“It’s allrecht,” Rachel Ann said. “I already called the driver.”
As it turned out, it was a good thing Abram didn’t drive them. The minute they were in the van and on their way Sarah turned to her. “So what did you mean you’d already fallen apart?” she asked quietly.
Rachel Ann told her about the anxiety attack, carefully leaving out the part about the pregnancy scare.
“Oh my,” Sarah said. She leaned over and impulsively gave Rachel Ann a hug. “I’m so sorry.”
It felt good to have someone comfort her. Rachel Ann returned the hug and felt grateful Sarah had reached out to her.
“So, how is Michael? Are you still seeing him?”
“I haven’t seen him for a few days,” Rachel Ann said. “He’s on break from his classes, so I imagine he’s been having some fun with his friends.”
“But you’re still seeing him?”
“Ya, why?”
“Are you thinking of marrying him?”
“I’m just dating him. The whole purpose of rumschpringe is giving us a chance to look at what we want. It’s all I’m doing.”
“I don’t think you can just say that,” Sarah said, leaning forward and looking at her earnestly. “You’re taking such a big risk.”
“Risk?”
“If you get serious about him, you know what it means. Everything about your life changes. You lose your family, your friends. Your church.”
Rachel Ann knew all that. She pressed a hand to her stomach. What Sarah didn’t know was just how much she’d already risked.
7
Rachel Ann was glad to return to work on Monday. When she was working she didn’t think about all her problems.
Her arm and shoulder muscles ached a bit after her morning mixing cookies and kneading bread and lifting heavy pans. She had to concentrate so she didn’t get burned when she pulled the pans from the hot ovens. There was no question it was the most strenuous work she’d ever done, but she still enjoyed it.
Customers kept her on her toes at Stitches in Time. It was important to recognize regular customers and call them by name. She spent a lot of time familiarizing herself with the stock. She’d never felt skilled at quilting or knitting, so she worked hard to be better informed so she could answer her customers’ questions. She’d learned not to let her attention stray after making a mistake cutting yardage for a customer.
All of it kept her mind off whether she’d suffer consequences from her drive with Michael. And worrying about Sam.
Elizabeth, her best friend and her cousin Saul’s wife, showed up at noon. She hugged Rachel Ann. “Come to lunch with me.”
“I brought my lunch.”
“You can leave it in the refrigerator and eat it tomorrow. C’mon, it’s my treat.”
“Go, Rachel Ann, it’ll be good for you to get out,” Leah urged.
Anna walked over. “Ya, go.”
“I’m outnumbered,” Rachel Ann pretended to complain.
But there was something about Elizabeth. Her eyes sparkled and her foot tapped as she waited for Rachel Ann to agree. Something was clearly up.
So she went for her jacket and purse and followed Elizabeth out of the shop. They went to a nearby restaurant to save time and ordered.
“I wanted to see how you were doing,” Elizabeth began. “Saul and I went by to see Sam yesterday. I know this has been incredibly hard on all of you. We’ve been praying.”
“Danki.”
Their lunch came, and Elizabeth happily dug into the open-faced roast beef sandwich and mashed potatoes dripping with gravy. Rachel Ann picked up half of the ham and cheese sandwich she’d ordered and chewed with little enthusiasm.
She glanced up and found Elizabeth watching her.
“I’m not hungry,” she said with a shrug
“You have to eat to have the energy to work,” Elizabeth said. “I know you’re working two jobs.”
“You sound like a mamm.” Then she stopped and stared, open-mouthed, at Elizabeth.
There was something different about her . . . a kind of excitement. A glow.
“Elizabeth?”
“Ya?” She smiled and then laughed and nodded. “Ya, Saul and I are going to have a boppli.”
Rachel Ann jumped up and hugged her. “I’m so happy for you! Is everything allrecht?”
Elizabeth nodded. “The doctor said my having a miscarriage doesn’t mean I’ll have any problems, but he’ll be monitoring me carefully.”
She sat back down and listened to Elizabeth chatter and tried not to think about what her own reaction would be to a diagnosis of pregnancy.
