Sara—Gabe Curtis

Sara’s relationship with Gabe Curtis moves from practical, sustained care to an intimate act of trust at the end of his life. Their bond is not presented as a cure or a rescue: Gabe is dying of cancer, and Sara cannot reverse that course. Instead, she tends to his suffering, recognizes when it has become unbearable, and agrees to remain with him while Mar helps him die peacefully.

Care in the Infirmary

Gabe is about forty when Sara encounters him as a patient in the Colony’s Infirmary, a former grocery store in Old Town across the Sunspot from the Sanctuary. By then his cancer has advanced, and he has spent months growing weaker. Sara recalls that before he became ill he was a large, capable working man, apologetic when he first came to the Infirmary with back pain and indigestion. In examining him, she understood that the pain was already severe. Half a year later, he is reduced by illness, and the contrast makes clear how much of their relationship has been shaped by the long decline she has witnessed.

Sara’s care is concrete and attentive. When she stops at the Infirmary with stew, she finds Sandy preparing dillonweed, used there as a remedy for several ailments and believed to ease pain. Sara is uncertain whether it works, but Gabe says it helps and it is the only thing he can keep down. She takes the hot kettle from the stove, then brings him the tea. The care is modest, but the details show a nurse responding to the needs Gabe himself can still express.

Trust and Family

Gabe’s wife, Mar, has carried most of his care through the months of illness. Their son Jacob, about sixteen, works alongside Mar in the dairy and needs direction with basic tasks. Sara sees the family’s precarious future alongside Gabe’s worsening condition: Mar has devoted herself to his care, and she will remain responsible for Jacob after his death.

Mar tells Sara that Gabe always liked her and that she was his favorite nurse. That affection matters most when Mar comes to ask for help. Sara is waiting in the Infirmary when Gabe’s condition turns critical; after Mar calls her, Sara brings her medical kit and finds Jacob trying to give his father tea. She takes over, attends to Gabe, and recognizes that the cancer has caused internal bleeding. Listening to his breathing, she understands that death is near, though it may still take hours. Mar’s request is conveyed without being spoken plainly at first: she looks to Sara, and Sara understands what her presence is being asked to provide.

A Shared Decision at the End

After Jacob has been led outside, Mar asks Sara whether she has something to help. The assistance is kept private; the herbs are stored in the basement, and Sara prepares a mixture from digitalis, angel’s trumpet, and hemlock root. She brings the drink to Mar and says that she thinks it will help. Their understanding is that Sara will provide the means, but Mar must give it to Gabe herself. The distinction preserves Mar’s agency in the decision while making Sara an indispensable participant.

Mar asks how much to give and how long it will take. Sara tells her it will be quick. Mar then asks Sara to stay until it is over, and Sara agrees. She also insists that Jacob must never know, because he would not understand. The request leaves the final action between the two women, framed by their effort to protect the son as well as relieve Gabe’s suffering.

Significance of the Relationship

The relationship’s defining movement is from nursing within the limits of treatment to care that acknowledges those limits. Sara has offered Gabe ordinary remedies and comfort, but she knows his illness is terminal and can do no more to stop it. At the end, his trust in her as a nurse and Mar’s trust in her judgment converge in a private arrangement: Sara supplies what Mar asks for, Mar decides what to do, and Sara remains present. The narrative treats this not as a simple extension of medical treatment but as a quiet, shared responsibility shaped by affection, suffering, and the family’s need to face Gabe’s death together.