A Time to Heal

by Barbara Cameron

  "Did you ever think maybe I'm just not meant to marry?" Shocked, Jenny stared at her. "No way. Look, we talked about how you feel a little down this time of year, but you have to keep your spirits up. I wondered if I was ever going to get married, too, but look what happened."

  Mary came out and brightened when she saw her mother."Mamm, Joshua isn't feeling well. Daedi thinks we should go home now."

  "Is he complaining about his stomach again?"

  "Ya."

  Jenny sighed. "We should have stayed home. I think he has a touch of the stomach flu that's gone around the community.Tell your dad I'll be right in. No, tell him to go get the buggy and bring it around."

  Nodding, Mary went back inside.

  "So, did Chris enjoy the service?"

  Hannah brushed a nonexistent piece of lint from her dress."I don't know. I haven't had a chance to ask him."

  "Well, it was nice of you to ask him to attend. I didn't think of it."

  "I didn't," she told her, a stickler for honesty. "Annie did."

  "That Annie," Jenny said with a laugh. "She really likes him, doesn't she?"

  "I don't think there's anyone Annie's ever met who she didn't like."

  Jenny gave her a hug. "Are you okay?"

  Hannah absorbed the love and then she pulled back. "Ya. Danki."

  Chris told himself that the funny feeling in his stomach was from overeating.

  But he really hadn't eaten any more than usual—well, maybe a little, but that was because he had been doing manual labor.

  When his chest started feeling funny and his breathing got a bit raspy, he felt a trace of anxiety.

  He walked outside for a breath of air and passed Jenny coming inside. Hannah was standing to one side of the porch and when she saw him approach she looked like she was going to go inside too.

  "Don't leave on my account," he told her. "I just came out to get some fresh air. I—" he stopped.

  "Chris? What is it?"

  He turned away, not wanting her to see he was struggling for air. "Nothing."

  "It's something," she insisted, pulling on his arm and making him turn.

  "Just having—just having a little trouble breathing. Weird."

  It was more than a little trouble, he realized. He had asthma, but he seldom had trouble with it except when—

  "Something's wrong. I can hear your lungs wheezing. Here, sit down."

  He rubbed a hand over his chest. "Must have—must have eaten something wrong—" Reaching into his pocket, he found the inhaler he carried in case of emergency.

  "What did you eat? Chris?" She knelt before him.

  He took a quick couple of puffs on the inhaler and leaned back in the chair. "I don't know. A little of everything."

  "You didn't have any of the peanut butter spread, did you?"

  "Hey, give me some credit," he said a little irritably. "I know not to eat peanuts."

  Uh oh, he thought. Crankiness often came first when he was about to have an asthma attack.

  "Did you have some of those little cookie balls made of chocolate?"

  "Yeah. Why?"

  "Because I think Sadie uses ground nuts in her recipe."

  "Didn't taste nuts in them."

  But he'd been so occupied with talking to John B. that he hadn't paid attention to what he put in his mouth, he remembered.

  "I'll be right back," Hannah said.

  "No need to—"

  He was talking to thin air. She was going to make a fuss. He just knew it. He was all right. Or he would be in a few minutes.He hadn't eaten many of the cookie balls . . . just one or two, he thought. And he'd used his inhaler. Some water might help.In a minute he'd go inside and get some water.

  In a minute . . . when he caught his breath.

  Hannah jumped up, ran into the house, and found Sadie in the kitchen with the other women.

  "Did you put nuts in the cookie balls?"

  "Ya, why?"

  "Someone who ate them is allergic."

  Sadie clapped a hand to her mouth. "Oh, no! Who?"

  "A friend of ours. Chris."

  "The Englischer I met a little while ago? Is he allrecht?"

  Hannah bit her lip and tried to think of what to do. She could probably find someone who had a cell phone or send them to the phone shanty to call 911, but there had to be a faster way to help Chris.

  Then she remembered. "Sadie! Sarah said her little boy is having a lot of allergy problems. Grab her from the kitchen and bring her out to the porch for me."

  Rushing back outside, Hannah found Chris leaning over the railing of the porch. He looked ill, really ill.