“How soon did you find out?” she asked her. “I mean, how long after you missed your period did it take to know you were pregnant?”
“I did a pregnancy test ten days after I missed my period. Why? Rachel Ann, you’re not—”
“No, no, of course not!” she said quickly. “I have a friend who’s concerned she might be pregnant.”
She didn’t need to worry about being cross-examined—Elizabeth must have believed her because she was picking up the dessert menu propped on the table and looking it over. When Rachel Ann glanced over, she saw Elizabeth had polished off the large sandwich and mashed potatoes.
Elizabeth looked up. “Are you going to have dessert? No? Well, I’m having the apple crumb pie.” When their server returned to the table, she ordered the pie and another roast beef sandwich.
Rachel Ann gasped.
“Oh, silly!” Elizabeth said with a laugh. “The sandwich is for Saul, not for me.” She looked at the server. “I was about to say make the sandwich to go, please.”
The server grinned and nodded. “Would you like a slice of pie for him as well?”
“Good idea. Thank you.”
“So what else is going on in your life besides visiting Sam every day and working two jobs?”
“When is there time for anything else?”
“Are you still seeing the Englisch guy? What’s his name?”
“Michael. Ya.”
She studied Elizabeth. “Did you ever date an Englisch man when you were in your rumschpringe?”
Elizabeth shook her head. “I just wanted to get away from being stuck in the house taking care of all my bruders and schwesders and left Goshen. I got on the bus to come here, met Saul, and that was it. Who knew God planned for me to meet the man he set aside for me on a Greyhound bus? Or that we’d be working at a store together every day and having a boppli later this summer?”
Elizabeth ate her pie with relish all the while chattering about the shop she and Saul owned. “I have been so hungry,” she said. “I can’t eat like this every day or I’ll be big as a house.”
Rachel Ann just smiled at her, glad to see her friend so happy.
Elizabeth set her fork down and sighed. “This has been nice. Let’s not let so much time pass without seeing each other.”
The server brought a bag with Elizabeth’s takeout and the check. Rachel Ann tried to pay for her sandwich, but Elizabeth reminded her firmly it was on her.
They walked back to the shop and hugged before parting ways. Rachel Ann realized the break had indeed done her good when she put her things away and went back on the floor.
Leah was talking on the store telephone, and Rachel Ann felt her heart beat faster when she saw her frown. She hung up and looked at Rachel Ann.
“It was your mamm. She wants you to come to the hospital.”
“Right now?”
“Right now.” Leah picked up the phone and began dialing. “I’ll call for a ride for you. Go get your things.”
Rachel Ann felt anxiety roll over her just as it had the day she’d walked into Sam’s hospital room and saw his empty bed. She felt herself hyperventilating, her heart beating faster, her chest becoming tight just like that day. She forced herself to take a couple of slow, calming breaths.
“Take a breath,” Leah said, laying a hand on her arm. “She didn’t say it was bad news. She just sounded rush
ed and wanted you there right away.”
“Is it allrecht if I leave? We’ve been busy,” she stammered.
“Rachel Ann, you’re going. We’ll be fine.”
She went to the back room for her things, and when she returned her ride was already pulling up. The ride was mercifully short, and soon she found herself walking down the hallway to Sam’s room.
Her hand shook as she opened the door. Her heart pounded and she felt a little faint. Then the door swung open, and she stood frozen, staring in shock.
* * *
“Sam!”
Her little brother was sitting up in bed looking pale and tired, but he was awake!
Rachel Ann rushed to kneel by his bed. “Sam! You finally decided to wake up! Hello, baby bruder!” She leaned forward to gently hug him.
“Wachel Ann!” His little arms wrapped around her neck.
Sitting back on her heels, she glanced over to see her mother wiping her streaming eyes. Her father stood in a corner of the room obviously overcome by emotion.
“Leg hurts,” he said, pointing to his left leg encased in a bulky cast. He pushed back the fringe of blond hair falling in his face.
