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Evangelina woke up before the alarm rang. It was something that had started happening with increasing frequency. She put it down partly to her body’s internal clock, partly that the days were getting longer, the brighter mornings waking her up earlier.
She quickly turned off the alarm before it sounded. Julienne was suffering from a nasty cold, and she didn’t want to wake her. Evangelina rose and stretched, gathering her habit and necessities before heading to the bathroom to get ready for the day.
She returned to change out of her slippers, and when she entered the room Julienne was awake. Barely.
“What time is it?” Julienne croaked. Her voice was deeper and she sounded even more blocked up than she had been the previous day.
“Shh. Go back to sleep,” Evangelina whispered. She stood still for a moment awaiting a response, but none came. Then she heard the familiar sounds of the slightly laboured deep breathing she’d heard in the night, that of lungs fighting for air though congestion. Slowly she moved out of the room, closing the door behind her.
Evangelina was on laundry duty after Lauds. She checked in on Julienne just before breakfast, who was still asleep. When she’d finished her own breakfast, Evangelina prepared a tray. Julienne had barely eaten the day before so it was time she had something.
She pushed the bedroom door open with her shoulder, careful not to tilt the tray between her hands. Julienne was still sleeping so she put the tray on her own nightstand, as Julienne’s was cluttered with signs of ongoing illness; used handkerchiefs, a half empty glass of water, aspirin, cough drops, and a mentholated ointment intended to help clear congestion.
Julienne was curled on her side, leaning against the many pillows propped up to help ease her breathing. Her lips were parted and her bunged up nose caused her to snore.
Evangelina leaned down and gently rubbed Julienne’s shoulder over the blanket. “Morning, Sister,” she said softly. It took a few seconds but eventually her eyes fluttered open. “I know you’re tired, but I need you to eat something before going back to sleep.
Julienne curled up tighter and pulled the blanket closer. Evangelina frowned. “Are you cold?” A faint nod was all she got for a reply. She put the back of her hand against Julienne’s forehead, then slid it down to cup her cheek. “You do feel a little warm,” she said, her Sister’s temperature clearly elevated.
Julienne turned her head and coughed into her pillow. Her chest rattled with congestion, but at least it sounded like she managed to shift something. A small comfort, but the last thing they wanted was for this to turn into pneumonia. “Come on, sit up for a bit, it’ll help with your breathing.”
Evangelina helped adjust the pillows as Julienne pushed herself up the bed. “There you go.”
As Julienne leaned back against the pillows there was a flash of pain across her face. “Everything alright?” Evangelina asked.
“It’s just…cramps,” she said hoarsely, averting her eyes. She eased into the pillows and pulled the cover up to her chin.
Oh. Of course. Evangelina thought back and counted the weeks. It made sense. Evangelina knew that Julienne suffered from quite severe dysmenorrhoea and heavy flows. It was unfortunate timing, but there wasn’t much to do.
“Well, you know where to find the sanitary towels. I’ve just restocked the supply.”
Julienne gave a slight nod, then turned and coughed into her shoulder.
“Best get on top of that pain as soon as possible,” Evangelina said, reaching for the bottle of aspirin on the bedside table. “Remember what we’ve learned, pain relief early and often to keep those worst peaks at bay.” Evangelina had accompanied Julienne to the doctor once it became clear she was struggling. The doctor had urged her not to suffer in silence, and to make use of the medication available. She’d been prescribed iron supplements and advised to take pain relief as required.
Evangelina held out two aspirin and the glass of water. Julienne was clearly reluctant to withdraw her arms from the warm comforts of the blanket, but did so to take the pills and swallow them down. “Thank you,” she said, clearly struggling to sound out the correct syllables with a blocked nose and sinuses.
Evangelina handed her a clean handkerchief, then went over to the chest of drawers at the other side of the room. There she dug out the thick winter blanket which had only been put away a few weeks prior. She unfolded it and draped it over Julienne’s existing cover, who looked thankful for it.
She then fetched the tray and put it over Julienne’s lap. “Here you go. Try to make a dent in that while I make you up a hot water bottle.”
Evangelina left for the kitchen and when she came back, a slice of toast and half of the porridge had disappeared. The tea with honey was almost completely drained. Julienne was leaning back against the pillows with her eyes closed, but peeled her eyes open as Evangelina entered.
“Are you finished?”
She attempted to sniffle but all it did was bring on a small coughing fit. She turned away from Evangelina and coughed into her shoulder, leaving her a little shaky by the time she finished, but she nodded in the affirmative as reply. Evangelina made a mental note of trying steam later to loosen up some of that congestion.
