[2016] The Precious Amish Baby

by Faith Crawford

  Adrianna turned and ran and once outside, she took in gulps of fresh air while she bent over with her hands resting on her knees. Her breath came out in quick gasps. After a few moments, she got herself under control and left for the convent. She gave the Mother Superior the message. Moments later, five monks entered the convent and with their help, the chapel was soon emptied of pews.

  “Open all the windows,” the Mother Superior ordered Adrianna.

  The cold air rushed in as she opened each of the windows. She shivered in her coat, though Adrianna suspected it was more from what she had seen than the cold. Cot beds were brought in hours later and Adrianna was glad to busy herself cleaning and disinfecting the chapel. She was in no rush to return to the monastery's chapel.

  Injured soldiers were brought in sometime in the afternoon. Two nurses from the local hospital and a couple of doctors accompanied them.

  "Wipe him down with a cool cloth and water," one doctor, a middle-aged and tired looking man told Adrianna, pointing his finger at one of the soldiers.

  She jumped to do his bidding, running to one side of the chapel where there were basins of cold water. Adrianna approached the young looking soldier with trepidation. She gained confidence when she saw that he was in no state to note her inexperience. Her fear ended and instead she felt awash with sympathy for the young man writhing in his cot.

  His forehead trickled with sweat and his uniform was wet. She dabbed the cool cloth on his forehead and his neck. All around her, instructions were given out and people dashed about. Adrianna ignored all that and concentrated on making the young man comfortable. The same doctor who had given her instructions came to the side of the bed.

  He touched the man’s neck and nodded. “Good, the fever is coming down. Good job,” he told Adrianna, who swelled with pride.

  In the hours that followed, Adrianna came into her own. The sight of blood did not make her feel nauseated anymore, and if she felt any disgust, all she had to do was look at the suffering men and it faded. That evening, before supper time, Adrianna and the other nuns were given a short training in dressing wounds and basic first aid. She felt empowered with the knowledge.

  The rest of the evening was spent feeding bowls of soups to the soldiers. All so far were Italian men and Adrianna found herself a natural in offering words of comfort to them. One man, his eyes heavily bandaged, grasped her hand as though he was drowning. Adrianna was initially shocked until she realized that it was fear and a need to touch another human being that made the man cling to her.

  That night, Adrianna slept more than she ever had, a deep sleep that left her feeling refreshed in the morning. The convent program had been scraped and throughout the day, they only had one mass and that was only for the nuns who could make it. Adrianna tried to attend the five o’clock mass each day as she found it a soothing break from all the chaos of the convent.

  Two weeks later, they had fallen into a routine. The Mother Superior had prepared a schedule so that sometimes Adrianna was on the day shift and other times she took the night shift. Observing the nuns with their white and black veils, running around and tending to the sick, injured men, made Adrianna’s admiration for them to grow.

  Even Sister Margaret had gotten over her initial revulsion and now she was as capable as the rest of them. The young soldier whom Adrianna had nursed had recovered and she was particularly touched when he came to her before he left. He took her hands into his and the contact from a male hand made her fingers tremble.

  “Thank you very much,” he said in Italian.

  Adrianna understood then why nurses did the work they did. She looked at his healthy skin and well-cut hair, which nun Abigail had shaved for him and felt a touch of pride. He wore his uniform and on his shoulder he carried a bag. She felt a mixture of joy and sadness when he left. Later in the day, Adrianna was busy writing a letter home for a soldier. There were many such requests and she had written more than ten letters so far.

  Suddenly, a buzz of activity interrupted the silence in the makeshift hospital. Adrianna looked up from where she sat.

  “American soldiers,” the man she was writing the letter for said.

  There were about five men in stretchers and as curious as Adrianna was to finally see American soldiers, she curbed her interest and returned to her letter.

  “I’ll have it posted first thing tomorrow,” Adrianna said after reading out the letter to the soldier.

  “Adrianna,” the Mother Superior called. “You’ll have one more soldier under your care. His name is Maj. Gen. Sidney Jameson. I hope it’s not too much for you?”

  “No, it’s fine, Mother Superior,” Adrianna said, meaning every word.

  “Alright then. Major Sidney is the one by the corner. He has been wounded in the leg and he has a fever. There are no drugs at the moment but the doctor says they’ll be here by tomorrow. You’ll have to keep him cool.”

  Adrianna approached the Major's bed. Unlike the young soldier, he did not writhe and for a moment, she wondered if he was dead. So far, none of the soldiers had passed on and for that Adrianna was grateful. She touched his face tentatively and his eyes popped open. Her heart skipped a bit when she looked into his startling blue eyes.

  He did not smile nor change his expression. Adrianna pursed her lips. She could not remember being this uncomfortable with another patient. The Major’s eyes looked her up and down and then he looked away to the wall.

  “How are you today, Major?” Adrianna said in English with a smile.

  His blue eyes turned to her again. This time, they seemed to emit anger.

  “What do you think? Get on with whatever you’re here for and leave.”

  Adrianna’s face grew hot. Her jaw dropped. She had never ever being spoken to in such a rude manner.

  “Excuse me?” she said.

