The Amish Widower's Twins and the Amish Bachelor's Choice

by Jo Ann Brown

  “Even better.”

  The van zipped around the corner and then took a quick right. A sign, Valet Parking Here, was a welcome sight because it confirmed they were in the right place.

  She didn’t wait for Hank to open the door for her. She slid it aside and stepped out to go around the van and help her grossmammi. She heard a frantic siren and saw a crimson ambulance race to a door about a hundred yards away.

  Salem Rescue Squad was painted in large white-and-gold letters on the side.

  She stared as the passenger door opened and a familiar form jumped out. She had to be wrong, but how could she mistake Gabriel Miller for any other man?

  Behind her, she heard Hank draw in a sharp breath.

  “Go,” urged her grossmammi, and Leanna guessed that reaching the hospital had made Grossmammi Inez’s stress worse. “Check...while they...get me a...wheelchair to...take me...upstairs.”

  “I should—”

  “Go! Don’t...argue...with me.” Though Grossmammi Inez’s voice was breathless, her strength of will remained powerful.

  Leanna kissed her grossmammi’s cheek and promised to join her upstairs. The old woman waved her away before taking Hank’s outstretched hand so he could help her out.

  Rushing across the grass between the two entrances, Leanna reached the emergency room door as a gurney with an impossibly small cargo emerged from the ambulance.

  “Gabriel!” she shouted.

  He whirled and stared at her in astonishment. “Leanna?” he asked as if he couldn’t believe his own eyes.

  “What are you doing here?” she cried.

  “It’s Harley.” His face was long with despair. “You were right, Leanna. There’s something wrong with him. Something horribly wrong.”

  * * *

  Gabriel pushed aside the heavy door and walked into the surgical waiting area. A half-dozen people sat in the room decorated with cheerful prints and posters showing cutaways of the human heart. His gaze focused on one person.

  “May I?” he asked, motioning to the empty chair next to where Leanna sat.

  She nodded and swallowed roughly. Was she trying to hold in that mixture of fear and sorrow and recriminations that threatened to gag him?

  “How is Inez?” He settled himself in the uncomfortable chair and noticed how nobody other than Leanna would meet his gaze. They, like he, must wish they could be, at that moment, anywhere else in the world but waiting to hear if their loved one had survived surgery.

  “She went in half an hour ago. They said they’d come and get me in about an hour or so.”

  “They can finish her surgery so fast?”

  “That’s what they said.” Dampening her lips, she whispered, “Why are you in the cardiac surgery waiting room?”

  “They’re doing an exploratory to find out what’s wrong with Harley’s heart.”

  Her fingers slid over his on the narrow arms of the chairs and curled around them. The motion said more than any words could have, and warmth trickled through him, like the first sign of a spring thaw after a frigid winter.

  “I’m so sorry,” she whispered. “What happened?”

  He was amazed she hadn’t asked the question before. Realizing he hadn’t given her a chance before he rushed into the emergency room with Harley, he sighed. “He stopped breathing.”

  “Oh, my!” She became even more gray with fright.

  “He and Heidi were sitting on the floor, and she crawled away. He started to follow, made it a foot or so, then collapsed. I shouted for Michael, and he went for help.” He stared at his clasped hands. “I picked Harley up and patted his back like I’ve seen you do when he’s gasping. He didn’t respond, so I patted harder. He began breathing, but not well. His lips were blue, and his fingertips were turning blue by the time your friend Sarah burst into the house.”

  “Sarah is a volunteer EMT.”

  “I am so thankful she was at your house when Michael went there to find out the closest place with a phone. She got Harley breathing steadily again and kept working with him until the ambulance arrived. She told me to go with him, and she’d make sure Heidi was okay. I jumped in the ambulance and came here to the emergency room. He needs surgery, which they hope will keep him from stopping breathing like that.” He bowed his head. “It was terrifying. He’s such a tiny boppli.”