  "This is just intolerable."

  Hannah glanced back at the familiar male voice. Josiah stood there, stern and disapproving.

  "How dare he come to church drunk?" he said, sounding angry.

  Chris turned from the railing, wiping his mouth with a handkerchief. "Not—not drunk."

  Sarah rushed out carrying a diaper bag. "Hannah, Sadie said you need help."

  She looked at Chris. "Oh, my, you look like my poor Levi after he's eaten something he's allergic to. Don't worry, I have something to make you feel better."

  She unzipped the bag, rooted around in a pocket, and pulled out a package of Benadryl. "Here, take these."

  Uncapping a plastic bottle of water, she handed it to him with the pills.

  "Glad—glad I don't have to drink from a sippy cup," he said, taking the pills and washing them down with gulps of water. He wiped his arm across his sweaty forehead.

  Sarah set the bag on the porch and pushed Chris down into the chair. "Sssh, just sit and let it work. Catch your breath."

  "Do you think we need to call for help?" Sarah asked Hannah.

  Chris shook his head. "Be—fine. Minute."

  Sarah studied him and then she nodded. "I think he's right."She pulled out a little plastic baggie, put several of the pills into it, and handed it to Hannah. "Here, hold onto these just in case."

  A few minutes later, Sarah nodded at Chris. "Feeling better?"

  "Yeah. Thanks. Thanks a lot."

  She picked up the diaper bag. "Gem gschehn. You are welcome."

  Hannah glanced around. Josiah had disappeared. Thank goodness. She had enough on her hands without him causing problems.

  "Thanks for helping," Chris said.

  She breathed a sigh of relief. "Are you really feeling better?"

  He nodded. "But you didn't need to make a fuss. I'd have been okay."

  "You don't think someone should make a fuss when someone else is having trouble breathing?"

  Shrugging, he looked away. "I'd have been fine in a minute."

  "I see." She handed him the pills. "I'll leave you now. It's evident you don't need me anymore."

  "You'll make someone a wonderful wife one day," he told her, finally meeting her eyes. "That was really amazing the way you took care of me."

  She folded her arms across her chest and regarded him."But you don't really want or need someone to do that for you, do you?"

  "They have this phrase they use to recruit soldiers in my world," he said slowly. "They say they'll teach you how to be 'an Army of one.' They did."

  He got up and walked away, going over to the barn to talk to the other men, leaving Hannah to stand there and stare after him.

  "So you had an interesting time today, ya?" Phoebe asked Chris as she drove them home a little while later.

  "You could say that," Chris agreed.

  "I am so sorry," Phoebe told him. "I'm sure Sadie feels terrible that she made you sick. She'll know to tell people what's in the cookies next time."

  "It happens."

  "What did you think of the service?"

  "It was long." He glanced at her. "Sorry, I shouldn't have said that."

  She pulled the buggy to the side of the road to let an impatient automobile driver pass them.

  "There's nothing wrong with the truth," she said, guiding Daisy to pull them back onto the road. "The services ar
e long.But they're every other week."

  "Really?"

  She chuckled. "Ya."

  "So what do you do on the alternate Sundays?"

  "Visit friends. Read. Take a nap."

  "Sounds good," he said, stretching out his legs. He didn't know if it was the meal, the Benadryl, or the peaceful ride in a buggy, but he was nodding off.

  "Especially the nap right now, eh?"

  "Yes."

  "Don't go to sleep!" Hannah spoke up from the backseat.

  Chris blinked awake. He glanced back over the seat and found her watching him with some apprehension.

  "Why not?" he asked, deliberately teasing her.

  Hannah glared at him but when Phoebe looked over her shoulder, she quickly schooled her features.

  "If you fall asleep, we'll just have to wake you up in a few minutes when we get home. Or try to drag you out of the buggy."

  He gave Hannah a careless grin before he turned back in his seat.

  13

  Aenti Hannah? You need to come see Daisy."

  Hannah turned and looked at Joshua. "Why?"

  "I think she's sick."

  "Let's go take a look." Hannah wiped her hands on a dish cloth and followed Joshua out of the house. She'd been so busy canning she hadn't noticed the time.

