whether it was a broken wrist or an instance of spousal abuse , violet had found the right words to comfort her patients with ease , and not only was she able to find those words and wield them carefully , she was effective ; dr. miletus had told me that in her two hundred-plus years of service in the medical field , she had never seen someone so attuned to patient needs , so aware of what they needed to hear , and so able to comfort them without patronizing them .