“Oh, Morgan,” Kenni sighed, “I’ve already forgiven you. I believe that if we want to be forgiven, then we must forgive as well. That is what Jesus taught. As a follower of Christ, I try to do what He expects us to do, but believe me, I struggle.” She patted Morgan’s arm. “Anyway, please don’t give it another thought.”
Morgan bit her lower lip. Her heart was racing, but she knew she was not done quite yet. “I’d, um, I’d like to know more about Jesus,” she said almost timidly, noticing the slight flicker of surprise in the other woman’s eyes. “Do you think we could sit down and talk about Him one day? I’m serious, Kenni—I’ve gone through something, a major revelation if you will, that showed me I must make some changes. I wasn’t taught much about God as a child, so it never mattered until recently.”
“Would you like to come over for coffee one afternoon next week?” Kenni suggested. “We can talk about Jesus, and anything else you might want to discuss. I’m not an expert by any means, but I can cover the basics. I can also introduce you to Pastor Henderson and Jenny, he and his wife are some of the kindest people I’ve ever met.”
“What about next Tuesday? Would that be convenient for you?” Morgan asked. She realized she had been holding her breath. She wondered why those words were so hard to get out, and now that she had, she didn’t want anything to cause her to have doubts that might make her drop the matter before it got started.
“Perfect. I’m off next Tuesday. I’ll look forward to it!”
***
Kenni was in the cafeteria, picking at the chicken salad on her plate while she browsed through a pregnancy and childbirth magazine she’d picked up at her obstetrician’s office when she felt the warmth of a kiss on the back of her neck. She jumped, and then she laughed when she saw her husband’s smiling face. “Do you make a habit of sneaking up on nurses and kissing their necks?” she asked before he planted a kiss on her lips. “You can get in lots of trouble doing that, Doctor.”
“I love redheads so I’ll take my chances,” Jeb said and sat across from her. “Don’t tell my wife though, okay? I’ll be in trouble. And Doctor Anderson is already scared of her!”
“Get out!” Kenni laughed as they held hands across the table. “Have I ever told you the secret I learned in nursing school, why I am the way I am?”
“No, I don’t think so.”
“Well, they teach us not to let doctors bully us,” she confided, “just in case we happen to marry one.”
“I see,” Jeb said and smiled happily. “Sweetheart, isn’t it awesome about Michael? What an amazing outcome, more than anything I could have prayed for! I’m on my way upstairs to read the reports for myself. Lauren must be so happy.”
“Oh, she is!” Kenni agreed. “I think ten years have melted away since she heard the news this morning. And she couldn’t wait to call Charlie to share the news with him. Oh Jeb, won’t it be wonderful if they find each other? They are both lonely and I think they would get along great together!”
“Matchmaking, are we?”
“No!” Kenni protested and then laughed. “Oh, dang it, I’m guilty as charged. I like both of them. It could be wonderful if they end up together. You can admit that much.”
“If that’s the way it is supposed to work out, then it will.”
Kenni shook her head. “Spoken like a true man.”
Jeb helped himself to a swallow from Kenni’s glass of ice water. “Well, I guess it’s time for me to scoot upstairs. If I forget, or get hung up, send a search party to drag me down for the party. Word has it that the girls in Public Information have quite a carry in planned for tonight, and lots of good stuff!”
“I’ll seek you out personally,” Kenni promised with a mock salute. “Oh, I almost forgot. What happened with Alan? Did he ever catch up with Leslie?”
Jeb shrugged his shoulders. “He called her cell phone, but last I heard, she hadn’t called him back. It looks like we may have a houseguest for a few days. I hope you don’t mind; he really doesn’t want to be alone.”
“No, that’s fine. I just think it’s a shame that they can’t work out whatever it is,” Kenni offered. “Did you mention the Christmas party to him?”
Jeb nodded. “Yes, and he’ll be here. He wants to see Michael.” He leaned across the table and kissed his wife. “I’ve gotta go. Love you.”
“Love you too,” Kenni replied with a smile, and then watched him as he strode through the cafeteria waving to this one, saying hello to that one. “That’s my guy,” she sighed and rested her chin against her hands. “Thank you, Lord.”
***
Darkness falls early during winter in southwestern Ohio. By five o’clock the commuters are in their cars and out in full force, their headlights on, and at Christmas, the outside decorations are lit up and in full splendor for all to see. Brannan’s Point Pediatric Hospital was no exception. A forty-foot tree, every inch of it trimmed with sparkling, jewel-colored lights, classic decorations and glittery garland gleamed like gemstones as it welcomed everyone to the hospital on Christmas Eve.
The Christmas celebration occurred on all the patient floors of the hospital as Santa visited. His sleigh was a garland covered wheelchair pushed by a student nurse dressed as an elf. Santa--aka Doctor Bill Conley--held a bald, smiling three-year-old girl who sat excitedly on his lap. Together they delivered gifts to every patient confined to the hospital. Santa had chosen a group of older children who were well enough to be up and around to serve as junior elves, and they were all smiles beneath the festive hats on their heads as they helped pass out the gifts. There were also stockings for patients, family and staff, lovingly made or donated by the Ladies Auxiliary who had also stuffed each one with chocolate goodies. Precious laughter rang throughout the corridors as Santa “ho-ho-hoed” his way through the hospital.
