Montgomery County sentinel. [volume] (Rockville, Md.) 1855-1974, 1924-01-25
The Reunion in a
Hospital
BY JUSTIN WENTwooD
t9, 1874 Western Newspaper Union)

&c, 1874 Western Newspaper Union.)
T TITLE was known about the
private life Of the head surgeon
at the hospital, Brlerley, except that
he had been married and now lived
alone In fine apartment In fash
ionable part of the town. Thus he was
invested by the nurses with certain
air of romance He was quiet man,
very skillful, and little given to con-
versatiOn.
In the course Of a life u man dis
ciplines himself to bear the shocks of
life. There was now little that was
able to disturb Brlerley's eQuanlmity,
and the one thing that did disturb It
nobody knew about.
That was operations ON children.
Hardened, as the surgeon must be,
he could never use the knife upon a
child without Il sense of horror at the
soaring of the little form. And into
the face OF each child he gazed with
a sort Of wistful tenderness which the
nurses had observed.
Children were fond Of him, too. II
was only with them that he was apt
to relax little. Then a light came
into his eyes, a new note into his
voice, which was instantly suppressed
when any one observed him.
Now, fastening his white garment
round him, he was waiting for the
child to be wheeled into the operating
theater He had heard the choked cry
as the gas mask was put over Its head
and mouth-then nothing. And now
the door was opening, and the uncon-
sclous child was being wheeled in.
A child mangled by the truck under
which 1t had run In play. A child
poorly dressed, but Of decent par
entage, and clean, save for the blood
that disfigured 1t. Ribs had been
crushed-and the operation must be n
scientific one.
He worked with little hope, but as
he proceeded he saw that there was
hope after all. Mlraculously certain
the arteries and vital organs had been
spared, The assistant said afterward
that he had never seen any job quite
so completely done. He was afraid the
operation was lasting too l0ng--the
strain would be too great. Brierley
quietly ignored his protests.
And, as he worked, the nurse re-
moved the ether mask for adjustment,
and Brierley looked for a moment into
the child's face. And nothing in his
steady movements indicated the sud
den terror that had come to him.
For this was the child that he had
always dreamed OF, with the fiaxen
curls and wide, blue, staring eyes and
that little curve Of the Jaw--God, how
he had seen II In his dreams His
child, this little waif ought to have
been.
The old pang. How foolish He
must try to conquer those impulses
that grlpped him when he operated on
children, Still, this one was 80 close
to his heart. He must save 1t
The operation was over. The child
was wheeled away. Telephone me-"
said Brierley to the matron. She
looked at him In surprise. about the
chlldT" she asked
yes, yes, Of coursel want to
know how II gets along. A fine little
boy"
She telephoned that night. The child
was holding his own. But Brlerley
could not go to bed for thinking of 1t.
He wanted to see II again, that little
curve OF the jaw.
Upon some pretext he went to the
hospital late. "Tll have a look at the
boy" he told the matron. How is
her
"Why. doing very nicely, DR. Brler-
ley. WIN you 20 upT"
He went up In the elevator A
woman In black was seated at the
child's side, holding the feverish little
hand. The childs eyes were open, and
he was muttering. She bent over him.
Brlerley sat down on the bedside
and felt the pulse. He knew all this
was fate--lt was fate that had drawn
him there. The woman had not looked
started, uttered little cry.
"Will he liver WIN he live2"
Hes going to live" answered Brier-
ley. 81 shall see that he lives"
And for three nights until far into
the morning he sat by the chlld's bed
side. on the fourth morning recovery
was assured.
Hell live for you, Estelle," said
Brlerley In u cold, logged way. "Pye
been glad to see him and learn about
him"
81 want him 10 live for you, too
John. | was mad and unforglylng and
I've been teaching him to call you
father"