US Army School of Nursing - Taps Yearbook (Washington, DC)

WARD 21 Three A. M. — A cold, wind) ' , starlit night. " Get up, girls, Maternity is calling. " Clothes hurricdh thrown on, eyes glued with sleep. Hurrying footsteps, hollow metallic echoes. The Main Building a massive, sharply outlined silhou- ette with its white tower gleaming in the moonlight, its white columns softly rounded in the glow from the frosted lights at the entrance. In the front door of " 21 " with a rush, capes thrown on a convenient chair, fumbling fingers tying many- stringed gowns. Into the room on the right, with its brilliant white light dazzling sleep-blurred eyes; a smile for the kind Major, another for beloved Miss Anderson. The hiss of the tank valves, minute after minute of breathless waiting, muscles tensed, hearts silently begging a Creator for mercy and for Life; the snap of a suture-tube in the jaws of a Kelly, the periodic con- centration of all movement in the room, the mdefinable odor of gas-o.\ygen ; the sudden culmination of hours of waiting into a minute of terrific tension ; the sharp click of metal on metal ; the qua\-ering, protesting first cry that thrills the heart. Weary eyes softly shining; gentle, tremulous fingers reaching to touch the tin\ hand; eager arms waiting to take the Little One. The Miracle has happened once more. Out again towards Quarters as night turns to day; tiny gray clouds edged with mys- terious rose; the waving Flag rippling in the breeze; spruce trees sharply black against the western sky ; the promise of Immortality in the sure flight of a sparrow toward the dawn. M. M. G.. ' 29. ► > iat — — ^1- [61 J