The infirmary bench
An original fiction passage set in the nineteenth century.
By nine o’clock, every bench in the county infirmary was occupied. A coach had overturned on the northern road, and its passengers had arrived among the labourers and children who ordinarily waited at that hour. Doctor Mercer moved between them with his coat unbuttoned and his sleeves rolled high. He had worked since daybreak, yet his voice remained firm. Each patient, he declared, would be seen according to the numbered ticket in his or her hand.
Martha, appointed only the previous week, had been told to carry water and keep the passage clear. Near the door, a broad gentleman complained loudly about his injured wrist and demanded to know whether the doctor understood his importance. Doctor Mercer called for his ticket. Beside him sat a boy who made no complaint at all. One arm was hidden inside his coat, but a dark stain had spread beyond the cuff and was dripping steadily from his fingers.
Martha approached the doctor as he examined the gentleman’s wrist. Mercer glanced towards the bench but did not leave his patient. ‘Noise is no proof of suffering, and silence is no proof of danger,’ he said. ‘Return to your duties, if you please.’ Martha obeyed, although she placed a folded cloth in the boy’s free hand. Moments later, she saw that he no longer had the strength to hold it. She carried the water jug into the centre of the passage and set it directly before the doctor.
Mercer stopped. Martha pointed without speaking. When he removed the boy’s coat, his confident expression vanished; the sleeve beneath was soaked through. He immediately called for assistance and took the boy into the treatment room. The numbered tickets continued to keep order in the crowded passage, but Mercer himself came back for the next patient instead of calling from the doorway. At noon, he told Martha that her interruption had been fortunate. ‘The first one was an interruption,’ she replied quietly. ‘The second was only harder to overlook.’
“Doctor Mercer’s confidence prevents him from recognising where he is most needed.”
Evaluate how successfully the writer presents this idea. Support your judgement with detailed references to the passage.
456 exam-style questions on Edexcel GCSE English Language 1.3 Content: prose fiction study requirements, covering 1.3.1 Read challenging prose fiction for the unseen 19th-century extract. Each one has a worked solution and a mark scheme showing where the marks go.