The Pull of the Stars

Groyne arrives in the Maternity/Fever ward carrying a young woman in his arms, “like a bride he was carrying over the threshold” (123). Groyne places the new patient, Honor White, in Ita’s old bed. Honor holds rosary beads in her hands. Groyne asks Julia what she thinks of Dr. Lynn, commenting again that Dr. Lynn is a rebel and an anarchist because of her involvement in the protests for Ireland’s independence. Just then, Dr. Lynn enters, but “her face gave no indication that she’d heard a word” (125). Noticing Dr. Lynn’s prim clothing and appearance, Julia thinks, “I told myself it couldn’t be true what Groyne had claimed about her conspiring with a foreign power” (126). Dr. Lynn examines Honor and determines that she’s due in about a month. Dr. Lynn gives Julia permission to administer whiskey to Honor, but Honor refuses to drink alcohol.

Dr. Lynn moves on and examines Mary. Wanting to “spare the young woman the double burden of the grippe and days of exhausting labor in this makeshift ward” (129), Dr. Lynn decides to pierce the amniotic sac to encourage Mary’s water to break. Mary asks if this will help with the pain, and Julia thinks, “Ought I break it to her that we were trying to make her pangs come faster and harder, powerful enough to squeeze out her baby?” (130).