Chapter 18 Chapter Seventeen

Edward Craddock was a strong man with little imagination.Driving to Tercanbury, he had no sad thoughts on his mind.He has always been able to restrain anxiety within a certain range with ease, so that he can wholeheartedly ride forward.He kept his eyes on the road ahead.The horses trotted lightly and regularly, and soon covered a great distance.Edward rang the doorbell of Dr. Spencer's house and brought a note from Dr. Ramsay.Dr. Spencer came downstairs at once.He was a small man with a high-pitched voice and a penchant for gesturing.He looked at Edward suspiciously. As the carriage clattered through the street, he asked: "I suppose you are the sick man's husband? Would you like me to drive the horses? I dare say you are quite disturbed at the moment."

"No." Edward replied with a smile.He had some disdain for city folks, and he never trusted anyone less than six feet tall and stocky. "You think, sitting in a horse-drawn carriage late at night, the husband driving the carriage is so anxious that my nerves are also tensed. Those ditches have an irresistible attraction for them." "Well, but I'm not nervous, doctor. If you're nervous, it doesn't matter at all." Edward picked up his speed as fast as they reached open country.The doctor's desire to drive a car amused him.Ridiculous little man!

"Have you got a good grip?" Edward asked mockingly. "I know you're a good driver." Edward replied modestly: "This is not my first time driving. Here we are." He led the specialist into the bedroom and asked Dr. Ramsay if there was anything else he could do. "No, I don't need you for the time being. But just in case, you'd better stay up and wait down there. I'm afraid Bertha is in very bad shape. You've got to be prepared for the worst." Edward went to the next room and sat down.He was really upset, but even now he didn't realize that Bertha was wrestling with death.His mind was slow and he could not imagine future events.A man of feeling, pale, heartbroken, and nerves strained by a myriad of dire anticipations, would be useless in the circumstances, while Edward was sufficient for any emergency. ; if someone needed to go ten miles to find some instrument, or calmly help a doctor with any operation, Edward was the man.

He said to Dr. Ramsay: "You know, I won't get in your way; but if I'm of any use in this room, you can trust me, and I won't get flustered." "I don't think you have anything to do here. The nurse is very competent and reliable." "Women are easily excitable. When they do things, they always make a fool of themselves." The atmosphere of the night made Edward drowsy.He sat in a chair to read a book, but fell asleep after sitting for less than half an hour.However, he woke up after a while.The first ray of dawn shone into the room, filled with a faint chill.He checks his watch.

"My God, it took so long." There was a knock on the door and the nurse came in. "Can I trouble you to come here?" Dr. Ramsay was waiting for him in the corridor. "Thank God it's over. She's had a hell of a time." "Is she all right?" "I think she's out of danger now, but I'm sorry to tell you that we couldn't keep the baby." Edward's heart hurt a bit: "The baby is dead?" "Born to die, I'm afraid there is no hope. You'd better go and see Bertha, she needs you. She doesn't know about children."

Bertha lay there looking exhausted: lying on her back, her hands utterly limp at her sides.She had just gone through a torment, her face was pale, her eyes were half-closed and half-opened, and her jaw was hanging like a dead person.When she saw Edward, she tried desperately to force a smile, but she was too weak to control her lips. Seeing what Bertha was about to say, the nurse hurriedly stopped her: "Honey, don't talk." Edward bent down and kissed her, a blush finally bringing some color to her face, and she began to sob.Tears flowed down her cheeks drop by drop. She said softly, "Eddie, come near me."

He knelt beside her, suddenly moved.He took her hand, and the contact had the effect of reviving her.She took a deep breath, and an extremely sleepy smile appeared on the corner of her lips. She moaned, "Thank God it's over. Oh dear Eddie, you can't even imagine the life and death I just went through. It was horrible." "Don't think about it, it's over now." "Eddie, you've been worrying about me. The thought of you sharing my pain fills me with courage. You must go to sleep now. Thanks for driving me to Tercanbury." Dr. Ramsay sent the specialist away, went back into the room, and said, "You can't talk."

"I feel a lot better after seeing Eddie," Bertha said. "Well, you must rest." "You haven't told me if it's a boy or a girl, tell me, Eddie, you know." Edward looked at the doctor anxiously. Dr. Ramsay said, "It's a boy." A look of joy dispelled the pallor, and she whispered, "I knew it was going to be a boy. I'm so happy. Eddie, did you see him?" "not yet." "He's our kid, isn't he? It was worth the pain to get him. I couldn't be happier." "You must rest now." "No, I'm not sleepy at all now, I want to see my son."