“We were watching the doctor examining Sam, and when he pricked the bottom of his foot, we saw a reaction,” her mother told her. “His eyelids moved. I saw it and nearly jumped out of my chair. Not a minute later he woke up. I called your father and then you.”
“Doctor hurt my foot. He woked me up.” Sam frowned.
Rachel Ann kissed her fingertips and lightly pressed them to his foot. Sam grinned.
“They’ll be running some more tests—”
“Tests?” Sam asked, giving his mother a suspicious look. “I don’t want hurt.”
“But then the doctor said you could go home tomorrow.”
“Home.” Sam gave them a big grin.
Rachel Ann got to her feet and sank into a nearby chair. She couldn’t get over it. Sam awake . . . it felt like nothing short of a miracle, something she’d been praying for and praying for. Emotion welled up in her and she burst into tears.
“Don’t cry, Wachel Ann.” Sam patted her arm.
She dug into her purse for a tissue and wiped her eyes. “They’re happy tears, Sam. I’m just happy you’re awake. You’ve been asleep for a long time.”
“Hungry.”
Her mother began laughing. “Now we know Sam’s back to normal. He’s already had macaroni and cheese and Jell-O.”
“Still hungry.”
“What do you want, Sam?” Rachel Ann asked him. She was prepared to go to the hospital cafeteria and buy him whatever it was if she had to.
“Mac and cheese and Jell-O.”
“Again?” Martha shook her head in disbelief. “I’ll go ask the nurse if you can have something.”
Her father laid a hand on her shoulder. “You stay and talk to Rachel Ann. Let me do something.”
Sam got his macaroni and cheese and Jell-O, but halfway through the meal he began nodding off.
“Tired, Sam?”
“Nee,” he said, straightening up and shoveling another bite into his mouth.
Typical four-year-old, thought Rachel Ann. He would never admit he was tired.
A minute later, his head bent and the fork clattered to the plate. The noise woke him, and he picked up the fork and speared a few more macaroni. His eyelids began fluttering closed, but when his mother tried to remove the fork, his eyes sprang open.
“Not tired,” he said firmly.
Finally his eyelids drifted closed, and he couldn’t hold sleep off any longer. He slumped back against his pillow. Rachel Ann leaned over and pulled the fork from his unresisting fingers as her mother quietly pushed his tray away.
“He’s never tired,” Rachel Ann said fondly. “Hasn’t wanted to take a nap since he was one. I can’t wait for him to come home and run us ragged again.”
Emotion welled up again and she burst into tears. “I’m sorry, I’m so sorry.”
“What for, Rachel Ann?”
“This,” she said, gesturing at her brother and then the room. “This was all my fault! If I’d been watching him better he wouldn’t have run into the road and gotten hit!”
“It was an accident,” her mother told her. “We don’t blame you.”
“It was God’s will,” her father said.
Her mother got up and walked over to her. “Here,” she said, handing Rachel Ann some tissues from a box on Sam’s hospital tray. “Stop blaming yourself,” she said firmly. “Your daed and I don’t blame you.”
She wiped her tears and blew her nose. It was hard to believe they didn’t blame her.
“Now, I think Sam’s probably going to sleep for a while,” Martha said. “He doesn’t need all of us to watch him sleep. Why don’t the two of you go back to work and come back later?”
Rachel Ann bit her lip. “It’s okay he fell asleep? I mean . . . he’ll wake up again?”
“Of course he will,” her mother said. “Now, go, both of you.”
“I’ll be back after work,” her father told her mother. He looked at Rachel Ann. “Ready to go?”
She nodded, and they walked to the elevator together. They got in and rode in silence for several moments.
“I had no idea you blamed yourself,” he said suddenly. “Your mamm and I both know how much you love Sam. We know you’d never deliberately do anything to cause him harm.”
“Danki, Daed.”
“And we might not have told you how much it helped you’ve been working a second job to bring in more money.”
“I’m glad I could help,” she said simply.
“Turns out Abram went into the furniture store and took care of my orders and told the boss to pay me for them.”
