He bindeth up their Wounds
"Help! Marilla! Help!"
John had slipped on a patch of slippery mud and had fallen over. He tried to get back up, but was unable to, his leg hurt too much and now he was stuck. Marilla was baking in the kitchen and didn't hear him. When Marilla failed to appear John tried again attempting to shout even louder. "Help! Help! Marilla Help!"
Marilla's head shot up. Was that a noise outside? Rubbing her hands on her apron, she went out to the door to look in the yard.
"Help! Marilla Help!"
She rushed over to the barn "John! Are you alright? Where are you?"
"I'm out the back, come quickly, help!"
She found him lying stricken in the mud. "John, what's the matter? What have you done?"
"I think I've broken my leg, I can't move."
She rushed over to him feeling helpless. There was nothing she could do by herself, if she moved him it would make it worse. It was a cold day, the wind was blowing hard and there was a steady drizzle falling. John had fallen in a patch of mud just outside the barn. "What shall we do, what shall I do?" Marilla was panicking.
"Marilla you need to do something I'm getting cold here."
"Right right." She snapped out of panic mode and into practical mode "I'll go get a blanket." She rushed back to the house to get some warm things to cover him with. He would be going into shock and she didn't want him to die of hypothermia. Coming back quickly laden with stuff, she covered him with a coat, a scarf, a hat and then a blanket. "I'm going to have to go for help. Will you be all right? I'll be back just as soon as I can. I'll go to Rachel's and she can fetch someone to help us."
"Yes yes that's best" John said through gritted teeth, his leg was very painful. He felt warmer with all the clothes she'd covered him with though, and that was a relief. Marilla went back into the house to fetch a coat for herself and rushed off on foot to Rachel's house. She could rally the troops.
Marilla burst into Rachel's house calling out for her. Rachel was alarmed, Marilla usually knocked first. "Is something the matter?"
"Yes it's John; he fell over. I think he's broken his leg."
"Is he inside or out?" Rachel enquired, thinking about the terrible weather outside.
"He's just outside the barn. Getting rained on, I covered him up as best I could, but I can't move him. I need help."
"Of course you do dear. What do you want me to do?"
"I need you to get a strong man to help, maybe Davy and please fetch the doctor. I don't want to leave him for too long."
"I'll leave straightaway."
The women left in separate directions. Marilla went back to Green Gables. Rachel took her cart to fetch Davy and then to the doctor.
Marilla found John just where she had left him, a small heap on the ground. "John, I'm back. Rachel is fetching Davy and the doctor. I'll just sit and wait here with you." He was getting colder despite her covering and sliding into unconsciousness. "Try to keep awake John." She talked to him, attempting to keep him awake. "Tell me what happened? How did you fall?"
"I w-wash walkin, I washnt lookin w-w-where I w-wash goin", his words were slurring and his teeth were chattering in the cold. "I sh-shipped in thish p-p-puddle, I coul f-feel myshelf fallin, bu I couldn d-d-do anyshing to sh-shop it." He was really shivering now. Marilla lay down next to him to share the warmth. She was getting pretty cold now too.
"C'mon John you can't go to sleep on me. How about we sing a song together? Ridiculously the only song that came to mind was Ta ra a boom de ay*, at least it had a catchy refrain.
A smart and stylish girl you see,
Belle of good society
Not too strict but rather free
Yet as right as right can be!
Never forward, never bold
Not too hot, and not too cold
But the very thing, I'm told,
That in your arms you'd like to hold.
Ta-ra-ra Boom-de-ay!
Ta-ra-ra Boom-de-ay!
Ta-ra-ra Boom-de-ay!
Ta-ra-ra Boom-de-ay!
Davy found them there together. A distraught Mrs Rachel had summoned him. He followed the sound of the singing. It seemed such an incongruous thing, Marilla and John lying in a mud puddle at the back of the barn singing vaudevillian songs.
"Marilla", Davy cried, "I'm here."
Relief flooded Marilla at the sound of his voice. "Thank God."
"What can I do?"
