Excerpt
“No, of course you haven’t,” Morley said quietly, “and I can’t believe
you are against progress. And a progressive town like Emblem
should have a hospital closer than forty miles away.”
“I don’t recollect too many problems for people getting to Medicine
Hat whenever they required treatment. I’m sure I’d be one of
the first to hear about such an incident. After all, forty miles is not
that far.”
“It is in winter, sir,” Morley said firmly. “And I have heard of people
suffering hardship in order to make the journey to Medicine Hat.
Not everyone in the country, or in town for that matter, has a vehicle
at their disposal.”
“I’m aware of that, lad,” Jeff snapped.
A slight pause followed, during which Tyne glanced at Morley with
open admiration. In spite of her tension she had to restrain herself from
smiling. She thought the conversation had come to an end but Morley
had not finished. He leaned eagerly towards the head of the table.
“You may remember, sir, that a man by the name of George Carson
was killed when his car ran off the road into a ditch a couple of
years back. He was my uncle, married to my mother’s sister. Not only
my family, but also the doctors who attended him in Medicine Hat,
were convinced that if he had received medical treatment sooner, he
could have lived.”
For a moment, Jeff ’s stern face softened. “Aye, I’m sorry about
that, I didn’t know you were related. But I remember the accident.
I believe there was some question about whether the ambulance attendants
did all they could to help.”
“We had no problem with the ambulance personnel,” Morley said
quickly. “After all, they’re not trained people. All of them are volunteers.”
“That’s an issue for the town council to address,” Jeff stated emphatically,
“or for the provincial government. If we had trained ambulance
attendants, the trip to hospital in the Hat would be far less
critical.”
Morley opened his mouth to retort, but Millie spoke up.
“I’m sorry to interrupt,” she said briskly, fanning herself with a
folded napkin, “but I must serve the dessert. Then we can take our
coffee to the porch where it’s cooler.” She pushed her chair back and
stood up. “Tyne, dear, would you clear the table while I cut the pie.”
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