Courting Buggy: Nurse Hal Among The Amish

by Risner, Fay

  “Jah, I will,” he called into the ambulance as the door shut.

  The drive to the hospital was bouncy. Hal told herself ambulances weren't built for the comfort of the sick people they carried. Each bounce sure made it hard for her to do her job at the moment.

  Getting out of the ambulance was another precarious procedure, but they made it inside the Emergency Room. Lucy Stineford was on duty that night. “We have a room ready for your patient.” She giggled when she got a close look at Hal. “Had you planned on finding a bed to spend the night in?”

  “Very funny. I was sleeping when this emergency occurred,” Hal said. “There wasn't any time to change clothes.”

  The Operating Room team was waiting. A nurse put a hospital gown on Mary. She told Hal to remove her hand, and they rushed Mary to the operating room. Hal scrubbed her hands and massaged the right one to get rid of the numbness.

  She went to the waiting room and sat with Eli. The cesarean section procedure went fast. A nurse came back about twenty minutes later to tell them Mary had a baby boy. Both were doing fine.

  Hal took Eli to the window in the surgery room door so he could see Mary. The doctor held the tiny, blood streaked baby up for them to see. Eli and Hal breathed a sigh of relief when they heard the baby's mewing cries.

  Hal said, “Mary will have to stay here for a few days. The baby will probably stay in the nursery for awhile since he's small. The nurses will have Mary and the baby ready for you to see soon when Mary is taken to a room.”

  “Denki, Nurse Hal,” he said, patting her shoulder. “You look as tired as I feel.”

  “I am so while you are with your wife and baby I'm going to the break room and have me a cup of coffee. You want one before they call you back. You can always take the cup with you to Mary's room.”

  “Jah, maybe I better have one to stay awake,” Eli said.

  “Gute idea. I don't want you so tired you leave this hospital and forget you're supposed to give me a ride home.”

  Eli chuckled then he turned serious. “You are one person I would never forget. Bless you, Nurse Hal.”

  Hal glanced at the waiting room clock. An hour and a half had passed. It must have been about fifty minutes, she held the baby back as Mary contracted against her hand. Her arm felt achy yet. Her hand was slightly numb from the experience, but she'd be all right with some rest. Even better, Eli and Mary were going to be floating on cloud nine now that they had a successful start to their family.

  As Hal brought Eli a cup of coffee to the table, he said, “I've been thinking Nurse Hal. Life is a mixture of sorrow and joy. We sorrowed when we lost our baby girl, and now we are filled with joy because we have a baby son denki to you. God is gute. He moves in mysterious ways His wonders to perform, ain't so?”

  “Jah,” Hal said wearily as she sat down to wait for the nurse to come.

  Meanwhile that night at the Lapp farm, the ambulance siren pierced the quiet. The strobe light flashed red and yellow across the covers and brought Tootie upright in bed. She felt a panic attack coming on. She shouted, “Fire, Fire! Get out of the house, everyone! It's on fire!”

  By the time she rushed into the hall, the rest of the family gathered, looking around.

  Nora said, “Mercy, Jim, Tootie's been sleepwalking again. She just came out of Emma's room.”

  “I'm awake. Emma said I could sleep in her room,” Tootie retorted. “I saw the flicker of flames flashing on the walls coming through the open bedroom door.

  John and Jim rushed downstairs. Nora, Tootie and the boys followed.

  Jim sniffed the air. “I don't smell smoke anywhere.”

  John said, “I do not see flames.”

  Emma was coming from the clinic with an armload of bedding. “Was ist los? What are you all doing out of bed?”

  Nora said, “Your Aunt Tootie screamed fire. She woke us all up.”

  “There is not a fire,” Emma said calmly.

  Nora frowned at her sister. “I might have known this was another one of your nightmares.”

  “I saw flashing lights from the flames and heard the sound of a siren like a fire truck was already here,” Tootie said. “I'm sure I did.”

  “Actually, Aendi Tootie did see and hear something like that,” Emma defended. “Hallie sent for an ambulance to take Mary Mast to the hospital to have her baby. The ambulance siren was loud, and the lights strobed as they usually do.”

