Courting Buggy: Nurse Hal Among The Amish

by Risner, Fay

  “Noah, do something with that dog now!” Emma ordered. “He is going to catch that hen.”

  The boys ran to Biscuit. Daniel put his arms around the dog's neck. “Come on, Dog.”

  “Biscuit,” Noah corrected in a hiss.

  “Biscuit, you get away from Emma's chickens,” Daniel scolded loudly so Hal could hear him use Dog's given name.

  Shortly, the boys sat down one on each side of a multi flora bush on the pond bank and concentrated on their red bobbers. Biscuit was beside Daniel, stretched out with his head on his front paws.

  The women strolled down the lane between the pasture and the cornfield. They were in the pasture by the time a covey of quail whistled bobwhite near a lone mulberry tree. Biscuit stood up and listened to the quail. He took off on a dead run toward the tree, scattering the sheep flock.

  Tootie watched the dog rushed the tall grass in front of them. The covey soared up and didn't stop until they were over the hay field fence. She slowed down. This picnic was the last thing she wanted to do. She'd rather just stay home by herself.

  Nora looked back. “Keep up, Tootie. You're a slow poke this morning.”

  “Where's this picnic going to be?” Tootie asked, looking around.

  Hal pointed toward the picnic grove. “Over there.”

  “That far away? I thought we might have the picnic under that big tree in the yard,” Tootie sniffed.

  “The grove is where we always have picnics,” Emma said.

  “It's the perfect place. Plenty of shade and far enough from the house to make the picnic special.” Nora added. “I know. I've been on a picnic there before.”

  “We have to walk through all this tall grass clear over there. A picnic in the house yard would do fine,” Tootie complained. “I don't think I'm going to like this.”

  Nora twisted around with her hands on her hips. “Well, aren't you a ray of sunshine this morning. You wanted to go on the picnic. Just come along and enjoy the day. We'd rather you didn't rain on our good time.”

  Tootie ducked her head. “All right.” The elderly woman took one step at a time in the thick spring grass and checked around her feet. She fell behind again.

  “Stop everyone and let Aunt Tootie catch up. Aunt Tootie, are you having trouble walking in the grass?” Hal asked.

  Tootie complained, “How will I ever know if I step on a snake or spider if I don't check the grass in front of me first. I don't know how you Amish people can be brave enough to walk in this grass barefoot.”

  “Oh for goodness sakes,” Nora said, clearly exasperated. “You are the last one to walk on the path. Do you really think a snake or anything else would still be in that spot?”

  “Oh, guess not,” Tootie said sheepishly.

  “We can't keep waiting on you,” Nora told her. “We have the wagon to unload and firewood to gather. Just get there as soon as you can.”

  Tootie watched the three women take off without her. Redbird and Beth waved at her and tried to say good bye. She hustled along and caught up to them.

  When they entered the grove, Hal handed Tootie one of the two quilts she carried. “Unfold this and lay it on the grass so we can sit on it. I'm going to sit the little girls on the one I have.”

  The women relaxed as they watch the men and boys fish in the pond. Finally, Emma said, “I am going to go fish.”

  “Gute luck. See you later,” Hal said.

  “Emma fishes?” Tootie asked.

  Hal nodded. “She loves to fish, and she is gute at it.”

  When it was close to dinner time Hal was ready to build the fire. “We should go get wood.”

  “Where?” Tootie demanded.

  “Where do you think? Under the trees where sticks fall,” Nora said, pointing at the underbrush.

  “Oh, I don't know about that,” Tootie cried. “I won't be able to see where I'm walking in that jungle.”

  “How about you watch the girls while we go get the wood?” Hal suggested.

  “That sounds good to me. I can do that.” Tootie knelt beside the girls. They crawled over by her and grabbed her arms so they could stand up. Tootie put her arms around them and gave them a hug as if she wanted to protect them from unseen dangers.

  When Hal brought an armload of sticks back, the little girls were jabbering to each other, and Tootie had the saddest look as she stared at the ground. Something was still bothering her. Tootie hadn't been eating much lately, and she had been too quiet. What she went through with Peter had been a drain on her. Hal knew that, but Tootie wasn't bouncing back. Maybe she was still sad about Peter dying like Nora thought, but was there something else she wasn't sharing with her family? Hal decided the day would come she'd catch Tootie alone and ask what was wrong” That is if the woman didn't perk up on her own.

