Arms of Mercy

by Ruth Reid

  “I’m looking for a patient. Catherine Glick. Do you know her?”

  The man shook his head. “I’m just the man who picks up the trash at night, but I do know visiting hours are over.”

  “Jah, I noticed the information desk is closed.”

  “Opens at seven.” He pushed the cart a few feet, then stopped and looked back. “Don’t you have no place to go till then, mister?”

  Elijah shook his head. The last time he checked the wall clock in the lobby he only had a few more hours to wait. If he were in Badger Creek, he’d already be up milking cows.

  “I’m supposed to tell people that this here area is closed. Gonna wax the floors shortly.”

  “Okay. I’ll stay out of the way.” Elijah returned to the lobby. He paced the floor, afraid if he sat on one of the cushioned chairs, he might fall asleep. He read the posted signs and took his time gazing into the glass cases at the various trophies and awards the hospital had received. Time dragged by.

  The man he’d seen in the hallway rolled his cart up to him and stopped. “I thought you could use a cup of joe.” The worker handed Elijah a Styrofoam cup of what smelled like strong coffee.

  “Thank you.” He’d been running on fumes since leaving Shepard Hill Hospital yesterday and going straight to the accident site. Elijah took a drink and cringed.

  “Yeah, it’ll grow hair on your chest. It was brewed last night at the beginning of my shift. Hope you don’t mind a few grounds. Reminds me of campfire coffee. Ever have it?”

  “Nett camping.” Elijah’s mother had to watch their old stovetop coffeemaker closely. Otherwise the grounds would end up in the water if it percolated too long. “But this tastes gut. Thanks again.”

  “I best get back to work. You take care now.” The wheels of the cart clacked as the man left the lobby.

  The strong coffee mixed with the different hospital scents aggravated Elijah’s senses. He stepped outside for fresh air and got a glimpse of the dawn’s light blue sky in a little section of horizon he could see between the buildings. The scenery looked drab compared to the sunrise over the pasture. He’d give anything to be sitting on a porch swing sharing a pasture view with Catherine as they had done in the past.

  He followed the sidewalk to the front of the hospital, where he sat on a bench a few moments to collect his thoughts. Resting his elbows on his legs, he buried his face in his hands and closed his eyes.

  “Lord, I miss her so much. I keep thinking about the past, and it makes me miss her all the more. I want her back. Father, please lead me to Catherine. I don’t know how to go on without her.”

  Someone nearby cleared his throat. “‘Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.’”

  Elijah vaulted up from the bench, his heart hammering hard against his chest. He rubbed his eyes. “I didn’t see you . . . sitting there.”

  “Yes, I believe your eyes were closed when I sat down.” He tapped the bench. “You can sit back down. I won’t be staying long.”

  Elijah sat and wrung his hands nervously as he tried to place the man’s familiar voice. But Elijah was tired and not thinking straight. The people’s faces, including the passengers on the bus, the hospital workers, reporters, and emergency rescuers, all blended together.

  “Your help comes from the Lord.”

  Elijah nodded, then glanced sideways to catch another glimpse of the redheaded stranger. Gold flecks shimmered in the man’s eyes as if a ray of sunlight had lit them internally. Elijah rubbed his face. He would splash himself with cold water if he were near a faucet.

  “You probably haven’t had much sleep, have you?”

  “Hardly any.” He’d seen those gold flecks before, not glowing to this degree, but he’d seen this man somewhere. Inside the bus—the disappearing man from the ravine. Elijah turned toward the stranger. “We’ve met before. Yesterday.”

  He smiled warmly. “You were searching for your friend.”

  “Yes, that’s right.” At least his mind wasn’t totally addled—except the eye-glowing part. Now, taking a closer look at the man, Elijah saw that his eyes appeared normal. Lord, I need sleep.

  “Elijah!” A man wearing a dark suit and tie approached. “It’s Alex Canter with Rulerson, Markel, and Boyd.” He extended his hand. “Good to see you again. I tried to contact you at the Shepard Hill Hospital but was told you had left.”

