by J. D. German
Chapter 42 – Angels
Lynn and Harriet were sitting in the kitchen of the farmhouse – what was left of it anyway – consoling each other. Talking about Rick and Matt and how they will miss them. Talking about anything else that would take their minds off the two men. Harriet found a subject. “We need to get busy figuring out how to get the house repaired as soon as possible – to make it livable.”
“It’s livable now if we eat fast food. We should be able to get a new stove and refrigerator in here pretty quick.”
“No, we should wait on that until they repair all the shrapnel holes in the walls and ceiling. It will be quicker for the workmen without those things in the way.”
“Yeah, I guess you’re right. We’ll be staying in a motel for the next few weeks. I’m willing to pay whatever it takes to get a contractor in here who can guarantee the job will be completed in a month or less. Do you know anyone Harriet?”
After the attack the two ambulances rushed the men to the emergency room at Loudoun Hospital outside of Leesburg. Surgeons got the patients stabilized and assessed their condition. They could handle Rick’s injuries, but Matt needed surgical expertise beyond their capabilities, so they airlifted him to George Washington University Hospital. When Harriet and Lynn arrived at Loudoun, Matt was already gone. Since Harriet would need her car one of the ER staff offered to drive Lynn to GWH. Lynn took her by surprise with an engulfing hug. With tears in her eyes she said “Oh thank you, thank you, thank you . . . what’s your name?”
“Elaine.”
“Well thank you Elaine. I’m Lynn, Lynn Preston.’
Elaine grabbed her hand and pulled her out the door. “Times a’wasting Lynn. Come on.”
Rick was already in surgery at Loudoun so they directed Harriet to the waiting room. When she got there she saw an electronic board behind the receptionist listing each patient, their status, and the operating surgeon. She saw Rick’s name and asked the lady what she knew about his status.
“All I can tell you ma’am is what the board shows. When the doctors know more, one of them will come out and speak with you.”
“What about his surgeon . . . this Dr. Burns. Is he any good?”
“I can’t answer that either Mrs. Goodman.” Then she motioned for Harriet to lean closer. “But I can tell you this. If it were my husband on the operating table, Dr. Burns is the only one I would let touch him.” Harriet smiled at the reassurance and thanked her.
Lynn went through the same process at the George Washington Hospital. She saw from the status board that they had already been working on him for over an hour. When she asked the desk clerk about Matt’s condition she got the same answer – wait for a doctor to talk with her – but there was a sadness in the woman’s face that led Lynn to believe that things weren’t going well. She found a chair by herself in the corner of the room and bowed her head to pray.
“Lord, this man has become very special to me. Sometimes I wonder if it was you that brought us together. But I love him! That’s the first time I’ve used that word about him. I just now realized that I do love him. Lord, I ask you to watch over him. Guide the surgeon’s hands. Strengthen Matt to withstand the operation and bring him through it safely. And strengthen me to get through this.” At that point she started to cry. “Please Lord!” Then she felt a hand on her shoulder. . . . She looked up to see a young couple kneeling beside her chair.
“May we pray with you?” the woman asked.
“Oh, yes. Please do.”
“Is it your husband in surgery?”
“No, but he’s a man that I love, and I want to spend my life with him. His name is Matt.”
They reached for her hands and began praying. Not out loud, but with murmurings. Lynn felt comforted and her fear melted away. God’s in charge and I trust Him, she thought.
When they were through praying they took seat on either side of her. “We’ll wait with you if you don’t mind.”
“Of course I don’t mind. I’m just so thankful you came and prayed with me. Fear is hard to handle when you’re alone. Who are you here waiting for?”
The man answered, “No one. We come here, and to other hospitals, whenever we can and reach out to those who need closeness to God.”
Lynn thought, God sent them . . . in answer to my prayer. I wonder if they’re angels? Did Jack send them?
They waited with her for five and a half hours, until the desk called her name. The doctor will see you in Consulting Room C, Mrs. Preston.” She turned to her new friends and thanked them again, then hurried in to see the doctor.
“Mr. Murdock was in extremely serious condition when he was brought in. He suffered major organ damage to his liver, right lung, and stomach, with bullet fragments puncturing the small intestine in several places. Whoever shot him was using fragmenting bullets, which is why the damage is so extensive. We have repaired some of the damage to the liver and lung, and stopped the bleeding for now. If he survives we will repair the rest of the damage with subsequent operations.”
Lynn looked at him in shock. “If he survives?? What do you mean?”
“In cases with this much damage to several organs, the body sometimes shuts down, gives up. We can’t fix that.”
Lynn held her tears back. “Can I see him now? Can I talk to him?”
“He is unconscious now and may be for a few days. When he is able to have visitors someone will call you. You left your number at the front desk?” Lynn nodded.
“Good. That’s all we need.”
What do I do now, Lord? The words “Trust in Me” ran through her mind.
