Free Spice Box by Grace Livingston Hill Page B

Maybe sometime she would reach the place where she could be thankful about it. But certainly the doctor was kind, for apparently he could very easily have left her lying in that snowbank to die and not taken all that trouble to bring her here. God had been good to her, and probably there was going to be a way made for the next things that had come to her.
    So thinking, she dropped off to sleep and dreamed there were angels somewhere near, and her sister with the baby who had gone to heaven such a little while before.
    When she awoke later, she felt a pleasant hope at the memory of the job the doctor was going to help her get as soon as she was strong enough.
    These bright thoughts made a brighter outlook on life, and she began to feel decidedly better. It wasn’t long before she felt quite equal to the ride the doctor had suggested.
    It was a beautiful morning when the nurse came up to say that the doctor wanted her to take a ride, and, donning a borrowed uniform, she was soon ready. To think she was to go into the great out-of-doors again! It seemed so very long that she had been here in this little hospital bed. And spring was now come. There would be nothing to remind her of that awful storm in which she had arrived.
    The doctor drove into quiet lanes and away from houses. Indeed, there seemed to be very few houses, even in the distance. It was just sweet countryside. Farmers plowing and harrowing ground, planting seed. The low, even furrows in the wide fields seemed restful. And then they drove through wooded land with perfume of wild growing things in the air, the pine trees’ resinous tang, slippery elm, and the mingling of fresh earth, newly washed with rain.
    The doctor watched her furtively, saw the sad look fade out of her eyes and a sparkle of interest in the beauty about her grow in its place.
    “Oh, there are blue violets all over that bank!” she exclaimed. “How many there are! Oh, I would like to get out and pick them.”
    “Well, you may try it,” said Sterling, parking on the side of the road. “Just a minute. Not too long, and if picking the first one tires you, stop immediately!”
    He helped her out and stooped down beside her, picking with her, watching her white fingers moving among the broad leaves. And when he put her back in the car, he laid his own handful of purple blossoms in her lap and smiled to see how eagerly she arranged them and drew them up to her face to touch them and smell their freshness.
    They did not talk much that first ride, just spoke now and again of the blue of the sky, the loveliness of the hills in the distance. Quite casually he pointed out the notable spots in the landscape, but he did not make much of them. He wanted to ease her back into the world again with as little ado about it as possible. To make her feel that she was back into living, and had been a long time, and that the sorrow and sickness were far behind her. When he brought her back to the hospital, her face seemed really bright, almost happy.
    They hadn’t talked personally at all, until just as they turned into the drive of the hospital grounds, he said quite casually, “Well, if you are still of mind to go to work, I think I can promise you that there will be a place for you, perhaps by next week, if you still feel strong enough for it.”
    “Oh!” she said, catching her breath with a pleased exclamation. “I am so glad. I’m sure the knowledge of that will help me to get strong quickly.”
    He smiled down at her.
    “You’ve a better color already,” he said. “We must try this again. How about day after tomorrow? I have to take Dr. Severance over to see a patient near Crystal Springs, and there is no reason why you shouldn’t go along if you are so minded.”
    “Oh, thank you!” she said with a quick, appreciative look. “I’ll be glad to go. I wouldn’t want you to take any extra trouble for me, but if you have to go anyway, I’m sure I shall enjoy it.”
    And so it was that Sterling