Read Half a Mind TO Murder (Dr. Alexandra Gladstone Mysteries Book 3) for Free Online Page B

help us, please, Miss. Our baby…We cannot…” The young man’s voice shook as he stuttered, and he seemed about to give in to tears himself.
    It was obvious to Alexand ra that she was not likely to get information of any value from either of them. She turned into the room, holding the baby, vaguely aware of both Polly and Nancy standing close by. She immediately placed a finger into the baby’s throat, bringing out a ropy mass of thick mucus. A high-pitched, almost inhuman noise escaped her tiny throat as she attempted a deep intake of breath. When she coughed again and the cough continued, alternating with the awful noise, Alexandra could see both young parents’ eyes widen in fear as they clutched either other. She had no time to reassure them, however, since the baby had stopped breathing again.
    “ Infusion of red clover blossoms?” Nancy asked, already on her way to the kitchen storage shelf to retrieve the proper vial. Polly, in the meantime, was busy with something behind her.
    “ Yes,” Alexandra said to Nancy, “but first…” She stopped speaking and placed her mouth on the blue lips of the infant in an attempt to supply her with breath. Still the child did not breathe, and she tried again. When there was still no breath, she glanced up and shouted for Nancy. In the next instant, Polly had taken the baby from her and was wrapping her in a sheet. Alexandra had no time to ask how she knew what had to be done. Instead she reached for a linen-covered tray on which Nancy kept her surgical instruments boiled and ready for use. She was surprised to find that the correct size of silver tube had already been attached to the introducer she needed. A thin silk thread dangled from the end of the tube. She glanced at Polly, realizing that was what she had been doing behind her.
    She saw that Polly already had the baby wrapped tightly in the blanket to keep her from moving and was holding her upright against her own body, facing outward. Nancy, who had returned to the surgery, helped hold the baby’s head against Polly’s chest.
    Alexandra passed the introducer and tube into the throat and larynx. She was vaguely aware of the parents huddled together and deathly quiet in a corner of the room. Carefu lly and slowly she removed the introducer from the baby’s throat while she held the tube in place with her index finger. When the instrument was completely removed, Nancy tied the silk thread behind the baby’s head to hold the tube in place while Alexandra turned toward the frightened parents.
    “ You must leave the tube in a while to help the baby breathe, and you must watch her carefully,” she said.
    The young mother hardly seemed to be listening. Her eyes were on the baby, whom Polly had now unwrapped and wa s cradling her in her arms. She rocked her back and forth and spoke to her in soothing tones to hush her hoarse crying.
    The baby ’s crying only served to frighten the young mother even more. “What’s wrong with her?”
    “ Whooping cough,” Polly said before Alexandra could answer. “It affects the smallest ones worse, their breathing passages being small. But see, she’s breathing now.” The baby’s cries were beginning to subside to a hoarse whimper, and Polly handed her to the mother. “Careful now, don’t disturb the tube,” she said as she transferred her from her own arms to her mother’s. “You must keep her quiet. Any excitement will start her cough again.” While the mother held her, Polly rubbed the little girl’s plump cheek gently with the backs of her fingers and spoke to the mother, still in her soft, soothing voice. “A teaspoon of the infusion of red clover the doctor will give you will help modify the irritation in her passages.” As she turned away toward Alexandra, she was suddenly and acutely embarrassed. “I…I’m sorry,” she said. “I didn’t mean to—”
    “ Please. Don’t apologize.” Alexandra spoke quietly to avoid disturbing the baby. She glanced at