Anna's Healing (27 page)

“
Ya?
” Anna smiled, realizing she felt good.

Mammi
reached for the bottle of lotion and began rubbing it into Anna's arms.

“You never left me.”

“Where would I go?”

“
Nein
. I mean that you stayed here—since I've been sick.”

“I couldn't leave you, child, and don't look as if you're going to scold me, though you must be quite a bit better if you're feeling well enough to do that.”
Mammi
's smile was pure joy, and Anna thought of the picnic tables, and her family, and the rainbows.

“Have you ever seen a double rainbow?” She reached out and covered
Mammi
's hand with her own.

“
Ya
. I have. It's a beautiful sight indeed.”
Mammi
peered more closely at her. “Did you have the dreams again?”

Anna shrugged. A memory danced beyond her reach.

“Erin will be so happy to see you…”
Mammi
reached out and ran her fingertips across Anna's forehead. “To see that you're better. You gave us quite a scare.”

“But you aren't afraid any longer.”

“
Nein
.”

Anna felt an itch and rubbed her toe against the mattress to stop it.

Mammi
turned quickly and stared at the bottom of the bed, where the quilt was tented over Anna's feet.

“What is it?” Anna asked, yawning again and shaking the last of sleep's cobwebs from her mind. She ran her hand through her hair, which felt as if it needed to be washed. “What are you staring at?”

“You—”

Anna met her grandmother's gaze, and she realized what
Mammi
was speaking of. She understood what had just happened. A slow smile spread across both of their faces. A smile which said this can't be, but maybe… maybe it was. Or was she dreaming again? But she had never dreamed this, never considered it could be possible.

“Anna, can you…”
Mammi
put a finger to her lips, closed her eyes for a moment, and popped them open again. “Can you move your feet?”

She pointed her feet to the left, to the right, and then she wiggled them back and forth.

Mammi
reached under the blanket and pinched her right calf.

“Ouch!”

“You can feel that?”

“
Ya
, and it hurt!”

Mammi
let out a whoop of pure joy. “Erin! Come here, Erin! Hurry!”

Erin ran into the room, a spatula in one hand, an egg in the other. “What is it? Is she—”

“Anna's well.”

Erin closed her eyes, “
Danki
.
Danki
, Lord.” She rushed to Anna's side. “Your color is better.” She too placed a hand on Anna's forehead. “No fever. None at all.”

“No, Erin. I'm not talking about the fever. Anna is
well
.”
Mammi
motioned toward the end of the bed and gave Anna a pointed look. “Do it again.”

Anna was suddenly filled with fear. What if they'd imagined it? What if she'd dreamed it? But
Mammi
's pinch. That was real. She started with a small wriggle, scooting her feet left and right, left and right.

And she knew it was real.

She knew she was healed when Erin's eyes widened in surprise and all color left her face. She backed away from the bed and then fainted, dropping the spatula and the egg. The spatula bounced once, and the egg splattered on the wood floor. Anna stared at the brown eggshell and yellow yoke and remembered the girl with the quilt—ducks and a yellow border. She suddenly remembered, in complete detail, the dream of the night before. She remembered her family, the picnic tables, the bright sun, and the many rainbows.

Mammi
rushed to Erin's side and knelt beside her. Anna tossed off her covers and swung her legs over the side of the bed, but then she was
pulled back by the tug of the IV line. She swung her feet to the other side, stood, and pulled the IV pole with her as she walked over to Erin's side.
Mammi
looked up at her, her eyes widened in complete surprise, and her hand shaking as she reached for Anna's arm.

“What is it? What's wrong with
Aenti
?”

“Erin is fine. She only fainted. But Anna… Anna, you walked.”

CHAPTER 41

J
acob was working in the barn with Samuel. They'd both had their head stuck into the engine of the old tractor for the last hour.

“Try it now,” Samuel said.

Jacob walked around and started the engine. The clatter was still there, but it no longer threatened to die. Maybe if they changed—

His thoughts were interrupted when he heard something that didn't belong. Something that caused his heart to skitter and his palms to sweat. It was
Mammi,
hollering at the top of her lungs. He reached back toward the steering column and turned off the tractor.

Samuel popped his head out from under the hood of the tractor. “Why did you—”

Then he heard it too. He dropped the rag and wrench, and together they ran toward the house.

What could have possibly happened? Why hadn't she used the emergency bell? Why was she running toward the barn?

“What is it? What's wrong?” Samuel grasped her by the shoulders. “Is it Anna?”

“
Ya
.
Ya
. It is.”
Mammi
's hands were out, waving wildly toward the house. “Go to the house. Run! You too, Jacob. Run and see. Anna's well. Anna's healed.”

Shock followed by doubt filled his heart and played across Samuel's face, but Jacob didn't stay to hear the rest of their conversation. He turned and ran to the house.

Not bothering to knock the mud off his shoes, he sprinted through the kitchen and down the hall to Anna's room. His mind was a white blur of confusion and anxiousness and hope.

Erin was in a sitting position but paler than the sheets on Anna's bed. Beside her, a spatula lay in a puddle of splattered egg.

Then he saw her.

Anna was kneeling on the floor beside Erin. Her IV pole had hung up on a bedside rug, and the line to her arm was drawn tight.

Why was she kneeling? How could she sit that way? And why was she consoling Erin?

His arms began to tremble, and he wondered if his legs would support him.