  Daisy, indeed, did not look well. She was stumbling and bumping against her stall, and her eyes were wide and unfocused.Her skin looked clammy too.

  "Daisy? Poor thing, you're not feeling well?"

  One look in her stall and Hannah saw that Daisy hadn't touched her food or water last night.

  "Joshua, go get your daedi," Hannah said quietly.

  Her nephew went flying from the stall and ran smack into Chris.

  "Daisy's sick," Joshua told him. "I have to get daedi."

  "Matthew's gone to town." Chris moved closer. "Is there anything I can do? We had horses on the farm."

  Hannah walked closer to the horse and raised her hand to touch her to check for fever. The horse, normally a placid mare, reacted with wide rolling eyes and reared back, showing her teeth.

  An arm wrapped around Hannah's waist and she was swept up and off her feet, away from the horse. The world spun.

  "What—" she sputtered as she realized Chris had lifted her as if she weighed as little as her niece Annie.

  "You were about to get hurt!"

  "Daisy wouldn't hurt me!" she protested. "We've had her for years."

  He set her down, safely away from the horse.

  "Sssh, there, girl," he said to the horse as he moved closer slowly, very slowly. "You wouldn't have meant to hurt Hannah, but you're feeling very sick, aren't you?"

  Hannah pressed a hand to her heart and felt it racing at the sudden protective movement Chris had made. She didn't want to admit it, but he was probably right. Daisy wasn't acting like herself at all, and she'd known a momentary fear when the horse reared back like that.

  It was the second time he'd reacted with such speed and strength to protect her.

  "I don't think Matthew's intending to be back for a couple of hours."

  Hannah looked at Daisy and bit her lip. "Joshua, go get Phoebe. Be quick."

  The boy ran. Chris walked forward. "Something's definitely wrong with her."

  Hannah studied Daisy. The horse had moved a step closer to Chris when he approached. Hannah had noticed the horse really seemed to like Chris.

  But when he tried to stroke the horse's nose, Daisy wasn't having any of it. She whinnied and backed away.

  "Something's definitely wrong with her," he agreed as he glanced around inside the stall. "Might be colic."

  "She had colic once and she didn't behave like this."

  Chris stepped closer and talked soothingly to the horse.She shied from him the way she had with Hannah, curled back her lips, and showed her teeth. But he persisted quietly, soothing her, and she let him reach out and touch her jawbone under her cheek. Hannah remembered how his touch had felt the night before.

  "Be careful, she could bite you," Hannah warned.

  "You won't bite me, will you, girl?" He felt around and gently pressed the vein on the inside of the jawbone, his mouth moving as he counted and watched the second hand moving on the dial of his watch.

  "Her pulse is very fast," Chris told Hannah. "Since Matthew will be gone a while, I don't think you should wait. Go call your vet now. I'll stay with her."

  Hannah hurried from the stall and met Phoebe halfway to the house.

  "Joshua says Daisy is sick? This came on suddenly. She was fine yesterday."

  "Chris says we need to call the vet right away."

  Phoebe nodded. "You go call. I'll sit with her until he gets here."

  The number for the vet was in an address book inside the telephone shanty. With shaking fingers, Hannah dialed the number and told the vet what symptoms Daisy was experiencing.

  She returned to the barn and they waited for the vet to arrive.

  Daisy seemed to grow worse by the minute. For the first time since she'd lived with them, she lay down in the stall and wouldn't get up. Her breathing grew labored.

  The three of them knelt on the hay. Chris wiped Daisy's damp skin with a towel while Hannah and Phoebe prayed.

  Hannah began to wonder if the vet would be able to get there in time. She felt tears sliding down her cheeks as she tried to comfort Phoebe.

  It felt like hours before the vet got there, but it was no more than half an hour. The man strode in, did a quick exam, and looked around her stall. Then he pulled out a huge syringe and gave Daisy an injection.

  "That should make her feel better," he said, pulling out a plastic IV bag filled with clear liquid. "I'm giving her some fluid since she's dehydrated."

  "What's the matter with her?"