  Fear smothered him, and he couldn’t hold back the tears that had been dammed within him since the day he’d known he must break Leanna’s heart in order to protect the only family he had. When she put her arms around him, he gripped her arm. He wept against her shoulder, hoping his scalding tears didn’t sear her. He no longer cared there were others watching.

  She didn’t pull away and, instead, leaned into him, putting her cheek against his hair. She said nothing, and he was grateful she didn’t try to give him a list of platitudes. He knew them. He’d probably said each of them at one time or another.

  Trust in the doktors. They know what they’re doing.

  Have faith and hope for the best.

  God doesn’t give us more than we can handle. That one contradicted what he’d been told after Aden’s death. God knows when it’s our time because we are each a precious piece of His plan.

  He believed those were true, but hearing them wouldn’t help. The only things he wanted to hear were that Harley and Inez had come through their surgeries.

  As the last of his tears fell, Leanna whispered, “I’m sorry, Gabriel.”

  “You can say that you told me so.” He raised his head and girded himself for the sharp words he deserved, the words she should have thrown into his face weeks ago.

  She took his right hand and folded it between her smaller ones. Meeting his gaze, she whispered, “What gut will that do?” Her eyes were almost turquoise with the tears welling up in them, and he knew they were for Harley and him. “Harsh words aren’t useful at the best of times.”

  “Which this isn’t.”

  “No, it isn’t.” She glanced at the double doors that stood between them and the surgical area. “They told me it wouldn’t take that long for Grossmammi Inez’s surgery, but it seems like I’ve sat here a lifetime already.”

  “Are you here alone?”

  She nodded. “Grossmammi Inez insisted only one of us come. As I can hand off my chores and I’m not working out of the house, she asked me to come.”

  Gabriel fought to swallow again. There hadn’t been any accusations in her words, but they both knew the truth. If he hadn’t acted like a cowardly dummkopf and hired Magdalena to watch the kinder, Leanna would have been on her way to his house that morning and one of her siblings would have been sitting in the waiting room.

  “Who’s watching Heidi?” she asked, showing that her thoughts must be close to his. “Magdalena?”

  “Sarah insisted on taking her to your house so she’d be nearby when I got home. Annie was there, or so Michael told me before we left.” He gave her a faint smile. “I guess it takes two people to handle your job.”

  “More likely Sarah had planned to visit Annie today, and they’ll watch Heidi together.”

  “Either way, I appreciate their stepping in to help, especially when your sister has to be anxious about Inez’s surgery.”

  “And Harley’s.” Her face grew a bit paler. “They don’t know about that, do they?”

  “I’ve got the phone number at the bakery. I called and left a message about what the doktors have decided. I’ll call when he’s out of surgery. If you want, I can let them know about Inez, as well.”

  She patted her black purse. “Annie gave the phone number to me, along with instructions to call the minute I know how our grossmammi is doing.”

  “There’s a phone we can use not far from the elevator.”

  “The cardiac unit has a phone for people who don’t have cell phones. We can use it to share news with ou
r families. One of the local church groups in Albany had it installed. I was told I could use it to call for a ride, too. If you’re ready to leave when I am—”

  “I appreciate that, but I can’t make any plans until Harley is out of surgery.”

  “I know.” She hesitated, then went on, “I wish I’d been wrong about Harley. However, if I’d had any idea it was so serious, I would have been insistent, even if it annoyed you.”

  “And I’m sorry, Leanna, I didn’t listen to you. I know your concern comes from your love for the bopplin.”

  “That’s true. Danki for understanding.”

  “Eventually.”

  She gave him a crooked smile. “Better late than never...or so I’ve heard.”

  * * *

  Leanna was paging sightlessly through a magazine when the doors to the recovery area opened yet again. Each time they had, she and Gabriel—along with everyone else in the waiting room—had sat up straighter, willing that the name the nurse called to come back would be theirs. The waiting room had emptied, and other people had come in, but the ninety minutes Leanna had been supposed to have to wait had been over almost forty-five minutes ago.

