After Tessie's x-ray she had been given a card with a number on it: C-6412. Now she held the card in her hand. A nice looking doctor with wire glasses stood on deck and spoke through a microphone. "Those people whose numbers we call should come on board," he said. "If your number is called, it doesn't necessarily mean you have TB. Your first test may have been unclear. We may need to take a second x-ray. Or there my be an old scar on your lung from something else." Tessie stared at the doctor as he opened a file and began to read the numbers. The doctor called six numbers. Tessie's number was the third. She didn't need to check her card. She knew it by heart.

Tessie sat across from a doctor and nurse on the M.V. Christmas Seal. She was wearing her best dress. Her hair had been newly washed. She bit her lower lip and smiled weakly. "I'm not surprised," she said. "I was pretty sure there was something wrong with me. I just didn't feel myself."

The doctor smiled. "Well, you're lucky we found it," he said. "It's much better to know what you've got. We call cases like yours incipient TB."

"What does that mean?" Tessie asked.

"It means that your TB is in the early stages," said the nurse. "It's good that we caught it. Now you can be treated."

"What will happen to me?" asked Tessie. "Will I have to go away?"

The doctor nodded. "Yes," he said. "We have to make sure you don't give the TB to someone else. You wouldn't want your little brother to catch it, would you?" Tessie shook her head. "We'll see if we can find a bed for you in the sanatorium in St. John's."

Tessie felt a lump rise in her throat. The sanatorium! What would her parents say? And what about Charlie?

The doctor sighed. "But it may be difficult to get you in. We have too many patients and too few beds." He smiled. "Anyway, we'll do our best. What you need is plenty of rest, fresh air and good food. You need to be strong to fight tuberculosis." said the nurse. "We have every reason to believe you'll make a full recovery."

"How did I get TB?" Tessie asked.

"We can't say for sure," said the doctor. "But from what you've told me, you probably got it from your grandmother. You say you spent a lot of time around her?"