"I can't get going on that, or--those fires won't stay banked!"
She had his hand in both hers, and she lifted it to her lips. He drew a
smothered breath or two, and went on.
"They were glad enough to see me out of it. Van Horn was--also glad!
You see,--within the last few hours the patient had lost ground--Van's
prognosis was being verified. But, when it came to taking leave of the
patient, there was the dickens to pay. His pulse jumped and his
temperature went up, and there was trouble for fair. He begged me not to
leave him. From the start his faith has been pinned tight to me. The
family hadn't reckoned with that. They found themselves obliged to reckon
with it. They saw I must be kept, or the game would be up in short
order."
"Oh, then you _had_ to stay!"
"Yes, I had to stay--but--I couldn't! Van Horn was in charge, and the
family wanted him in charge."
"But the patient would die if you didn't stay. You couldn't let
professional etiquette--"
"Couldn't you, though? You've got to observe the rules of the game,
Ellen, or you'll be in a worse mess than if you disregard them. After I
had resigned the case, unless Van Horn took himself out of it I could
have no recognized place in the house. He could have invited me, in the
emergency, to share responsibility equally with himself--but would he do
that? Never! There was just one thing I could do,--let the patient think
I was still in charge, and continue to see him, while Van Horn ran things
and so satisfied the family.
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