  "I'm not sure. I think she may have eaten something that didn't agree with her."

  He pulled a plastic zip-lock bag and a lab tube from his medical case and scooped up some of the feed in her stall. He put it in the bag and filled the tube with some of Daisy's water, then put both into his bag.

  "Why did you do that?" Phoebe wanted to know.

  "It's rare, but occasionally something will get into an animal's food or water. The lab'll check it out and I should have the test results in a day or so. In the meantime, get rid of that food and water and put in new feed from another bag. Are the other horses okay?"

  "They're fine," Phoebe told him.

  The vet frowned and then he nodded. "That's what makes me think she ate something that didn't agree with her, that it isn't the food she and the other horses were eating."

  He gave Daisy a final look. "Someone should keep an eye on her until she's better. You have my number if she should turn worse. Otherwise, I'll be back tomorrow morning."

  Hannah could see the worry written on Phoebe's face. Daisy had been a gift from Phoebe's mann years ago, and she wasn't just a horse but a member of the family.

  "Why don't you sit with her for a few hours while I finish the canning?" Hannah suggested. "She seems calmer with you here."

  Hannah suspected that Daisy would probably need watching tonight; she could spare Phoebe from spending the cool night hours there.

  "Are you sure?"

  "Absolutely. I'll call you when supper's ready."

  Chris had been standing back while the vet took care of the horse and now he backed away. "If you don't need me I'll see what else I can do outside. If Matthew's back I'll send him over to talk to you about Daisy."

  Phoebe touched Chris's arm. "Danki for helping, Chris."

  "I was happy to do so," he told her, taking her hand and squeezing it gently. "Try not to worry."

  Phoebe nodded. "I don't. I believe—"

  "Worrying is arrogant because God knows what He's doing," Hannah finished with a smile.

  Chuckling, Phoebe smiled. "I guess I say that a lot."

  Hannah bent to kiss her head. "I don't know about that.But it's a wonderful way to live. I'll finish the canning and start supper. Yo
u call me if you need anything."

  "Uh, not to worry but—" Chris started.

  "Ya?"

  "I'd feel better if you don't get too close to Daisy. She was acting pretty wild earlier, almost lashed out at Hannah."

  He glanced back at Hannah and gave her a slight smile."Not that Daisy wanted to hurt her, but she isn't feeling well."

  "Is there something else you can sit on—" he began and then he spotted an old beat-up chair in the corner of the barn.He dragged it over.

  Phoebe had been sitting on a bale of hay. She started to get to her feet and her movements were so stiff and jerky Chris that reacted immediately, taking her arm and helping her up.

  "Old bones," she said self-deprecatingly. "Danki."

  "My pleasure, ma'am."

  Hannah saw her frown and she thought about how much harder it seemed to be for the older woman to get around these days. She wondered, as she had several times recently, if she should try seriously broaching the subject of their moving Phoebe's things to a first-floor bedroom again. Phoebe was looking so tired and pale now.

  Distracted, Hannah looked at Chris when she realized that he was saying something to her. "I'm sorry, what did you say?"

  "I'm going back to work. Yell if you need anything. I'll check in later."

  She nodded. "Danki."

  Once she saw that Phoebe was safely settled, Hannah hurried back to the kitchen. As quickly as she could, she finished up the canning, lined up her day's work on the counter, and turned to prepare supper. The sooner she got Phoebe to come in and eat, the sooner she'd get her to rest.

  Daisy had to get better. She just had to.

  Chris stood under the shower and let the water beat on his sore back.

  Farming the Amish way was definitely harder work. But in some strange way, it was more satisfying. He shook his head at that, scattering droplets of water. Funny thought. He loved technology—or so he'd thought.

  But the fact was, he hadn't really missed anything from his modern world so far. Well, maybe television, just a little. After all, he'd watched a lot of it at the hospital. What else could you do when patients came and went; it had been hard to make friends and keep them.

  Except for the long-termers—the patients who were there for an extended time recovering from serious conditions and doing physical therapy. Trouble was, sometimes it made it seem like you'd been there even longer when you heard them say something about their length of stay. Keeping spirits up became a daily struggle.