1912 Billy's Nurse

For three consecutive mornings Billy meets a young nurse. She is very pretty and naturally Billy falls in love with her. He tries to make advances, but she rebuffs him most cruelly. Now Billy is angry. He will win the girl or know the reason why. For a few minutes he ponders, looking a the big hospital building. A brilliant thought strikes him. Returning home, he makes his landlady believe he has been taken suddenly ill with appendicitis and writhes in supposed pain. They ring for an ambulance, the one belonging to the hospital he desires. As it drives into the hospital yard, the young nurse happens to be out front. The moment she sees him, anger and resentment turns to pity. He is placed in her ward and when they are alone, he confesses what he has done. The girl is filled with resentment and she insists that he is a very sick man, although he doesn't know it. Billy grows frightened when she calls a consultation of physicians, who have been tipped off in advance. Solemnly they gather around him. They feel his pulse, examine him, and find that he has appendicitis and must undergo an immediate operation. Billy is being punished for his trickery. In desperation he wraps his sheets about him and attempts to escape. The nurse discovers this and he is put back in bed. But when the worry of it all actually makes Billy sick, she in turn is frightened and nurses him through his illness, finally confessing her love.