One Week Later

It was another lovely late spring evening and R.J. was just settling into his evening slice of apple pie and a cold glass of milk when Mrs. Burke came rushing into the saloon. 

“Oh thank the good Lord, Doctor Alcorn, there you are.” Mrs. Burke said, catching her breath and attempting to appear collected (she was a mess.)

“I need your assistance at once, will you come with me please?” R.J. could see that she had been crying and was even more slight than ever. 

Poor woman, he thought to himself. I shall have to tend to her as well.

“Lead the way, ma’am.” R.J. left his evening nosh and followed Mrs. Burke into the waiting carriage outside where Miss Cora Burke was not totally conscious and profusely sweating. 

“She passed the baby the day after we saw you…I was so grateful to God that he saw fit to release her from her imminent shame…she didn’t stop bleeding right away, I have lost children at that stage myself and knew it to be a normal occurrence. But the following day she became feverish and retreated to her bed again. She's been getting worse for the past two days, doctor. I don’t know how to help her, please, Dr. Alcorn, please help my sweet girl….” Mrs. Burke spoke in a desperate, hushed whisper. 

R.J. felt the young woman’s forehead and immediately knew she was the victim of an infection that would take her life.  I must keep my composure, he thought to himself, taking a deep breath before turning his gaze to her mother.

“It’s alright, Mrs. Burke. Let’s get to my office with all haste.” R.J. knocked twice on the top of the cab and directed the driver to his office at the other end of Main Street. 

The two were barely able to rouse Miss Burke and struggled to get her out of the cab and into Dr. Alcorn’s office, to any onlookers the sight would have been odd to say the least. 

Once in the examination room, they were able to get Cora onto the table. Her skin was waxy and covered in a cold sweat as her body fought to relieve her from the inferno the infection was forging.

“Bend her legs for me, will you - and hold them open,” R.J. instructed, Mrs. Burke did as she was bid immediately as R.J. produced a speculum from a drawer and disappeared under Miss Burke’s skirts. 

“There’s no persistent bleeding, that’s a good sign, but with this fever I suspect there is remaining fetal tissue in her uterus. I shall do my best to remove it, but I have to warn you that the sort of infection that results from such an occurrence is famously… unresolvable.” R.J. again heard himself. 

Too cold, he thought, though he felt the full terror this woman was experiencing quite acutely. 

Mrs. Burke burst into tears, “I would have brought her to you sooner sir, I just didn’t know how to do that without Mr. Burke discovering us, I had to wait until he left this evening to visit his sister. What have I done?” she sobbed. 

R.J. held a lantern as he peered into Cora’s body. “Mrs. Burke, you said the baby passed by the grace of God himself and not by any of your own intervention, is that correct?” 

“Yes, Cora came to me on Wednesday and told me that she was bleeding and could not stop it. I helped her to bed and stayed with her until it subsided, she passed a large amount of blood and other matter.” Mrs. Burke responded, suddenly quite calm. 

“I just see some tearing around the opening to her womb, ma’am,” R.J. said delicately. “It may be that she took actions without telling you, I’m sorry to say.” 

Just then Cora moaned, “Mama?”

“I’m right here, darling girl. Mama is right here.” Mrs. Burke whispered in her ear. 

“Miss Burke, did you remove the fetus from your womb with some sort of apparatus? Please, dear, you must tell me.” pleaded Dr. Alcorn. 

Cora again loses consciousness and seems to seize. 

“What’s happening?!” Mrs. Burke shrieked

“Please, madam. We must not cause alarm lest we draw attention to ourselves.” whispered Dr. Alcorn. “Please attempt to hold her steady while I take a closer look.” 

Mrs. Burke did as she was bid and Dr. Alcorn again disappeared into Cora skirts. A few seconds later he appeared with a tweezer holding an oblong black object. 

“Do you have any notion of what this might be?” R.J. asked. 

Mrs. Burke looked closely at the item. “Could it be the end from a hairpin?”

Dr. Alcorn retrieved a magnifying glass from his desk and looked harder yet, bringing the item close to the gas light. “I think you may be correct.” 

“In this case I think we can gather that your daughter aborted this fetus using a hairpin.” Dr. Alcorn stated matter of factly. “It is my belief that she not only left behind fetal tissue, but clearly the rubber hair pin cover which I imagine was covered with germs and bacteria as your daughter likely is not up to date on germ theory….” His voice trailed off as he saw Mrs. Burke’s expression turn from fear to despair. 

“I’m so sorry, Mrs. Burke. But your daughter has contracted an infection from her efforts to free herself of her burden. And there is no cure for such an infection. I’m so sorry….” 

The woman began to wail a deep guttural sound R.J had. heard before. It’s a very unique tone, he’d recognize it anywhere as the sound of a mother losing her child. She was wracked with sobs as she fell to her knees and began to wind herself into a shell on the floor, pounding her head against the polished wooden floorboards in time with her keening,

“My dear lady, please stop,” R.J. begged. He lifted Mrs. Burke to a chair before returning to Cora on the table, relaxing her legs and making sure she was properly covered. 

“There, there.” R.J. did his best to soothe her grief, but what was there to do? He had to help her cover the nature of her daughter’s passing and that meant getting the girl out of his office before God took her.  “I’ll be right back, Mrs. Burke. Please spend this time with your daughter.”

R.J. exited the office through the backdoor and hurried down the sidestreet where he found a cab for hire and slipped the driver a sack of coins, “Please take me behind Burke’s Haberdashery.” 

Moments later R.J. was back inside the office, shuttling Mrs. Burke out the backdoor and into the cab as he and the driver carried Cora from the examination table, out the door behind her. 

“Delivery these ladies home and help Mrs. Burke put her daughter into bed.” R.J. instructed the driver and sent mother and daughter into the night, acutely feeling the coming pain of the former and lamenting the senseless loss of the latter. 

The next morning R.J. arrived at the undertaker early to report the sad news of Miss Cora Burke’s untimely passing from a fever and then went about his day.