Lavinia sat down in the chair beside the bed. “Talk about embarrassing. One of the nurses called me Mrs. Stoltzfus in front of your eldres. I had to explain things to them.” She sighed. “They were nice to me about it. Said they understood.”
“They’ve always liked you,” Abe said. “It was nice of you to take them to lunch.”
“I’ve always liked them, too. Your mudder has always made me feel wilkumm at your house. It was a pleasure sharing a meal with them. I was concerned that they might not have eaten on their trip back.”
She glanced over as a nurse carried in a tray and set it on the table beside the bed.
“We have an extra tray if you’d like to eat lunch together,” the woman told her.
“Thanks, but I had lunch with Abe’s parents while he was having his test.”
“That’s nice.”
The nurse started to lift the dome from the plate, then placed it back down as her name was called over the intercom.
“I’ll be right back,” she assured them, and hurried out of the room.
“I can help you if you like,” Lavinia told him.
Abe lifted the arm that was encased in a cast. “That would be great. It’s a little awkward with this.”
Lavinia rose and lifted the dome, and the scents poured out. “Roast beef. Your favorite. And mashed potatoes and gravy. Your dat had the same meal in the cafeteria and said it was gut.”
She cut the beef and forced away the memory of how Waneta had helped her mann when his hands shook too badly to feed himself. Either his MS had gotten a little worse since the last time she’d seen him or the trip had tired him greatly.
She pulled the paper from a straw, stuck it into the glass of iced tea, and watched him eat. “Has the food been allrecht so far?”
“Gut, but nothing like Mamm’s.”
“Give her a day or two to rest up from the trip and I bet she’ll be bringing your favorites to you.”
He poked a spoon at the bowl of Jell-O. “Haven’t had this since I was a kid.” He glanced up at her. “Maybe you could see your way to bringing me some of your brownies.”
She smiled. “I could do that.”
The nurse returned. “Sorry I got called away. You folks doing okay?”
“Just fine, thanks.”
She noticed Abe didn’t eat as much as usual, but she supposed he didn’t have as much of an appetite lying there as he did working his dairy farm all day. She decided that when she visited tomorrow, she’d make schur she brought him the brownies he’d requested. Maybe see if she could make one of his favorite foods.
With that thought, Lavinia stood. “I have to go.”
“I—” He stopped.
“What?”
He shook his head. “Nothing.”
But she saw something in his eyes…a look of such pain. And something else. Something that spoke of such sadness and naked longing it broke her heart. She moved closer. “What is it, Abe? Are you in pain? What can I do?”
“Stay,” he whispered. And then he shook his head again. “I’m sorry. I’m not being fair. I know you have to go. You’ve been here so much.”
Unbearably touched, she moved closer and touched his hand. “I wanted to be here. Listen, I’ll go call Mamm, see if she needs me at the shop. Otherwise I’ll stay a while longer with you and your eldres.”
He nodded, looking so relieved she was glad she’d suggested it.
“Get some rest. I’ll see you later.”
His eyes were already closing as she stepped back from the bed.
When she returned to the waiting room, she saw Faron was dozing, his head back, as he sat on the plastic sofa.
Waneta looked up from the magazine she was reading and smiled. “That big lunch put him right to sleep,” she whispered.
“Same thing with Abe. He was falling asleep when I left him.”
“Gut. It’ll help him heal.”
She sat down on a chair beside Waneta. “He asked me to bring him some brownies tomorrow.”
“My Abe’s always had a sweet tooth.” Her blue eyes twinkled. “And he’s always loved your brownies.”
Lavinia blushed. “I’m schur he’s going to ask you to make some of his favorite food once you’ve rested up.” She glanced at Faron. “I’m going to step out of the room and call my mudder, see if she needs me to come in.”
Waneta patted her hand. “You can stay right here unless you want privacy. Won’t wake Faron. He’s going to be out for a while. The bus trip was hard on him.” She frowned. “Don’t repeat that to Abe.”
“I won’t.” She had suspected the trip had been difficult for both Abe’s eldres. She pulled Abe’s cell phone from her purse and called her mudder.
“Amish Treasures, Rachel speaking.”
“Mamm, it’s Lavinia. I’m calling to see if you need me to come in. If not, I’d like to stay here.”
“Nee, it’s slow. How is Abe?”
“Better. But I’d like to stay and visit with him a little more.”
“Do that. How are Waneta and Faron?”
