Albert said, “My lady, did you know that Lesha has cancer and it is terminal. She has less than six months to live.” “No, she never said anything. I have asked her several times if she is ok and she said yes my lady I am fine. I told her she looked like she was losing a lot of weight. She said yes my lady.” “She is afraid she will be fired,” Albert stated. Linda said, “Not on your life. That is the last thing she needs to worry about.” “She is terrified about the medical bills also.” “Her medical bills are our responsibility not hers. I will talk to her when we get home,” Linda said.
“I was thinking that maybe Elsa would be a good fit.” “That is a good idea. We will bring her back to our house after church Sunday.”
A nurse came in and said, “I have your discharge papers here for you to sign and you can get out of here.” I signed the papers and we left as soon as they got a wheelchair to push me out in. We got down stairs and outside, it felt so good.
We got to the car and I got out of the wheelchair and Linda hugged me and said, “I was not sure this day would come.”
They helped me get in the car even though I did not need it. Linda got in next to me and she gave me a big kiss. Albert asked if we were ready to go. We held each other tight all the way home.
When we got there, I said, “We need to talk to Lesha right away. She does not need to worry for another minute.”
Albert said he would have Lesha come in. We were sitting in the study. Lesha came in and she said, “Wil, you are home. It is good to see you!” Linda asked her to sit down. She said, “I cannot sit in here.” Linda said, “Please, sit down.” Lesha said, “I am getting fired?”
Linda said, “Oh good heavens no, I want to let you know that you have a home here as long as you need it and we are paying all your medical bills. You don’t have to worry about anything but your health. We will take care of you. If you need a nurse to come, in we will get one for you. We try to do our best to take care of our people. We love you.”
“I don’t believe this. The people that I worked for before fired me because I sprained my ankle,” Lesha replied. “Well, we are Christians and we don’t treat our people that way. We will take care of you and all your needs.” “Thank you so much. That is such a relief. I did not know what I was going to do or where I was going to go.” I said, “We would not kick you out on the street, you are too precious to us.”
“Albert will work with you and take away some of your duties so you can rest as much as you need to. Tell him if or when you need to stop working and whatever you need. We are going to bring a lady in to help you out. If you need something you do not feel comfortable talking to Albert about, you can talk to me anytime. Just tell Albert you need to talk to me. Ok? Don’t be shy about it, we want the very best for you.” Linda added, “Albert, anything she needs or if she wants to talk to me let me or Wil know right away.”
“Yes my lady.” We called the Pastor to come over and talk to her about her salvation. Pastor said he would be right over. Pastor talked to Lesha for a long time and she got saved.
On Sunday, Albert picked up Elsa and brought her to our house. When she came in she said that this is a palace. Linda said, “How would you like to live here and work here?” Elsa exclaimed, “Is you kidding me! I would not knows how to act in this place. But I woulds like to learn if you wants me. I will work real hard fors you all.” Linda answered, “Then you are hired. How much notice do you need to give WC?” “Most people just don’t show up, but I should give them a week.” “That’s fine, but you should move in right away. Albert will take you back to your house and you can get your things.”
“I cannot believes this. God has answered my prayers. Everybody was nice to me at yous church. I cannot believes that anybody would treats a Negro lady like this.” “We will talk later about your pay and other things you get working here,” Linda said.
A week went by and Linda and I worked at the VP department to get things straightened out and catalogued. I could not go out on calls till Doctor Cook cleared me and that was hard not to jump on a truck.
We got home and it had started to snow a late winter storm, then there was lighting and thunder. We started upstairs, Albert caught us on the way and told us, “This is going to be a terrible storm and all of the cars are latched down. Degalgo, the harbor master, said the “Lady” is moored and is safe. Anything else my lady?” “How is Lesha doing?” “Not good, she can hardly get out of bed. We have a nurse that is taking care of her. She wanted to talk to you as soon as you got back.” “Would you check and find out if we can see her now.” “Yes my lady.”
We waited for Albert to come back. Albert returned and said Lesha wanted to see us. We went in, she looked like death warmed over. Lesha said, “My lady, my wish before I got saved was to be cremated. That is not proper for one of God’s Children is it?” “No, I would not want to be cremated.” “Then, please don’t let them cremate me!” “We will not let them do anything but give you a Christian burial.” “Thank you, my lady, would you pray with me. I am going to die very soon.”
“Are you comfortable?” “Yes, everybody is taking real good care of me.” We prayed with her, knowing it would be the last time we would see her on this side of Heaven.
I said to Linda, “Now we will get you to bed. Only four more months.” She rolled over on the bed. “Please make love to me, I can’t wait any longer. The babies will be fine.” She put her arms around me and said, “I love you, I love you, I love you.” “I love you too, sweetheart. You feel so good.” “So do you.”
Our lips never parted. I said, “Take it easy you could hurt the babies. Oh yes, yes that is so good. I love you, I love you. I love you too, darling that is so good.”
“I am glad we did not wait. You already got me pregnant so it really does not matter. We are married in God’s eyes. I love you so very much,” Linda said. We fell asleep in each other’s arms and woke up at about 0800 hours, got dressed and went down to the lake. We were so much more together and our love was stronger but different.
We just held each other and kissed, even our kisses were more intense. We were so much closer now, somehow, I don’t know what it is. Linda asked if I felt different? Closer together more like one instead of two. “Yes I feel so close to you in a different way than before.” “Wil I love you so much I don’t know what I would have done if you had not lived through that shooting.” Linda said, “Let’s call the Pastor and have him marry us this week. I don’t want to wait any longer.”