  “Wagler?” called the nurse, a tall, dark-skinned man who wore light blue scrubs that were almost the same shade as her dress. His name identified him as Darnell.

  She suddenly was unable to move or speak. All at once the wait time seemed to be too short, because she feared what the nurse might tell her. And how could she leave Gabriel here alone when his son was on the operating table?

  “Over here,” Gabriel said. Turning to her, he urged, “Go ahead. Inez will be wondering where you are, and you don’t want her to worry. That won’t be gut for her heart.”

  “But—”

  When he took her hand between his much larger ones, he looked directly at her so she couldn’t doubt his sincerity. “Go ahead, Leanna. I’ll be fine.”

  “If you hear anything about Harley...”

  “I’ll send word to you right away.” He squeezed her hand, then released it.

  “Promise?”

  “I keep my word.”

  “I know.” And she did know, though she’d tried to ignore the fact before. For those he cared most about, Gabriel would keep his word, even if it made him look bad. His brother had said Gabriel always kept his promises, and she wondered what ones Michael was talking about. Whatever they were, they’d exacted a great toll on Gabriel’s soul, a price he was still paying. That he’d never once complained told her that she had never met anyone else with such strength.

  God, hold him up. He loves You, too, I know. His faith is wobbly, but I know it must be at least as big as a mustard seed, and Your son told us such small faith can move mountains.

  Leanna kept praying for Gabriel, for her grossmammi, for Harley, for herself, for the others who were in the hospital. She followed the nurse into the recovery area. There was a mixture of urgency and yet calm in the wide space that had rooms with curtains across the opening that connected them to the central space. Men and women went from one room to the next, pushing equipment she couldn’t identify. It was hushed, though she heard quiet voices in the rooms she passed.

  Darnell stopped in front of a curtain covering the entrance to the fourth room on the right. Opening it, he said, “Mrs. Wagler, you’ve got a visitor eager to see you.” He gave Leanna a compassionate smile. “Go on in.”

  “Is she—?”

  “I’m all right,” her grossmammi said faintly.

  She looked past the gurney in the center of the space to a female nurse who nodded to confirm Grossmammi Inez’s words, and then Leanna realized Grossmammi Inez had spoken without all the pauses that had slowed her speech since almost the beginning of the year.

  “She needs to rest here in recovery for a few hours. No getting up or moving around so she causes bleeding on her incisions.” According to the tag on the female nurse’s scrubs, her name was Judy. “After that, we’ll move her upstairs and monitor her overnight. If everything is as it should be in the morning, you can take her home then.”

  “So soon?”

  “Amazing, isn’t it?” Judy closed the top of a laptop sitting on a shelf with items Leanna couldn’t identify. She smiled as she picked up a cup and offered Grossmammi Inez a drink of water through the bent straw. “I see these surgeries every day, and I marvel at what our doctors can do.”

  After Judy left, Leanna pulled a chair to a spot where her grossmammi could see her without moving. She wasn’t surprised Grossmammi Inez’s first question was about Harley.

  Leanna told her only that the boppli was being examined by the doktors. She didn’t want to upset her grossmammi now, and she wasn’t sure how much medication Grossmammi Inez was taking. The anesthesia hadn’t completely worn off.

  “Gabriel said he’ll let us know how Harley is doing as soon as he knows.”

  “Ach,” her grossmammi moaned. “Such a little boppli.” Holding out her hand, she turned her head when Leanna took it. “We are two voices, but there must be many more in Harmony Creek Hollow raised in prayer right now. Let’s join them.”

  Leanna bowed her head as she reached out with her heart. She heard the older woman’s whispered words and repeated them. In addition, she thanked their Heavenly Father because her grossmammi’s voice seemed to grow stronger with each word she spoke. The pauses had almost vanished already. Leanna couldn’t wait to call the bakery and share the gut news.

  When Grossmammi Inez drifted to sleep, Leanna alerted Judy that she was going to call her family. She glanced into the waiting room when she walked past, but Gabriel wasn’t there. Was Harley out of surgery?

