Solemn Oath
Page 38
The chair next to Estelle’s bed was empty, and she gave a relieved sigh. Clyde, her husband of fifty-five years, had been beside her throughout this whole ordeal, red-eyed and droopy, dozing beside her day and night since they’d brought her in. She had ordered him out last night. It was the only way she was going to get any work done, and the only way he was going to get any sleep.
She waited for the nurse to walk out of the room, then pressed the button to move her bed into the sitting-up position, grimacing as her cracked ribs protested. It was a good thing her left wrist was just sprained and not broken. She pulled a notepad out from under the blanket beside her and reread what she’d written last night after Clyde and Ivy and Lukas and half the town of Knolls were forced to leave at the end of visiting hours. She changed a few words, wrote two more sentences and nodded with satisfaction. It would work.
Slowly, gently, she reached for her cell phone and punched the private home number for the editor of the Knolls Review. She noted with a nod of satisfaction that the call would wake him up.
Unfortunately, a female voice answered—that of Harvey’s long-suffering wife, Barbara.
“Hello, Barb? Estelle here. Sorry to bother you so early in the morning, but I need to talk to Harvey, and the staff here is a little strict about patients working from their beds. Yes, yes, I’ll be fine, just some cracked ribs and a broken leg and a concussion. The hospital will be okay, too, don’t worry. Thanks, Barb.” She checked her notes again, prepared to get tough if she had to.
The editor picked up an extension within ten seconds.
“Hi, Harvey. Listen, you got the information I sent you on RealCare, didn’t you? Good. Those are publishable facts, and I want to see them in tomorrow’s paper, and don’t give me any argument, or I’ll slap a libel charge on you and Bailey.” Might as well let him know up front that he wasn’t going to push her around in her weakened condition.
“Yes, Bailey’s still alive to sue, bless his rotten soul.” She didn’t mention the fact that he was in bad shape right now and probably wouldn’t walk for a long time. She wasn’t going to walk for a while, either, but that wouldn’t stop her. “I think I can convince him to retract his letter, but your paper did some major damage to the reputation of one of the best E.R. docs in the region, and you’re going to do some scrambling to make up for it.”
She listened with satisfaction for a moment while Harvey apologized and backpedaled. She wouldn’t be getting any bad press from him for a long time.
“First of all,” she said, “you will print in the headline article that Knolls Community was cleared of all allegations by COBRA. Second, we were well insured. We’ll have a bigger and better hospital than ever before, and I will be overseeing every aspect of the operations myself.”
She didn’t, after all, have to depend on her notes. It was all there in her head. When she got finished with Harvey, she would call some contractors in the area. Her hospital wouldn’t be down for long. Neither would she.
Lukas sat nearer to the pulpit than he usually did on Sunday mornings, but that was because he’d arrived late, and the church was nearly full. Many of the people here today probably attended services only at Christmas and Easter. Parking lots in churches all around town this morning overflowed out into the streets. It seemed as if everyone in the county was here. Except for Mercy.
Lukas couldn’t deny his disappointment. After the fire…after the look he’d seen in her eyes, the joy that seemed to suddenly flow out of her—and not just because she was relieved that he was safe—he’d expected something more.
It was all that had been on his mind aside from the shock of the explosions and fire and community outpouring of pain over the partial destruction of the hospital. He, too, was emotional. The destruction of the E.R. had devastated a part of him.
This morning’s sermon was about new beginnings. Appropriate, since cleanup had already begun on the hospital, and the citizens of Knolls, always community minded, had taken part in the operation as much as they were allowed.
And Bailey Little had done his part. After giving Lukas an abject apology this morning for all he had done, he’d promised to call the Knolls Review and make a public apology, as well. There would be no more attempts to destroy what was left of Knolls Community Hospital.
Of course, since Bailey was feeling the effects of morphine at the time, Lukas knew he could only wait and see how sincere the man’s words had been.
Shaking himself from the attack of cynicism, Lukas glanced across the auditorium and caught sight of slender, serene Darlene Knight sitting beside Ivy and Tedi. If Ivy had her way—and she usually did, except with her own daughter—Clarence would be sitting beside them as soon as he could get around better. Lukas had enjoyed several lively discussions with Clarence about God’s unconditional love, God’s power, God’s grace. The big man’s heart was changing, Lukas could tell. He was gradually releasing some of the pain he’d gone through in the past. Of course, Lukas had thought Mercy’s heart was changing, too.
Theodore Zimmerman sat in the pew behind his daughter, his gaze straying to the back of Tedi’s head every few moments with an expression of wonder, and Lukas felt a rush of joy for the new relationship being forged between father and daughter. And between Father and son.
In the pew in front of Lukas, Lauren McCaffrey sniffed and pressed a tissue to her eyes. Another woman sitting in the pew behind him sniffed and blew her nose, and he realized he had missed the past few minutes of the sermon, and that an emotional point had just been made. That wasn’t like him. He usually listened. He often took notes on the backs of tithe envelopes if he forgot to tuck some loose notebook paper into his Bible.
The pastor concluded the message, and the organ slipped softly into a hymn of invitation. The congregation stood, and Lukas sighed. He had to get his mind off the could-have-been. He was here to worship God, not scan the crowd for roll call or pine for a lost love.
He opened the Baptist Hymnal to “Just As I Am” and had opened his mouth to join in the second verse when he detected movement in the aisle to his left. It was not polite to stare at someone walking down to the altar during invitation time, but everybody always did, sometimes out of curiosity, sometimes relief, oftentimes joy. An altar invitation was supposed to be a time of personal introspection and heartfelt prayer, but brotherly love was also allowed.