  After lunch, the fishermen went back to the pond, and the women relaxed. Redbird and Beth napped. The grove was peaceful except for the rustle of leaves high in the trees. Tootie spotted the wooden crosses in a patch of tall grass. “There's a cemetery? Whose buried there?”

  Hal smiled. “The Lapp's pet dog, Patches, and a tea box.”

  Tootie's nose wrinkled as she tried to understand the significant of such a weird cemetery. She couldn't. “Oh,” she said softly. That must be a weird Amish custom. I wonder if it's mentioned in my book.

  It had been the longest day ever for Tootie. She was so glad to get out of that wilderness the Lapp's called a picnic grove. That night, the bed felt so good when she laid down. Before she closed her eyes, she noticed a flicker of lightning lit up the room. A soft, summer breeze stirred the transparent sheers at the open window. Maybe the storm was going around. No need to get up in the dark and close the window just yet. The breeze felt good in the stuffy room.

  She closed her eyes and dozed off only to toss and turn. This happened often to her since Peter died. Images raged and floated through the thunderstorm in her mind. Peter faded in and out, glaring at her and shaking his finger. He was impatient with her for not going to see his son. He wanted her to keep her promise. A promise she shouldn't have made.

  Tootie's eyes shot open. A rumble of thunder was loud. Must be that was what had startled her awake. The curtains flapped wildly out into the room. She should get up and close that window. Sounded like a real sky buster coming. She rubbed her eyes, hating to get out of bed.

  It wasn't thunder that woke her. Someone knocked on the door.

  “Go away,” Tootie snapped. “We're all in bed.”

  “Please open up,” a woman's voice begged. “I need to see Nurse Hal.”

  Tootie slid out of bed and felt for her housecoat on the foot of the bed. She put it on and got down on her knees to feel under the bed for her fuzzy house shoes. She didn't come up with them. She must have flung them back too far when she kicked them off.

  The knocking was more impatient this time.

  Tootie stood up. Hal left a flashlight on the table. She had to make due with it to get across the dark room. No way was she going to mess with trying to light the lamp. She made Emma or Hal turn it off at night once she laid down. She wasn't about to light the lamp herself. Be her luck she'd burn the house down.

  Again, the next rapid knocking. She snapped, “I'm coming.”

  Tootie opened the door a crack and peeked outside. Rain poured onto the porch's tin roof and fell in sheets to the ground. All she could make out were two black figures. She shone the flashlight in their faces. “What do you want?”

  “I have to see Nurse Hal. Please let me in,” the woman said, putting her hands in front of her eyes.

  “Why?” Tootie demanded.

  “I am having a baby,” she said.

  “Come back tomorrow when Hallie is up.” Tootie started to shut the door.

  A hand slammed into the door to keep it open. The man said, “We have to see Nurse Hal now. My wife is having the baby soon.”

  The woman cried out in pain and grabbed her protruding stomach.

  Tootie opened the door wide. “
Oh dear! I'll say soon. Come in quick.” She grabbed the young woman by the elbow. “Come over here, Dear, and get in bed. I'll go get Hallie right away.”

  The woman laid down. Tootie covered her up and ordered the man to close the open window before she hurried from the room. She went up the stairs carefully, not wanting to miss a step. At the top, she looked from one closed door to the next.

  “I don't know which one is Hallie's room. Guess I'll pick the first door and find out,” Tootie mumbled.

  She turned the flashlight off and opened the door slowly. As she eased across the room to the bed, she could make out a snoring man on this side. She made her way around the bed and leaned down close to see who was on the other side. This is Hallie. Tootie reached out and patted Hal's arm.

  Hal let out a gasp.

  “Hallie,” Tootie whispered. “It's me, Aunt Tootie.”

  “Are you sleepwalking?” Hal asked groggily

  “No, I'm awake. I just came to tell you something,” Tootie said.

  John rolled over. “Was ist letz?”

  “The matter is Aunt Tootie is standing over us,” Hal said.

