by Woods, Karen
Her phone rang. “Saint Maria’s Clinic. Doctor Zornova, speaking… Yes, Doctor Clay, thanks for returning my call so promptly. I have one of your patients here, Greg Wilson, applying for intake for end-of-life care. I need to confirm his diagnosis and prognosis... I see. Yes, that agrees with what he has told me… Will you overnight or fax his medical records to me?... Certainly, I will fax you my contact information and a medical records release signed by him within the hour. Thank you, Doctor Clay. Goodbye.”
Mother Nina said, “Lyosha, come with me, bringing the weapons. We will lock up those things. Greg will not have further need of them. The rest of you, please, go to the dining room. We will be with you shortly.”
“We will come with you. It is only fitting that the sisterhood make an appearance all at one time,” Sister Olga said, in a tone that said there was no sense arguing the point.
Mother Nina felt herself smile. She never could argue with her mother.
“I will walk with you, as well,” Vladika said. “Everyone else can go to lunch.”
“Come on, then, if you’re coming. Time is wasting,” Mother Nina said.
Walking away, Mother Nina was aware of the group walking to the dining room. When she was sure they were out of earshot, she said, “His oncologist says that, in his estimation, Greg has between a week and a month, with his money running at ten to fourteen days remaining, given the aggressiveness of his particular disease.”
Sister Elizabeth nodded, “It’s quite possible. What is clear from the difference in his coloring between when we saw him at the reunion a few weeks ago and when we saw him today, and the fact that he is already using oxygen, is that his disease is highly progressed. I will be able to tell more once I see his medical records and examine him.”
Alexei spoke, clearly upset, “Why are you being so nice to him, Mama? He came here to kill you! Or have you forgotten that?”
“No, I haven’t forgotten, Lyosha. Not in the least,” Mother Nina replied.
“Then why are you helping him?” Alexei demanded. “You are going way above the call of duty here. Why?”
“In case it escaped your notice, Lyosha, we have seen a genuine miracle today. God has acted to soften the heart of a hardened reprobate of a sinner,” Mother Nina said.
“We tend to be skeptical of emotional manifestations and personal revelations. But God clearly touched that man’s soul today and has led him to repentance,” Vladika said with a smile. “Whether his vision was real or imagined, it had an effect on his soul by bringing him the gift of tears to weep for his sins.”
“All of heaven is singing in joy! Am I to do less than to show him compassion and God’s love?” Mother Nina answered. She sighed and spoke in a painful voice, “And the miracle is even greater. If he had actually tried to harm me, I would have had to stop him. I might have taken his life in the process of stopping him. God has spared me from the years of penance, the years of separation from the Chalice that my taking a life would have imposed on me.”
Vladika agreed, “No one has a right to deny anyone else the chance at a deeper relationship with God by artificially shortening the other person’s life. That is simply a monstrous thing to do to anyone.”
Sister Olga nodded and offered, “Besides, the scandal of a nun killing anyone, even in self-defense, particularly in self-defense to some people, would have ruined any chances this work of the monastery might have stood to grow and become more than just three widows praying and working together. That, too, is a mercy God has shown to His sinful daughters.”
Vladika nodded as they reached the building where her office was. “It is indeed a great mercy. Given everything that has just transpired, Matushka, your three-day profession retreat is not, in my opinion, safe, at the moment. I do not trust Greg to hold fast to his resolution to avoid hurting people, particularly not to hurt you. So, let’s delay that until after he is no longer a factor.”
“At least, hire some more security guards to patrol the grounds at night. The fact that he was able to get onto campus and plot against you worries me,” Alexei said.
“If someone really wants to get to another person, no amount of security will be enough,” Mother Nina said, her voice sad as they reached her office. “Besides, as today shows, God takes care of us.”
“Do you really think that your nursing staff will be kindly disposed to caring for him if they know what he had planned?” Alexei asked as Mother Nina removed a large painting from the wall and speedily opened the wall safe in the office.
She pulled on an exam glove, unwrapped Alexei’s coat from around the weapons and placed the weapons one by one in the safe. Then she shut the safe, locked it, and handed her son back his suit jacket. Then she rehung the painting.
“There is no need to tell anyone else what may have happened here, had he not repented,” Vladika said. “Disclosing the sins of other people is not a good thing.”
“Staff will be told that he has a history of violence and that they are to be on guard around him,” Mother Nina said. “To give the staff less information would be to put them at risk. There is no need to go into details.”
Sister Elizabeth nodded. “I agree with that. The focus has to be on giving him a peaceful and blameless death.”
Yulia came into the office, and spoke to her in rapid Russian, “Matushka, they are waiting for you in the dining room.”
Mother Nina nodded. “We will be there shortly. Where would I find the release of medical records and consent for treatment forms?”
“Right here,” Yulia said as she walked to a filing cabinet and opened a drawer. She brought the forms over to the desk. “Why?”
“Thank you, Yulia. We are taking in a patient for palliative care,” Mother Nina said.
“Since when do we operate a hospice on the campus?” Yulia asked, in clear surprise.
“Since a dying man asked for help, a few minutes ago. Come with me and take this form after he signs it and fax it to Doctor Clay so we can get his medical records.”
“But where will we put him?” Yulia asked. “We don’t have facilities for men.”