She stared at him. “Abram did that?” She remembered now how one day he’d been in town and gotten a ride home in the van. He’d smelled of wood and sawdust and she’d vaguely wondered why.
“I wasn’t supposed to tell you,” her father added. “He didn’t want anyone to know.”
The elevator stopped at the main floor and they got out. “Have you seen Michael lately?”
She shook her head. “He’s on Christmas break.”
“I wondered since . . .” he trailed off.
“What is it, Daed?” Neither of her parents had ever asked about him.
“I hope he hasn’t changed his mind about having his insurance pay for Sam’s hospital bill.”
Her stomach lurched. “He didn’t say anything last time I saw him. He seemed so sincere about it, Daed. I can’t think he wouldn’t honor what he said.” She hoped.
Her father nodded.
“I’ll ask him as soon as I see him.”
He patted her shoulder. “Danki.” He used his cell phone to call their driver, and when he arrived they rode in silence to their jobs.
Rachel Ann knew her parents were thrilled Sam was going to be okay, but she hoped they wouldn’t be burdened with the hospital bills.
“Was it bad news?” Leah asked the minute Rachel Ann walked into the shop. She pressed a hand to her throat.
“What? Oh, no, it was good news!” Rachel Ann said quickly. “Sam woke up!”
“Wunderbaar!” Leah exclaimed. “Naomi, Anna, Sam woke up!”
They rushed over and pressed Rachel Ann for more information. For the next few minutes they engaged in excited chatter.
Leah waved her hands. “It is indeed a miracle,” she said. “I think it’s time to thank God for healing Sam, don’t you?”
Each of them nodded, and Leah led them in a prayer of thanks for the gift He’d given them of the life of this precious child.
Rachel Ann felt her heart would burst. “Danki, God,” she whispered. “Danki for Sam.”
* * *
Abram dropped Sarah off at her house and headed home, feeling content after lunch and a drive with her.
His sense of contentment vanished the minute he turned his buggy into his drive and saw Rachel Ann sitting on th
e porch of her house.
She glanced in his direction and returned his wave, but it seemed to him to him it was half-hearted and she didn’t look happy.
He made quick work of unhitching his horse and putting him up in his stall. Then he walked next door, climbed the steps, and leaned against the porch railing. “Gut-n-owed.”
“Gut-n-owed.”
“You’re home early tonight. Everything allrecht?”
Her face cleared, and it felt like the sun came out. “You haven’t heard?”
“Heard what?”
“Sam woke up today. He may get to come home tomorrow.”
Abram stared at her. “Really? That’s amazing news.” He sat in the chair next to her. “When did this happen?”
“Around lunchtime. Mamm called me to the hospital and I saw for myself. It’s why I’m not there now. I decided to come home and straighten up the house instead of going to the hospital again.”
He nodded. “I’ll take care of your daed’s chores in a minute.” He tapped his fingers on his knee. “There’s something I don’t understand, though. When I pulled into my drive you didn’t look happy at all.”
“Daed told me the hospital bills haven’t been paid. Michael had said his insurance would pay them. I’m worried he’s changed his mind.”
“So ask him.”
“I haven’t seen him for a few days.”
“What’s wrong, Rachel Ann?”
“I’m worried about how my parents are going to pay those bills.”
“Something else is wrong. What happened? Did you and Michael break up?”
“Nee,” she said quickly.
Too quickly. Was it his imagination that she paled? He wasn’t sure, but what he did know was she didn’t meet his eyes.
“He’s just on Christmas break right now. He said he might be going on a trip with his friends.” She stared at her hands folded in her lap.
Something definitely was wrong.
A cool breeze swept across the porch. The ribbons of her kapp fluttered, stirring a memory.
He remembered finding her kapp in the driveway after she’d gone for a drive with Michael. When he’d returned it to her, she’d looked so upset . . .
“Rachel Ann? Rachel Ann?”
She blinked. “What?”
“If something’s bothering you I’d like to help. We’re friends. We should be able to talk to each other.”
One True Path Page 7
