c/o J Nicklin Esq
Ashton-under-Hill
March 2nd 1916
My dearest Cyril
Before this reaches you I expect you will have had a letter from your Mother explaining why I missed a mail.
I am away from Badsey nursing a very big abdominal case. It was an emergency and I had to come at once on receipt of the doctor’s note. We were just going to have tea last Sunday the 27th and I was suddenly whisked away in a motor to prepare for this operation. The patient was at death’s door and we never expected her to last out the operation which took over 2 hours. Dr Leslie was not certain what was wrong – he was only called in at the last minute, so he did laparotomy or exploration. It proved to be one of the biggest kind of gynaecological cases and it is a miracle the girl is alive. The crisis is past so I feel able to snatch a few minutes to write. Dr Leslie had no other doctor to assist him as I had to “scrub up” and assist – a ghastly job. There was a girl staying in the house who had some training and she very kindly came in and waited on us. It is really a very sad case.
The girl is from the village shop and the Nicklins offered their house for the operation. She is engaged to their chauffeur. It is a case where love proved too strong for them both. Only the doctors and nurses know, and for the sake of her reputation no one in the village must suspect. At present even she does not know because when she underwent the operation she thought it was for something quite different – so did we. The man is broken-hearted. He has behaved like a brick about it. They are both very nice really, and have certainly suffered fearfully for the weakness of a moment. He told me he had been through hell. She has been fearfully ill having burst a blood vessel internally before the operation – you never saw what the room was like when it was over – more like a battle field than anything else.
For the first day or two the whole thing made me very sick at heart and really frightened me but I have got round to seeing things in their true perspective now and realize that everyone does not necessarily suffer like she has. Poor girl. How wretched she will feel when she knows that we know. I can see she worries about something now and I think must be beginning to guess that we must know something only she does not realize she was operated on for it. Everything had gone wrong. It is rather odd of me telling you all this and I hope the letter will not be opened. It is a relief after the strain and anxiety, to talk about it.
I cannot write more as my patient is so restless and I have to keep jumping up every minute. I have got a second nurse now. She takes from 2 in the afternoon until 2 am. I take from then until 2 pm. It is now 4 am.
God bless you darling and I am longing to hear from you again.
Best love from
Yours affectionately
Mela