  The Major glared at her and then engaged her in a staring contest. He won. Adrianna turned and went to get a basin with water and a cloth. When she returned to his bedside his eyes were on her again—unblinking and emotionless. It was disconcerting to wipe down a man’s face whose eyes did not leave your face.

  She forced her hands to move, dabbing the cloth on his forehead and down his cheeks. His chin was rough with a week old beard. Adrianna kept her face impassively but inside her was turmoil. Her nerves were alert to any movement from the Major and her blood seemed to be racing through her veins. Her mouth felt dry of saliva and she couldn't wait to finish her task and flee.

  “May I see your leg?” Adrianna finally asked.

  Without a word, the Major pulled down the blanket and revealed a left leg covered in cloth and soaked in blood. Adrianna knew a lot now about cleaning wounds. She knew the doctor would be busy with the most serious cases and she decided to clean up the wound herself.

  “I’ll be right back,” she said without looking at his eyes.

  Adrianna’s face was wet with perspiration, yet the day was cold. She gathered disinfectant and clean bandages and then braced herself. What was it about the man that had gotten her heart racing? His image came to her brain and she realized with a shock that he reminded her of Frank Sinatra. He had the same jet black hair and strong jaw line. The one difference between the two men was manners. The Major was rude and ungrateful. Adrianna immediately chided herself. He was in pain and she had learned that people had different ways of coping with pain.

  Chapter Six

  Sweat broke out on the Major’s face as the doctor prodded the wound. He clutched the sides of the cot bed to steel himself. His face was turned down and he could see smart black shoes and he knew they belonged to the girl who had first taken care of him. Her name label had read Adrianna or some other name of the sort.

  An excruciating pain gripped his leg as the doctor prodded the inside flesh of his leg. Sidney bit his lip. No pain could compare to what he had seen his boys go through in the last few weeks. He closed his eyes and saw young Stern’s face as a bullet ripped through his chest. They said that death from a gu
n wound was instantaneous, but Sidney had seen the look of sheer pain on the young soldier’s face.

  Then there was Brown, whose hand had been completely severed by an explosion. He had glanced at his severed hand with horror and then lost consciousness. Sidney returned to the present when the pain receded.

  "The bullet is embedded in your muscles, Major. There's no need to remove it, as it may cause an artery to bleed. Sister Adrianna here will keep the wound clean and she will also keep an eye on it."

  The doctor turned to the girl. “After two days, take the Major for short walks and increase them with time. The leg needs exercise to get the blood flowing.”

  “Yes Doctor,” the girl said in a soft voice.

  The doctor left and he was left alone with the girl. He looked at her properly for the first time. She had an oval face and skin so soft, making her look even younger. Her eyes were big and almond-shaped but it was their color which got his attention. They were aquamarine and now she looked at him with something that he had identified before in other women.

  “How do you feel?” she said, clenching and unclenching her fingers.

  “What do you think?” Sidney snapped.

  A shadow crossed her eyes but she did not react to his rudeness. Her lack of a reaction made him angry, even knowing how illogical that was. While she sat here, warm and cozy in the convent praying all day, did she have an inkling of what was happening a few miles from here?

  “I can give you some painkillers to make you comfortable,” she continued.

  Despite his anger, Sidney felt a little admiration for her. She appeared unfazed by his behavior and looking at her closely, he saw that she could not be more than eighteen. Why could they not have given him an experienced nurse? Then he looked around at the figures of men with their legs hanging in the air and others comatose in their beds. He sighed. She would have to do.

  She was waiting for an answer. Sidney deliberately closed his eyes and feigned sleep. He could feel her eyes on him and after a few minutes she sighed and he heard her dainty footsteps as she walked away. He breathed out in relief. He wanted to be alone and not have some teenager hover over him asking him silly questions.

  Every time she came to check on him, he feigned sleep. At night, he agreed to a painkiller and he managed to get a good night’s sleep without the sound of bombs going off in his head.

  “Ready for your walk, Major?” Adrianna asked him on the third day.

  Sidney nodded. He was more than happy to get out of the bed. The only other time he woke up was to use the lavatory and even then, Adrianna was always close by. He longed to get out of the confinement and breathe in fresh, clean air. She offered him her arm for support which he ignored. He swung his legs to the side of the bed, wincing at the sudden pain in his bandaged leg.

  He saw her mouth move as though to ask him something but something stopped her and she snapped it shut. Her perky lips distracted him for a moment from the discomfort of putting his weight on the ground. A sweeping urge to kiss her came over him and he looked away. God! What was he thinking? She was barely a girl out of her teens.

  “How old are you?” he barked at her.

  “Eighteen, almost nineteen,” she replied, her voice shaky.

  “A child!” he said.

  "Look, Major, I would swap places with another nun, however, we are in short supply of workers so I’m afraid you’ll have to make do with me.”

  Her face was animated and the long sentence had taken a toll on her. Her chest heaved up and down and her face was flushed. He immediately felt contrite at his bad behavior. He nodded. He planted his hands on the bed and pushed himself to his feet. He listened to his body and to his relief there was no pain.

  He had not left the convent once since his arrival and for a moment the glare of the light when Adrianna opened the heavy wooden door, blinded him. He smiled to himself and inhaled a deep gush of air.

