| Description | Letter from Amelia Nyasa Laws, Valence, to her relatives, regarding unnewsworthy week, worry over Moret, a patient who has been choking and having spasms, followed by rigidity, violence and exhaustion; the doctor has diagnosed hysteria caused by drinking; Amelia suspects mental problems and relates this to his endless study of family photographs; he has lost 13 family members in the invaded territory; 'his brother-in-law "remained up there", as the soldiers express death on the battlefield, but the rest were all killed deliberately by the Germans, his father, mother and fiancée shot and two children had their throats cut'; he has been wounded four times, including in the stomach; he was surgical assistant and infirmier in a frontline hospital and worked very hard; Amelia thinks he is imagining the presence of his dead relatives and warns others not to disturb him when he is dreamy; she thinks suicide is a possibility, and disagrees with Mme. Soureillat's proposal to isolate him entirely and leave him to be violent on his own, with no company; Mme. Soureillat does not accept responsibility for another human being; Mlle. Ferlin at the 201 refused to send a night nurse as night staff had been offered before and turned down; Amelia's diplomacy between the 201 and the annexe; Mlle. Thivolle wanted the piano sent to the 201 and Amelia to come daily to help the soldiers practise for the Christmas fête; the annexe is responsible for its own piano, however, and Amelia does not have time for the rehearsals; the 201 and the annexe seem likely to have separate Christmas celebrations; death of a patient from tetanus, and funeral in the cellar's mortuary chapel; Mme. Soureillat took no part in the preparations for the service; the nun also refused to help, though she agreed to see that Amelia had prepared everything according to Roman Catholic ways; Amelia's task extends to greeting the family members and taking them to view the body; Mme. Soureillat did not wish to go to the cemetery but Amelia was needed to look after Moret; Moret is now much better and Amelia is to arrange for his transfer to a more appropriate hospital. [Letter breaks off without signature] |