Abram's Daughters 04 The Prodigal (12 page)

II A hush fell over the room, apart from the periodic swoosh

Wkf I he oxygen tent, and Leah and Mary Ruth moved to the

301 of Abe's bed. "Let's pray for him together," her sister

whispered.

Leah could not speak for the lump in her throat as she

Hrarefully nodded.

H Mary Ruth began as if she were humbly addressing a dear

Kid close friend, and as her sister raised her petition to the

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fhrone of Grace, Leah whispered her own prayer. "Dear Lord, Blank you for sending Mary Ruth here today. ..."

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w Repeatedly Sadie had tried to console Lydiann, who was Kill crying upstairs in her bedroom. She had managed to get liydiann to lie down the poor girl was emotionally worn out liver Abe's accident.

m Downstairs, Sadie paced from the kitchen all the way to |ie front room and back again, wishing for some word on heir brother. Anything at all would help to alleviate her rent-up feelings. She was all too familiar with such frustration, having suffered similarly for hours on the day the starRing report of Harvey's fatal accident had come, unable to get ftb the hospital until too late to say her good-byes to her darling.

The Indiana bishop had been on hand during that dark, siid time, and she wondered again why the bishop here couldn't be more compassionate to her ... or even encouraging. Clenching her jaw, she recalled how she'd felt upon receiving the harsh letter Bishop Bontrager had sent in response to her request to return home. He had pointedly slated she was a "most vile woman in need of repentance,"

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and he even hinted that he doubted she would have contacted him if not for her widowhood. He had also dared to suggest her husband's untimely death showed she was most likely under God's judgment.

Sadie wondered if she could ever truly forgive the bishop for those words and what he'd forced upon her, yet she had no choice but to walk in obedience to the Ordnung lest she fail her second Proving time and be cast out of her father's house.

Truly, she wanted to be found worthy to live amongst the People, and she didn't see herself remaining under Dat's covering for the rest of her life. Although it was much too early for her to think about such things, she hoped to have the chance to marry again someday, perhaps to a widower, once she was past her grieving for Harvey. After all, she had been happiest when married, and happiness was her ambition in life, regardless of Bishop Bontrager's frequent insistence in his sermons that obedience to the church is the highest calling for God's children. "Obey or die" the words had both discouraged her and, at times, kept her on the straight and narrow, even finding their way into the core of her late-night dreams. And she couldn't help but recall the teachings of the upstanding Ohio bishop she had known back when she was staying with the Mellingers. Oh, the remarkable wisdom of the ministers of Millersburg! She knew she ought not let the encouragement of Scripture go unheeded.

Aware of a voice in the Dawdi Haus, she headed through the adjoining door and found her grandfather alone, talking to himself. "Dawdi?" she said so as not to startle him, bending low beside his chair. "Are you all right?"

He lifted his tear-streaked face. "I can hardly stand to

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think 'bout what happened to that young'un," he said, voice

Invoking- "Abe's a right fine boy, he is. Just don't understand

wluil He thought he was doin' going to Blackbird Pond like

lliiil."

She rose and pulled up a chair to sit near her grandfather.

"|;ih, 1 know it's awful hard on all of us, but we daresn't give

up hope."

He nodded slowly, though it seemed with great effort.

"I lint there boy's the apple of your father's eye. He's every-

ihing to Abram."

"A son is ever so precious to his father." And to his mother,

lie pondered, having to look away and collect herself a bit. "I daresay the family will still be away at the hospital

i iino suppertime." He was obviously anxious for some word,

Jusi as she was.

Sadie offered to make him some coffee, but Dawdi shook

11is head.

Making an effort to help him get his mind off young Abe, w\c picked up The Budget and began to read from its pages. Hwc> humorous stories from Sugarcreek, Ohio, got Dawdi quiHid down. Afte* all, it wouldn't do to have both Lydiann and Ipnwdi crying buckets of tears over Abe. What good would it hU)l Sadie herself had shed too many fruitless tears over things lihc could not change.

I But there were some things that could be altered, and she If I u night again of the letter that had come out of nowhere, as

1(1 I he Lord God had dropped it into her lap to see if she might pel willy do the right thing at long last. Of course, she still had |n< i idea how poor Leah would react.