Harriet didn’t have to wait as long to hear how Rick was doing – only three and a half hours. The doctor told her that he had lost so much blood that his circulatory system collapsed, greatly reducing the blood flow to all of his organs, including the brain. They gave him several transfusions just to get him through surgery, and he would need more to keep him alive. The worst news was that he was in a coma, with no certainty that he would ever come out of it. The doctor didn’t say anything about brain damage, but clearly that was a possibility. Harriet left her phone number at the desk and went out to her car. She got into the driver’s seat and just sat there – not knowing what to do next. After a few minutes she remembered Lynn and called her. She had just heard from the doctor and was getting ready to call a cab, but she didn’t know where to go. Harriet told her to wait there for her.
Harriet parked her car at GWH and met Lynn in the waiting room. She could see Lynn had been crying and wondered why she herself hadn’t cried. She seldom cried, but something like this should break through her disciplined mind. At times like this she wished she could have the release that tears bring. Will I cry if Rick dies? she wondered.
The two of them went down to the hospital coffee shop, but realized when they got there that they couldn’t eat anything. They settled for coffee and began talking about what to do next. They knew they needed to be near the men, but with both of them unresponsive for an unknown period they decided to go back to The Farm – to someplace that would comfort them.
When they finished their conversation about getting in some contractors to fix the place they took a look around the kitchen one last time. “I’ll get someone up here this afternoon to get these broken windows boarded up. We don’t want water damage to add to the mess.”
Lynn answered. “That’s the first thing, definitely. While you’re doing that I’ll line us up a couple of motels.”
“Maybe we can both stay somewhere halfway in between the two hospitals. There’s an Embassy Suites in Tysons Corner that’s pretty nice. It would be less than thirty minutes either way.”
The left The Farm around noon and headed for their respective hospitals. They agreed to meet at the Embassy Suites later that afternoon to catch each other up on the latest reports. Harriet left in her Escalade while Lynn chose the Miata instead of Jack’s truck. The nimble sports car could make better time in the D.C. traffic. Lynn almost dreaded ge
tting to the hospital, fearing the news would be even worse. How much worse can you get than almost dead? He’s hovering on the edge of eternity.
“Stop it Lynn! Those are terrible thoughts. Don’t let your mind go there.”
She tried to bring up some pleasant thoughts of their time together and realized there were very few. “Lord, please bring him through it so we can have many more pleasant memories together. If You did bring us together, I have to believe You wouldn’t take him away so soon.” Lynn held on to that thought the rest of the way to the hospital.
Lynn got back to the hotel shortly after four, beating the worst of the evening traffic. There’s not much reason to stay at the hospital when they tell you nothing has changed and no, you can’t visit him yet. She found Harriet at a table in the open dining room, sipping on what looked like a margarita. Harriet waved and pulled out a chair for her to sit on.
“Grab yourself the drink of your choice at the bar. Drinks are free until six o’clock. And the good thing is they’re so watered down we can’t get drunk.” Lynn went over and ordered a gin and tonic and returned to the table. They both said, almost at the same time “What did they tell you?” That gave them a laugh at a time when that were hard to come by.
“You first, Harriet.”
“The spokesman – it wasn’t even a doctor – told me that nothing had changed and I couldn’t see him because he was still in a coma. How about Matt?”
“You must have talked to the twin of the spokesperson I got. Same story. I got the impression he didn’t want to be bothered. The ole ‘don’t call me, I’ll call you if there’s any change’ story.”
“So what do we do now.”
“I’m going up to our room and use every internet resource I can find to learn about medical treatment for patients in Matt’s situation. Maybe I’ll find a ray of hope.”
“I’ll join you. I never heard of a collapsed circulatory system before.”
By midnight they had found only a few bits and pieces, most of it discouraging. “Maybe my idea wasn’t so great, Harriet. I need something to take my mind off Matt, not depress me.”
We could go downstairs, get drunk on real booze – the stuff they start serving when the freebies are over – and pick up a couple of successful-looking businessmen.”
“And do what? Bring them up here?”
“No, we’ll just play with them awhile at the bar, get their hopes up, then go to the ladies room and disappear.”
“That could be fun, but I would only go after the ones with wedding rings. They deserve to be played.”
They both got another laugh out of that. Lynn followed up with, “Seriously, what could we do to distract ourselves.”
“Maybe you could teach me some of your simpler hacking tricks. We could be here for days with lots of time to kill.”
“I like that. Then I’ll have someone to help me with the Revenge hacking when we get too busy for me to handle it all. Let me get our computers talking to each other so your screen is a copy of mine. I’ll go through each procedure a step at a time while you watch, and I’ll have your computer record it so you can practice on your own.”
Lynn linked the two computer and said, “Lesson one. How to back out of a hack in a millisecond, before they start backtracking to your computer.”