  “Jah, I signed myself out.”

  Alex cringed. “Hate to hear that. Well, it is what it is. Was it bad care? I can make a case that you felt your life was in jeopardy under your doctor’s or nurse’s care and that was why you left.”

  Elijah shook his head. “They took gut care of me. I left to find Catherine.”

  Alex glanced at the red-haired man, then back to Elijah. “Would you like to talk inside? I’m meeting another client in the lobby in a few minutes, but I’d like to go over a few things with you first.”

  Elijah glanced at the stranger sharing the bench. “It was nice seeing you again.” He went inside with Alex.

  Alex found a place for them to sit so he could see the door. “So, is Catherine a patient here?”

  “I don’t know yet.” The attorney opened his briefcase and removed a folder. “But she’s on the top of my search list. See?” He flashed a sticky note toward Elijah, which Alex held just enough for him to read Catherine’s name, age, and the brief physical description Elijah had given him when Alex visited him at the hospital. “I’m making progress with Budget Bus.”

  “And they know where she is?”

  “No, but they have other passengers still missing too. Up until this morning, she wasn’t on their official list, but they are investigating. Trust me, the company isn’t eager to add another one to the count, but they’ll have to sooner or later.”

  Elijah noticed a woman wearing a striped vest take a seat behind the information desk, then turn the sign. “I need to talk with the desk clerk.”

  Alex stood and straightened his tie. “Why don’t you let me talk with her. You want to know if Catherine is a patient here, right?”

  “Jah. I was told they had some patients listed as Jane Doe.”

  “Give me a few minutes.” He strutted toward the blonde.

  Elijah sat on the edge of the cushion. Alex would know the right words to use. He was definitely more social in these situations, noting the large smile on the woman’s face. A few moments later, Alex waved him over.

  “We have to go through security for permission, but I don’t think that will be a problem. According to the helpful desk clerk, the hospital has been eager to help family members identify their loved ones.” Alex redirected his attention to the woman. “Thanks, Megan. We really appreciate your help,” he said with a wink.

  “Your help comes from the Lord.” Elijah heard the words as though the man from the bench was standing next to him. But a quick scan around the room told him otherwise. He rubbed the back of his neck. Stay awake.

  Thankfully it was only the matter of a few minutes before the security officer met them in the lobby. The officer, who had a shaved head, stood feet shoulder-width apart with his hands clasped in front of him. “I’m Officer Perkins. I understand you’re searching for someone from the bus accident?”

  Elijah stepped forward. “Her name is Catherine Glick. Is she here?”

  “Let’s talk more in my office.” The uniformed man looked at Alex. “You look familiar. Where do I know you from?”

  “I’m Elijah’s legal representative.” He elbowed Elijah’s arm. “Tell him.”

  He grimaced, rubbing his arm. Next time he’d stand with his injured side away from the man. “Alex is helping me find Catherine.”

  “I’d like to ask you to wait in the lobby,” Officer Perkins told Alex in a tone that implied his order wasn’t negotiable. “At this time, we are only allowing immediate family members access.”

  Don’t say anything. Please, Lo
rd, close his mouth. If the officer knows I’m only a friend—Elijah sucked in a breath and held it.

  “Why do you think my name is Julie?”

  “When I stopped in your room last night to say goodbye, you were talking in your sleep,” Amy said.

  “What was I saying?”

  “You were mumbling mostly. Something about George.”

  “George?” Did she know someone named George?

  “You don’t know who George is?”

  She pushed up on the bed. “No. Should I?”

  “You told me last night he was your brother.”

  “I did?”

  “It’s okay if you don’t remember. I think you were still asleep. Your speech slurred, and you called George your bruder.” Amy patted her hand. “Sometimes our unconscious mind reveals things we aren’t aware of yet.”

  Could I have hallucinated again? She hadn’t heard any more voices in her room . . . “Shouldn’t I remember something? Shouldn’t I know if my name is Julie—and if I have a brother? What exactly did I say?”

