"A memoir about the experiences of a nurse in London, focusing on the overlooked importance of kindness and compassion"--Provided by publisher.

Introduction: Worth risking life for -- A tree of veins -- Everything you can imagine is real -- The origins of the world -- At first the infant -- The struggle for existence -- Somewhere under my left ribs -- To live is so startling -- Small things, with great love -- O the bones of the people -- So we beat on -- At close of day -- There are always two deaths -- And the flesh of the child grew warm.