  “She must be sleepwalking,” John mumbled. “Take her back to bed.”

  “I'm not sleepwalking, and I'll have you know John Lapp I'd like to go back to bed,” Tootie said impatiently. “But I can't. We have a problem.”

  “What kind of problem?” Hal asked groggily.

  “A woman is having her baby in my bed.”

  “What?” Hal cried, sitting up.

  “I'm sorry to have to wake you. I told her to go home. She demanded I come get you. She says she can't wait until morning to give birth,” Tootie complained.

  “Who is it?”

  “I didn't ask her name. I was too upset when she screamed,” Tootie said.

  “I've got to get to the clinic fast,” Hal said urgently.

  Her arm came out to move Tootie aside so she could get out of bed. She slipped into her robe, grabbed a flashlight, and turned it on in John's face.

  He threw his arm over his eyes and groaned.

  “I'm so sorry, John. Go back to sleep. I have to deliver a baby,” Hal said as she rushed for the door. Tootie was right behind her.

  “I heard,” John said sluggishly.

  When they were in the hall, Tootie turned on her flashlight. She asked in a put out voice, “Just where am I supposed to sleep?”

  Hal turned around. “What? Oh.” She pointed to Emma's door. “Go sleep with Emma.”

  “All right,” Tootie grumbled to Hal's back as she started down the stairs. Tootie slowly opened the door and eased in. The room was so dark. She walked slowly and leaned over to squint at the bed. Emma was sleeping on this side. Tootie went around and pulled back the covers. She sat down, put her feet in bed and covered up.

  The draft from fanning the covers woke up Emma. She rolled over fast. “Was ist letz?”

  “Don't get mad at me. Hallie said I could sleep with you,” Tootie whined.

  “Aendi Tootie! I am sorry. You scared me. Are you sleepwalking?”

  “No, I'm wide awake unfortunately,” Tootie complained.

  “Why are you supposed to sleep with me?” Emma asked.

  “There's a woman in my bed having a baby,” Tootie explained with a put out sigh.

  “Really! I have to go,” Emma said, vaulting up.

  “Why?” Tootie demanded.

  “I assist Hallie. I have to build a fire in the cookstove and heat water,” Emma explained as she put on her robe and fumbled for her flashlight on the side table.

  “Oh,” Tootie said. She pulled the covers up to her chin. “See you in the morning.”

  After Emma left, Tootie felt wide awake. She grumbled, “Nora told me coming here was going to be a relaxing vacation. She was wrong, wrong. Just all wrong. I wash a pickup truck load of dishes three times a day. Emma is always trying to talk me into hoeing her old garden. Hal makes me hang up laundry.

  We go, go, go all the time in that old dusty buggy. No wonder they need so much help when they're home. They spend too much time running around. The only person I had fun with up and died on me. Since then I can't even get a decent night's rest in this place, thinking about what Peter wants me to do for him. How could he die and leave that burden on me?

  Holly Buckets! A woman has to be in my bed to have her baby. What was wrong with messing up her own bed? I'm going to tell Nora in the morning I'm ready to go home. Maybe once I'm home in my bed, I'll not feel so burdened with Peter's secret. I have no intention of keeping my promise to him. I just want to go home right away.”

  Hal entered the dark clinic. She could make out two figures, one on the bed and the other standing by it. “We need some light in here, don't we?” She lit the lamp and turned back to the bed. Until then she didn't have a clue which one of her patients she'd find. “Mary Mast, you're doing it to me again! You aren't supposed to be ready to deliver for a month yet. I should call an ambulance and send you right to the hospital.”

  “I don't think you have time to do that,” Eli Mast said. “She is ready to have the baby now.”

  “I'll be the judge of that, Doctor Eli. Let me see,” Hal said, giving him a half smile. Eli's usually twinkling eyes were dim with worry. He nodded solemnly.

  Hal's visual assessment saw Mary's usually pale face was flushed. Her fair hair was damp with sweat, leaking from under her prayer cap and plastered along her face. Her blue eyes were pain filled.

  Emma stuck her head in the door. “I'll put the water on.” She looked at the bed. “ Ach nah, it is Mary. What else do you need?”

