LITTLE WOMEN

The doctor is referring to the fact that Beth's illness is serious, and that if her mother can come home..... she should. Mrs. March was tending her husband in the hospital. He'd been injured in the war.

The first of December was a wintry day indeed to them, for a bitter wind blew, snow fell fast, and the year seemed getting ready for its death. When Dr. Bangs came that morning, he looked long at Beth, held the hot hand in both his own for a minute, and laid it gently down, saying, in a low voice to Hannah, "If Mrs. March can leave her husband she'd better be sent for."