At that moment Anna looked up. Her eyes met his, and a smile crept across her face.

She got to her feet, reached for the IV pole, and walked toward him, rolling the pole beside her. She walked straight into his arms.

He didn't realize he was crying until she reached up to wipe away his tears.

“It's
gut
,
ya
?”

“But… how…”

Samuel crowded into the room, followed by
Mammi
and the nurse who had arrived for the morning shift.

“Anna?” Samuel's voice trembled. “Anna—”

She turned toward her uncle as he covered the few steps between them.

“Is it true? Are you… are you healed?”

Anna stared down at her legs—they all did. She was still wearing her nightgown, which reached nearly to her ankles. She wiggled her toes against the floor. “The wood is warm. It feels
gut
.”

Samuel let out a holler, swept her up in his arms, and twirled left and then right—going as far as the IV would allow. He laughed and kissed the top of her head.
Mammi
was shouting, “Our Lord is merciful! He has blessed us! He has heard our prayers!”

Sandy, the nurse who came daily to care for Anna, had arrived early this morning, and she went to Erin's side to help her to her feet. Erin
walked to Anna and put both hands on her face, rubbing her thumbs back and forth as if she needed to touch her to believe her eyes. “Anna. How can this be? How can you walk?”

Instead of answering, Anna placed her arms around Erin, who was now openly weeping.

Sandy had been staring at Anna, her eyes wide and her mouth partially open. When Erin began crying, she seemed to snap out of her reverie. “I'll call Dr. Hartman.” She hurried out of the room and to the front porch, clutching the phone she'd pulled from her pocket.

Suddenly Jacob's brain caught up with his heart. The enormity of what they were seeing smacked him, causing him to collapse onto Anna's bed.

A miracle.

Anna had experienced a miracle. She was healed. She was walking. His mind kept repeating those things, as if doing so would make the believing easier. He didn't need to believe, though. He only needed to look at the beautiful girl standing a few feet from him.

Everyone was talking at once. Erin was crying and
Mammi
was practically dancing a jig. Samuel had one arm around his wife and the other around his niece.

Jacob wanted to fall on his knees. Tears coursed down his face, and he reached up to wipe them away. He couldn't be dreaming. He tasted the salt of his tears and heard the weeping of Erin. He glanced at the floor and saw the track of mud he had left. Glanced across the room and saw the egg shell in a puddle of yolk.

This was real.

And Anna? She stood in the middle of it all, as a shaft of light broke through the window and bathed her in its rays.

His Anna was standing, watching him.

He didn't understand it, couldn't explain it, and would never have predicted it. But somehow, Anna was healed.

CHAPTER 42

A
nna had trouble processing all of the emotions surging through her heart.

She might think she was dreaming but for the looks of wonder on Erin's, Samuel's, and Jacob's faces. The nurse seemed almost afraid, and she had quickly fled the room.
Mammi
, she accepted the mystery of what had happened better than anyone—as if what she'd longed for, hoped for, and prayed for had finally come true.

No one wanted to believe that she could dress herself without assistance. She asked them to send the nurse into the room to disconnect the PICC line.

The nurse came in a bit breathless. She'd always been kind, orderly, and efficient. Anna guessed she was in her mid-forties, possibly fifty. Neither large nor small, she always wore plain-colored scrubs. She was not an overly sentimental woman, but she now looked completely shaken.

“I called Dr. Hartman. He thinks you're having involuntary muscle spasms. He thinks—”

Anna reached out and touched the woman's arm. “I experienced the spasms in rehab. I know what they are like, Sandy, and they are not like this. I can walk.”

The nurse gulped and sank into the chair beside Anna's bed.

“He's coming. He's coming to see. I told him—” Her hands waved toward the window. “And he's coming.”

“I appreciate your taking care of me all these weeks.” Anna smiled
and kept her voice calm and low, trying to settle the woman's nerves. “The reason I asked for you is that I'd like you to remove my IV.”

The nurse shook her head, as if she didn't understand the request.

“My fever is gone. I'd like to be able to move—to walk about—freely.”

“But those weren't Dr. Hartman's orders. He said…” She met Anna's eyes and nodded slowly. “All right. If you insist.”

“I do.”

The process took a few minutes. Sandy cut and removed the sutures that held the line in place. She slowly pulled the catheter out, and then she covered the incision site with sterile gauze.

“Can you put light pressure on it for me?”

“
Ya
. Of course.”

Sandy covered the entire area with a dressing. She nodded when Anna asked if she was finished.

“Do you need help?”

“
Nein
. I'm fine now. Would you tell my family I'll be out in a few moments?”

Sandy looked as if she might argue. Anna didn't wait to hear. She stood and walked to the bathroom, where she quietly but firmly shut the door. In all honesty, she needed a few moments alone.

To look at her feet. To feel the wondrous miracle of being able to stand. To fall to her knees and thank God for what He had done.

When she stood and began to dress, she reveled in the feeling of being able to put on her own shoes and stockings. She was just pinning her
kapp
when a tap on the door reminded her that her family was waiting to see her.

“Are you okay?” Erin opened the door and peeked inside.

Anna was standing in front of the sink, running water over her hands. She looked over at Erin before she reached forward and turned off the water. “I can't tell you how good it feels to be able to stand in front of a sink and wash my face. To feel the floor again. To move about. It's… it's truly amazing.”