Emma and Isaac met Abram at the hospital. They had brought fresh clothing that Abram changed into, grateful for their thoughtfulness, as well as a plastic bag containing Miriam’s belongings and her cell phone.
“How is she?” Emma asked, her face drawn and filled with worry.
He shook his head. “The doctor is with her.”
Emma touched his arm. “They said you saved her, Abram.”
He nodded.
“But you are wounded yourself, my brother.”
“The wound is not deep. It will heal.” He glanced at Isaac and then back at his sister. “Where is Daniel?”
“Eva Keim and her daughter are with him,” she reassured him. “And Samuel? Is there news?”
“In surgery.” Abram’s voice tightened. “If he survives, he will have a long recovery.”
“Curtis Idler’s body was found,” Isaac shared, his eyes downcast. “He did not survive.”
Abram nodded. “Curtis was working with Serpent and is the one who killed Miriam’s mother.”
“What of the newly hired deputy?”
“Ned Quigley is a good man and a trusted officer of the law.”
The day passed slowly. Abram appreciated Emma and Isaac’s support, but his total focus was on Miriam.
The intensive care rules allowed visitors to be with the patients for only short periods. Abram’s gut wrenched each time he entered her room, seeing her hooked to machines that monitored her heart rate and blood pressure and other vital signs. An IV bag of medication hung by the side of her bed and dripped life-giving antibiotics into her vein. She had aspirated water and the doctor worried about pneumonia setting in.
Abram placed the bag containing her things on the stand by her bed and wondered how long it would be until she was alert enough to know it was there.
By late afternoon Isaac was growing fidgety and increasingly concerned about his dairy cows and their need to be milked.
“Go home,” Abram encouraged. “Take Emma with you. I will use the Amish Taxi and return to the farm later. The horses need to be watered and fed. The other animals, as well.”
“I can do the chores,” Emma offered.
“I appreciate your help, Emma, but you cannot do all of them.” He thought of his sister’s difficulty in walking. “You have already done so much for me. Go with Isaac. He needs you.”
“But—” She started to object.
Abram took her hand. “It is time for you to have a family of your own, Emma. You saved me after Rebecca’s death, for which I will always be grateful. Now it is time for you to embrace your own life.”
“Are you sure, Abram?”
“More than anything I want you to be happy. You forgave me, Emma, when I could not forgive myself. Now I must let go of the past.” He turned to look through the glass window into Miriam’s room. “Now I must focus on the future.”
Emma squeezed his hand. “I am praying for you, Abram, and for Miriam.” Turning, she wrapped her arm through Isaac’s. Together they walked out of the intensive care unit.
Once again Abram entered Miriam’s room. He drew a chair next to her bed and took her hand as he sat. Her hair was matted from the river and her slender face was ashen, but Abram had never seen a woman more beautiful or more courageous. She had been through so much.
The doctors said he had saved her in the nick of time. Although infection was a concern, they were more worried about the drugs Serpent had used to subdue her. If only she would open her eyes and respond.
Abram rubbed her hand and leaned closer to the bed.
“Miriam, I do not know if you can hear me. It is Abram. I was wrong about so many things, but I know one thing for certain. I love you with my whole heart. I need you. Come back to me.”
The nurse allowed him to remain at Miriam’s bedside far longer than the allotted visiting period, but later that evening she ushered him into the hallway. “Go home, Mr. Zook. I know you have a farm to tend. You can do nothing here. We expect her to sleep through the night and most of tomorrow. Come back in the afternoon. We’ll know more then.”
Abram’s heart was heavy as he rode home in Frank Evans’s taxi. Thankfully the driver did not chatter as he usually was prone to do. Perhaps he realized Abram needed time to think and pray.
Entering the house, Abram felt numb with confusion and worry. Emma was there to greet him, along with Isaac.
“How is she?” his sister asked as she poured a cup of coffee for Abram and set it on the table.
“The same. The nurse encouraged me to go home. I... I did not want to leave but...the farm.”
Isaac stepped forward. “I took care of the animals. You do not need to worry.”
But he was worried. He was worried about Miriam.
“As Emma mentioned at the hospital, Eva Keim and her daughter, Abagail, are keeping Daniel tonight,” Isaac continued. “I will pick him up tomorrow after the cows are milked. I can take you to the hospital before I get Daniel.”
Abram appreciated the offer.
“I have a plate for you to eat, Abram.” Emma ushered him toward the table. “You must be hungry.”
He could not eat. Not now. “I will eat tomorrow.”
Abram dragged himself upstairs. The door to Miriam’s room hung open. He looked in, remembering the night he had placed her on the bed with her blood-stained clothes and her bruised and scraped face.
His mind flashed back to the moments they had shared: walking along the pasture path, in the barn and workshop, and on the stairway when he had taken her into his arms.
His arms were empty now. Would he ever hold her again?
Entering his bedroom, he reached for his Bible, but he did not have the strength to open to the words of scripture. He merely clasped the well-read book to his heart.
Forgive me, Gott, for the mistakes I have made. I see more clearly now that I was the one at fault and not my datt. I could not save Trevor so long ago, but You helped me save Miriam. I can no longer look back, yet I know a future with Miriam will never be unless she comes into the Amish faith. Right now, I ask that You allow her to live. Even if she refuses my faith, I will never forget her and will never stop loving her from afar.