Ruth, can you hear me? Please—look at me.”
Ruth tried to open her eyes, but they wouldn’t cooperate. Where was she? Who was calling her name?
“Ruth … Ruth …”
Her eyelids fluttered.
“I think she’s trying to wake up.”
“Are you sure my daughter’s going to be all right?”
“She came through the surgery well. Given some time, she should heal from all her injuries.”
“Thank the Lord.”
Mom, is that you? The words formed on Ruth’s tongue, but she couldn’t open her mouth.
“She should be fully awake soon, and then the sheriff will want to question her.”
Question me about what? Why can’t I open my eyes or speak to Mom?
“My son-in-law and I have already spoken to the sheriff, so I don’t see what good it will do for—”
Dad, is that you? Tell me where I am and why I can’t see you and Mom. Reaching from deep within, Ruth cracked one eye open, then the other. Blurry faces came into view—faces she recognized.
“Wh–where am I?” she rasped.
“You’re in the hospital,” Dad said.
“What happened? Why does my stomach hurt so much?”
“You were in a horrible accident.” Mom’s face looked pale, and her chin quivered slightly.
“Do you know how it happened, Ruth?” Dad questioned. “Did your buggy hit a patch of ice on the road?”
Ruth closed her eyes and tried to remember. She and Martin had been driving down the road, heading to Mom and Dad’s on Christmas Eve. It had been snowing, and they’d been talking about wanting to have a baby. Then a truck had come barreling up behind them, and then—
“Martin! Where’s Martin?”
Dad opened his mouth as if to respond, but Mom shook her head. “You need to rest, Ruth. We can talk about this when you’re feeling better.”
The look of sadness on Mom’s face sent a jolt of panic through Ruth’s body. She tried to sit up, but a woman wearing a white uniform placed a restraining hand on her shoulder.
“Lie still, dear,” she said. “You’ve just come from surgery and you’ve lost a lot of blood. You don’t want to rip open your stitches.”
“Stitches? Where do I have stitches?”
The nurse looked over at Mom. “Perhaps it would be best if we let her sleep. She needs to remain calm.”
A warm, tingling sensation shot up Ruth’s arm, and she moaned. I must be dreaming. Jah, that’s all it is; just a strange dream.
As Grace sat in the hospital waiting room with Cleon beside her, her brain felt as if it were in a fog. What had started out to be a pleasant Christmas Eve had turned into a terrible nightmare.
She glanced across the room, where her folks stood talking to Martin’s parents. Mom had her arm around Flossie’s shoulder, no doubt offering words of comfort. Dad was doing the same with Martin’s father, Elmer.
“I just can’t believe what’s happened tonight,” Grace said, clinging to Cleon’s hand. “When the doctor came out and told us that Martin was dead and that they’d done surgery on Ruth because her intestines and uterus had been damaged, my brain wouldn’t let me believe it.”
“I know—it’s a terrible thing. At least we can take comfort in knowing that Martin’s in heaven.” Cleon let go of Grace’s hand and slipped his arm around her shoulders. “Ruth doesn’t know the extent of her injuries, does she?”
“Not yet.” Grace gulped down a sob. “When she finds out she’ll never be able to have kinner, I’m sure she’ll fall apart. All Ruth’s ever wanted is to be a wife and mother. She loved Martin so much.”
Cleon squeezed her shoulder. “Someday, when the pain of losing Martin has subsided, Ruth might find love again, and then—”
“How you can say such a thing?” Tears stung Grace’s eyes, and when she blinked, they spilled onto her cheeks.
“I’m not suggesting she find another man and get married as soon as she comes home from the hospital. I just wanted you to realize—”
Grace shook her head. “I can’t believe Ruth has been put to the test like this. It’s not fair! She’s always had such a sweet, tender spirit. She doesn’t deserve to have something so terrible happen to her.”
“No one deserves it, Grace. Rain falls on the just, same as it does the unjust. We need to ask God to give Ruth strength and help her deal with this loss.”
A thump-thump-thump woke Abe from his slumber. He rolled over and groaned. It sounded as though someone was knocking on the back door.
He shoved the covers aside, swung his legs over the side of the bed, and stepped into his trousers. Stumbling down the hallway, he bumped into Sue at the bottom of the stairs.
