"I don"t know," cried Dotty; "I don"t know and I don"t care! But Dolly is dead! My Dolly, my own Dollyrinda is dead! And it"s all my fault "cause I made her go skating, and my arm hurts awful! Ow!"
"Her arm is broken," said Mrs. Bayliss, gently lifting Dotty"s right hand, which caused more piercing shrieks. "What shall we do? Somebody call a doctor quick!"
Meanwhile the strong arms of a neighbour"s gardener had lifted Dolly and was carrying her toward her own home.
"It"s her leg that"s bruk," he said, holding her as gently as possible.
"It"s good luck she fainted; she"ll come round all right, but she"s bruk a bone, the poor dear."
It seemed ages to the anxious mothers and friends, but it was really only a short time before doctors arrived and the two little sufferers were put to bed and their injuries attended to.
Sure enough Dolly"s leg was broken, and Dotty had a fractured arm.
Both houses were in a tumult of confusion as surgeons and nurses took possession and bones were set and splints and bandages applied.
Dolly Fayre took it quietly and seemed almost awestricken, when at last she realised that she was in her bed to stay for several weeks.
"But it doesn"t hurt much," she said wonderingly to Trudy. "Why does it take so long to get well?"
"Because the bone has to knit, dear, and that is a slow process. I"m glad it doesn"t hurt, but it may at times. The worst, though, is that you will get very tired lying still so long. But I know what a brave little girl you are, and we will all do all we can to help and amuse you."
"Did Dotty break anything?"
"Yes, she broke her left arm. That is not as bad as your breaking your leg, for she can walk about sooner than you can. But hers is more painful, so there"s small choice in the two accidents."
"Is she yelling like fury?" inquired Dolly, who herself lay placid and white-faced, though her blue eyes showed the strain she had undergone.
"Yes, she is," and Trudy smiled a little. "You two children are so different. I wish you would yell a little and not look so patiently miserable."
"What"s Dolly yelling about? Because she hurts so?"
"Partly that; and partly because she"s blaming herself for the whole thing."
"How ridiculous! She isn"t a bit more to blame than I am. She proposed skating, but it was because I ran into her that we fell down. I tried to steer out but I couldn"t."
"Don"t think about who is to blame; that doesn"t matter. The only thing to think about is to get well as quick as you can."
"But we can"t do anything to help that along; the doctors have to do that."
"Indeed you can help a lot. If you"re patient and quiet and cheerful you will get well sooner than if you fuss and fret and cry. That might cause fever and inflammation and all sorts of things."
Trudy was sitting on the edge of Dolly"s bed and she smiled lovingly down at her little sister. "I"m going to take care of you," she went on; "Mother wants to have a trained nurse, but I think you would like it better to have me for a nurse, wouldn"t you?"
"I"d like it better," and Dolly looked up wistfully, "but I don"t want to bother you too much, Trudy."
"Oh, it isn"t any bother, and besides, Mother will do a great deal of the nursing. Here she comes now with your luncheon."
Mrs. Fayre came in, bringing a dainty tray on which was a small bowl of broth and some crackers.
"The nurse has gone," she announced, "and I"m glad of it. It was necessary to have her here while the doctors set the broken bones, and she will come in every morning as long as may be necessary. But it"s much nicer to be in charge of this case myself and have full jurisdiction over my patient."
"Oh, ever so much nicer, Mother," and Dolly raised affectionate blue eyes to her mother"s face. "Can I sit up to eat?"
"No, honey; you"ll have to learn to eat lying down. But Mother will feed you and we"ll pretend you"re one of those grand Roman ladies who always ate their meals reclining on a couch."
So, although not altogether a comfortable procedure, Dolly took her first lesson in swallowing without raising her head.
Meantime somewhat different scenes were being enacted next door.
Dotty"s more excitable nature had been thoroughly upset by the shock of the accident, the pain of her injury and the remorse that she felt at feeling herself responsible for the tragedy.
Her screams were hysterical and the efforts of her mother, her aunt and the nurse to quiet her were alike unavailing.
"I"ve killed my Dolly! I"ve killed my Dolly!" she would cry over and over, and though they told her that Dolly Fayre was resting quietly and suffering very little pain, she would not believe it and insisted they were deceiving her.
"You only say that to quiet me!" she cried. "I know it isn"t true. I know Dolly has broken most all her bones and I know she"ll never walk again. Why, I saw her myself, all limp and dead-looking. If she lives she"ll be a cripple. Oh, my arm! my arm! I wish they"d cut it off! I"d rather not have it at all than have it hurt like this."
Impulsive Dotty tried to move her injured arm and then shrieked with the pain it caused her.
"You mustn"t do that!" said Nurse Johnson somewhat severely; "if you try to move that arm it won"t heal right and you"ll have to have it broken over again and re-set."
Dotty glared at the nurse and then screamed: "I hate you! You go right straight out of this house! My mother can take care of me good enough and I don"t want you around."
"There, there, Dotty dear," said Mrs. Rose; "don"t talk to nurse like that. She has been very kind to you; and it"s true if you move your arm around like that or try to do so, you"ll make your injury far worse."
"I don"t care! I want to make it worse! I want to have it cut off! I won"t have a broken arm,-- I won"t-- I won"t!"
"Don"t mind her, nurse; she"s beside herself with pain and fright."
"Oh, that"s all right, Mrs. Rose," and the white-capped nurse smiled; "I don"t blame little girls for being cantankerous when they"re laid up like this. It"s awful hard on them and n.o.body knows it better than I do.
And I"m not going to stay long, Miss Dotty. Only a day or two till your mother and aunt get the knack of taking care of you."
"I shall be head nurse," said Mrs. Bayliss, smiling at Dotty, "and your mother shall be my a.s.sistant."
"I don"t want you for my nurse, Aunt Clara, and I don"t want Miss Johnson, I just want Mother all the time."
"Yes, Dotty, dear, Mother will be here all the time," and Mrs. Rose gently stroked the moist dark curls back from the little brow.
For a few moments Dotty was quieter, and then she screamed out again, "Tell me about Dolly, tell me the truth about Dolly. Did she break both her legs?"
"No, dear, only one. It has been set and she is doing nicely, although she will be in bed for a long time. You will probably get up and go to see her long before she can come in here."
"I want to go now!" and Dotty tried to rise; "I want to see Dolly! I must see Dolly!"
Gently but firmly the nurse held Dotty down on the pillows. "Lie still,"
she commanded, for she saw that stern measures were necessary.
"I can"t lie still, when I don"t know how Dolly is! I don"t believe what you tell me about her. But I"ll believe Genie. She always tells me the truth. Come here, Genie!"