Feels gut to be back to work,” Lavinia said as she walked into the shop with her mudder the next morning.
She flicked on the lights and made sure the door was locked behind them. They wouldn’t open for another half hour.
She’d always loved the time she spent in the shop filled with the artistic handmade crafts of her fellow Amish. Her mudder’s loom sat in one corner with the latest throw she was weaving, and Lavinia had her own little table where she wove her rag rugs when business was slow. Shelves were filled with creative wooden and fabric items.
She took her mudder’s lunch tote with her to put in the back room and make a pot of coffee. When she returned to the front of the shop, she put both mugs on the counter.
“Anything special you want me to do before we open?”
“We got some new stock in just before closing yesterday. It needs to be unpacked and priced. Then we’ll put it out for display.”
“I’m sorry I wasn’t here to help when it came in.” She sipped her coffee and watched her mudder pull the shop ledger out from a shelf under the counter.
“It was more important for you to be there with Abe and his familye.”
“Waneta and Faron looked so tired when they arrived,” she said, nodding. “And Waneta was trying to hide how worried she was. It was hard to get them to go home and get some rest.” Lavinia stared into her coffee. “But nobody was trying to hide how worried they were more than Abe. He still can’t feel his legs.” She sighed. “He told me to go home, but then he asked me to stay. That’s why I called and asked you if I could stay yesterday.” Her lips trembled and she pressed her fingers to them. “Oh, Mamm, I’m so worried about him.”
Rachel reached over and squeezed her hand. “I know. But Lavinia, remember what my friend Phoebe, your old teacher, used to say.”
“‘Worry is arrogant. God knows what He’s doing.’”
“Ya. So let’s pray. And then we’ll do the work we’re supposed to do and let God do His.”
Lavinia nodded and smiled. Her mudder was such a wise woman. After they prayed, Lavinia went into the back room and slit open the cartons of new stock that had come in.
She lifted out a big, hand-carved wooden bowl and ran her hand over its satiny surface. Naiman, her schweschder Sadie’s mann, did such beautiful work. She found six other bowls, each unique, and carried them to the front counter. There, she and her mudder recorded them in the inventory and priced them so that Lavinia could put them on display with Naiman’s other work.
The shop was filled with the colorful handmade work of men and women in their community. Her mudder was a fabric artist who wove beautiful throws that she’d sold on her own before starting the shop years ago. Gradually she’d filled it with the work of other Amish craftspeople, and now the shelves were full of traditional handwoven baskets, handmade candles, and jars of homemade preserves, jam, pickled vegetables, chow chow, and local honey. More canned goods would join them, as the summer harvest had many women in the community canning for hours.
Lavinia straightened the display of lavender sachets, chose two that were made of a simple muslin fabric—no flowers for Abe—and carried them over to the counter.
“Put these on my tab, Mamm. I was thinking I’d take them to Abe to put under his pillow to help him sleep. And maybe they’ll banish some of the antiseptic smell of the hospital.”
“Gut idea. I think they’ll be as welcome as the brownies.”
Customers began streaming in and time sped by. Before she knew it, Lavinia glanced at the clock and saw it was time for lunch. Rachel went into the back to eat while Lavinia manned the counter, and then they reversed their roles so Lavinia could eat. She took the sachets and tucked them into her purse to take to Abe later.
Liz, the Englisch woman some Amish hired to drive them where they needed to go, arrived and honked as she parked in front of the shop. Lavinia hugged her mudder and gathered up her purse and the container of brownies.
“Danki for letting me leave early so I can spend some time with Abe.”
“You’re wilkumm. Tell Abe I said hello. And Waneta and Faron. I’m schur they’ll be at the hospital today, too.”
“I will.”
She started for the door, then turned when she heard her mudder call her name.
“Here.” Rachel pressed two twenty-dollar bills into her hand. “I don’t want you to run out of money.”
“I have enough.”
Rachel shook her head. “I think you didn’t have enough money for supper at the hospital, or you wouldn’t have come home and eaten it at our house last night.”
