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“Do you think you can manage a little more?”
Julienne had barely touched her food, and Evangelina was concerned. Julienne had been a slight thing to begin with, and after a string of ailments and refusing to eat she was now looking worryingly thin. Her nightdress was hanging off her and even her cap looked too big somehow. Under piles of blankets with her flushed cheeks and glassy eyes, she almost looked like a sick child.
Julienne looked at the bowl in front of her with a defeated expression. After several seconds of silence she said a quiet “No.”
Evangelina held back a sigh. She knew the young woman wanted nothing more than to do what was expected of her, to please others. If she said she couldn’t eat more, then that was that.
“What happened to your phenomenal immune system, huh?” Evangelina tutted sympathetically as she lifted the tray off Julienne’s lap and put it on the chest of drawers.
Julienne had arrived at Nonnatus House a year and a half prior. She had miraculously avoided falling ill for over a year, something almost practically unheard of for new medical practitioners, especially when working out in the district.
Then suddenly one day she caught a bug and had trouble shifting it. She got better, but one month later she was struck down again. It was only a couple of weeks later that she fell ill for a third time, which she was still suffering from. This time it proved to be much more persistent, and Evangelina suspected that she never fully recovered the second time and returned to work sooner than she should. She didn’t know if this was the same thing which had now flared up again, or another bug taking advantage of the poor girl’s weakened immune system. Either way, she was clearly miserable.
Evangelina heard the sound of a soupy sniffle and turned back just in time to watch Julienne gag. Coughing and spluttering she struggled to breath, her eyes desperate. Evangelina rushed back to the bed, reaching for a kidney dish on the nightstand and held it under Julienne’s chin. She wrapped her other arm around Julienne and held her as she retched into the emesis basin, bringing up what little she’d managed to eat.
When the retching stopped she was left trembling and drenched in perspiration. “Sorry,” she whimpered, taking shaky breaths.
“Shh, none of that now,” Evangelina said softly. She held out a glass of water so Julienne could rinse her mouth. “Do you think it’s safe to put this away for now?” she finally asked. Julienne looked at the bowl and gave a faint nod.
After helping Julienne lie back against the pillows, Evangelina fetched a clean nightdress. “Let’s get you into a fresh nightie,” she said, pulling gently on the damp fabric clinging to Julienne’s skin. The young woman on the bed looked exhausted, but made an effort to shift her legs over the side of the bed.
“That’s it,” Evangelina encouraged, carefully pulling Julienne into a seated position. “Let me do the heavy lifting.”
With great care she helped Julienne out of her nightdress and into the new one. Julienne sat unsteadily on the edge of the bed as Evangelina quickly turned and fluffed the pillows, and then helped her lie back down.
“There,” Evangelina said, pulling the blankets up to Julienne’s chin and tucking her in. “Try to get some sleep. If you’re not better by tomorrow I think it’s time for Doctor to come and see you again.”
Tears gathered in Julienne’s eyes. She struggled to speak, her head was so clogged up with congestion and she had trouble breathing through her nose. “I don’t think I can sleep,” she finally managed. Her face scrunched up and her bottom lip started trembling. She was clearly struggling to keep the tears from falling.
Evangelina’s brow furrowed in concern. She sat on the edge of the bed and held out a hand to feel Julienne’s forehead.
“I think it’s time for more aspirin,” she said, throwing a quick glance at the bedside table to locate the bottle. As she was removing the lid, Julienne made a noise somewhere between gurgling and a cough. It had become a familiar sound as the drainage from her sinuses was running down the back of her throat. The thick mucous would occasionally get caught in her throat, which was decidedly unpleasant.
Julienne coughed for a bit and eventually managed to swallow it down with a grimace. Evangelina held out the glass of water and after a few sips she presented the aspirin. She had a thought, and when Julienne had taken the pills she shared her idea.
“How about we try mechanical draining of the sinuses? I remember my mother doing it to me when I was badly bunged up as a little girl. She just called it a face massage, but it would help ease the congestion a little. And it felt good if I had a headache. Do you want to give it a try?”
Julienne looked back at her with glazed eyes, lips slightly parted from having to breathe through her mouth, pale-faced and with dark circles under her eyes. She looked utterly miserable. “Please,” she whispered.
She rubbed her hands together to warm them up and then held them up towards Julienne’s face, seeking eye contact and approval to continue. When she agreed, Evangelina carefully cupped both Julienne’s cheeks and placed her thumbs on either side of Julienne’s nose. Then she slowly and methodically started rubbing in an outward motion across her cheeks towards her cheekbones a few times, before moving down a little and repeating the procedure. Julienne closed her eyes and took slow breaths as Evangelina worked.
It didn’t take too long before she had to stop and allow Julienne to blow her nose, but resumed the procedure after she was done. Not long after, the congestion appeared to have loosened a bit more, and they had to stop more frequently for Julienne to clear her nose.
Once it seemed she was able to breathe a little easier, Evangelina readjusted her hands. Resting her fingers on Julienne’s temples for stability, she used her thumbs to rub gentle circles between her eyebrows and above, then slowly rubbed in an outward motion just above the eyebrows. She hoped it would help further ease the congestion and also relieve some of the pressure which was undoubtedly causing a headache. It seemed to be successful as Julienne appeared to become a little more relaxed, her pained expression softening a bit.
The times they had to stop for Julienne to cough or blow her nose became less frequent, and eventually her breathing pattern changed to indicate that she was falling asleep. Evangelina continued her ministrations a little longer but applied less pressure, until finally she stopped completely.
Slowly she pushed herself off the bed, careful not to jostle the mattress. She picked up the emesis bowl and then the tray, heading towards the door.
Before leaving she looked back on the sleeping form on the bed. It usually took Evangelina quite some time to warm up to new people, but despite their differences she and Julienne had become firm friends almost as soon as she arrived. It pained her to see her friend so unwell, and she wished there was more she could do. But for now she would keep a watchful eye, do what she could to make her more comfortable, and pray for her health and speedy recovery.