. The mother had died midway through the operation. The baby was pulled from her uterus unable to take its first breath, too weak and too small to live.

She finished washing her hands and walked out into the hallway, where she leaned against the wall, exhausted.

“What’s wrong? Where is my son? Is he all right?” She heard the man’s voice.

“Do you not even care to ask about your wife?” she said, eyes watering.

“Did you save my son or not?”

“Your daughter was born too small and not breathing. The doctors are trying still…”

“Another daughter? I don’t need another girl!” The man pounded the wall again.

Lara came out of the washroom and narrowed her eyes at the man. “Your daughter and wife are both dead. How could you allow her to become pregnant again? You knew how ill she was the last time! Haven’t you gotten her pregnant enough times already? She was too old to do this again. I told you this last year!”

“How dare you speak to me like this? My wife is none of your business. You need to go home to your husband or your father and learn respect!”

“No, you need to learn respect for women. You’ll need a new wife to take care of the living children, and you won’t easily find another one to do your bidding. You need to take care of your women and not kill them!” Rebecca raised her voice.

“You insolent little bitch! I’ll show you what respect means!”

“I suggest you rethink your words.” Mark stepped in front of the man quickly, causing him to waver and nearly fall backwards.

“What’s this?” Dr. Lohrer approached the group, smiling from ear to ear.

“These stupid women have killed my wife and child and dare to be terribly rude to me. This one is defending them!”

“I’m terribly sorry for the unacceptable behavior by my junior doctors. You’re grieving and you don’t deserve such disrespect. Why don’t you step into my office, and we’ll have a drink and talk things over?”

“Finally, a real man to talk to.” The man gave an angry look to Mark and stumbled off with Lohrer.

Mark was still breathing hard. Rebecca touched his shoulder. “It’s over. Nothing else we can do.”

“Why did you put yourself in front of this gorilla?”

“I was furious, and still am. It’s his fault that his wife and baby are dead,” Rebecca said.

Lara interjected. “It’s not his fault any more than any other man’s fault in this town. He only did what he believed was right—get his seed into her so she could make him sons. They don’t know any better.”

“Then we have to teach these women to think of their health.”

“How are you going to teach them? Their husbands won’t allow them, and the physicians won’t allow us.”

“Sarah and I have been talking about opening a clinic for the prevention and education of women. Now I think we will finally be pushed to do it. As quickly as possible,” Rebecca said firmly.

“Liebe, when will you find time, with all your responsibilities at the hospital?” Mark asked. “I have to get back to surgery.” He touched her shoulder. “I’ll walk you home later?”

“Yes.” Rebecca kissed his lips and watched him run off as usual.

“He loves you,” Lara said.

“I love him too,” Rebecca replied.

“You should let him marry you. That’s all he wants, you know. That’s why he is still in Bern, away from his family and his village.”

“You’re still here too,” Rebecca said, her heart beating wildly at the thought of marriage to Mark.

“I’m here because of Vlad. We do anything for people we love. Do you want to marry him?”

“I do, desperately. I just haven’t figured out how to convince my family yet.”

“Well, you’d better figure it out, or he will give up hope. A man needs encouragement.”

“Do you ever worry about Vlad being in danger because of his work for the Revolution?”

“All the time,” Lara said. “He’s being watched by the secret police now. I can’t sleep at night sometimes, I’m so frightened.”

Rebecca hugged her friend. “I’m so sorry. Please let me know how I can help. I love you both so much.”

“Thank you, my dear friend.” Lara hugged her back.

“You should help me in my clinic. It will distract you from your worries. I hope it will distract me.”

“What if I put you in danger by bringing the Tsar’s police to your door? They might be following me, too.”

“I’m Swiss. I’m not worried about any secret police!” Rebecca laughed. “You must help me. I can’t possibly manage without you.”

“I do want to help you. I have to do something about these senseless deaths we have in the hospital. There has to be a way to prevent these women from becoming pregnant if they’re too ill or too old.”