  “George is calling.” When I asked you who he was calling, you replied, ‘Me.’ You mumbled mostly after that, saying things I couldn’t make out. But when I prompted you to tell me why George was calling you, you said, ‘It’s suppertime. We must go inside.’”

  “Julie.” She rolled the name over in her mind. “It does sound familiar. I wish I knew for certain.”

  “I have a call into the investigational team handling the accident and missing people reports. They’ve been compiling data, so I’m sure we’ll know more shortly. Until then, is it okay if I call you Julie?”

  “It’s certainly a pretty name.” Having a name would make it easier for the nurses. Julie sounded better than hon, sweetie, and dear. Not that she minded Amy referring to her as sweetie, but several of the other hospital staff members seemed to stumble over what to call her, which only led to feelings of awkwardness. “Jah, I’d like to be called Julie.”

  Someone else entered the room. Soft footsteps usually indicated another nurse. “Excuse me. You have a phone call at the desk, Amy. An Alex Canter.”

  “Ooh, that’s probably the person I’ve been waiting to talk to. I need to get it,” Amy said. “Sandra, meet Julie.”

  Sandra neared the bed, her voice booming with excitement. “Your memory came back? That’s wonderful!”

  “Hopefully, after this call we’ll know your last name too,” Amy said. “I’ll be back.”

  “Amy,” she called before the nurse’s footsteps disappeared from the room. “Will they know if mei family—assuming I have family— has tried to find me?”

  “I’m sure they have good records of every inquiry.”

  She swallowed. “What if I don’t remember them?”

  “Have faith,” Amy said. “It’ll all come together in time. You’ll remember everything.”

  “You really believe that?”

  “God’s capable of making the impossible possible.”

  Elijah followed the security officer down the corridor, debating whether to confess the truth about Catherine’s and his relationship but decided against it. After all, he was the only family she had at the moment.

  The officer opened the door marked Security and acknowledged a younger man seated at a desk in front of a group of wall monitors with a nod.

  Elijah scanned the black-and-white images on the different screens. He noticed Alex looking at something on his cell phone on the monitor labeled Lobby.

  Officer Perkins led Elijah into a smaller room and motioned for him to sit in the chair opposite the desk.

  “As you are probably aware, our patients who haven’t been identified are either in critical condition or, for whatever reason, are unable to communicate. We’ll start by calling the intensive care unit.” The officer picked up the phone. “I’ll place the call, then you can give the nurse a description of—good morning, Regina. This is Officer Perkins, and I have Elijah Graber with me. He is searching for a passenger from the bus accident. Are you able to talk with him?”

  He glanced at Elijah and nodded. “Great, I’ll put him on the line.” As he turned the call over to Elijah, he said, “Give the nurse a description of your friend, and she will assist you.”

  Elijah held the phone to his ear. “Hello.”

  “Hi, I’m Regina, the charge nurse for ICU. I understand you are searching for someone from the bus accident?”

  “Yes, that’s right. Her name is Catherine Glick.”

  “Can you tell me her approximate height, weight, age, hair and eye color, and if she has any unique identifiers such as birthmarks, moles, or tattoos?”

  “She’s twenty-nine. Probably five foot six, and maybe 140 pounds. Her hair is honey colored and her eyes are bright blue.” He closed his eyes, and an image of Catherine’s warm smile came to mind. “She doesn’t have any birthmarks or moles on her face, but I wouldn’t know about the rest of her body. As for tattoos, no, she wouldn’t have one.”

  “I need to put you on hold for a moment while I check with the other nurses.”

  The nurse’s voice was replaced with a recorded announcement. Elijah placed his hand over the receiver. “I’m on hold,” he told the officer as the speaker listed a series of accolades given to Community General for their leadership in patient safety, followed by an advertisement for various imaging services.

  “Mr. Graber.” The nurse came back on the line. “I’m sorry, but we don’t have any patients fitting the description you’ve given me. I wish I had better news.”