Dr. Ramsay said: "No, you can't see him yet. He's asleep and you can't disturb him." "Oh, I'd love to see him—for a minute. Don't wake him up." Dr. Ramsey continued to comfort her: "You can see him when you wake up, I'm afraid you will be too excited." "Okay, Eddie, you go see him and kiss him before I go to sleep." She seemed agitated, and asked that at least the father should be allowed to see the child, so the nurse led Edward into the next room.On the chest of drawers lay something covered with a towel.The nurse lifted the towel and Edward saw his baby.He was naked, tiny, barely human, and looked disgusting, but pathetic.His eyes were tightly closed, and it can be said that they were never opened.Edward watched him for a full minute.

"I promise to kiss him," he said softly. He bent down and touched his cold forehead.The nurse covered the body, and they went back to Bertha together. "Is he asleep?" she asked. "yes." "Did you kiss him?" "yes." Bertha smiled: "I didn't expect you to kiss my son before me." But the sleeping pills prescribed by Dr. Ramsay began to take effect, and Bertha fell into a sweet dream immediately after saying this. Dr Ramsay said: "Let's go for a walk in the garden. I think I'd better be here when she wakes up."

The air in the garden is very fresh, full of spring flowers and earthy smells.Both of them were in good spirits now after breathing in the smell of the hospital room for a long time.Dr. Ramsay took Edward's arm. "Cheer up, boy. It's amazing you made it through. I've never seen a man make it through a night like you did, and you looked like the man walking out of the painting this morning." Edward said, "Oh, I'm fine. What's the deal--kid?" "I think she should be able to accept this reality after sleeping. I didn't dare to say it was a stillbirth, for fear that she would not be able to bear the blow just now." They went into the house, washed, ate something, and waited for Bertha to wake up.The nurse finally called them. As soon as they entered the house, Bertha exclaimed: "You poor child, have you not slept all night? I feel very well now, and I want to see my child. The nurse says he is sleeping, and I cannot hold him." , but I really want to. I want to cuddle him and sleep with me, and I want to watch my son." Edward and the nurse turned their heads together and looked at Dr. Ramsay.For the first time he felt panicked. "Bertha, I don't think you'd better not see him today. You'll be very depressed." "Oh? But I must see him. Nurse, bring him here at once." Edward then knelt beside her and took her hand. "Oh, Bertha, don't be afraid, but the baby is not well, and—" "What do you mean?" Bertha jumped up suddenly from the bed. Dr. Ramsay and the nurse yelled at her to lie back on the bed: "Lie down! Lie down!" She suddenly fell into fear and cried out: "Doctor, what's wrong with him?" "As Edward said, he's not very well." "Oh, he won't die—I've suffered so much." She looked at this and then at that. "Oh, tell me, don't keep my heart hanging. Whatever it is, I can take it." Dr. Ramsay touches Edward, encouraging him to tell the truth. "Honey, you have to prepare for the worst. You know—" She screamed: "Is he dead?" "I'm sorry, too, my dear. He was born to die." Bertha's voice changed: "Oh, my God!" It was a cry of despair.Then, she burst into tears.She screamed, which made people feel scared.She wept because she had lost her life, her hope of happiness, and all her hopes and dreams.Her heart seemed to be torn apart, and she covered her eyes. "So what am I going through all this pain for? Oh, Eddie, you have no idea how horrible I've been through. I've been terrified all night, afraid I'm going to die. I'd give anything to take my pain away The price. But in the end, it was all for nothing." She wept uncontrollably.Thinking of the pain and futility she had endured, she broke down. "Oh, I wish I could go with him too." Tears welled up in Edward's eyes too, and he kissed her hand. He searched for something to comfort her, but finally said, "Don't give up, honey." His voice was trembling and his pitch was changing. "Oh, Eddie, I forgot, you suffer as much as I do. Let me go and see him." Dr. Ramsay gestured to the nurse, and she brought the dead baby.She took him to the bed and gently tore off a bit of the towel, revealing his little head.She looked at it for a while, then said, "Let me see all of him." The nurse removed all the towels, and Bertha looked at him again.She said nothing, but finally looked away, and the nurse took the dead baby away. Bertha held back her tears, but her lips expressed a hopeless sadness. She murmured, "Oh, I love him already." Edward leaned down: "My dear, don't be sad." She put her arms around his neck as usual when she was happy. "Oh, Eddie, love me with all your heart, I need your love so much."