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After Miriam and Ruby ate their scrumptious fast food, Ruby went to check on Levi’s condition. Within a few minutes, a nurse brought Miriam’s boppli for her to nurse. After telling the nurse she was a midwife, the nurse only helped her a bit with the boppli. Each had their fill and dropped off to sleep.
“What are their names?” The nurse asked.
Miriam shook her head. “I do not know. I will wait until my husband, Levi, is awake, and I will discuss it with him. I have some ideas, but I do not want to jump ahead and name them on my own.”
“I heard your husband is holding his own. You have a magical talent, Miriam.”
“Nee, it is Gott’s will and his healing power to bring people back. It was not Levi’s time to go.”
The woman placed the babies in their large plastic baskets and wheeled them out of the room. Miriam wanted nothing more than to go see Levi, but she did not know where Intensive care was in this big hospital.
She had enough of the confinement. Looking across the room, she spotted a wheelchair. The nurses had used it to take her to the bathroom. Were Englisch mothers so coddled they had to be rolled about?
Trying to talk herself out of taking a nap, Miriam must stay awake so she could go see Levi. Tossing back the covers, Miriam moved her legs to dangle over the edge of the bed. She realized what a toll the surgical birthing took of her. The wheelchair looked so far away.
Hanging on to the side of the bed, Miriam took tiny, slow steps to the wheelchair. When she finally got there, she dropped into the chair. Glancing at the wall clock, Miriam gasped when she read the time. Nine o’clock. At night. Hopefully, the nurses and doctors were too busy to see her as she made her way toward the intensive care rooms. She did not know the location of Levi’s room, but she was determined to find him.
Miriam placed her feet on the metal holders and began moving the chair with her hands. Her arms were much stronger than her legs, which was a good thing because she did not feel strong enough to walk.
Passing by a window, she saw clear, plastic baby baskets. Two of those held her boppli. She counted eleven boppli in the room. From the window, she could not tell her children from others.
Making her way down the hall, she spotted the elevator. Luckily a guide was posted on the wall directing people where to locate this and that in the hospital. ICU was the next floor up. Miriam pushed the up button, and the electronic doors flew open, causing her to jump. She might own a cell phone, but it was all the technology she used. She was a simple woman and this hospital, with all its energy as workers raced here and there frightened her.
Rolling into the elevator, she pushed a button, and her stomach flipped as the car whizzed upward. The door opened on the new floor. It was not as bright in the waiting room. Looking at the windows, the night sky greeted her. No wonder it was so dim in here.
Looking closer, she took in people gathered near the corner of the room. Most of them were sleeping. Did they have someone they loved in ICU needing extreme medical care?
To her left, a long hallway with windows at each room filled her sight. How would she find Levi here? Slowly, she wheeled toward the nurses' desk where people sat at computers or spoke on telephones. The only way to do this was to ask. Surely, they would not make her go back to her room without seeing her husband.
“Excuse me, Miss?” Miriam said.
An older woman dressed in a large, colorful top with pockets and loose slacks looked over the counter to her. The woman’s brows knit together. “You must have the wrong floor, Miss. This is intensive care.”
“Yes, I know. I am Levi Miller’s wife, Miriam. I wish to see him.”
The woman turned and spoke to another woman dressed similarly. After a brief moment, the second woman made her way to Miriam. “Miriam?” the woman said.
She nodded. “Yes, I am. Can you help me find Levi?”
“I’m doctor Adams. I’m caring for your husband. Come. Let’s go to his room. How are you doing? I heard you had twins today. I suspect you should be in your room resting, but I understand your concern about Levi.”
The woman took the chair handles and navigated Miriam down the hall. They only went past two other rooms where the curtains were closed to block out the hallway, but Levi’s curtains were open, and she could see him through the windows. He was pale and hooked up to all sorts of machines.
“Oh, my! My sister told me you said he was getting better. He looks dead to me!” She began to cry.
The doctor squeezed her shoulders reassuringly. “I know he looks terrible to you, but he’s been through a long surgery, and now we have him on a medication which makes him sleep. The bullet nicked his heart. I don’t know how he made it to the hospital in time, but he did. We repaired his heart, but we are giving him medications to make his heart beat slower and more gentle. We need him to be calm to heal.”
“When will you stop the coma medication and bring him back?”
“If his vitals remain stable, as they are now, I can begin weaning him off it tomorrow. It will take a day or so for him to come around.”
“Can I go in and sit by his bed? Hold his hand and tell him about his children?”
