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worried to see her lying restless on the bed, gazing out of the
window. Even though the doctor visited every day, there was no
improvement in her condition. One day the doctor asked Sue if
anything was bothering Johnsy because she was not responding to
medicines. It seemed as if she had given up hope to get well. Sue
tried her best to make her feel happy and start taking interest in her
surroundings. But Johnsy was sad. She kept her gaze on the
window only and started counting backwards. Sue heard her do
this and anxiously looked out of the window. She saw an old ivy
creeper climbing the wall opposite their window. The creeper was
shedding its leaves in the strong wind outside. Johnsy was
counting the leaves left on the creeper.

Johnsy had made up her mind that with the fall of the last leaf, she
will die. But Sue could not see any point in her belief as it was
autumn and trees shed their leaves during this season. Sue tried
hard to make her understand that there was no connection between
her illness and the leaves. But Johnsy was sure that she will sleep
forever once the ivy sheds its last leaf.

She somehow manages to make her go to sleep and rushes to call
Behrman, who lived on the ground floor of the same building and
was a painter too. She poured out her worries to Behrman. He also
thinks that it is so foolish of Johnsy to think like that.

They both then go to Johnsy's room and find her sleeping.

The weather was getting bad. It was raining heavily and chilly wind
was blowing. They went to the other room and saw that only the
last leaf was left on the creeper. Behrman didn't say anything and
went to his room. Next morning when Johnsy woke up, she asked
Sue to draw back the curtains so that she could see outside. Sue
surprisingly tells Johnsy that there was still one leaf left, all green
and healthy. Johnsy could not believe as the wind was very strong
the last night. Every now and then, Johnsy checked if the leaf was
still there. The same night, again there was a storm but the leaf was
still there.

Now, Johnsy was hopeful that she would get well soon.

When she recovered completely, Sue disclosed that the last leaf
that had helped her get better, was not the original one but a
masterpiece, which looked more than real, was drawn by Behrman.