“In the one-bedroom cottage that Harry Owens vacated last week when he moved back to North Dakota in order to care for his elderly mother. That cottage is set up well for a homelike care giving environment. And it is far enough away from the regular patient’s residence that none of our female patients will be bothered by him,” Mother said.
“Who is this man we are caring for?” Yulia asked.
“He has Stage IV-B liver cancer. He won’t be with us for very long. His name is Greg Wilson. I knew him in High School,” Mother explained.
“An old flame, Matushka?” Yulia teased.
“Hardly,” Sister Olga dismissed.
“We will keep a strong man with him every moment. No woman will be with him alone, not with his known history of violence. He will not roam around unescorted,” Mother said. “We will have to rearrange the nursing, respiratory therapy, and both physical and occupational therapy schedules to keep a male employee with him at all times.”
“At all times, Matushka?” Yulia asked. “Around the clock?”
“Yes. The person caring for him may not always be a nurse, but it will be a licensed health care professional. And that’s more than he would have had in a home hospice situation. We will do what we can for him to give him a peaceful death. We will bill his insurance for the personnel costs and the costs of his medications and for his room and board.”
“Be as wise as serpents and as innocent as doves,” Vladika said, quoting the Gospel of Matthew.
“We are due in the dining room for lunch. I will get Greg to sign the forms and take his insurance card from him. What I need is for someone to go into the cottage, clean it, and make it ready for occupancy. As it was cleaned after Harry quit, it shouldn’t be too much work to make it ready for occupancy.”
“I will send housekeeping over,” Yulia said. “What DME do we need?”
“O2 tanks or a
concentrator, for now. I think a concentrator would be best, as he is wearing one. We may need to switch out the bed.”
“Probably a good idea,” Sister Elizabeth said. “A hospital bed with some sort of anti-bedsore topper on the mattress. Depending on the state of the cancer in his lungs, he may need to sleep with his head elevated. No trapeze bar is indicated at this time.”
“Okay. I can arrange that,” Yulia said.
Mother Nina said, “Sister Elizabeth will need to see his medical records to know anything else. Thank you, Yulia.”
Yulia excused herself and left the office, saying that she would be in the dining room shortly.
“We need to prepare for his baptism. Since he is using oxygen, and is going to be very tender in his abdomen, I don’t know that immersion is going to be a good thing.”
“He can be baptized by pouring,” Vladika said. “Under these circumstances, it is appropriate. I will baptize him myself. But we will deal with this after lunch.”
Mother Nina took a clipboard and pen along with the paperwork to Greg and had him sign both papers. She took his medical insurance card and driver’s license from him. “We will have to complete your admissions forms later. But this will do for now. After lunch, you will return to the chapel, and make your life confession and be baptized. With the state of your health, we think it a good thing if we don’t try to immerse you. I fear that would be painful for you.”
“I still can’t believe you are being this kind to me,” Greg said, shaking his head. Tears welled up in his eyes.
“Greg, everyone is a sinner. Everyone in the world has fallen short of perfection. We all must keep our eyes on our own failings and not judge anyone else. Everyone has his or her own struggles that are very real. Now, if you will excuse me, I need to get this faxed off to Doctor Clay so we can receive your records to let us help you best.”
“Thank you…Margarita,” he said.
“How much time do you have left on the battery of the concentrator?” she asked.
He looked at his watch. “About twenty minutes.”
She wanted to scold him for cutting it so close, but she bit her tongue and said, instead, keeping her voice kind, “I’ll have a tank brought to you.”
Yulia entered the dining room.
Mother walked over to her.
“It’s taken care of. You need to eat,” Yulia said.
“I will. Can you fax this off to his oncologist and get him an O2 tank on a cart? The oncologist’s office fax number is on the business card for that practice. Greg’s battery on the concentrator is going to fail in about twenty minutes, and I don’t want him gasping for air.”
“Of course, Matushka. Please go eat something. This will be handled.”
“Thank you, Yulia. I appreciate your hard work more than I can say.”
Yulia smiled. “It is my pleasure.”
With her plate full, and a glass of James’ amazing champagne punch in hand, she settled in at a table with her sons, and mother, along with Masha and Anya, and Vladika.
Sister Elizabeth had settled in with her daughter, son-in-law, grandson, and her late husband’s cousins and their wives.
Tanya was still roaming about, taking photos.
Boris said, “I will take care of preparing for his baptism. Kiyusha will chant the psalms during his life confession. And Lyosha will stand as extra muscle in case things get out of hand.”
“I will ask James,” Mother Nina said, “to stand as his godfather. Vladika will baptize Greg by pouring, as his physical condition makes immersion unwise. We will give Greg a new white sticharion as baptismal garment.”
“This was not how I planned the day,” Vladika said on a chuckle.
A nervous chuckle was echoed by all.
“All we can do is the best we can do with each moment,” Mother Nina said, smiling. “In the end, our plans count for very little, except maybe to make the angels laugh.”
The End
Other books by Karen S. Woods at Sleeping Beagle Books
FICTION
Vengeance
Get Geri
Love and Arson
The Bishop’s Daughter
A Mother’s Eyes
Lara’s Legacy
NON-FICTION
Becoming Holy (without becoming holier-than-thou)