When Anne entered the rehab floor and headed for Eddie’s room, she whispered a prayer. “Dear Lord, I pray that things will go well with Eddie’s therapy today, and help me to be an encouragement to him.”
As soon as Anne stepped in her patient’s room, she spotted him lying on the floor beside his bed. Relieved to see that he was conscious, although struggling to get up, she quickly squatted down beside him. “Eddie, what happened? Did you try to get out of bed by yourself?”
He nodded, offering her a guilty-looking grin. “I was hungry and thought I could walk down to the nurses’ station and ask for something to eat. But the room started spinning, and the next thing I knew, I was flat on the floor.”
Anne slipped her arms around his waist and helped him to stand. “You should have punched the call button for help,” she said, assisting him back into the bed.
He frowned. “I tried that, but no one came.”
“Well, you should have kept trying.” She pulled the sheet up and tucked it under his chin. “I’ll go see if I can get you something to snack on, and then we need to begin your therapy session.”
Eddie’s nose wrinkled as he raked his fingers through the ends of his white-blond hair. “What’s the point in me learning how to walk on my own when I don’t even know who I am? I’m pretty much worthless, and if I ever do get to leave this hospital, I’ll probably have to go beg on the streets ’cause I don’t even know what I can do to earn a living.” He groaned. “Since I have no identification, who’d hire me anyways?”
“Let’s take these issues one at a time,” Anne said. “I’ll be back in a few minutes with some food.” She tapped him gently on the arm. “So please stay put.”
Anne wasn’t sure what else to say. If they knew who Eddie was, and he had a family to take care of him, he could begin life anew. But with no evidence of his identity and not even a glimpse of his lost memory, the poor man was like a ship without any water to stay afloat.
I wonder when Eddie’s well enough to leave the hospital, if Grandma and Grandpa might consider taking him in, Anne thought. They have a big house, with five bedrooms, two of which are vacant, so maybe they’d be charitable enough to let Eddie live there in exchange for him doing some chores around the place. Guess I’ll wait to mention that until he’s stronger and getting closer to being released.
As Anne continued down the hall toward the nurses’ station, she spotted Susan heading her way.
“I came to visit Eddie,” Susan said eagerly. “I wanted to see how he’s doing today.”
“Well, he was determined enough to get some food that he tried to get out of bed by himself.” Anne smiled, despite the seriousness of the situation. “That determination is what’s going to help him get well—at least physically. I don’t know what it’s going to take to bring his memory back.”
“Perhaps someone will say or do something that will jog his memory,” Susan said with a hopeful expression. “And of course, I’ll continue to pray for his full recovery.”
Anne nodded. “Same here.”
Luann King had been out shopping all morning and decided to stop at a sandwich shop for a bite of lunch before going home. Her mother was watching the little ones today, and sixteen-year-old Kendra was there to help out. Laurie and Philip were working at the Bird-in-Hand farmers’ market in Bird-in-Hand today, so everyone in the family had something to do.
Luann smiled as she entered the restaurant. It was kind of nice to be out on her own for a while. She didn’t get the opportunity to shop by herself that often, much less go out to lunch.
As Luann looked for a place to sit, she spotted a young couple seated at a table with their backs to her. They sat close to each other, with their heads almost touching, as though they were courting. The woman was dressed in Amish clothes, but the young man wore blue jeans and a white T-shirt. Luann figured he could be Amish and going through his time of rumschpringe. Or maybe he was English. If that was the case, it would no doubt sadden the young woman’s family. Most Amish parents wanted their daughters to be courted by men who wouldn’t sway them to leave their Amish way of life.
Luann slipped into a booth across the room, and as she turned to look for a waitress, her mouth dropped open. The young woman at the table across from her was Laurie!
Laurie looked at Luann at about the same time, and her jaw dropped slightly as her eyes widened. “Mom, wh–what are you doing here?” she asked, her face turning red with obvious embarrassment.
Luann rose to her feet and moved over to stand beside Laurie’s table. “More to the point, what are you doing here? I thought you were supposed to be selling dolls at the farmers’ market today.”
“Well, I—” Laurie moistened her lips with the tip of her tongue. “I’m on my lunch break right now.” She turned to the young man sitting beside her. “Uh, Mom, this is Kevin Byler.”
Luann studied Kevin a few seconds then slowly nodded. She hadn’t recognized him at first, but now she realized his folks lived just a mile or so down the road from them.
“It’s nice to see you, Mrs. King.” Kevin smiled and extended his hand.
Luann shook it briefly; then she turned to Laurie and said, “I’m going to the ladies’ room. I’d like you to come with me.”
Laurie hesitated but finally nodded. She smiled at Kevin and said, “I’ll be back soon.”
When they entered the restroom, Luann didn’t mince any words. “Are you and Kevin seeing each other socially, Laurie?”
“Jah.” Laurie dropped her gaze to the floor. “We’ve been going out for a few months.”
“Why didn’t you tell your daed and me about this?”
“I—I didn’t want to hurt you.”
Luann’s lips tightened. “Oh, and you don’t think I’m hurt right now, finding this out after the fact?”
Laurie placed her hand on Luann’s arm. “I’m sorry, Mom. I know I should have said something sooner, but—”
“But you thought it’d be better to sneak around behind our backs?”
Laurie shook her head. “I knew you wouldn’t approve, and I was going to tell you, but I just couldn’t seem to find the right time, or the right way to say it. I wasn’t sure how to explain things to you because I knew you’d be upset.”
