Summary

In 1963-89: Icehouse, Lily is in America. She is serving as a nurse in a field hospital in 1963 during the height of the Civil War. She notes that many of the young men brought to the hospital are mortally wounded, but seem to “wait until they were in a woman's hands” before dying.

Lily was living in Saint Louis until her son joined the Union Army. She immediately left the city to be near his unit. When she arrived at the field hospital, she worked as a laundress but was soon asked to help with the patients and a black woman took over the laundry work. She talks to everyone about her son, asking if they've seen him. His name is Thaddeus Fitzpatrick.

Lily arrived in New York along with many others seeking a better life in America. She was disappointed that the...