  “Are you alright?” she asked.

  “Yes, I’m fine.”

  “Let’s go to the back garden, there’s a bench there where you can rest.”

  “I don’t need a rest, I just need a walk!” Sidney snapped.

  The girl did bring out the worst in him, he thought as he hobbled after her. She had offered her hand again, which he had declined. After three steps, his leg began to throb with pain. Ahead of him, Adrianna strolled without looking back. He supposed he deserved it. A few more steps and he was now in serious pain.

  “Adrianna?” he called.

  She rushed to his side. She was much shorter than him and he rested his hand on her shoulder. She felt so petite under his hand and he wondered if she would manage to support some of his weight. They walked slowly, his breathing coming out in rasps.

  “How far is that bench?” he asked.

  “Not far. Just after that bend there,” Adrianna replied.

  The relief of getting his weight off his legs was so great, that the first thing that Sidney did was close his eyes and revel in the lack of pain. He listened to his breathing as it returned to normal. He opened his eyes and met Adrianna's worried ones. She was bending over but not touching him. Her hair flew behind her, with some loose tendrils coming to her face.

  Without thinking, Sidney reached out and pushed the brown tendrils away from her face. As soon as he made contact with her skin, his hand burned as though he had touched an open fire. Her eyes were glued to him and his to hers. Then he got hold of himself. What was he doing! She was just a child. He looked away and Adrianna moved and sat down stiffly next to him on the bench.

  Her face was slightly angled to the right and he could observe her without her knowing. What was it about her that drew her to him? Sidney had met and been with countless women. At thirty-five, he was more than experienced when it came to women. The trouble was that he had never felt this fluttering in his tummy or the joy that threatened to drown him when he saw Adrianna.

  He disliked the nights where sometimes he did not see her at all. It was probably because he had not been with a woman for a long time. He looked at her long, slim neck now. It was pink and he knew that he had made her uncomfortable with his touch. He became curious about her. What was she doing in the convent?

  She did not wear a nun’s uniform like the others, she wore regular clothes—shapeless dresses that did nothing to hide the curves on her. She might have been young in age but Adrianna possessed all the physical traits of a woman, Sidney thought to himself. He had seen how she had looked at him when he touched her hair.

  He was treading on dangerous ground. Eighteen-year-olds were volatile. They let themselves be led by their emotions. He did not want to be the one to break Adrianna's heart. The only thing he could offer any woman was his body, but at eighteen, she was too young and naïve to settle for a relationship based on satisfying the physical longing.

  There was only one thing to do, Sidney decided. He would be cold to her. It would be hard but he knew it was the only way to stop her from developing a crush on him. The last thing he needed was a love struck teenager following him everywhere.

  Chapter Seven

  It was Adrianna’s first time in the Mother Superior’s office. It was as sparse as the rest of the convent and only furnished with a desk and two hard chairs. A large glass cross hung from the wall behind the Mother Superior’s chair. Adrianna had never gotten used to the Spartan way of life in the convent. Her poster of Frank Sinatra lay hidden in the folds of her clothes.

  She missed being surrounded by things that she loved. In the dormitory, there was no differentiating one nun’s bed and space from another. They all blended into one another. Something had happened to Adrianna with the coming of the soldiers. Their presence reminded her of her other life, a color-filled life and she wanted that again.

  Another part of her heart yearned for the predictability that was her life now. She liked knowing what was expected of her every day. She liked being busy and giving care and comfort to the soldiers. Had things not happened the way they had,
perhaps she would have been a nurse. Adrianna stifled a chuckle when she realized how unlikely that would have been.

  For one, she had been doing a typist course with the aim of working in a company in Naples—which meant that she would never have discovered that she was quite gifted in caring for the sick. Her mind returned to the present. The Mother Superior was fiddling with some papers on her desk. Adrianna waited for her to settle down and then shifted her eyes to her. To her surprise, the Mother Superior was smiling at her.

  “I must say Adrianna that you have completely surprised me. I never expected you to take to your new duties caring for the injured soldiers as you have. Truly, the Lord works in His own special ways. I am very proud of you.”

  Adrianna heaved a sigh of relief. She had wracked her brains for something she might have done wrong. The compliments exhilarated her and she beamed.

  “Thank you Mother Superior,” Adrianna said.

  She was about to get to her feet when the head nun spoke again.

  “After a lot of thought and prayer, I have come to the conclusion that you do belong here with us,” she said.

  Adrianna’s stomach turned to jelly.

  “As a novice nun,” the Mother Superior pressed. “Aren’t you pleased?”

  Adrianna did not know how she felt. Unexpectedly the image of the Major floated to her mind. She saw his mass of curly black hair and his eyes, so intense one could drown in them. She remembered his touch on her hair and skin and how she had wanted him to do more than touch her hair. She had felt a jolt of electricity and need for more.

  She had kissed boys before of course, but she had never felt what she did with the Major. He was large and handsome and he made her feel safe. She knew that nuns were not meant to feel as she did about men. Her day brightened up as soon as she saw his face. In her fantasies, she called him by his first name, Sidney.