  She didn’t hear anything from Gabriel before it was time to move her grossmammi to her room for the night. Judy reassured her. If Gabriel sent word about Harley’s condition to the recovery unit, they would pass it along to Grossmammi Inez’s room.

  Not if, Leanna wanted to argue. Gabriel promised to let me know as soon as he could. He never breaks promises.

  As the time passed while her grossmammi seemed to get better by the minute, Leanna sat in a chair by the bed and began to wonder if Gabriel had forgotten his promise. She couldn’t believe that, but why else hadn’t she heard anything? Was it possible Harley was still in surgery? She was going to have to return home soon because Grossmammi Inez must get what sleep she could. The older woman wouldn’t rest while Leanna was there.

  When an aide brought in a supper tray, Leanna knew she couldn’t put off calling Hank any longer. She started to stand, but halted when a young man in bright green scrubs came in. His badge identified him as a nursing student.

  “Miss Wagler?” He stared at her, and she guessed he hadn’t ever seen a plain person before.

  “I’m Leanna Wagler.”

  He thrust a folded piece of paper at her. “I was told to give this to you.”

  “Danki. Thank you.”

  Nodding, he rushed out, and she heard him asking someone at the desk why she was dressed so strangely.

  “Aren’t you going to open it?” Grossmammi Inez asked while she took the lid off a plate of meat loaf and mashed potatoes.

  “Ja.” Her fingers trembled as she unfolded the page. It was a simple message that gave her a room number that was in a different section of the hospital and a scrawled note: Please come. Gabriel.

  “What is the news from Gabriel?” asked Grossmammi Inez.

  “He doesn’t say. He sent me a room number. It must be where they brought Harley after his surgery.”

  “What are you waiting for? Go ahead,” her grossmammi said as Gabriel had earlier. “Don’t leave for home without letting me know how the boppli and his daed are doing.”

  “I won’t.” She gave her grossmammi a kiss, then rushed out of the room. She was already praying by the time she reached the elevator.

  Chapter Sixteen

&
nbsp; The hallway was brightly lit, and people moved with unhurried determination to complete tasks Leanna couldn’t begin to comprehend. Outside the row of doors, computers displayed information that seemed to be updating constantly. The walls were decorated with pictures of animals and carnival rides and cartoon characters she’d seen at the grocery store.

  The faint protest from a kind, quickly hushed, wafted toward her, but most of the rooms she passed were silent. She guessed the kinder were asleep by now. Odors of disinfectant and other cleaning supplies assaulted her senses, and she fought to keep from sneezing as she walked along the hall.

  Checking the numbers on the doors, she slowed as she neared the one that matched the number Gabriel had sent her. She was shocked that everybody in the unit couldn’t hear her hammering heartbeat. She took a deep breath to steady herself.

  She tiptoed into the room. It was dim compared to the hall, and she paused to allow her eyes to adjust so she didn’t bump into something or someone. Out of the shadows, the silhouettes of furniture appeared. A chair. A table on wheels. A crib. The soft beeping from a machine matched her anxious heartbeat. In astonishment, she realized the steady sound must be Harley’s heartbeat.

  As she started to thank God, she heard Gabriel speak. He stood by the crib, his hands on the rail as he gazed down at a tiny form on the mattress.

  “Have pretty dreams, sweet Harley,” he said. “Sleep easy tonight and for the rest of your life. I’ll be here for you each one of those days that God grants me. I promise you, no matter what happens, I’ll be your daed forever.”

  “Of course you will,” Leanna said before she could halt herself. “Why wouldn’t you always be his daed?”

  Gabriel straightened and faced her. “How is Inez?”

  “As tart as a barrel of dill pickles.” She smiled as she shared the amazing news. “She’s stronger and acting more like herself than she has in a year. With the new heart valve, it’s almost as if she’s a brand-new woman. I’d say she’ll give a woman half her age a run for the money by the end of the month.”