“All I wanted was a sandwich there at suppertime. And I don’t know anyone who could turn down your baked chicken.”
“Go!” her mudder ordered, but there was a smile in her voice. “Liz is waiting.”
“I’m going,” Lavinia said, as she grinned and left the shop.
“How is Abe doing?” Liz asked, after Lavinia climbed into the van and buckled her seat belt. Lavinia figured she knew all the Amish in Lancaster County after decades of driving them around.
“He’s doing well, but I don’t know when he’ll get to go home.” Lavinia didn’t mention the paralysis. That was too personal.
“It’s hard for a man to be laid up in the hospital,” Liz said as she checked for traffic and pulled out onto the road. “I remember when my Jim had his knee replacement. Oh my, you’d have thought that he was going to be confined to the hospital for a month.”
Lavinia considered that. Just how long might Abe be in the hospital? And how expensive was the type of care he was getting in the ICU?
“Don’t you go worrying,” Liz told her as their gazes met in the rearview mirror. “Everyone who knows what happened is praying for Abe. And no one gets behind someone in need like the Amish. I’ve lived here all my life, and I’ve seen them help not just their own kind but my community, too. Why, they even had fundraisers for people in Haiti after the earthquake.”
“I know.”
“So, you taking him a little treat?”
“Brownies. He loves brownies.”
Liz laughed. “Who doesn’t?”
“Would you like one?”
She shook her head. “Don’t you tempt me. I’m on a diet. Again.”
“My father ate two last night.”
“He can do that. The man’s a farmer and works a lot harder than me just sitting in this van driving people around all day.”
“Dad is a hard worker,” she agreed. But then again, what farmer wasn’t? She didn’t think there was such a thing as a lazy farmer.
Liz asked her about her mudder and they chatted until the hospital came into view. “You let me know when you’re ready to go home,” the driver said. “And tell Abe I’m looking forward to when I can drive him back to his farm.”
Touched, Lavinia nodded. “I will.” She unbuckled her seat belt and leaned forward to pay Liz, then picked up her purse and the plastic container with the brownies and got out of the van.
She rode up the elevator with other visitors and stepped out onto Abe’s floor. But when she went by his room, his bed was empty. Telling herself he was probably somewhere having yet another test, she stopped at the nurse’s station. A new nurse was behind the counter, typing on a computer. She looked up at Lavinia and smiled. “How can I help you?”
“I’m here to see Abe Stoltzfus.”
“I’m sorry, but he’s not with us anymore.”
Her blood ran cold and her fingers clutched the counter. “What? What happened to him?” she cried, and her voice sounded like someone else’s—high pitched and full of nerves.
* * *
Abe didn’t like change much.
So when one of his nurses came in after lunch and said she was sorry she was going to lose him as a patient, he wasn’t happy. Until she told him he didn’t need to be in the ICU and could be in a regular room.
That was gut news. Even better news was remembering that it meant he could have visitors for longer periods.
“I thought that would put a grin on your face,” Pam, one of the daytime ICU nurses, said as she unhooked the blood pressure cuff. “More time to spend with your wife and family. They can let your friends know they can visit.”
“Friends.” He thought about that. It meant that Lavinia didn’t have to pretend she was his fraa.
She nodded, picked the stuffed cow up from the bed where she’d set it when she readied him for transfer, and set it on the bedside table.
“She’s not actually my wife.”
“Hmm?” she asked, smoothing the blanket over him.
“Lavinia isn’t my wife.”
She paused. “Oh?”
“The paramedics thought she was my wife when they came to my house. Since my parents were away, she got in the ambulance and came with me. Then she kept visiting me until they got here.”
“I see. Sort of like While You Were Sleeping.”
“What? I was unconscious, not sleeping.”
“It’s a movie,” she explained. “Well, we wouldn’t have told her she couldn’t see you.”
“She didn’t want to take the chance.”
“Sounds like she’s a really good friend.”
“I don’t know what I’d have done without her.” It was out before he could stop himself.
