Answer:
The answer is a: Brother Michael
Step-by-step explanation:
In the novel A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man by James Joyce, Stephen Dedalus goes into a clinic to recover from illness and exhaustion. While he is a patient there, he is cared for by Brother Michael:
"Brother Michael was a decent man but his breath smelled foul. When he bent over and spoke to him his long nostrils came near Stephen's face. He did not want that fever to light again in Stephen's cheeks, the flash of battle in his eyes."
The passage describes Brother Michael bending over Stephen's bed and speaking to him, indicating that he is caring for Stephen as a patient in the clinic. None of the other answer choices are mentioned as being involved in Stephen's care while he is in the clinic.
So the correct answer is a: Brother Michael.
The key clues are that Brother Michael is described as bending over Stephen's bed and speaking to him, showing that he is directly interacting with and caring for Stephen as a patient. None of the other characters listed are mentioned in connection with Stephen's time in the clinic.