The Pull of the Stars

Julia begins to care for Ita and Delia. Delia complains about the hospital’s not allowing her to go home. Julia explains to Delia that although her symptoms are mild, she is still sick. After helping Ita to the bathroom, Julia retrieves both patients’ breakfast trays and helps feed Ita her eggs and sausage. Delia complains about having to eat rice pudding and stewed apple, but Julia explains that she can’t eat anything fatty or salty due to her blood pressure. While the women eat, Julia discreetly pulls a nail from the wall and makes a scratch on the back of her watch. She has been marking deaths in this way since her early days as a nurse, and this most recent scratch is for Eileen Devine. Julia goes to the supply closet and makes a list of the supplies she needs, knowing that “[s]ince the war, one never knew what would be in short supply, so all one could do was ask politely” (34). When Julia turns around, she realizes that Delia has stolen a sausage from Ita’s plate, but Julia decides not to say anything about it.

A moment later, Ita wets her bed, and Julia realizes that Ita must have not urinated in the bathroom earlier. Julia tries to move Ita so that she can change the sheets, but Delia says she needs to use the bathroom and then jumps up to go to the bathroom herself. After chasing Delia down the hallway, Julia pokes her head into the Women’s Fever ward and asks the nurse on duty for help. The nurse tells Julia that they have 40 patients in their ward and have too few staff as it is. Julia gives the nurse her list of needed supplies and then runs down the hallway to join Delia, who vomits in the hallway before she can reach the bathroom. Once they’re in the bathroom, Julia can tell that Delia has diarrhea.

When Julia and Delia are back in the Maternity/Fever ward, the physician on duty, Dr. Prendergast, stops by. He tells Julia that she can give Delia bromide if she becomes agitated, and she can give Ita some whiskey to help her feel less anxious and fall asleep. Julia is skeptical of Dr. Prendergast’s recommendations but thinks, “I’d been taught never to contradict a doctor; it was held that if the chain of command was broken, chaos would be unleashed” (43). Dr. Prendergast tells Julia that a new doctor is coming in: Dr. Lynn, a woman. After Dr. Prendergast leaves, Julia thinks about how she’s almost 30 with no husband or children. She isn’t sure if she wants a husband. Though men have shown interest in Julia in the past, she thinks, “I couldn’t reproach myself with having thrust opportunities away, but I certainly hadn’t seized them” (44).