“It’s wonderful to have someone who cares for us when we need them so much,” Pam said quietly. Then she gave him a mischievous smile. “Maybe she’s more than a good friend?”
He felt his face redden.
“Well, Abe, we’re going to miss you in ICU, but we always love it when our patients leave us because they got better.”
Abe heard what she didn’t say. Some of the ICU patients didn’t get better.
“Maybe you can come say hi sometime,” he said. “And when Jodie comes on duty tonight, will you tell her I’m sorry I didn’t get to say goodbye?”
“Will do. Take care.”
After she left, he glanced around the room and decided it was a gut move. No more machines that beeped and blinked. More privacy. Longer visits with Lavinia and his eldres. And it meant that he was getting better, even if he didn’t feel he’d made any big improvement. That was something he should be grateful for.
Abe met new nurses, and after they took his temperature and his blood pressure and such, he faced the monotony of lying in bed and watching the clock on the wall. The minutes didn’t pass any faster in this room than in the last one. His eldres hadn’t been by yet, but he figured his dat needed some time to rest. Lavinia had to work but had promised to come in the early afternoon.
He dozed off, and when he woke, he found Lavinia sitting in a chair beside the bed. He smiled. “It’s gut to see you.”
“It’s gut to see you, too.”
Something in her tone was different. “Something wrong?”
She let out a shaky breath. “I just overreacted and made a fool of myself.”
“You? You’re the calmest maedel I know.”
“I didn’t know you’d been transferred, and I misunderstood the new nurse at the ICU nursing station.”
“Oh. I’d have told you, but it was a surprise to me, too.”
“How long have you been here?”
He glanced at the clock. “Couple hours.”
“I used a hospital phone to call your eldres and gave them your new room number. Your mudder said she’s bringing your cell phone and charger with her when they come.”
“I hope that’s not all she’s bringing. I’ve missed her cooking since they’ve been gone.”
She handed him the plastic container she’d brought. “Maybe you’d like one of my brownies while you wait for her.”
“Schur. But I’m more interested in talking to you.”
Her cheeks went pink and she looked surprised. “Well, that’s a nice thing to say.”
Abe decided he didn’t say enough nice things if this one caused such a reaction. “Tell me about your day.”
So she told him about what it had involved and let him know her mudder and Liz had asked her to tell him they were thinking of him. She had a funny story about a woman who’d come into the shop and tried out some Pennsylvania Deitsch words she was getting from an online dictionary on her phone. Lavinia had finally figured out what the woman was asking for, and they had a good laugh over it.
“Why are you staring at me?” he asked. “Have I got chocolate on my chin?”
She shook her head. “I haven’t heard you laugh since before the accident.”
“There hasn’t been much to laugh about.”
“Nee,” she agreed. “But there’s much to be grateful for.”
He gave her a skeptical look. “Like what?”
She glanced around the room. “You’re out of intensive care, so that means the doctor feels you’re getting better, ya?”
“Ya.” He frowned and then sighed. “I guess I haven’t been grateful enough.”
“I can’t say I understand, because that wouldn’t be fair,” she said. “I’ve never been in the same position. But I can imagine it’s hard lying here when you’re used to being so active. And I know you’re worried.” She bit her lip. “I told Mamm I was worried about you, and she reminded me of something our teacher Phoebe used to say. She said worry’s arrogant. That God knows what He’s doing.”
“I’m having a little trouble believing that right now.”
“Do you think it would help to talk to someone?”
“Like who?”
“The bishop. You like him, don’t you?”
“Not as much as I did Abram. He’s allrecht.”
She knew the late bishop and Abe’s dat had been very close friends, and so Abe had missed Abram since he died.
“Maybe talk to your dat. He’s such a wise man. He’s had big changes in his life with the MS, so I’m schur he understands how you’re feeling now more than anyone else.”
“He’s got enough to deal with.”
There was a commotion at the door. Even before Abe glanced over, he knew it was his eldres.
“Mamm, Daed, it’s gut to see you!” He put on a welcoming smile but was sorry that his time with Lavinia was cut short.