On the third floor, another celebration was underway as Michael Donahue prepared to be discharged. Ordinarily a child who had just come out of a coma would not be going home, but there was nothing ordinary about Michael’s case. Not only were there no signs of cancer in his body, but no evidence that any surgery had taken place—no incision, no IV marks or bruises, nothing. There was no logical explanation for it, no medical terms or any possible way to account for what had happened, except one: Michael had been gloriously touched by the hand of God.
“Incredible,” Charlie Petersen breathed as he watched Michael standing on his own two feet as if he had never been sick for a single second. “If I didn’t see it with my own eyes, I wouldn’t believe it.”
Michael looked up at him. “Charlie, did you know Brownie?” he asked, unable to hold in the question. He was curious about the man his mother seemed to be smiling at a lot, and he knew that he owned a toy store. “Um, did you ever meet him while he worked here, I mean?” He hoped adding that would disguise what he really meant as he recalled that Brownie’s identity was supposed to remain secret.
Charlie nodded. “Yes, Michael, he stayed at my house while he was here. I got to know him very well.”
“I didn’t know that,” Lauren replied, surprised by Charlie’s revelation about his relationship with Brownie. “I saw him that time in your shop. It was obvious that you two knew one another, but I didn’t think anything of it.”
Charlie couldn’t stop grinning from ear to ear. “That’s where I found him—in my shop.” He stopped short of telling them all that what he thought was a teddy bear appeared at his home all by itself. He wasn’t sure exactly who knew what, when it came to Brownie.
“I wondered where he spent his time,” Kenni commented, her hand entwined in Jeb’s as he stood beside her at the window. “Then again, Brownie came and went.”
“Is he coming back, Nurse Kenni?” Michael asked as he walked toward the window, looking up at her with hope shining in his dark blue eyes. The healthy coloring a child was supposed to have showed on his face.
“Oh, I’m afraid not, Michael,” Kenni told him sadly. “His work here is done. I think one day we’l
l see him again, though, at least I hope so.”
“He is the most interesting individual I’ve ever met,” Bernie added as he joined the conversation. “I’ll definitely miss Kevin Browne. He was very special and always will be.”
“You guys got to know him longer than I did,” Alan interjected. With nowhere else to go, and no reply from his wife, he had accepted Jeb’s invitation to come to the hospital for the Christmas party. Somehow they had all gravitated toward Michael’s room, not that he minded that at all. “He’s an amazing...young man.”
“I feel like we should drink a toast to Brownie!” Lauren said with a smile. She doubted they would share their stories of their encounters with Brownie, but she knew she would never forget what he had shown her, or that it was the love of a generous God who allowed an angel to be in their presence, and for them to be shown his true identity.
“We could toast with bottled water,” Jeb offered. “I keep some in my office.”
“Wow, look at that!” Michael cried out and drew everyone’s attention. “Look, Mommy!” They all turned to look at him as he stood at the window, looking upward.
“What is it?” Lauren asked and they all moved closer to the large window to see what had Michael so excited.
Sparkling, golden snow glittered against the background of the night sky. “It’s snowing golden snow!” Kenni breathed. “Oh Jeb, look!”
“I’ve never seen anything like it!” Jeb exclaimed, almost speechless.
As they watched an amazing display of swirling golden snow, an image appeared in the window where they stood. They stared in awe as Kevin Browne, clad in a flowing white robe, stood suspended in the air for a brief moment. He was smiling at them from a mist of golden swirls, his unforgettable eyes sparkling like emeralds. He waved, closed his eyes, and raised his face and hands toward heaven. Before their very eyes they saw the form of Kevin once more become the teddy bear they all knew as Brownie. He was much larger; Kenni estimated he was as tall as she, if not taller.
“He has wings!” Michael shouted excitedly, his hands up against the window pane, his eyes wide as he watched. “Mom, Brownie has wings! Now he looks like an angel!”
Brownie waved once more as he ascended, leaving a golden vapor trail in his wake, and they watched until they could no longer see him. They all knew that he was on his way home to Heaven, and that his time with them had come to an end.
Kenni leaned her head against Jeb’s chest as she watched the golden snow fall. It began to lose its golden color, still glittering against the black velvet sky, but looking more like ordinary snow. “Until we meet again, Brownie,” she whispered.
Jeb slid his arms around his wife and held her close. “Until we meet again,” he said thoughtfully, repeating Kenni’s words and he wondered when that might be. “Thank you, Lord, for everything.”
Charlie found Lauren’s hand warmly encased in his and squeezed it. For perhaps the first time in his life, hope filled his heart that maybe the best of life still lay ahead of him.
“Are not all angels ministering spirits sent to serve those who will inherit salvation?” Charlie quoted from Hebrews 1:14.
The End
NOTATIONS
~Chatty Cathy is a registered Trade Mark of Mattel Inc., El Segundo, CA USA~
~Scripture taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved. ~
BROWNIE: An Angel's Visit Page 39