Lynn and Harriet continued with the same routine for four days, waiting for the big phone call. Lynn’s came first. “Hello, this is Lynn Preston.”
“Mrs. Preston, we have some news about Mr. Murdock . . .”
“Well, go ahead. I can take it.”
“He has regained consciousness. He’s apparently quite a fighter and fought his way back into our world.”
Lynn screamed for joy. “Can I visit him? Now. Today?”
“Yes you may, but the visits must be limited to five minutes for now. He tires easily.”
Lynn hung up without saying thank you or goodbye. “Harriet! Harriet! Matt’s awake! He’s awake.” Harriet jumped up from her nap and ran to hug Lynn. They were both crying happy tears as they sat on the couch. When Harriet could speak again she asked if he could have visitors.
“Yes. Yes. I’m going right now!” She grabbed her purse and started toward the door. Harriet laughed and said “You forgot something. I’m sure Matt wouldn’t mind, but you’re still in your pajamas.”
She looked down. “Oh . . . yeah. I have to get some nice clothes and make up on. I don’t want him to see me like this.” As she headed for the bedroom she turned her head and said. “You too, Harriet. Get dressed and come with me!”
Matt was still in intensive care, so they could see him through the glass from the nurses station. “Is he awake now? Can we talk to him?”
The nurse replied “Yes on both counts, but not until the doctor finishes examining him. Have a seat. I’ll let you know.”
It only took a few minutes but they seemed like the longest minutes in Lynn’s life. Harriet sat next to her and held her hand. Finally the nurse nodded at them. “Five minutes only. I’ll tap on the glass when your time is up.”
Harriet held back as Lynn walked softly to Matt’s side. His eyes were closed and Lynn thought he had gone back to sleep. She called softly, “Matt. Matt? It’s me . . . Lynn.” . . . When his eyes fluttered open a smile broke across his face.
He spoke barely above a whisper. “Lynn. . . . Lynn. Now I know I really am alive. I kept wondering if I was dead and everything was a dream.”
“You couldn’t have been dead. Dead people don’t dream.”
That got a grunt from Matt as he tried to laugh past the pain.
“I’m sorry, dear. No more funny things. We only have a couple more minutes. I brought Harriet with me.” Lynn motioned her forward into Matt’s vision.
Matt waved her close. “How’s Rick, Harriet.”
“He’s still unconscious – in a coma. He lost too much blood. They don’t know when he will come out of it.”
A tear formed in Matt’s left eye. “I’m so sorry for you and Rick. But he’ll pull through, just like I did.” A knock on the window broke up their conversation. Lynn bent down and kissed him gently on the forehead. “I prayed for you, darling.”
“I know.”
As the two of them made their way past the waiting room to leave, Lynn stopped. She grabbed Harriet’s hand. “Come on, you have to meet these people. This is the couple I told you about, the ones who prayed with me.”
When the woman saw Lynn her face brightened as the two of them stood. “Harriet, this is . . . I’m sorry I never asked who you were.”
The man said “I’m Michael and this is Angelina.”
Lynn was dumfounded for a minute, then she said “Of course you are.
“My friend Matt is awake and talking. I just spoke with him.”
“We know. We’ve been praying for him.”
“Thank you, and God, so much. For praying and staying with me when I was crushed.”
Angelina turned to Harriet. “You must be Lynn’s friend. It’s nice that you came along to support her.”
Lynn looked at Harriet. “Actually, she and her husband need prayer, badly. He was seriously injured at the same time as Matt and is in the Loudoun Hospital in Leesburg. He’s in a coma and may not survive. Can you pray for him?”
“Of course.” Angelina and Michael joined hands with Harriet and Lynn as they stood in a circle. No one spoke at first, so Lynn started to pray. “Dear Lord, you have answered my prayers and I thank you and praise you for it. But its Harriet and Rick who now need your healing hand. Please give the doctors the skill they need to bring him back to us. Strengthen his body so it can rebuild itself and heal.”
Angelina began her mumbled prayer. It was too soft to make out what she was saying, but Lynn knew God heard it. Michael joined her shortly after that with his quiet mumble. When they were finished Lynn didn’t know if Harriet wanted to, or even could, pray, so she remained silent with her head bowed.
Then she heard her crying out to God th
rough her tears. “God, I don’t know you as well as I should, but I met Christ when I was twelve years old, and I hear that He will never let me out of His hand. I ask now, in His name, that You heal my husband, that You bring him back to me. I don’t care if he’s not all there, I just want him back. And thank you for bringing us to these two Godly people Lord. I’m sure you know them much better than you know me, so even if my prayers are having trouble reaching you, I’m certain that you can hear theirs.”
Lynn added an Amen and they all looked up smiling, Harriet with tears still streaming down her face. Michael nodded toward the waiting room. “We have others waiting in there. He looked Harriet straight in the eyes and said firmly “Trust God!” before they turned away.