“There is. Sarah and I have been talking for a while about it. We found some cheap rooms we can rent nearby. Come have some tea with me, and I’ll tell you everything.” Rebecca wrapped her arm around her friend and pulled her along to the dining lounge.

She didn’t see Mark until it was time to walk home. The night air was biting with frost. She was almost sorry her father had finally stopped picking her up from the hospital in his car. He no longer worried about her inappropriate behavior, as she had made a considerable effort to listen to Mother and attend as many social events as possible. She was working up the courage to tell them she was dating Mark. She hadn’t been able to come up with any way to actually phrase this to them. Mother, Father, I hope you have changed your opinion of the man you forbade me to date. I’m in love with him and wish to marry him. Yes, that would go over very well indeed.

“You’re really thinking of opening a clinic?” Mark asked, interrupting her thoughts.

“Yes, absolutely! Sarah, Lara, and I will do it together. We’re very excited.”

“I admire you for wanting to help, but how can you possibly do this? You’re so busy as it is.”

“I’ll have to think through my schedule, of course. I can see patients at my clinic early before my hospital rounds, or in the evening, after my work is done.”

“I’ll walk you there and back home. It’s not safe for women at night in the city,” Mark said, taking her hand.

“There are three of us; we can take a car. We’ll be fine. I just hope that we can do something to prevent unnecessary deaths from Lohrer’s maltreatment.”

“You have to learn how to handle these deaths, Rebecca. Many women die here, many children, many men. It’s not your job to save people. You can only diagnose and alleviate their suffering,” Mark said.

“But maybe we can do something to prevent the disease. Lara and I do know how. We have many ideas.”

“That’s not a physician’s responsibility. We diagnose and heal what we can. We hope for future cures. Prevention is not possible.”

“I don’t know.” Rebecca rubbed her temples. “I disagree. I believe prevention is absolutely possible. I can’t keep coming to the hospital every day and watch awful things happen. I heard Lohrer say the other day, when we asked about contraception, that it was the woman’s destiny to have children and we all must get to it to make more soldiers for the war.”

“He is an imbecile. That doesn’t mean you must be a hero and sacrifice yourself.”

“But isn’t that what you do? When you help in your colony, or when you went home to care for your mother?”

“That’s different.” Mark looked down.

“I see no difference at all. We all do what we can to fight injustice, to make things better for other people.” She stopped and took his shoulders to turn him around. “Look, let’s talk about something else. I know you’ve been doing more political activities. Lara told me.”

“I’ve only been helping a bit. I didn’t tell you because I know how you worry,” he said.

“What exactly are you doing? Is Vlad getting you into the revolution he is planning?” Rebecca brushed the snow off her face.

“It’s not Vlad I am assisting. I’m working with Lenin.” He looked down, snowflakes settling on his eyelashes.

“Lenin? He is still here? I thought he left a year ago. How often are you talking to Lenin?” She couldn’t believe her ears.

“We’ve been having more gatherings at the colony. Lenin is reorganizing the Bolshevik Party. They’re not getting along with the German Socialist Party. He’s asked for my help.”

“Mark, you’re getting distracted from your work as a surgeon. And you’ll be in danger.”

“I’m not in any trouble at all. They just asked me to be involved a little, that’s all. There is going to be a conference to discuss the war and its effect on democracy, and I’ve been asked to assist with organizing. It’s nothing, really.”

“Can you promise me that you’ll be safe?”

“Of course. I promise. I’m not seen anywhere with Lenin or the other prominent party leaders. I’m just an unimportant helper. I don’t do speeches or recruitment. I’ll be fine.” Mark bent to kiss her, his lips warm, reassuring, distracting.

“I have to go now. You remember your promise?” she asked.

She watched him walk away, a large lump of fear in her throat. What was in Mark’s mind? And could she persuade him to change his mind and focus on medicine? Did she have a right to insist on him doing anything if she didn’t even possess the courage to tell her parents about their relationship?