  John wondered, “Why didn't Hal let Mary have her baby here?”

  “The baby was coming early. Mary Mast needed more care than Hallie could give her. Hallie is on the way to the hospital in the ambulance with Mary. Eli is following. When it is safe to leave Mary and the new baby, Eli is going to bring Hallie home.”

  “In that case, all of us are going back to bed for what is left of this night,” John said as he motioned for everyone to move up the steps.

  Tootie looked uncertain about where to go. Emma said, “Go back to my bed, Aendi. I will be coming as soon as I take this bundle of dirty bedding to the mudroom. I'm not cleaning and making that bed this time of night.”

  When Emma slipped into bed, Tootie made a weak sniffle. “Emma, I've been thinking. Hallie is really needed around here, isn't she?”

  “Jah, everyone depends on her for help all the time, including this Lapp family. I do not know what we would do without her.”

  “That makes me sad.” Tootie sounded maudlin.

  “Why?” Emma asked.

  “If I was to die tomorrow, no one would miss me or even remember me down the road,” Tootie said.

  “Do not fret, Aendi. You would be missed by this family. We have enjoyed your visit here and getting to know you. We love you. We want you to come visit us again and will remember you always.”

  “Honest?”

  Emma giggled. “Honest! I am very truthful. You are a gute Christian woman who loves her family and is loyal to family and friends. Just look at how kind you were to Peter Rogies.”

  “Thank you, Dear. I'll sleep better knowing that. Good night,” Tootie said.

  In her mind, Emma listed the memories probably brought up at gatherings later on when Nurse Hal's English Aunt was mentioned; swatting Stella Strutt on the bottom in a meeting service, daring to sew the woman's apron to the quilting frame and taking off in Dawdi Jim's courting buggy to Lover's Lane with Peter Rogies. Emma smiled. Aunt Tootie wouldn't be forgotten by anyone. She had created some lively moments to be relived in the minds of Plain people for years to come.

  Chapter 19

  As the summer days went by, Tootie spent much of her time by herself, sitting in the porch swing or at the clinic table where she could look out the window, contemplating Peter and her promise. Emma told her she was loyal to her friends. If Peter were here, he wouldn't think she was very loyal. She hadn't kept her promise to him.

  She'd chickened out about asking Nora if they could go home right away. It was selfish of her to make Nora and Jim leave just because she wanted to go home in the worse way. Anyway, Nora would just stare her up and down, realize something was wrong and demand to know what her hurry was. So Tootie decided to stick it out. They would have to go home soon anyway. They had visited long enough at least to suit her.

  When Jim was around, he was on a mission to get her or Nora to go for a ride in his old buggy. Nora continued to turn him down which upset him, but Jim didn't stay miffed for long. He was back soon, asking Nora to go with him. When she said no, he asked her. She kept refusing, too. Jim had become so insistent Nora barely spoke to him. When they did talk it was usually in short huffy sentences.

  When Tootie's mood didn't change, Hal was sure something was troubling her aunt. She didn't know any other way to get to the bottom of it except to come right out and ask.

  “I want to go for a walk. Come with me, Aunt Tootie,” Hal said. “While Mom helps Emma pick the green beans, we can get some of that exercise we're always talking about.” As they started down the lane, Hal said, “ It's a perfect summer day, i
sn't it?”

  “It's a lovely day. As Peter would have said, Praise the Lord,” Tootie replied.

  “You miss Peter, don't you? You do understand that you weren't the Dolly he'd been in love with years ago?” Hal asked.

  “Yes, I knew the way he saw me was because he was sick. I wasn't the Dolly he once loved, but I didn't see any reason to explain that to Peter. You said he wouldn't believe the truth anyway. So I went along with him, because I liked him.”

  “No harm in that. Peter had some very comforting times in his last days because of you,” Hal said.

  “I enjoyed being his Dolly. I admit that,” Tootie confided.

  “Is that all there was to it? I mean after you went on that ride on Bender Creek Road and was lost in the timber with Peter, you haven't seemed the same since.”