  He sighed tiredly. “Thank you for your time.”

  “I can give you the toll-free number to call for passenger information.”

  “Okay, thanks.” He jotted down the number even though it was the same as what Officer Bennett had given him yesterday— the number with an answering machine on the other side.

  “I wish you the best of luck with your search.”

  “Thanks.” Elijah lowered the phone to its cradle and sighed.

  “Nothing?” the security officer asked.

  Elijah shook his head.

  “We have another place to look.” Officer Perkins opened the side drawer on the desk and removed a set of keys. “Come with me.”

  They took the service elevator located in the hospital lobby to the basement, walked down a deserted hallway, and stopped in front of an unmarked room.

  “This is the morgue. If you don’t feel up to going inside, I understand. I’ve had a few interns with queasy stomachs over the years.”

  “I’ll be fine,” Elijah said, even though his stomach churned, coating the back of his throat and tongue with bitterness. He should have declined the coffee.

  Keys jangled as the officer unlocked the door. The room temperature reminded him of the icehaus at home. Not a place to linger. The frigid air numbed the tip of his nose and earlobes, and white clouds marked his heavy breaths. The windowless room wasn’t oversized by any means. Stretchers with sheet-covered bodies lined the wall with little space to walk between.

  A wave of nausea washed over him as the officer checked the different toe tags.

  “This one is an unidentified female.” He slowly peeled back the corner of the sheet to reveal the woman’s face.

  Don’t pass out. Breathe. Breathe. Oh, thank God! He shook his head. The pale, lifeless corpse wasn’t Catherine.

  The officer lifted the sheet on another body, and Elijah shook his head the moment he noticed short, dark hair. Sweat formed along Elijah’s brow despite the freezing temperature. His legs wobbled. Having to identify a loved one was torturous. The officer showed him one more nameless person, which thankfully Elijah was able to dismiss immediately.

  “That’s all the females we have,” he said solemnly. “Sorry.”

  Elijah wasn’t sorry. At least she wasn’t in the hospital morgue. He followed the officer to the elevator and pressed the button for the lobby.

  Alex met him the moment he stepped off the elevator. “I take it you didn’t
find her?”

  Elijah shook his head.

  “I just received news that the authorities have finished cataloging the personal items recovered from the accident scene, and they have been made available for the owners to claim. We can stop by the warehouse if you’d like to look for your belongings.”

  “I’d rather check Mercy Regional first.”

  “I, ah . . .” Alex rubbed the back of his neck while rolling his shoulders, as if trying to loosen tension.

  “What are you nett telling me?” The man’s eyes hooded with what appeared to be his first genuine expression of sadness Elijah had ever seen. “Do you know something about Catherine?”

  “While you were with the security officer, I called Mercy Regional. A woman at the nurses’ desk said their last Jane Doe was identified. Her name isn’t Catherine.”

  Elijah lowered his head as tears pooled. Nau what do I do, Lord? Mercy Regional was the last hospital on the list.

  Chapter 25

  False alarm,” Amy said.

  “My name isn’t Julie?”

  Amy approached the bedside. “That wasn’t the call I expected. One of the other nurses picked up the line by accident before I got out to the desk, and in talking with him, I discovered Alex Canter was an attorney.”

  “You sound disgusted.”

  “I don’t like the way some of them do business. Reputable attorneys don’t chase ambulances.”

  “I don’t understand.”

  “It’s a term used as an underhanded way lawyers sign up potential clients. After the accident, administration set up a call system designated for people searching for victims, and those calls are routed to a toll-free number at a centralized location manned by law enforcement officials. Yet even with a workable system in place, we still get outside calls from smooth-talking lawyers, but let’s talk about something more important, Julie.”

  “What’s that?”

  “Your next step.” Amy lowered the bed rail. “It’s time for us to take a walk.”

  “Nay! How am I suppose to go anywhere when I can’t see a thing? I want to wait until the bandages kumm off.”