"We need to get him inside, he's broken his leg and he's going into shock. It's awfully cold out here." Lifting off the blanket, Davy could see the damage, John's leg was twisted at an unnatural angle under his body.
"John, I have to warn you, this is going to hurt, a lot." Crouching down, Davy slid one arm under John's legs and the other under his back. Using his knees he straightened up, lifting John out of the mire. There was a squelching sensation, but they couldn't hear any noise over the sound of John screaming. Davy carried his stepfather into the house, following Marilla who opened the door for them. "Where shall I put him?"
"Let's put him in Matthew's room, it will make nursing him easier." Marilla walked in ahead of them and pulled the covers back. "The sheets aren't fresh, but it hardly matters right now." Davy gently deposited the cold, wet and muddy John into the bed and they pulled the covers over him.
"Should we try to clean him up a bit? Get him into some dry clothes?" Davy asked.
"I'm not sure? I hate to move him again." Marilla replied.
"C-c-cold so c-c-cold" chattered John through blue lips. That sealed it, if he was still cold they had to warm him up, even though it might hurt him. Between them they got him stripped, using scissors to cut off his trousers, and into his pyjama top. It hurt and he groaned with the pain, but he was more comfortable afterwards and glad to be out of his wet clothes.
They heard Rachel escorting the doctor in. "We're in here Rachel."
Doctor Mustard strode over to the bed. "What have you done Mr Blythe?" He pulled back the covers to assess the damage. He could see John's leg. "Nasty. Where did it happen?"
"Outside the barn, he slipped in a puddle."
"You did well to bring him inside. He wouldn't have lasted long outside in this weather. Mr Blythe I'm just going to administer some ether, or you'll scream the house down, then I'll straighten your leg. Mr Keith can you give me a hand here? Ladies if you just leave us to it, I'll need some hot water shortly."
Marilla and Rachel felt somewhat redundant and annoyed at being shunted off to the kitchen, but they did as he asked. Rachel took charge. Marilla was shocked by the days events. "Why don't you go and get changed too, Marilla? You must be chilled to the bone yourself. Marilla had hardly noticed, but now that she had time to think about it her clothes were wet and muddy too.
"You'll be alright here by yourself?"
"Of course."
Marilla ran upstairs to find a clean dress to wear. She had to strip right down, as even her chemise was wet. It took a little while, but after ten minutes or so she was feeling much better in dry, warm clothes. Rachel had boiled some water and had a pot of tea steeping on the table. "Oh, I needed that." She could feel the hot tea as it snaked down her oesophagus and into her stomach warming her up along the way. Never had a cup of tea been more welcome.
The doctor and Davy were busy in the bedroom for another half an hour. Eventually Doctor Mustard poked his head out. "Can I have some hot and cold water please?" Rachel and Marilla complied. Marilla was keen to get back to John's side. He was still unconscious.
"So what did he do to himself?" She enquired.
"He's broken his right leg quite badly. I've reset the bone and I'm just about to plaster it. He'll be out of action for quite some time, months even. I recommend you engage a nurse to help you."
"Is that necessary? I can nurse him."
"I think it is, it will be a great deal of work on your own."
"I'll think about it."
"Perhaps you would like to help me bathe him, I need to clean his leg before I plaster it." Using warm water Rachel and Marilla bathed John, removing the now dried mud. They dressed him in a nightshirt reasoning that it would make nursing him easier.
They watched in fascination as Doctor Mustard applied the sloppy Plaster of Paris. He explained that it would dry pretty quickly and provide stability for the leg, assisting the bone to knit. The doctor said John would waken soon, and that he would still be in a great deal of pain. He left Marilla some morphia powder to administer as she saw fit.
Davy left them; he had to go home. Marilla hugged and kissed him telling him how grateful they were for all his help. He really had saved John's life. John woke about an hour after the doctor left. Marilla sat by his side as he wept in pain. She administered some morphia. He subsided and fell back to sleep.
"Marilla, I think you had better rest too dear. I'll look after John." Rachel felt Marilla would need reminding to look after herself. "I think you should get a nurse as the doctor suggested. You can't manage on your own."
"Oh I don't know? I should ask Anne's advice."