  “What do you mean?” Tootie stared at Hal. “Are you thinking there was more between Peter and me then just a friendship?”

  “I don't know what to think. Something has been bothering you for some time now. I didn't say anything before, because I thought you were just grieving for Peter. Time has passed, and you still seem so down in the dumps. Now I think there's more. What don't we know?”

  Tootie shrugged. “I kept thinking if I could just get away from here and go home I'd put what happened behind me. I would feel better and just forget it all.”

  “Sounds like you would be running away from the problem. I get it, but what is the problem? You need to tell someone just to get it off your chest. If you don't want what you say repeated, I promise not to tell a soul.”

  “I wish I'd been able to say that to Peter. It didn't work that way for me. He made me promise to tell a secret, and it's simply none of my business,” Tootie declared vehemently.

  “Oh my! Now you really should tell me before this burden eats you up,” Hal said.

  Tootie walked over to the pasture fence and stared off toward the picnic grove. Her voice was hollow as she spilled what was wrong. “Don't worry about anything other than friendship between Peter and me. That's all there was. All Peter did was talk about the past most of the time. He told me how much more he loved Dolly than his wife. He was sneaking around with Dolly after he married Sara. They met on Bender Creek Road often. That's why Lover's Lane meant so much to him.”

  “Peter Rogies did that! Cooner Jonah said something happened between Dolly and Peter that broke them up. He said Dolly just disappeared, but he thinks it was before Peter married Sara,” Hal told her.

  “Dolly didn't disappear from Peter until after he married Sara. She finally grew tired of him always going back to his wife after he had been with her so she moved to Fremont. Peter asked Dolly's brother about her every chance he got. Dolly worked at house cleaning jobs to support herself.”

  “Wonder who her brother was?”

  “His name was Rudy Briskey.”

  “Oh,” Hal said. “I know him well. I delivered some lambs for him once.”

  “Months later, the brother told Peter that Dolly had a baby boy, and the baby was his. Peter told Sara he was spending the day at the salebarn. Actually, he went to see Dolly and his baby. She couldn't support herself and take care of the baby so she wanted to find a good home for him. Peter and Sara were sure by then that Sara was never going to get pregnant so Peter asked Sara if it would be all right to adopted a baby. He said he'd heard at the salebarn about an unwed mother that had given birth to a boy a few weeks before. Sara agreed. Peter brought the baby home. He said the mother had named him Jonah so they stuck with that name.”

  “Uh oh,” Hal said softly.

  “I don't think Peter ever saw Dolly again, but he didn't stop asking her brother about her until the brother said she had left the Amish faith and married an English farmer close to Fremont. She had been on shaky ground with the Amish, because she was an unwed mother. When she married an English man, her family and the Amish community shunned her. Peter didn't dare bring her up to Mr. Briskey again.

  He didn't stop loving Dolly, and he felt guilty. He tried hard to make it up to Sara for the way he felt about Dolly. No one knew where the little boy came from. It was just an adoption as far as the Amish neighbors were concerned. I find it hard to believe that Sara didn't suspect something. When Jonah grew older, it would be hard to miss how much like Peter he looked.

  You told me that Peter was a very honest man that couldn't abide dishonesty in others. I suppose that's why he was so torn up for years over keeping this secret from Jonah and Sara.”

  “That explains why he wanted to be close to Dolly again. He loved her so much,” Hal said.

  “Yes, he didn't want to ever hurt Sara or have it get out in the community what he'd done. He reasoned he couldn't say anything as long as Sara was alive, but he wished Jonah knew the truth. After Sara died, Peter lost his nerve. So he picked me, his Dolly, to tell Jonah the truth for him. He made me promise several times before he died. I kept saying I'd do it to ease his troubled mind, but Hallie, I can't. It's none of my business. I don't want to be the bearer of such news to a man who has just lost his father.”

  Hal let out a big whoosh. “I understand. The only reason to be truthful, I can think of, is Jonah might want to look up Peter's first love, Dolly. He might want to see if his mother is alive and get to know her. On the other hand, if the Amish shunned her that might stop Jonah from wanting to see her. So telling him would be unnecessary.