She glanced at Waneta. “Why don’t you ask her yourself?” She handed Waneta the phone. “Mamm’s asking about you.”
The two women chatted for several minutes, and then Waneta handed the phone back to Lavinia and she finished talking to her mudder.
“You should take the phone home with you today,” she told Waneta. “It’s Abe’s. He probably has the charger for it at his house.”
“Allrecht.”
They spent the next hour chatting. Waneta wanted to know everything that had been going on in the two months she and Faron had been away visiting their oldest sohn.
Faron woke and glanced around, looking a little disoriented. “Must have dozed off for a few minutes.”
Waneta laughed and shook her head. “Nearly two hours.”
He grinned at Lavinia. “She exaggerates.”
Waneta nodded soberly. “It was only an hour and fifty-five minutes.”
Faron laughed and slapped his knee. “She’s got a sense of humor.” Then his smile faded. “How’s Abe doing? You went in there after us.”
“He’s concerned,” she said carefully. “But I keep reminding him the doctor’s hopeful. I’m schur the doctor will know more after the test Abe had today.”
Several people walked in, talking about a family member who was in surgery.
“I need to stretch my legs,” Waneta said. She looked at Lavinia. “Walk with me?”
“Schur.”
“Maybe you could walk past the cafeteria, see if they have another piece of that pie we had for lunch,” Faron suggested.
“Now who’s got a sense of humor?” Waneta asked. “Never stops at one slice,” she told Lavinia as they walked out of the room.
“My dat’s the same. Abe, too. Especially if it’s your pie.”
“That’s the first thing I’ll make Abe. Maybe his favorite fruit pie.”
“Apple,” they said at the same time.
When Waneta teared up, Lavinia hugged her. “He’ll be feeling better in no time,” she told the older woman. “You wait and see if I’m not right.”
* * *
Abe smiled as he dreamed of walking among the rows of cows being milked.
His dat had started him working with the cows when he was barely toddling, introducing him to them, letting him watch him hook up the automatic milking equipment. Sitting Abe on a little wooden stool, his dat had showed him how to squeeze the cow’s teats and aim the milk into a pail the old-fashioned way. Abe had fun aiming a stream of milk at a barn cat that lapped at it eagerly until his dat chided him for playing. Soon he was walking alongside his dat and hooking the cows up to the equipment that milked them now—a process that wasn’t as much fun as doing it by hand but was a lot more efficient.
The work was long and hard. Cows had to be milked twice a day, and the cow barn had to be scrubbed immaculate. It was a big responsibility and one he didn’t take lightly. This was a product that people consumed, and the Stoltzfus farm would exceed all the standards for as long as he lived.
His older bruder had married and now helped run a farm his fraa’s familye owned in Ohio. So it fell to Abe to take over when their dat was diagnosed with MS and needed to retire.
Now, in his dream, Abe walked through the cow barn and felt pride that he was carrying on the tradition that had been in the familye for generations. Something was wrong, though. He heard a cow mooing in distress. She sounded like she was in pain. But though he walked and walked and checked each one, the sound grew louder, more painful for him to hear. He couldn’t stand to hear an animal in distress. He called out their names, telling them he was coming to help.
And then he woke, panting, sweaty, and found he was the one in pain, lying in a sterile white hospital bed, unable to move his legs.
A nurse rushed in and looked at the machine that recorded his blood pressure. “Your BP’s a little high. What’s wrong?”
He took a deep breath, tried to calm himself. “Bad dream.”
She frowned as she took his temperature. “How’s your pain level on a scale of one to ten?”
“About an eight.”
“Hmm. Let me put in a call to your doctor, see what we can do, okay?”
He nodded and winced as his head reminded him it didn’t appreciate the movement. “Thanks.”
“Do you feel up to seeing your family for a few minutes, or do you want to wait until I get you something for your pain?”
“Maybe I should see them. I’d like to persuade my mother to take my father home. He has MS, and I can tell the bus ride here was hard on him.”
“I think that’s a good idea.” She pulled a moist towelette from a box beside the bed and wiped his face. “There. Anything else I can do before I call the doctor?”
“No, that felt good. Thanks.”
“Hang in there. It’s going to get better.” She smiled at him and left the room.
He hoped she was right. He didn’t think things could get worse.
When his eldres walked in, he was glad he said he wanted to see them. His dat looked even more tired than he had earlier, and he could tell his mudder’s energy was flagging, even if she did her best to look bright and cheerful.
