—LOUISA MAY ALCOTT, Journals, October 1863 THREE WEEKS PASSED BEFORE LOUISA CAME FULLY OUT OF her delirium. Well into February she struggled through “the crisis of typhoid,” as Abba described it to her brother Samuel. She added, “Poor Louy…left us a brave handsome woman…and is returned to us almost a wreck of body and mind.”1 Abba also shared her worst fears with Sophia Hawthorne. Sophia wrote that, during those anxious weeks, her only activity was finding ways to help Louisa and the other Alcotts through the ordeal.2 Emerson, as always, lent support, this time by placing in Abba’s kitchen “a nice strong woman” to do the housework. However, Abba wrote, “While I am able to move I will not have a nurse. It would not relieve my anxiety, and might hinder my own action.”3 As Abba observed, Louisa’s condition demanded great care and judgment. Whatever aid the neighbors might give, there was much that the family dared not entrust to outsiders. Bronson, Abba, and May looked after Louisa in shifts around the clock, trying to soothe her distracted mind and searching her discolored face for any promising change.