  I can't tell you what to do. You have to be the one to decide. You give it some thought. Like I told you, I won't say a word to anyone. This secret is safe with me, but you should make a decision soon. Dad is making noises about going home.”

  “Thank you, Dear. It really has helped to get this off my chest,” Tootie said.

  “We've walked far enough. We should go back and raid the refrigerator for some of Emma's gute lemonade. Emma and Mom are probably done picking green beans and could use a gute drink by now, too.”

  A few mornings later, Tootie caught Hal alone, dusting in the clinic. “I've decided to go visit Jonah and Anna. Peter stands over me every night in my dreams, shaking his finger at me. It doesn't look like he's going to let me have a good night's rest even after I go home. Could you take me today?”

  “I'd be glad to,” Hal said. “Would you mind if we used Dad's buggy?”

  “Right now I'm so nervous about this whole mess I don't care what we ride in,” Tootie said forlornly.

  Hal went to the garden to tell Nora and Emma she was taking Tootie for a ride. Nora was squatted in a row of green beans. She stopped picking and studied her daughter intently, but she didn't ask where or why. She just said okay. Emma nodded and kept picking. She always seemed to sense when saying less was better.

  Hal hunted her father up in the barn with John. “Dad, would you mind if I borrowed your buggy today?”

  “Of course not. I'll get Mike hitch up for you.”

  John asked, “Where are you headed?”

  “I thought I'd take Aunt Tootie for a ride. Maybe a ride would cheer her up,” Hal excused.

  Jim turned around at the door. “Really? More power to you if you think you can get either one of those Petermeyer sisters in my buggy,” Jim growled.

  “Aunt Tootie has already agreed to ride with me,” Hal said timidly.

  Jim grunted as he went out the door and grumbled, “Must be the driver they object to then.”

  Hal looked helplessly at John. He stuffed his hands in his trouser pockets and leaned against the barn wall. Hal rolled her eyes up at the cobweb covered barn ceiling. “Lord, give me the strength to smile when I don't feel like it. Honestly, John, sometimes I just want to hide under the bed and stay there until everyone in this family can get along.”

  “Don't do that,” John said.

  “Why not?”

  He kissed her cheek. “I'd miss you.”

  When Hal came to the Bender Creek Road, she turned onto it. “This really is a pretty area in the daylight.”

  “It is,” Tootie agreed. “I couldn't
tell much about it in the dark with Peter. I didn't give the scenery much thought. Peter sure didn't have his mind on scenery.” She giggled like a school girl. “He said he drove around this road often, thinking about Dolly. He used to bring her here a lot where he thought no one would see them. Why did you pick today to come here?”

  “I thought you might feel closer to Peter. Maybe that feeling would help you when you talk to Cooner Jonah.”

  Hal followed the road until they reached the intersection stop sign and drove toward the Rogies farm. Jonah was coming out of the barn when they drove in. Hal helped Tootie down, and they went to meet him.

  “Come on in. Anna will be glad to see you,” Jonah greeted.

  They all sat down at the table while Anna poured coffee and set out a plate of chocolate chip cookies.

  “I had a reason for stopping by.” Tootie licked her lips nervously. “You might be sorry I came, but we're going home soon so I couldn't wait much longer to talk to you, Jonah.”

  His head came up fast. “Me?”

  “Yes. You see your father and I confided in each other. Of course, the intimate things he shared with me he thought he was sharing with the Dolly he loved long ago. I didn't mind until he told me a family secret that he made me promise to share with you after he was gone. I was for letting sleeping dogs lie, as they say, but my conscious has bothered me so much I decided I should tell you what your father wanted you to know.”

  Tootie took a drink of hot coffee to wet down her throat and told the story as Peter had told it to her. Jonah and Anna were surprised that Peter had loved two women at the same time. Maybe it happened more than they knew, but they didn't think that love was always acted on, especially not in their family.

  Tootie assured them that they were the only two that knew the story besides Hal and her. What they choose to do with the news was up to them. No one else would know as far as Hal and she were concerned. Tootie stood up and declared the visit over. Anna and Jonah gave her a hug and thanked her for sharing.