Luann narrowed her eyes. “Just how serious are you about Kevin?”
Laurie leaned on the counter by the sinks and drew in a quick breath. “I—I love him, Mom. He asked me to marry him, and I said I would.”
Luann held her hands stiffly at her sides, fingers clenched until they dug into her palms. “We’ll talk more about this at home, after your sisters and brothers have gone to bed.”
Sweat beaded on Jonah’s forehead as he struggled to get his foot free from the roots of the tree. Keeping his eye on the water snake, he felt relief when it swam off in the opposite direction, in pursuit of an unsuspecting minnow. The last thing he needed was to be eye-to-eye with a snake!
Jonah’s ankle throbbed something awful, and he wondered if it might be broken. One thing he knew for sure: he needed to get his foot unstuck so he could take a look at it and find out how badly he’d been hurt.
Suddenly, an idea popped into his head. If he untied his boot he might be able to slip his foot out, and then he’d be free. It was shocking to Jonah to discover just how deep this particular spot was in the stream, because the water was now well over his chest. Standing on the bank earlier, he’d never imagined the water being more than a few feet deep.
“Talk about bad luck,” Jonah mumbled, wondering how he had managed to get into this predicament. He leaned over and reached down until his fingers touched the laces on his boot. The water was very cold, not yet warmed since the return of summer. He could feel, but not see, his boot.
Jonah had never learned to swim that well, and he didn’t like to put his face under water, but it would be much easier to see what he was doing if he got closer to the boot. He dreaded it, but realizing he had no other choice, Jonah knew he’d need to go into a sitting position. Taking in a deep breath, he let his body sink to the water’s depth of five or so feet. Being under water brought back memories of the day he’d nearly drowned when he was a boy, and he almost panicked. Pinching his nose shut would have helped, but Jonah needed both hands to untie the wet laces. Feeling the cold water seep into his ears, he just wanted to get this over with.
The water had been clear before the tree fell, but now it was murky with sediment that had been kicked up from the stream’s bottom. Under water, peering through the murkiness, Jonah could see parts of the tree root that held his foot securely, but he could barely make out his bootlaces.
Too bad that brave kid’s not here to rescue me now, Jonah thought as he fumbled with his laces. He came up once for a breath of air then ducked his head under the muddy-colored water again. This time he was successful in getting his laces untied, and after wiggling his foot around a bit, he was finally able to pull it free from the boot.
Jonah hobbled onto the bank and winced when he tried to put weight on his bootless left foot. It was either broken or he’d sprained it pretty bad. He stood on his uninjured foot for a moment, shaking his head to one side, trying to get the water out that had clogged his right ear. Finally, after several attempts, he felt the now-warm liquid trickle down over his earlobe.
Using a broken tree limb as a sort of crutch, Jonah hobbled over to the tree where he’d secured his horse. After untying Socks, he climbed into the buggy and took up the reins. Once he got out to the highway, Socks took off like a shot. It was almost as if he knew Jonah needed to get help, and this was one time Jonah didn’t care if the spirited horse wanted to run, because he had to get home as soon as he could!
“Did Jonah say what time he’d be home?” Sarah asked her husband, Raymond, as they sat down at the kitchen table for lunch.
Raymond shrugged his shoulders. “Just said he was going fishin’, so guess it all depends on how well things go. I’m sure he’ll be home before supper, though.”
They bowed their heads for silent prayer, and then Sarah passed Raymond the potato salad she’d made. “Sadie Stoltzfus came by here this morning. Said she wanted to speak with Jonah.”
“Oh, really? What about?”
“I don’t know. Whatever it was, it must have been serious, because she looked quite agitated.” Sarah took a tuna sandwich then handed the plate to Raymond. “You don’t suppose it had anything to do with Meredith, do you?”
He reached for a sandwich and took a bite. “Beats me. What makes you think that, anyways?” he asked.
“Well, our son has been helping Meredith quite a bit lately, and since Meredith’s husband was Sadie’s son, she might not like it.”
“Why would she care who helps Meredith?”
“She might be worried that Jonah has a personal interest in Meredith.” Sadie took a few potato chips from the bowl in front of her then passed it on to Raymond.
“Would that be so terrible?” he questioned, his eyebrows lifting slightly.
“I don’t think so, but Sadie might. She may not have come to terms with Luke’s death yet. The idea of Jonah or any other man taking her son’s place in Meredith’s life might be too painful for her.”
Raymond rubbed the bridge of his nose, looking at her with a thoughtful expression. “I suppose you might be right about that. Even so, it’s Meredith’s life, not Sadie’s or anyone else’s, so she ought to be free to begin her life again with the man of her choice, when the time is right.”
Sarah nodded. “I totally agree.”
Just then, the back door swung open, and Jonah, soaking wet and dripping water all over the floor, hobbled into the kitchen, wearing only one boot.
“What happened to you?” Sarah gasped, jumping out of her chair.
“A tree fell into the stream, and I got my left foot caught in its roots.” Jonah grabbed the back of a chair for support and groaned. “My ankle’s really swollen, and I either broke it or sprained it badly.”
“You’d best get out of those wet clothes,” Sarah said, heading to get the clothes basket. “And while you’re daed’s helping you with that, I’ll go out to the phone shack and call the doctor—the one in the area who makes house calls to the Amish.” She paused at the back door and pointed to a spot on Jonah’s chest where his shirt hung open. “Ach, Jonah! Is that a leech?”