Evangelina had brought two hot water bottles, which she put on the edge of the bed while moving the tray. Turning back she moved to put them under the covers, but Julienne was pushing the blankets down and starting to get out of bed. “Bathroom,” she croaked.
As Julienne stepped into her slippers, Evangelina fetched her dressing gown and held it open. Julienne stuck her arms in and wrapped it tightly around her.
As Evangelina waited she could hear intermittent coughing down the hall. By the time Julienne returned she was visibly shivering, and Evangelina helped her back to bed and adjusted the pillows as she laid down, for comfort and to breathe easier. Then she held out one of towel-wrapped hot water bottles for her to hold against her abdomen. The other she brought to the foot of the bed, and Julienne looked a little confused. Evangelina carefully lifted both Julienne’s feet and slid the bottle underneath. “I know your feet get cold, especially during your monthlies.”
Julienne’s eyes glistened and Evangelina wasn’t sure if it was due to emotion or fever. She tucked in the blankets closely around her. “There. Try to get some sleep.”
Julienne swallowed thickly and turned to cough once, twice. But she nodded at Evangelina and curled up on her side again, eyes sliding shut as she hugged the hot water bottle.
Evangelina checked in on her during the day. Julienne mostly slept, though it was an uneasy sleep and she was often waking herself up coughing, from being unable to breathe through her nose, or from the cramps. She would try to read for a bit until her pounding headache made her vision unfocus, and she went back to sleep, the cycle beginning anew. She barely ate lunch and by the afternoon the congestion was only getting worse, and it was looking increasingly as though she’d gotten a sinus infection.
Evangelina entered with the tray, a bowl, a towel and a kettle as Julienne was once again unsuccessfully trying to blow her nose. “Let’s give steam a try, shall we?”
She helped Julienne to sit, placing the tray over her lap and the bowl on top of it. Then she poured the boiling water into the bowl and encouraged her to lean over it, draping the towel over her head.
She sat under there until the worst of the blockage started giving in. A few minutes more and she was able to actually blow her nose. Another few minutes and it was really starting to ease up, allowing her to actually breathe through her nose a little, and breathing as a whole became less strained. But it became too much, and her back protested so she asked to stop for the time being, and Evangelina agreed.
“Hopefully you’ll be able to sleep better now,” Evangelina said. She looked at her watch. “First it’s time for more aspirin though.” She shook out the pills from the bottle and held them out with a glass of water.
“And one more thing,” she said as Julienne put the glass back on the nightstand. From her pocket she pulled a pair of knitted socks and held them out. “These are for you.”
Julienne looked at them, eyes wide with confusion and surprise.
“Before you say anything, Sister Ada has given me the all clear. I told her of your predicament and she agreed this was not only acceptable, but necessary.”
“Oh,” was all Julienne managed to say.
“And before you ask, no, there was no expense. Even though that would have been perfectly acceptable in this case,” she said with a meaningful look. “But no, with Sister Ada’s permission I unravelled a moth-eaten jumper from the charity box. These were made from the scraps.” She dangled the socks by the toes, then leaned over the foot of the bed, showing she was about to put them on Julienne’s feet.
“Thank you.” Julienne looked moved by the thought and effort that had gone into the project.
“You’re quite welcome, but it’s not all me. I wanted to get them done as soon as possible so Sister Monica Joan and I have been making one each. You know, I started before her and she still finished hers before I finished mine. Say what you will about that woman but she sure can work fast when she puts her mind to it.”
Julienne smiled. “So that’s…” She turned to cough. “What you were working on during recreation all week?”
Evangelina nodded.
“Thank you,” she said again, looking more than a little emotional. Evangelina pulled one sock on and then the other, then folded the blankets down and tucked her feet in. “We just want to help in any way we can.”
Julienne smiled gratefully and leaned heavily back into the pillows. As she relaxed she winced a little, putting a hand on her abdomen.
Evangelina frowned sympathetically. “Let me get you another hot water bottle.”
Julienne watched as Evangelina left. She had found her arrival in Poplar challenging, but the Sisters had been wonderful. It had taken a while to get to know Sister Evangelina, but she now regarded her as her closest friend. She always felt protected and taken care of by her, and never more so than today.
She shivered and pulled the blankets closer. Turning on her side she hugged her stomach, hoping the pain relief would take effect soon. While she waited for Evangelina to return she said a silent prayer of gratitude, for being the recipient of so much care and kindness.