The Nurse

Media

Part of National Weekly

Title
The Nurse
Language
English
Year
1949
Rights
In Copyright - Educational Use Permitted
Fulltext
Page 10 SHORT STORY By G. CORPUZ DARANG Angelo's world was dark, harassed by the disheartening memories of tht! pasts. He was about to give up hope when <me day upon opening heavily his eyelids as if .subjected by a ghastly dreain, his soul was i.nstant.ly held by the presence of a n.ur!'le whose natural fragrance mingled with the drugsmell of the big hospital room. "Where am I ? '' This was the first statement he uttered after one-night of unconiciousness. Lnstantly he tried to lift his weight up from the bed. but acffe Quickily railed :to his bandaged head. He dropped himself and at the same time his hands drifted to his head. Abruptly his face, stained with dry marks of his own blood formed a contaminating expression of pain. Ha moaned and his voice domina:ted the sileJ¥e of the room for a white. ' "You are in the hospital,'' he heard the nurse speak, her voice soft and soothing. -"Why?" he asked. "A cargo truck hiot you while you were crossing Eopaiia street yesterday after,. noon. You fell down ;and your head struck .the hard pavement. Remember?" Remember, Angelo said tc himself inaudibly. Only :t!1e thin,g he recalled WSB 0 th'at ~e was crossing the street just after their ·afternoon clas<:. He met Rosa. At the sight of her, Ap~lo immediately ex· perienced the irregularity of his heart throbs. It knocked krccfully against his breast, rendering him stupefied an<l weak. He saw Rm~a with a rn::m wh8 held h'er by··tlle hands. Rosa did not see him. This made him stand on the middlf. of the road and follow Rosa with his eyes. As he stood there the memories nf NATIONAL WEEKLY October a, 1949 THE NURSE ~ ihe past rose info his mind "Here, drink this hot tea," like a vivid image of the gol- he heard, the nurse break the den sun at dawn. He remem- silence ·as a spoonful driLed bered the unforgetable words into his mouth. of Rosa in her\ last letter. WLthout safi1'tg __ aflY word, After Bataan,fell I wa1ted Angelo watched the nurse sifor you. You did not return. ler.itly. The nurse looked back I thought you were dead. '''ith a sll\ile. She was dressAfter my parents were h '.t ed in immaculate: white uniby stTayed bullets of the ene- form, her IoveJy. figu~e full my's strafing planes I live:l of ·grace and··fre~hness like with your parents. You· know the ~weet image of a young what 'happened to them. They innocE:nt girl back home. Her were murdered by the Jrip- face was angelic and fuH of aniese soldiers u1:on refusing- the goodness :that he knP.w to yield the cavans of palav, would onlv be founJ in ont> the only products left of your so enchan'tingly sweet. Anet ricelands in our hometown. remembering of it now therE· I felt so lonely and alone. I was charm in her smile marlt> could no longer live with the rad'iant by the sparkl~ of hr.r memories. Tony then appeal"- glossy eyes. ed as if he were you, coming "You're very kind," Ar.back to ~e. I ~ed · hilit, gelo · 88.ld;... after a while. rememberm,,.~u:. . "What's yd\lr•··nam.e.?'' Someday !:OU WJ.U also fmd "Amping,'' she resp0nded. me in 1 another one's life just "Thanks for the tea ... as I found you in Tony's. .Ampi:pg." · ....... :· . _ ·· 'the one who · bruised head and g-av sponge bath every m . g. This made Angelo j~y and enjoy his hospital . i.teelusion. He became fond of Amping. One night Alllping ap·Page.JI() NATIONAL \VEE KL Y . Cm sending you. a p:cturc c;f the Business Managt~r a!ld 1 the 1nd_1,1strial Coord!nator of th.e Stat~ ·Penitentiary at San ·Qµinthi, . CaEfornia, with me, during my visit there in the iiltf!rest'of our jute (saluyut) fibers which cah be used iri t~ manufacture of bags in .this·· institution where they hav~ a mm for burlap sacks. · . 'At pre~ent, they giet burlap fro:m India and Pakistan but if our, jute fiber can compare with it : .favorably, whic'h they tpjnk it ·would, they may _b:ttr a]J our· jutie fiber si1pply fQr their mill needs. FROM QUERUBIN FULGENCIO :'At t~is \~'riting they are underlalpng testf! with the bales ~-~nt by our Bureau of Plant Industry and after about a !npnth pr ~o they cnn more or i_e~s dete~mine just what they think, of our·fibers. Dr. Fulgencio, center, at San ~Quintin I brnupht with me specifi- cations and details of the ~a-cks w~ make .experimental'fH'E NURSE lv in J\fanila at the request of {Coritinuea· f~~ page 11) Mrs. Irene E. Murphy and ~aw her.