I It was after she finished reading to Dawdi that Sadie llcvidcd she could no longer wait to fess up to Leah. She must

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come clean once and for all as soon as Abe was home and feeling better.

It was decided Leah would stay the night in the hospital with Abe, and both she and Aunt Lizzie were now talking this over in the family waiting area while Dat went into Abe's room to sit with him. Her father was still berating himself for having introduced Abe to ice fishing not but a few days ago. "Dat needs his own bed and a nice hot meal besides," Leah said, to which Lizzie agreed.

"I daresay word'll get out quickly enough," Aunt Lizzie said, "and you'll have plenty of visitors here with ya tonight, dear one."

Leah knew this to be true, for Plain relatives and friends often gathered around a family during such times of crisis. She wasn't hesitant to be here alone, though. No, she worried more about what she would do if Abe should take a turn for the worse.

"Lydiann will be awful glad to see you and Dat come home." Leah rose. "Dawdi will be, too."

"And Sadie will have supper on by now." Aunt Lizzie looked up at the clock. "I best be gettin' Abram thinking 'bout headin' home." She went to Leah and slipped her arm through hers. "Are ya sure you'll be all right here?"

She couldn't say outright that she would be, but then again she couldn't openly speak of her fears. "Don't worry over me. Look after Dat. . . get him home for now."

Lizzie nodded, smiling sweetly. "All right, then." And they walked arm in arm down the hall to Abe's room.

Dat was coming out, a look of sadness on his face as they approached him. "Abe's still passed out."

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"We must leave him in God's hands," offered Lizzie.

"Easier said than done," Dat replied. "I just hope I did the right thing. . . ." His voice trailed off.

"Whatever do you mean, Dat?"

"By having Smitty get Dr. Schwartz . . . bringing Abe here."

"You did just what Mamma would've wanted," Leah replied.

"Lizzie here would've chewed me out but gut, otherwise," Abram admitted with a fleeting smile. "But that's all right, I guess. She's had her say-so in the past, just as Ida often did."

Dat's acceptance of Lizzie's aversion to hex doctors seemed related in some way to his possible romantic interest. Leah had noticed Lizzie patting Dat's hand today, and just now she felt strongly that if Dat was falling for Lizzie after being a widower for this long, then so be it. Leah found the prospects quite interesting, even promising, since Aunt Lizzie had most likely given up on ever being married.

Grateful for the help and heartening Lizzie had offered this day, she hugged her good-bye and waved to Dat as they made their way*down the hallway together. Thoughtfully she watched them for a moment before heading back to spend the rest of the night with Abe.

Settling into a chair, she suddenly felt alone and downright melancholy. With Dat and Aunt Lizzie gone, she was the sole caretaker of Mamma's son, who was presently sleeping so soundly inside his oxygen tent, he scarcely moved.

She must have dozed off, although for how long Leah

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didn't know, till she became aware of a sound in the room and assumed it was the night nurse. She blinked her eyes open to see Abe's eyes opening, too.

"Mamma . . ." he said faintly.

Her heart sped up and she rushed to his side. "Oh, Abe . . . you're awake!"

"Mamma," he whispered again, smiling weakly now.

"Jah, I'm here, dearest boy."

He lifted his hand to meet hers.

"You're better, ain't so?" She wished Dat and Aunt Lizzie were here for this wonderful moment.

Abe tried to sit up but began to moan, putting his free hand to his forehead. "Ach, my head hurts somethin' awful."

"Well, now, sure it does," she said, encouraging him to lie still. "Ya smacked it a gut one on the ice."

He frowned. "I don't remember any such thing. When was this?"

She was quick to tell him he'd conked his head hard, knocking out the memory of his being at Blackbird Pond earlier today.

"No . . . no, I was never there today. . . not since Dat and all went ice fishin'. Why would I be goin' over there alone, anyways?"

Leah's throat went dry and she became anxious, afraid Abe's accident might have caused mental damage. "Try to rest quietlike while I go 'n' get the nurse. I'll be right back."

She returned alone and hovered near him, eager for the nurse to observe him and to help her understand what was causing Abe to talk so.

