Chapter 10 - Part II

Hetty King, March 1879, Age 19

"As you know this is a very serious illness. She will need round the clock attention. In a way you're quite lucky that the rest of the family is gone, it greatly reduces their chances of getting it. You'll have to make sure to observe yourself as well, if you come down with it you will need bed rest immediately. You've gotten out of rougher scrapes than this, Hetty, remember when you had measles as a child, that was much worse. But, be careful, and if anything changes have Jake come get me. Until then you'll have to be under quarantine. I'll be back to check on her tomorrow morning... Hetty..." Doctor Carter waved his hand in front of my face, as if he thought I was in a trance "Can you hear me?"

"I do doctor, it is just a lot to take in at the moment." At that moment Ruth began coughing again "And that certainly does not calm the nerves."

"I understand. I will be sending word to your father as soon as I go back to town."

"And what will you tell him?"

"The truth, the child is quite sick, for he and Irene to make sure and be careful with the other children. I'll tell him the house is under quarantine, and when they come back to find somewhere else to stay, for safeties sake."

"Thank-you Doctor, I do appreciate it."

"Of course Miss King. I will show myself out." he said, hesitating for a moment I wondered if he wanted me to say something, if instead of showing himself out he wanted me in a sudden surge of hospitality to do so for him. "There is something else I must add..."

"Yes?"

"This illness is highly contagious. I know Ruth slept with you in your bed last night, however you must be careful not to hug or kiss her, it may allow the illness to spread. So, be careful in your interactions with Ruth."

"Of course doctor." Either way I really didn't care, what I should and should do to protect myself, I was much more interested in was getting Ruth better. She had always been a sensitive child, less than Roger, but still, I knew how important hugs were to her. And, I didn't really care what the doctor had to say about it. So, leaving the doctor in our kitchen I walked up the back stairs and into my room where Ruth was laying in my bed.

I had never really thought my bed particularly large, but as she lay in it, Ruth made the bed looks as if it were for a giant. The covers on top of her, bright and white, were nearly the same colour as her skin, which also had a blue tinge to it. The whole picture was not of a sick girl, but of a ghostly nearly translucent girl who was in a land of giants.

"Hetty?" she called me weakly from the bed. A fit of coughs following it.

In my head I could hear the advice from the doctor, not to touch Ruth too much, how it could spread to me. The coughing was probably the most dangerous for myself.

"Please." she asked pitifully, opening her arms, another torrent of coughs.

What could I do? Give Ruth the comforting she so desperately wanted, and run the risk of catching the illness. Or, should I just pat her on the head, smile and go busy myself with something else, ensuring I did not catch the illness.

I walked towards the bed, the closer I got the smaller Ruth looked. There was only one thing I could do.

"Move over sunshine, you've got to make room for the two of us in there." Doctor Carter be damned, what did I care? This was what Ruth needed, a environment with no affection would be the death of her. Even though I was not technically her mother, it was my duty to love her and treat her like I was. And, if anyone were to tell me that no mother would do what I had just done I would laugh at them. For, if during a sickness of any of her children, I had never seen my mother turn down a comforting cuddle, no matter what the risk to her.

As I got into bed and put my arms around her, Ruth gave my jaw a kiss, which was as far as she could reach. Like she and Olivia had done so many times before, laying in my arms, Ruth got as close to me as physically possible, coughed a little bit, and fell asleep. It may have been dangerous, but it was the right thing to do. If this illness was as serious as I had heard, I was not going to begrudge the sleeping child anything, I loved her so much, and, as I then realized I could never deny her anything, especially if it made her so happy.

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The days that followed went by like a blur. The majority of my days were spent with Ruth, mostly laying in bed, holding her. In the mornings when I woke up I would make Ruth breakfast, take it upstairs to her and get dressed while she was eating. Although he may have had his own suspicions Doctor Carter never asked if I had followed his 'no touching' policy, and I did not tell him otherwise.

As soon as the doctor left I would get back in bed with Ruth and would stay with her all day except for when I made food. I knew almost nothing of the outside world in those weeks were alone, however, it seemed that the weather seemed to mirror Ruth's condition, snowy and grey when she was feeling her worst, and sunny and bright when things got better.

With the house in quarantine we saw no one, except Doctor Carter, and no one saw us. When the family and Irene came back from the fair of the future we were not even allowed to see them, instead they stayed down the road with Gertrude in her house; Rose Cottage. The house was still and silent, except for Ruth's coughs which over the days got better, and less frequent.

Looking back on it I was absolutely foolish to look after Ruth on my own, and even more foolish to have her sleeping with me, but, knowing what I know now about the real future, I wouldn't have traded it for anything in the world. In that week I learned what it was like to give myself, almost, completely to another person, I learned that I could show affection for someone, and maybe it was okay to love someone again. But, most of all, from that week I learned about my sister, again, I learned about her not in a bossy, older sibling way, but instead in a loving sister type of way. I learned about the sadness and guilt she had kept locked inside over the death of that ruddy cow ( I cannot even remember why she felt such guilt, but I do remember how profound it was).

After the week of sickness, Ruth and I were still on quarantine for another week. Most of that extra week was spent doing one of two things for me. I was either cleaning the house from top to bottom - which included have to give a good boiling to almost every piece of clothing or linen in the house. Or helping Ruth with the schoolwork that she had missed. I had to admit, while I was not overly fond of Muriel Stanley, she made sure that Ruth got her schoolwork, and would stay caught up with the other children.

However, while scrubbing was not my ideal way to spend a week. It was worth it, not the supremely clean house part - although that was nice as well. But, in the days that followed, seeing my eight year old sister be able to run around and play with the other children, and seeing her be able to go back to school, happier it seemed, than before, I knew that it had all been worth it.

Years later, when Ruth was sick again, this time in Montreal, I never gave it too much thought, or at least thought that it could be deadly. In my mind I never thought anything would be as dangerous as diphtheria, and even though I was not in Montreal at the time, I did start on the journey there, and I almost made it too her. But, that is another story for another time.

I was lucky, I never did get diphtheria, in those days we knew that certain illnesses were contagious, and we had an idea about how they spread, but knowing about germs and there disease passing ability was only fully discovered three years before Ruth got sick, and while Doctor Carter was often very knowledgeable, things were slow in getting to our little Avonlea in those days. Things are much the same now, Avonlea always seems the last to know anything, but, that's how I've always liked it, the best life is the life lived slowly.

A/N - Not the most dialogue heavy chapter, but with Ruth sick there wouldn't be much time for speaking, as she would have been sleeping most of the time (hopefully). -V