A Nurse or an Angel ?

It was a country hospital somewhere in Outback Australia. One where small units joined together by pathway annexes made up a complete complex. The period was somewhere in the nineteen fifties, when hospital staff was run on military discipline. A time when Matron's word was law, Sister's (R.N) ruled over her ward, and the nurses were students who obeyed commands without question. The patients also lived under this stern discipline, with only the doctors able to break through any barriers without question.

Marian Stacy was a young mother safety delivered of a baby boy that afternoon. It was her first delivery and long after her visitors had left, she remained resting in the Post-Partum Unit contemplating over the birth. The experience was nothing like what she anticipated, but then no one had really explained to her what to be expected. She remembered thinking she was going to die. Why hadn't her mother told her about the duration of labor or about the long torturous agony? I don't know how I survived it, she reminisced shaking her head. Being told she needed to stay in bed and rest by her doctor was something Marian didn't need to hear. It was simply too tiring to even sit up in bed, let alone walk around. Why was she in a single room, instead of the long nightingale ward? There were many unanswered questions and Marian wanted to know.

"Mrs Stacy is asking questions Sister," Nurse Brown stood nervously beside Sister's table with her hands behind her back and voice lowered in respect. Sister glanced up sharply. Her eyes wandered the younger woman's face with an unasked question posing before she simply said."Thank you Nurse Brown, you may go, I will attend to Mrs Stacy shortly."

Awaking up at three a.m. Marian felt uneasy. No matter what the afternoon Sister told her, she felt ill and knew something was terribly wrong. Ringing her buzzer Marian lay back on the pillows and waited. Softly the door to her room opened and a Sister, never seen before entered the room. Holding a candle instead of a torch, her whole countenance was illuminated in light. Without a word this graceful arm reached out with her hand brushing Marian's hair gently back from her forehead. Her angelic face smiled radiating a feeling of wellness that touched and enveloped the watching young woman. Marian relaxed into the comfort of her bed, closed her eyes and drifted into a peaceful sleep.

Next morning the young mother marveled over her new found strength and feelings of well being. On Matron's morning rounds she related her experience about the night before. The description matched that given by other patients, who over the years, received miraculous healings. Matron and other staff deliberated over this story later that morning. The hospital was an old one and whoever the Angel nurse on duty was, everyone came to the same conclusion, she was welcome to remain.

All name fictitious.