The interne had been called away over the loud speaker; the floor nurse was busy at the ward telephone. Cub Sterling tiptoed to the door and closed it swiftly.
The tired wrinkles around his eyes began to crinkle, a fine humor relaxed his brittle body. He came back to the bed and squeezed the curly head of the unconscious figure against his long leg.
Then he leaned over and whispered in the little ear:
"You are all right, kiddo! But for God's sake, wake up!"
Then he went back to methodically examining her legs and laughed shortly at the downy patches where the calves curved behind the small ankles; at the lopsided little V's in the big-toe nails....
Never before in all of his medical experience had he had a devastating, unconscious, perfectly private patient.... He lifted a foot and laid it from the nape of his palm to the ends of his fingers. It was half an inch short of his nail tips and the little finger of his left hand could extend entirely under the instep without touching flesh....
The girl groaned deeply and Dr. Ethridge Sterling, Junior, intervened....
He took her pulse again. Noted the excellent heart action. Began carefully going over the abdomen. Once or twice she cried distantly, and he decided the best thing to do was to put her out of her pain. The heart action was so splendid that the wisest way to keep her from babbling to the nurses would be to narcoticize her.
So he took her head in his hands and went, painstakingly, over the skull. There were no masses, no abrasions, no visible signs of anything extraordinary. She was in shock, of course. But an accident coupled with an endeavor to make old Herb Barton keep his distance.... That recollection killed his critical faculty for an instant. He lifted the head slightly forward and massaged the curls which nestled in the hollow at the base of the skull.
The fat interne and Miss Kexter, the floor nurse, returned simultaneously. Dr. Sterling resolutely replaced the head among the pillows and said, shortly:
"No signs of concussions, or injuries; with the exception of that abdominal sensitivity. Case of extreme shock. Acute pain is from strained ligaments and bruises. Nurse, give her an eighth of morphia injection. Doctor, keep your eye on her respiration and notify me at ten. I'll be in my rooms, probably. Main thing is to keep her quiet."