· i~side the 'hospi:tal they will use those informarqom. .'I'here was iciness and tion in the makinO' of sacks peculi-irity in her manners. under our standard and pat"Anything?", Amping said ter?· . as-jf talking w a stranger. :n the .s~me occas1on, I met An·gelo was·:about to speak. lie Pres~uent of a Bag M~­ when another gasping nurse nuf acturrng Compa 1 ny m coming from the same door Houston, Texas and ne gave brea.thlessly announced, "Am- '."'" .th~ n~:nes of. three co~­ ping;,your patient just arriver{ pan~es whLh are i~terested m from -the operatinJr room. 1.>uYlllJ?:. the portion of the Blood transfusion. Quick!" JUt~ fiber near the . roots ~'Ob' · ' .,, 0 ,. which cannot be used 10 the . : , , exc......, me, mister," manufacture of jute sacks. During my prasent observership in the Social SM!urity Administration of the Federal Security Agency under the sponsorship of the United Nations, I believe .I may be able to get in touch with thos·e companies, which if ~uccessful would redounrl to &omet"hing good for the Philippines in about two years. You may use this photo Hnd pertinent portions 0f this letter for publication. Thank you very mu'!h and I'll try to be in touch with she s'aid- frantic:ally and hurriedly walked away. ... Ang~lo . sudderily became e<>i:ise1ous of .his self. He peeped inside the room into v;·h:ich Amping had entered. Everr. pur~e was busy doing ~om~thrng. They looked like a confused crO\vd with a defiiiite ·thfng to do. Slowly he w~l~ed ·down the ·stairway. :H:1s, dream was dead! Rosa's wo:r~s bob~ed up, again. BE WISE! ECONOMIZE! .Sqro,eday,, you will find me in another one's life the same way as I found- you in Tony's. ·"Someday . . ." he murmured audibly, as h'c' passed out of .the hospital gate. Aimlessly he dragged his feet across the hard pavement of ;,i, ·long and seemingly endless road. SHOP AT Berg's TOYS BABY WEAR DRAPERIES COSME'.I'ICS PERFUMERIES t.ADIES' DRESSES LADIES' HANDRAGS COSTUME JEWELRY.: LINGERIE HOSIERY ~HOES ESCOLTA, INC. TEL. 2-70-43 BEL'l'S BILLFOLDS '£0ILETRI!!:S DRF.SS SHIRTS SPORT SHIR1'S MEN'S SKIPPER SUITING MATEHIAl MEN'S RAIN WEAR MEN'S HOSIERY MEN'S SHOES UNDERWEAR NECKTIE~ October 8. 1949 you as regularly as I can for ~he duration of my fellowship nere and Europe. Very sincerely yours, Qucrubin Fulgencio, M. D. United Nations Fellow from the Philippines BUSINESSMEN ... (Contniued from page 9) perfonnance, Mr. Can·ie:i furth~r explained, the trend now is definitely towardi electric typewriters. He be· lieves that in the near futuie the manual typwriter~ wiU be out of the market. "1.nd thA great,>r demand will be for the electricaHy-operated one.,. The reasen for this radi~l prediction is that this IBM produ.!t has undergone the acid test of clerical efficien·· cy, proficiency, speed, ancl economy with flyimt color@, and the rPquirements- flf m" dern business is to }ear her.v;.ly on a mechanized sy~t~m of office work. This is nersuasive and convincing· sahsmanship, wherein Mr. Carrion feels at home. His pet sales promotion: plan i-: to ~e­ cqre the patronage of all colleges &nd universitieg, and governme_nt offices in the use of th·:: IBM electric typwriters. We rate Mr. Carrion a.s a businessmiln of achievement for this week not on~y for n;s vast r.xperience in mt'r<'antile operationd but also for hi" having been :the recipient of 3 gold medals from the wr.rld headqua.rters of IBM in New York. Reason for the series of awards wa~ his having ~uc­ :essfu)jy and succesively c'>vered the 100% quota allocated to the divisions wherein 1e is the sales manager. Fe,,. ·his .:!Xceptional accomplishnent 'he qualified for mem'Jership in the IBM 100% Club o.f New York for the third time. So far only three Fffpinos have been afforded this honor, includine: Mr. Ran1on del Rcisario, general manager of the local branch of the InfornationaJ Business M~­ chini:-s Corporation and Mr. Jose L. Arguelles, IBM salesman of electric bookkeepinv. and accounting machines.