Fifteen minutes later, Evan drove up in a late-model Prius. Jacob pushed away from the tall wood fence slat and slid into the front seat. In his hand, he held twenty-five dollars. “Denki.”
“Who’s sick?”
“Remember Emma Lapp? She fell yesterday, broke her leg and knee, and had surgery last evening.”
“Oh, yeah, the girl you’ve had a crush on for, like, forever. Hasn’t she gotten, you know, kind of...” Evan motioned being heavy with his arms.
Jacob would have been offended, but he knew that Evan understood that Emma had made efforts in the past to lose the weight. “Ja, she has. She’s got the health problems and that weight didn’t help her leg yesterday. It took her dat and me both to get her off the ground and into my buggy. And I suspect that it’s just not her mother’s lack of knowledge about healthy cooking. I think one of her sisters is actively trying to keep her from losing weight.”
“Man, that stinks! That’s not very loving, especially if Emma’s already getting sick.”
“Ja, I agree. She needs to lose something like one hundred, one hundred-fifty pounds. Joint problems, pre-diabetes, asthma...she has all of that. I could strangle her sister!”
Evan stared at Jacob, and then whipped his attention back to the road. “Are you serious? You’re so non-violent—usually.”
“In this case, I’d be happy to make an exception, if I could avoid the ban. Let’s talk about something else or Emma’ll pick up on my mood. Ja, I do like her. A lot. I took her to that new salad place last week and she loved it! She didn’t know that ‘rabbit food’ could taste so gut.”
“Yeah, the food there is delectable. Show her the soups, too. She’ll love them when it gets really cold. Okay, nearly there. Shall I pick you up?”
“Ja, when visiting hours are over. What, about eight?”
“Yup. See you!” Stopping the car, Evan waved as Jacob stepped out of the car.
In Emma’s room, Jacob caught up with what Emma had learned that day. “Weight-loss surgery, huh? Okay. I’m sure Bishop Zook and the elders will approve as long as they know it’s related only to your health.” Jacob got a quick mental flash of how beautiful Emma would look once the weight comes off. “Want me to go to the library and see if I can find books for you?”
“Please! There’s different kinds of surgery and I want to know as much as I can when I talk to my doctor about them. I also have to have psychological testing. They want to make sure I’m a ‘gut candidate.’”
“Ja, that’s because it’s such a big commitment on your part. They want to know that you’re going to do everything you have to do to make sure surgery is successful. Gut news! Mam is willing to help your mam. She’s going to take a few foods by so your dat and mam can taste them.”
Emma’s mood had been surprisingly positive that day. Hearing this news, she clapped her hands. “Tell her thank you for me, please! Ja, mam will want to taste the foods to make sure they still taste gut. If not, she won’t make them.”
After some quiet talk, Jacob gave Emma a hug, promised to visit again and got ready to leave.
“Oh, I’m probably going home tomorrow. I’ll have a therapist coming to my parents’ house starting Wednesday.”
“That fast?”
“Ja, Mam will be moving my room downstairs since I can’t climb stairs for a while.”
“Plus, you’ll be on crutches.”
Emma groaned. “I am not looking forward to that!”