Monday afternoon, March 6, 1882
Pacific Dispensary for Women and Children
For the second time today, Annie unlocked the door to the dispensary office. She had first come at nine, so she could meet Ella Blair briefly before the scheduled nine-thirty meeting with Mrs. Stone, the president of the dispensary Board of Directors, and Dr. Maria Bucknell, the dispensary’s third attending physician. This meeting had gone much better than Annie had anticipated. She was back here again this afternoon so that she could fill in Dr. Blair on what had occurred and have a short visit with Phoebe Truscott. She also brought Kathleen with her, as Dr. Blair had requested, so her maid could visit Hilda.
This morning, the young doctor had only been able to step out of the dispensary examining room for about ten minutes while her nurse, Miss Astrello, did the preliminary interview with the next patient. She had assured Annie that Mrs. Truscott was responding well to the soft diet they were giving her, but mostly she was sleeping, seeming completely exhausted.
In addition, there hadn’t been a sign of her husband. Dr. Blair thought Richard Truscott’s failure to appear at the dispensary door, demanding to see his wife, demonstrated that he was going to abide by his wife’s letter. Annie wasn’t nearly as optimistic, and she feared that his failure to appear might mean he was busy getting legal advice or contacting the police or, perhaps even worse, talking to a newspaper reporter. She worried that when the afternoon and evening editions of the local papers came out, they’d be filled with screaming headlines about a poor sick woman being kidnapped by the Pacific Dispensary.
Ella Blair had taken the time to give her more details about the incident last night with Charlie McFadyn. Annie had been rather amused by how animated the young doctor became as she described Martin Mitchell’s heroics. From her own past experience with Nate, she knew it was hard not to be impressed when a man was willing to get beaten up to protect you, so she wouldn’t be surprised if the events of last night hadn’t improved Dr. Blair’s opinion of Mitchell.
She even thought she saw a slight blush on the young woman’s face when she mentioned that Mitchell planned on spending tonight at the dispensary. He had asked her to get the night nurse to watch out for him, because he would be coming straight to the dispensary from his evening shift as an orderly at the City and County Hospital. He would spend the night, as he had last night, sleeping on a cot in the reception room. Just in case either Mr. Truscott or Charlie McFadyn got it in their minds to break in.
As for Hilda, the girl who McFadyn apparently believed was the mother of his child, Dr. Blair reported the staff had strict instructions not to mention what had happened. Thank goodness, when Mrs. Truscott heard about Hilda and McFadyn, she didn’t object to moving to Hilda’s room, which was going to be the only room with an open bed when two patients with operations checked in this afternoon.
Joan, Phoebe’s maid, had been more hesitant than her mistress about this move. She had taken Dr. Blair aside to say that one of the tensions in her mistress’s marriage had been over her inability to conceive and she wasn’t sure how Phoebe would feel being put in a room with a pregnant woman. However, she did agree that putting Mrs. Truscott in a room in the maternity wing on the second floor would make it harder for Richard Truscott to find her if he did try to slip past the staff.
Breaking into Annie’s thoughts, Kathleen, who had been down to the kitchen to get tea, said, “Ma’am, should I go on up and see Hilda now? The servant Megs says they are going to move Mrs. Truscott up into her room in about an hour, and I thought it might be best to try and talk to her before that happens.”
Annie said, “Yes, but remember, just tell her that a man by the name of Charles McFadyn came to the dispensary asking after her…but that they had turned him away without revealing that she is here. Reassure her that the staff will do everything possible to keep her presence at the dispensary a secret.”
“Yes, ma’am, I understand. Poor girl. I think she’ll be glad of a little company in her room, maybe make her feel safer.”
As Kathleen turned to leave the room, Ella Blair appeared at the office door, looking a trifle weary.
Annie insisted she sit and have some tea and sandwiches, while she told her about this morning’s meeting. Mrs. Stone and Dr. Bucknell had been quite disturbed to hear about the financial shortfall and the immediate reason for that shortfall—Mr. Truscott’s failure to pay his bills. Dr. Bucknell glowered as Annie told them about how Mrs. Branting had left the records in such a mess. Mrs. Stone said she should have listened to the former treasurer, Mrs. Easton, who had expressed some concern about whether or not Mrs. Branting had the experience to handle the job. Dr. Bucknell was particularly incensed to learn that Mr. Truscott was questioning the care the dispensary had taken of his wife.
Annie said, “However, Dr. Blair, their concern turned to shock when I told them about the possibility that the illness Mrs. Truscott was suffering might be the result of poisoning, whether accidental or intentional.”
“I can imagine how upset they would be,” Ella said, wiping her fingers on a napkin.
“At first, they were incredulous, and I must say I did feel like I was describing some overwrought melodrama I’d seen at the theatre when I told them about Mitchell and Miss Sutton’s discoveries and the midnight rescue. But when I showed them the document that Nate had Mrs. Truscott sign, and Dr. Bucknell agreed that the symptoms I described did indeed fit the possibility that Phoebe Truscott had ingested both belladonna and aconite, they swiftly moved on to discuss what their steps should be to protect both Mrs. Truscott and the reputation of the dispensary.”
Annie reported how Mrs. Stone said that their first order of business must be to handle the shortfall, make sure the dispensary has the funds to pay the rent and last month’s pharmacy bills.
“She simply wrote checks to cover both, saying that I could put this down as a donation in my report. She also said she would talk privately to her friends on the board, assuring them that the dispensary was on sound financial footing.”
“Oh, Mrs. Dawson, that’s wonderful news, such a relief. But what about the danger to the dispensary if Dr. Skerry is intent on making mischief. And did you tell them about McFadyn?”
“I did, and they quite understood that the threat to the reputation of the dispensary posed by both McFadyn and Dr. Skerry is potentially more damaging than the financial problems. That’s why they agreed that it is time to get Dr. Brown and Dr. Wanzer back home…take some of the burden off of you. Mrs. Stone said that she would immediately telegraph Dr. Brown and send them the money to pay for an express train. If they start tomorrow, they can be home by late Thursday.”
“Oh, I will be so glad when they get here,” Ella exclaimed. “It’s not that Dr. Granger hasn’t been a help, stopping by a couple of times last week. I sent him a telegram this morning, simply telling him that Mrs. Truscott was now at the dispensary and asking him to come to check on her sometime today. I will feel much easier once he has gone over the steps I have taken. And his son, Harrison, has stopped by several times to check on Hilda. Then there is Dr. Powers, who is coming in tomorrow to perform two ear operations we have scheduled, with me assisting. And of course the staff, especially Mrs. McClellan, has been wonderfully supportive, it’s just…”
Annie reached out to the young doctor and said, “I understand. You have the ultimate responsibility to make decisions over all your charges…life or death decisions in some cases. That is more than most doctors ever have to deal with on a day-to-day basis. Then add on the worry you must feel over Mrs. Truscott and Hilda. No wonder you’re feeling anxious. But you have done splendidly. I don’t believe that Dr. Brown could have done any better if she had been here.”