Once Anne heard about John's injury she made her way over to Green Gables. She rushed in asking, "Marilla, how is he?"
"Well he's coping with the help of morphia."
"You have to be careful with it, or he'll become addicted." Anne entered Matthew's bedroom and sat at John's side. He was drowsy, but acknowledged her. "What about you? How are you coping Marilla?"
"I'm alright. The doctor thinks I should engage a nurse to help, what do you think?"
"He's right. This is a big job. You won't be able to manage the house and nursing all by yourself. A nurse can help with the less savoury bits and leave you to the loving part."
The nurse, Grace Weekly, was tall and had broad shoulders. She wore her chestnut hair in a bun; her brown eyes were warm and caring. Marilla was not too happy to have her in the house at first, but soon realised what a help it was to have her around. It was true that she had initially underestimated the workload. Minding a house and nursing a bed-bound patient was all consuming. With the assistance, she was able to snatch a few moments to herself. Miss Weekly was patient and practical. Marilla soon found herself warming to the younger woman.
John was recovering from the acute pain, so they weaned him off the morphia. This meant that he was awake for long periods of time and he was bored. Doctor Mustard advised that he would be bedbound for some weeks yet, perhaps months, as it had been a nasty break and would take a long time to heal.
Marilla sat with him for long periods every day. They grew accustomed to having Miss Weekly bustling around while they chatted. Marilla read the newspaper to John and they would discuss the events reported therein. Sometimes she read books out loud. They enjoyed Dickens, Austen and Twain. Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes mysteries kept them guessing until the very end; they particularly enjoyed trying to guess the murderer before Holmes divulged his answer. It led to some interesting discussions as they tried to sort out real clues from the red herrings.
For all that, time passed very slowly for John. He slept a great deal. Sometimes people came to visit. Anne and Gilbert bought the children by one weekend. It was wonderful to see them all, but he found the children rather exhausting. Rachel came by often, sometimes he found her incessant gossiping annoying, but she provided them with welcome local news. The Minister dropped in regularly, not just to pray, but engage John in some lively discussion, which was a much-needed distraction.
Doctor Mustard came by one day to say that he thought enough time had passed. He wanted to take the cast off. He warned John that his recovery was not yet over. His leg would be weak after months of no movement. Removing the cast was a somewhat disconcerting experience. The only way to manage it was to saw the cast in half. Once it came off, John saw his pallid leg underneath. It looked very shrivelled and thin. Doctor Mustard produced a walking stick. "You will need this to assist you, but for now you will need Miss Weekly and Mrs Blythe to help you to walk. I would like you to practise walking around the room every day and once you get stronger, around the house." Doctor Mustard helped John to his feet. John swayed, he had been recumbent for a long time and it felt very odd to be standing. The doctor held him upright for a few moments until he saw John go quite pale. Worried John was about to faint, Doctor Mustard lowered him back to the bed. Leaving instructions for Miss Weekly, he made his own way out.
Learning to walk again was a long exasperating process for John. He was frequently tempted to throw his walking stick away. Marilla was by his side every step of the way. She understood and was sympathetic to his frustration. She kept cajoling and encouraging him. "Come on John, just one more step. We have to keep on going, Doctor Mustard said…"
"Oh I could kill Doctor Mustard."
"Well you'll have to keep on at your exercise so you can get to his surgery to manage that, he lives a fair way away."
One night after a particularly gruelling day, John and Marilla were sitting by the fire. Miss Weekly had left them some days ago. They had bid her farewell with mixed emotions. It was wonderful to have their house to themselves once again, but Marilla had grown accustomed to having her company and her help. John turned to Marilla and said, "You have been amazing throughout all this, Mar. Surely you must have wanted to run away at some point. I can't be the easiest husband?"
Marilla smiled at him and took his hand in her own. "Dearest, do you remember our marriage vows, 'In Sickness and in Health'. I would have made a poor wife if I had run away at the first hurdle. You cared for me when I was ill last Christmas, and now it is my turn to care for you and it's my pleasure to do so."
* Ta ra a boom de ay, author unknown