“I heard knocking and came to see who it was,” she said.
“Me, too.” Abe pulled the back door open and was stunned to see Ivan Schrock standing on the porch. “Ivan, what are you doing here on Christmas morning?”
Ivan’s solemn expression caused Abe immediate concern. “I got word from Cleon this morning. There was a horrible accident last night.”
“A buggy accident?”
“Jah. It was Martin’s buggy.”
“Martin Gingerich?” Sue and Abe asked at the same time.
Ivan nodded. “Sorry to be tellin’ you this, but Martin’s dead, and Ruth’s in the hospital with serious injuries.”
Abe’s knees nearly buckled, and he heard Sue’s sharp intake of breath. Instinctively, he reached for her hand. “How did it happen? Was it caused by ice on the road?”
“We’re not sure. All I know is that Cleon and Roman got worried when Ruth and Martin didn’t show up at their place on Christmas Eve, so they went looking for them.” Ivan drew in a quick breath. “Guess they found Martin’s mangled buggy overturned on the shoulder of the road. The horse was dead, and Martin and Ruth were unconscious and bleeding pretty bad. Martin died soon after they got to the hospital, and the doctors did surgery on Ruth.”
“What kind of surgery?” Sue asked.
Ivan’s gaze dropped to the porch as his face flamed. “A hysterectomy. She had some damage to her intestines, and her uterus was messed up when she fell on a broken buggy wheel.”
“That’s baremlich!” Sue cried.
“Terrible isn’t the word for it!” Abe steadied himself against the doorjamb. “Is Ruth going to be okay?”
Ivan shrugged. “I think so—in time.”
Abe slowly shook his head. “I can’t believe that my good friend, who saved me from drowning, is dead.” Hot tears stung his eyes. “First my Alma, and now Ruth’s Martin. Dear Lord, how much more can we take?”
Ruth opened her eyes and blinked against the invading light. She’d been dreaming—a horrible, frightening dream about her and Martin riding in their buggy and a truck ramming them from behind. But it couldn’t have happened. She was safe and warm in her bed at home. Everything was as it should be.
She turned toward Martin’s side of the bed. He wasn’t there. All she saw was a strange-looking machine with a long piece of plastic tubing that was connected to—
Ruth screamed as a sharp pain shot through her abdomen. “Where am I? What’s happened to me?”
“It’s all right, Ruth. You’re in the hospital. We’re taking good care of you.”
A young woman wearing a white uniform stepped up to the side of the bed and placed a cool hand on Ruth’s forehead. “The sheriff’s outside. He wants to ask you a few questions.”
“The sheriff?”
“That’s right. He needs to talk to you about the accident.”
“Accident?”
“The one you were involved in last night.”
So it wasn’t a dream. There really had been an accident. As the reality set in, Ruth trembled. “Wh–where’s my husband?”
The woman glanced over her shoulder, then Ruth’s mother stepped forward.
“Mom! I’m so glad you’re here. Martin and I were in an accident. Somebody rammed the back of our buggy, and—”
“I know.” Mom clasped Ruth’s hand. “You were hurt badly, Ruth. When the buggy tipped over, one of the wheels broke, and you landed on it when you were thrown from the buggy. The broken wheel punctured your belly, causing some intestinal damage, as well as damage to your uterus.” She paused and sniffed a couple of times. “The doctors—they had to do an emergency hysterectomy. You’ll have to take antibiotics for some time to fight any possible infection.”
“Wh–what are you saying?” Ruth’s throat felt so dry and swollen she could barely swallow.
Mom sank into the chair beside Ruth’s bed as tears dribbled down her cheeks. “The surgery to fix your bowels was a success, but I’m sorry, daughter…. You’ll never have any babies.”
“What? Oh no, that just can’t be. Martin and I want a big family.
We—”
Mom slowly shook her head. “Martin’s gone, Ruth. He died soon after you were brought to the hospital.”
Ruth stared at the ceiling. Surely Mom was wrong. Martin couldn’t be dead. They’d been on their way to Mom and Dad’s to celebrate Christmas Eve. It was going to be a happy time—her and Martin’s first Christmas together.
“No! No! No!”