Date: 1870.02.12

<#ann:Celeste has been saying for years that she is going to train as a nurse when she is older. She has studied as much anatomy as possible, spent hours talking to Minnie about plants, etc. So she is thrilled when Mrs. Black arranges for her to visit the hospital to shadow a member of the nursing staff. She talks about it for days, and everyone is sick of hearing about it.

The day finally arrives and Celeste leaves early in the morning, almost too nervous to eat before leaving.#>

Cal conspires with Cole, and between Cal's light fingers and his gambling cash, and Coles knowledge of where to go to get things. The two of them they come up with something doctor-y for her to take with her. I'm thinking a nice new glass thermometer.

<#ann: She returns just as dinner is ending, uncharacteristically quiet. She claims she is very tired, and decides to skip dinner in favor of just washing up and going to bed. <#court: Jeanne sneaks some food into her napkin and brings it up after dinner to see if she wants some. #>If anyone presses <#jonah: (and Ollie definitely asks her about it!) #>, she just says that the day didn't go quite as she had expected. If there revelries in the tower that night, Celeste does not join in. <#court: Jeanne skips revelries as well and either talks to Celeste, if she feels like talking, or just stays in the bedroom with her. #>

<#jonah: I think Ollie, having got the message that she didn't want to talk about it that night, would wait until the following day ask if everything was ok, and how the nursing day went. #>

<#ann: Celeste's fervor for nursing wanes noticeably in the next week or so. She continues to try to heal the other children when they are sick (which I'd imagine, with the exception of Erin, is very rarely given our genetics) and their small hurts and wounds, but she stops talking about doing it as a career. The next few months she seems a little lost, but gradually gets back to her normal. #>

Louis seems particularly disturbed by Celeste's loss of her dream. He cooks her special meals and is particularlly upbeat trying to "fix" her in his own way.

<#kate: Ella observes the situation but doesn't bring it up directly to Celeste. When Celeste decides to come back out to the Tower, however, Ella quietly beings singing one of the songs Celeste seemed to most enjoy (whether from the piano lessons, Cole's harmonica, dancing, or the various tunes she's brought back over the past few months). She offers Celeste an encouraging grin as she attempts to offer a fanciful escape, if only momentary, for Celeste's seemingly troubled thoughts. #>

<#ann: While it takes awhile for to get it all out of her, if the others press, Celeste tells them that the doctors were mean, the patients were mean, and that the nurses didn't get to do anything that helped, they were just being servants, really. And did she mention that the doctors were mean? And they don't listen to nurses even when the nurses are trying to say something important about a patient's health. If even further pressed (you can decide if your character gets that far) she acknowledges that really the role that would be best for her would be as a doctor, but that there is no medical school that would accept her, so that's that. She'll figure out something else. She's sad, but realistic. #>

<#court: Jeanne asks her for details about the doctors' treatment of the nurses, and is properly, supportively appalled, and sympathetic about the nurses. "Did you get a chance to talk to any nurses about it?" She assures Celeste that there would be other people who appreciated her talents. After all, everyone at the orphanage did. #>

<#bill: Cole would ask her about what happened, but once he saw she was upset, would only follow up in private. #>


<#bill: The next day Cole goes to the kitchen and makes an excuse to get her away for a few minutes. He tells her that his mother told him that his...he has to think....great grandmother was a nurse...or something like it. She worked with a doctor...but it was just her and the doctor and she helped lots of people. She even helped deliver babies. And when the doctor died...people still came to see her. He thinks maybe just the doctors at the hospital were stupid and she should work with just one doctor and not in a hospital. When she says she can't go to medical school...he doesn't understand.#>

<#ann: Celeste starts trying to explain why not to Cole, and then she stops and gets a stubborn look on her face, smiles grimly, and says "You're right." The subject is dropped for awhile...

You're right Bill. I was looking up the information to give to Cole,and I realized that there was a women's medical school that was integrated at this period. They only graduated "a dozen African Americans before 1900" but that doesn't mean that Celeste couldn't have been one of them. I think I might be changing my mind again. #>

<#jonah: Ollie comes to Celeste later, seeing that she's had a miraculous recovery from her depression of the day before. He asks her if she's feeling better, and she says that she had never even though about being a doctor because it's just not something that was "done". But after talking with Cole that morning, she decided that simple because black women didn't go to medical school didn't mean that they couldn't, so why not try?. #>

<#kate: When Ella ends up with bigger scrapes and cuts, she'll usually seek out Celeste for help stemming bleeding and bandaging. #>

NeedsKelly
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