She placed a paper bag on the bedside table before she sat down on a chair. “A little snack Lavinia and I picked up for you in the cafeteria. Your favorite. Apple pie and a carton of milk.”
“Sounds gut. Sounds better than the Jell-O at lunch.”
“I’ll bring you something from home when we visit tomorrow.”
“The pie isn’t bad,” his dat said as he sat. “Not as gut as your mudder’s, but it’ll do you until you get hers.”
“I don’t want you to fuss,” Abe told her. “You both look tired. I’d like you to go home and get some rest.”
“We’re fine. Your dat took a nap in the waiting room.”
“Mamm. Please?” He glanced at his dat, then back at her. “Besides, you’d be doing me a favor checking that Wayne has taken care of things.”
“Now you know he has. That young man works as hard as you do.”
Abe looked at his dat. “I’d really feel better with someone there after he does the chores.”
“Bu’s right,” Faron said. “It’s hard to relax leaving things in someone else’s care. And Wayne doesn’t live on the property, even if he is just two farms down the road. Abe, we’ve been talking to your bruder and he wants to come down to help, but we’ve told him Wayne and I will manage.”
“Thank him, but he’s got enough on his hands with his own farm in Ohio.” Abe really was concerned about how tired they looked. “Please, go home and get some rest.”
Waneta sighed. “Allrecht, we’ll go home in a few minutes.” She grinned mischievously. “Maybe you just want more time with Lavinia instead of your old eldres.”
He felt his face heat. “That’s not true. She’s a friend.”
“Schur.”
“I think I’d like that pie now,” he said, hoping to distract her. “Maybe you could help me with it, Mamm?” He held up his arm with the cast as he’d done with Lavinia. “This makes it a little hard to manage.”
It worked. Waneta took a plastic container and a carton of milk from the bag. She set them on the table and moved it over the bed. After opening the pie box, she handed him a plastic fork. Then she opened the milk carton and stuck a straw in it.
“Like Daed said, not bad,” he said, after he’d chewed a bite and swallowed.
“This is from the Abbott dairy,” she noted as she studied the carton. “Gut to see the hospital buys local.”
Abe sipped the milk and found himself remembering how he’d been worrying about milk prices before he slipped and fell off the roof. But he wasn’t going to say anything to his eldres. He didn’t want them worrying. Besides, his dat was retired, but Abe knew he kept up with the news, and they’d talked a week or so before his accident.
“So what shall I bring you tomorrow?”
“Meatloaf,” he said immediately. “I’ve missed it since you’ve been gone.”
“And apple pie?”
He grinned as he forked up more pie.
They chatted a few more minutes before they got up to leave. He was nearly undone when he saw the tears in his mudder’s eyes as she bent to hug him. His dat swallowed hard before patting him on the shoulder.
“I’m going to be allrecht,” he assured them with more conviction than he felt.
“Of course you are,” his mudder said in a voice that sounded husky. “See you tomorrow.”
Lavinia came in a few minutes later.
“You schur you’re not too tired?” he asked.
“Nee. I’m fine.”
But as she took a seat, he saw the faint lavender shadows under her eyes and wondered how much rest she was getting while visiting him as much as she had been doing.
The nurse came in. “Doctor got back to me, upped your pain meds.” She injected the syringe in her hand into the IV. “That should work very soon. Just use the call button if you need anything,” she said before she left the room.
“I told my eldres to go home,” he told Lavinia. “They looked so tired. Especially Daed. Maybe you should go home, too. You’ve been here all day.”
She smiled. “Trying to get rid of me?”
“It’s not fair of me to expect you to sit around here all day just to visit with me a few minutes whenever they let you in.” He looked away for a moment, then met her gaze. “I was feeling sorry for myself earlier, and I think I put pressure on you.”
She reached for his hand. “Friends are there for each other.”
He stared at her and wondered if the sudden lift of spirits came from emotion or from the pain leaving him as the medication took effect.
“I—” he began, but then he stopped. How could he say he wanted to be more than friends at a time like this? He didn’t know what was going to happen to him. Best to keep his thoughts to himself for now.
“What?”
He shook his head and was grateful it didn’t hurt when he did. “Nothing. I think the pain meds are kicking in.”
“Why don’t you take a nap, and I’ll see you in a bit.” It was a statement not a question, because she rose and patted his hand lying on top of the blanket.
“Then you’ll go home after?”
“We’ll see,” she said. “We’ll see.”
He wanted to be firm with her, but he felt himself drifting, and then he knew no more.