I had made up my mind very soon that it would be no use measuring
Cameron for any clothes, or getting him ready for any train. He was
moving his head from side to side and making queer moaning sounds of
agitation and dismay. He had asked for a cigarette, which somebody had
brought him. It dropped from his fingers. Somebody picked it up and lit
it and stuck it in his mouth; it dropped again. Then I noticed something
odd about his left arm; he was holding it up with his right hand and
feeling it. It dropped, too, like a dead weight, on the counterpane.
Cameron watched its behaviour with anguish. He complained that his left
arm was all numb and too heavy to hold up. Also he said he was afraid
to be moved and taken away.
It struck me that Cameron's head must be smashed in on the right side
and that some pressure on his brain was causing paralysis. It was quite
clear that he couldn't be moved. So I sent for one of the Belgian
doctors to come and look at him, and keep him in the Hospital.
The Belgian doctor found that Cameron's head _was_ smashed in on the
right side, and that there was pressure on his brain, causing paralysis
in his left arm.
He is to be kept in the Hospital and operated on this morning. They may
save him if they can remove the pressure.
It seemed ages before the merry little _infirmier_ came back with
Russell's clothes. And when he did come he brought socks that were too
tight, and went back and brought socks that were too large, and a shirt
that was too tight and trousers that were too long. Then he went back,
eager as ever, and brought drawers that were too tight, and more
trousers that were too short. He brought boots that were too large and
boots that were too tight; and he had to be sent back again for
slippers. Last of all he brought a shirt which made Russell smile and
mutter something about being dressed in all the colours of the rainbow;
and a black cutaway morning coat, and a variety of hats, all too small
for Russell.
Then when you had made a selection, you began to try to get Russell into
all these things that were too tight or too loose for him. The socks
were the worst. The right-hand one had to be put on very carefully, by
quarter inches at a time; the least tug on the sock would give Russell
an excruciating pain in his wounded knee; and Russell was all for
violence and haste; he was so afraid of being left behind.
Though he called me "Sister," I felt certain that Russell must know that
I wasn't a trained nurse and that he was the first wounded man I had
ever dressed in my life. However, I did get him dressed, somehow, with
the help of the little _infirmier_, and a wonderful sight he was, in the
costume of a Belgian civilian.
What tried him most were the hats. He refused a peaked cap which the
_infirmier_ pressed on him, and compromised finally on a sort of checked
cricket cap that just covered the extreme top of his head. We got him
off in time, after all.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account