Lukas caught the amazing, beautiful sight of Mercy Richmond’s dark hair streaming over her slender, erect shoulders—where had she come from? He’d done a thorough search for her at the beginning of the worship service.
As she reached the front, he wanted to shout a prayer of praise—he only did so in his heart. After all, this was a circumspect Baptist church. Mercy walked purposefully toward the pastor, who waited with hands outstretched in front of the pulpit.
She took those hands, spoke with the pastor, nodded eagerly, then bowed her head in prayer while the congregation sang the third and fourth verses.
Lukas couldn’t sing. He stared unabashedly toward Mercy, unable to see her clearly past the tears in his eyes. All his prayers over the summer were being answered right here in a church full of witnesses. All the words he thought had fallen on deaf ears, all the pleading and explaining and arguing that had ended in frustration, all the pain…everything was being answered. He felt a weightlessness so profound it made him dizzy.
Someone touched his arm, and he looked over to find Lauren holding a tissue for him. She, too, had tears in her eyes. He took the tissue and smiled at her and continued to smile as the pastor raised his hand for the music to stop.
“Ladies and gentlemen, I want to present to you a brand-new sister in Christ, Mercy Richmond.”
QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION
In this story, fire is a continually present danger, and Buck Oppenheimer lives to fight fires, to the alarm of his wife, Kendra. When he risks his life one too many times and she tells him to move out, who do you feel is most to blame? Do you change your mind when you discover the
losses Kendra has endured in the recent past?
When Theodore Zimmerman shows up at Tedi’s school, what first goes through your mind? Do you fear he might try to abduct her and cause her and Mercy more trouble? How do you feel about him when he explains what he wants?
Mercy chides Darlene Knight for hoarding her inhalers and medicines for her asthma. Like a lot of people, Darlene doesn’t listen to her doctor. Have you ever disregarded orders from your doctor? Would it be easier for you to work with your family physician if you were more involved in the decisions for your treatment? Have you told your doctor that?
In Solemn Oath, Knolls Community Hospital is in danger of losing its autonomy when a corrupt attorney attempts to convince the citizens of Knolls how much a buyout would help the economy of the town. However, not only does he have a lawsuit pending against the doctor who inadvertently killed his son by prescribing him narcotics he didn’t need, but he also has one pending against the physician who refused to prescribe those drugs in the first place. Do you feel you see hypocrisy in this situation? How did you feel about the floor falling out from under Bailey Little after the explosion? Does he get what’s coming to him, or was the loss of his son justification for his actions?
Beverly is afraid to cross Bailey because she feels she might lose her job, and she’s supporting a family as a single mother. But Lukas needs her to sign an AMA form to prove that patient Dwayne Little left the hospital against medical advice. This signed form becomes vital to the hospital and to Lukas’s job when the government watchdog COBRA bears down on Knolls Community Hospital, searching for records they may be able to use as an excuse to fine the hospital and have Lukas fired. Why is Beverly afraid to sign that form? Bailey could make it hard for her to find another job. He has a lot of clout. What would you do if you were Beverly?
Theodore struggles with his alcoholism, and at Jarvis George’s party he realizes that he’s back to his old tricks, gathering Mercy’s friends and family to help him convince her to do something he wants her to do. He despises himself. Have you ever had this happen in your life? Have you ever come face-to-face with an ugly truth about yourself? Have you faced up to it and confessed it, asking God to help you break that habit?
After the night at Jarvis’s, Theodore not only gets drunk again, but he arrives at the hospital later to confess to Lukas, and to talk to Lukas again about Christ. Almost reluctantly Lukas tells Theodore how he can find that help in Christ, and gives him some scriptures to read. How do you think you’d have felt that afternoon when Theodore returned with the news that he is a new believer in Christ? The man who made Mercy and her daughter miserable has found new life, when Mercy is still unable to trust enough for that to happen—does this seem to you unfair?
Clarence Knight has such a sense of independence that it makes him difficult to deal with. Have you ever found yourself rejecting help that was available to you, simply because of your sense of independence?
Lukas doesn’t handle the situation well when he invites Mercy to his house for burned hamburgers, and then tells her he cannot, after all, have a romantic relationship with her. How could he have done things differently? How do you feel about Mercy’s unwillingness to state a faith she didn’t have simply to have the man she wanted?
Have you ever lived in a town where everybody knows everyone else? If not, would you like to? If you already do, how would it feel to live in a place where most people were strangers to you? What are some of the good qualities about where you live?
ISBN: 978-1-4268-3982-5
SOLEMN OATH
Steeple Hill Books/September 2009
First published by Bethany House Publishers
Copyright © 2000 by Hannah Alexander
All rights reserved. Except for use in any review, the reproduction or utilization of this work in whole or in part in any form by any electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including xerography, photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, is forbidden without the written permission of the editorial office, Steeple Hill Books, 233 Broadway, New York, NY 10279 U.S.A.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events or locales is entirely coincidental.
This edition published by arrangement with Steeple Hill Books.
® and TM are trademarks of Steeple Hill Books, used under license. Trademarks indicated with ® are registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office, the Canadian Trade Marks Office and in other countries.
www.SteepleHill.com
*Hideaway novels
*Hideaway novels
*Hideaway novels
*Hideaway novels
*Hideaway novels
*Hideaway novels
*Hideaway novels
*Hideaway novels
**River Dance novel
*Hideaway novels
*Hideaway novels