Campobello Refugee Medical Centre

The Campobello Refugee Medical Centre was a temporary medical facility established on Campobello Island, New Brunswick, within the summer home built by the family of Franklin D. Roosevelt. During the Gilead period, the causeway connecting the island to the Gilead mainland was blown up by the regime to prevent land-based escapes, leaving the house isolated. After the fall of Gilead, the building was restored and operated as a museum, though much of the original furniture had vanished. It was to this centre that Agnes Jemima and Nicole were airlifted after their desperate crossing of the Bay of Fundy in an inflatable boat, suffering from hypothermia, exposure, and, in Nicole's case, a severe infection from the microdot embedded in her arm.

Medical Treatment and Recovery

At the centre, both sisters received urgent medical care. Nicole was treated with antibiotics for the infection in her left arm, which had become puffy and sore. The medical staff also addressed their hypothermia and exposure, stabilizing them after their ordeal. Agnes remained by Nicole's bedside, holding her hand, as Nicole drifted in and out of consciousness. The centre's staff provided the necessary care to ensure their recovery, allowing them to regain their strength.

Reunion with Their Mother

The Campobello Refugee Medical Centre was the site of the long-awaited reunion between the sisters and their mother, the former Handmaid who had smuggled Nicole out of Gilead as an infant. When Nicole awoke, she found her mother standing beside her bed, looking sad and happy at once, with tears in her eyes. The mother embraced both daughters, saying, "My darling girls." Nicole, though unable to remember her mother from infancy, recognized her scent as "an echo, of a voice you can't quite hear." Agnes, who had only known her mother through a torn picture from the Bloodlines file, was finally able to meet her in person. This reunion marked the emotional climax of their journey, fulfilling the hope that had sustained them through their escape.

Narrative Significance

The Campobello Refugee Medical Centre serves as the symbolic endpoint of the sisters' flight from Gilead and the beginning of their new lives in Canada. It is a place of healing, both physical and emotional, where the trauma of their past begins to be addressed. The centre also functions as a site of witness, where the sisters' story is validated and where they are reunited with the family they had been denied. The medical care they received there enabled them to survive and eventually testify about their experiences, contributing to the downfall of Gilead. The centre thus represents the safety and freedom that Canada offered to refugees from the oppressive regime.