Promptly her dear boy closed his eyes again, and for a

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moment he lay there as still as he had before awakening minutes ago. She felt a strange sensation in the pit of her stomach something akin to fear.

She stood there beside Abe's bed, helpless to do anything I nit watch him breathe, when at last the nurse hurried in the door. Leah told of Abe's having come to, and the nurse seemed quite pleased, then touched his arm to awaken him again to take his temperature, pulse, and blood pressure.

When Abe complained more loudly about his headache and a ringing in his ears, the nurse said she would get him some pain medication. She rushed out of the room and returned quickly with a pill and a glass of cold water. "This will make you feel much better."

"Denki," said Abe softly.

Leah got the courage to speak up and say that Abe did not seem to remember having fallen, and the nurse explained that it was normal following a grade-three concussion. "A grade three is determined by a loss of consciousness, and symptoms can continue for a full month or longer," the nurse clarified.

"Do ya me n to say Abe might have to miss school for that long?" Leah asked.

"He'll need bed rest for several weeks, at least. I wouldn't rush him back to school, no." The nurse listed a number of other possible symptoms memory loss, severe headaches, nausea, slurred speech, vision disturbance, fatigue, and more. She went on to mention that Abe would probably require a lollow-up exam in two weeks.

When the sound of the nurse's footsteps faded, Leah sat back in the chair. For now her mind was more at ease.

"You'll stay with me tonight, Mamma?" Abe asked.

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She moved her chair next to his bed. "I'll sit beside you all the night through."

In the dim light, she silently began to count her blessings, as well as Abe's. Her boy was alive, able to talk, hear, and see. Thank you, dear Lord, she prayed, keeping a watchful eye on her sleeping little brother the son of her heart.

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Ha

JTTannah finished nursing tiny Mimi and placed her gently on her shoulder till several soft burps escaped the infant's rosy mouth. Then she wrapped Mimi securely in soft blankets and Iblaced her snugly in the cradle handmade by Dawdi Mathias Kiack when Hannah was expecting Ida Mae. Just as dear Mamma had often done, Hannah looked in on the older girls, K)oth soundly sleeping, before tiptoeing to the window of the Ipedroom she and her husband shared.

' This room, vshich she had enjoyed setting up when she and Gid had first moved into Aunt Lizzie's former home as newlyweds, was altogether comforting in the partial light. Aware of the stillness, she watched as the moon ascended gradually over the faraway hills to the east, wishing Gid would hurry back home. He'd gone down to the Ebersol Cottage on foot after they'd stopped to retrieve Ida Mae and Katie Ann from his parents' house, following the brief hospital visit.

Longingly she watched the candle-lit windows on the main floor of her father's house, particularly the golden light Irom the kitchen, which shone most brightly. They're all

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gathered near the wood stove. . . . She could just imagine her family together, Dat and Aunt Lizzie having arrived home a short while before, and Dawdi John, Sadie, and Lydiann hungry for word about Abe. Gid, too, was keenly interested in hearing how young Abe was doing, as well as finding out why Abram hadn't called for the hex doctor, as he'd heard his father had suggested.

She recalled Aunt Lizzie telling her that such practices had the power to hinder one's walk with the Lord God, thus hampering the hope of salvation. Truth be known, she didn't so much care for her aunt's take on spiritual things and knew she'd never embrace Lizzie's outspoken faith, nor Mary Ruth's, for that matter. Such boldness went against the Old Ways, she was sure, but she dared not discuss such a touchy subject with her husband, instead writing down her thoughts in her journal as she had been doing for a good many years.

Tonight, however, she had scarcely the energy to stand at the window, feeling dismal and left out here at home with her little ones, missing the current news from Dat and AuntLizzie. ..-; '' ' -..

Is Abe going to live? ,

She fought back the tears, fairly certain Leah had stayed behind at the hospital, knowing her sister as she did. Ever so strong . . . and altogether calm in the midst of such a trying time, that was Leah. It had also been so after Mamma's death.

Hannah sighed, recognizing again her lack of similar fortitude. She couldn't have done what Leah had done ... or what she continued to do, giving up all opportunities to wed. But now, thinking on that, Hannah was altogether happy Leah had broken up with Gid, so to speak, although she knew from his mouth that, when all was said and done, he had been