  “Bring clean bedding. We need to change the bed with Mary in it,” Hal said, and Emma left. “Eli, you go sit in a chair. Rest until I need you.” When Eli moved out of the way, Hal pulled the top covers back at the foot of the bed. She checked Mary for dilation. Mary was in labor all right, but Hal found the umbilical cord coming down before the baby. That was a bad sign.

  “Eli and Mary, the umbilical cord is coming out first. A prolapsed cord means when the baby's head gets in the birth canal the head will press against the cord and shut the baby's oxygen supply off. Chances are great that the baby will be born dead if that's allowed to happen.”

  Both parents looked frightened. They lost their first baby. They didn't want to lose this one.

  Mary's voice trembled. “What can we do?”

  “First, I need to call that ambulance. You're going to have to have a cesarean section. Until we get you to the hospital, I'm going to insert my hand and keep the baby from entering the birth canal until we get you a doctor's help.”

  Mary blushed. Her shy nature bothered her at the thought, but her brave response was, “You do what you need to do.”

  Hal looked at Eli for his approval. The muscle in his jaw bunched as he responded, “Jah, we want this baby.”

  “That's right. We all do,” Hal agreed. “I don't want a repeat of what happened to the last baby. I want to save this baby.”

  Mary looked at Eli and back at Hal. “We would be very sad if this baby does not make it, but Nurse Hal, God makes no mistakes. He does all things well. We only see right now in our life, and he sees our whole life.”

  Eli nodded. “That is right. God would see our tears. He would know what we are feeling when we look at the empty crib in our bedroom just like last time. God gave up His only Son when he sent him to earth to die for our sins. He is our help and our strength in time of need. That help is for you as well as Mary and me. Just do your best. That is all we ask. All three of us will have to accept what happens, good or bad.”

  As Hal pulled her nursing bag out of the cupboard, she knew what the Masts said was supposed to make her feel better but it didn't. Only being in action now and hoping for a successful outcome was going to make her less anxious. She rifled through her bag for her cell phone, praying the battery was up enough to make the 911 call.

  The phone had bars. Hal made the call and explained to the dispatcher the problem. She
asked for an ambulance. She told the dispatcher to call the hospital to alert ER so the nurse on duty could get a doctor ready to take over when Mary arrived. They needed an operating room prepared quickly for the cesarean section. Since she'd begin holding the baby in right away, she didn't have time to make the calls herself. The dispatcher said she'd take care of everything.

  Hal assigned Eli and Mary tasks to make the wait go easier. “Eli, go find Emma and tell her to come here so I can explain what's happened. In the morning, she will need to tell my family where I disappeared to. We won't be needing warm water or bedding anymore.” As soon as he left the room, Hal put on a glove and covered it with lubricant. Mary's painful modesty showed on her face when Hal said, “I'm ready to insert my hand now so you pray that what I'm about to do is successful to save your baby, and that my arm and hand hold out until we get you to the hospital.”

  “Do what is necessary. Eli and I want this baby to survive,” Mary said in a strained voice.

  Hal took a deep breath and inserted her hand until she felt the baby's head. She threw the blankets back over Mary with the other hand until only Mary's bare feet were sticking out. Mary groaned and pushed, causing Hal to strain to keep her hand in place.

  It seemed forever until the ambulance came roaring into the drive, the siren a warbled blare and strobe lights pierced the darkness. Hal said, “Mary, stay in the buggy now. The move to the stretcher is not going to be easy for either of us.”

  “Hi, Nurse Hal,” EMT Daryl greeted. “What we got going this time?”

  She explained to Daryl, Steven and Ivan what the situation was to make sure they understood the problem. “Now you have to somehow keep the two of us together and covered up as we move from the bed to the stretcher.”

  The emergency workers managed to get Mary on the stretcher and keep Hal in place by slowly moving as one unit. Her hand did slip once when she stepped off the porch steps, but she managed to get her hand back in place before Mary's next contraction

  Hal told Eli on the way to the ambulance, “Go to the hospital waiting room. I'll find you as soon as I can and wait with you. When all is well with Mary, you can give me a ride home when you leave.” By then the emergency workers were putting Mary's stretcher into the ambulance.