“Certainly. I am calling down to obstetrics to let the nursing staff know you’re up here. I’ll give you thirty minutes then a nurse will come for you and take you back. After a good night's rest, you can come back tomorrow for longer.”
Doctor Adams pushed her into the room and settled her by Levi’s bedside.
“Thank you so much. I will not be a bother.”
As the doctor walked from the room, she lowered the bright lights. Miriam sighed. The room felt better now and not so clinical with all the whirring, beeping machines.
“Levi, it is Miriam. I love you so much. Please stay strong and heal so you can come back to us. Our boppli have been born. You have a son and a daughter. I need you to help name them...”
She continued murmuring to him, but he did not respond. It did not frighten her, though. The doctor told her it could be a couple days.
All she had left in her was a prayer to Gott. In the Bible, I have read of miraculous healing, and I believe that you still heal the same way today. I believe that there is no illness you cannot heal after all the bible tells of you raising people from the dead so I ask for your healing of Levi, dear Gott.
***
Two days later, Miriam awakened to sunshine pouring in through the large window by her hospital bed. She turned onto her side and sat up. The nurses were allowing her to go to the bathroom unaided now. Walking to the sink, she looked at herself in the mirror. She appeared shrunken. Her cheeks were hollow, and she had dark circles under her eyes. This will not last forever. Running a brush through her long hair to untangle it the knots quickly fell out and once smooth, she began braiding it to keep it under control. Standing there in the nightgown Ruby brought to her yesterday was vastly better than wearing the awful hospital gown. Never had she felt so exposed.
Her comfy robe had been destroyed the night Levi had been shot, so Ruby bought her a new one. It was fluffy and soft. A zipper ran from her ankles to the collar. Her sister told her it was easier to keep on than if she just had a belt to hold it together. Miriam supposed she was right, but it would take some time to get used to. She put it on and zipped it up quickly.
Just as she returned to the bed, sitting on the edge, two nurses wheeled her boppli into the room. Feeding time again. Miriam loved to hug her babies. She still had no name for them, but she prayed Levi would awaken today. Doctor Adams said Levi was entirely off the strong medication which kept him in a coma.
Miriam took her son, who began fussing in hunger. The nurse held her daughter, jostling her a bit to keep her calm until it was her turn to nurse. Miriam stroked her little man’s cheek. It was smooth and warm. What pretty boppli she and Levi had created. Feeding him, Miriam dozed off and awakened when the nurse took him from her and handed her daughter to her.
***
Before the nursing was over, Anna, Wayne, and Asher walked into the room. Their faces were serious. The first thing Miriam thought was something had happened to Levi.
“What? What is it? Did something happen to Levi?”
“No. No, nothing like that,” Asher said, “We have news for you about the shooting.”
The nurse took the baby from her. “We’ll get them bathed and bring them back in later.” She turned, and Wayne helped her out by holding the door.
“All of you pull up a chair. You make me nervous hovering over the top of me.”
After Asher was settled, he spoke to all three of them. “We have been keeping this hush-hush in the district. I now have the names of the people involved in this horse theft ring, and the name of the man who shot Levi.”
Miriam’s chest tightened, and it became hard to breathe. “Go on,” she whispered.
Anna stood beside Miriam’s bed with Wayne standing protectively behind his wife. “The three of them were from Ohio. They crossed over to our districts, stole the horses then carted them back to Ohio. That’s why we couldn’t find them looking in our areas.”
“Why did they stop for so long and make us think it was all over?” Miriam asked.
Asher twirled his cap between his knees. “We think it was from all the commotion of bringing in all the families. With so many people around, they had to wait for everything to settle down.”
“So, who are they?” Miriam questioned.
“Does it matter? None of you will know the names from the out-of-staters.”
Miriam shook her head. “I do not care, Asher. I want to hear the name of the man who nearly killed my husband.”
Asher reached in his pocket and took out a small, spiral notebook. “Ok. The two accomplices are Rowdy Deuel and Herman Grosenick, the shooter was Jim Hooley. He was living in Bishop Eischler’s barn, pretending to be a destitute man.”
“Oh!” Anna cried. Her legs went limp, and Wayne grabbed her to keep her from falling. Asher moved quickly and got a chair underneath her. Anna sobbed with her hands over her face. “No, no, it cannot be...”
Asher looked at Wayne, his brows knit together, and he tipped his head in the man’s direction. “Why is she like this?”
“Anna, I must tell them, dear.”
She nodded, and her husband continued. “You see, Anna’s maiden name is Hooley. James is her brother.”