Today is cloud picture day.
Chapter Nineteen~
When Nan got
back to the hospital Wyatt and Willie were sitting in their recliners, trying
to doze. She hadn’t been able to sleep much last night, either.
She set her bag
on the floor and both men sat up. “Hey guys, sorry. I was trying to be quiet
but I guess I failed.”
“I wasn’t
asleep, just had my eyes closed.” Willie said.
Nan laughed.
“Okay, but I didn’t realize people snored while they were awake.” She laughed
and plopped down in her chair with a tired groan.
“Was I snoring?”
“See, I just
caught you. If you weren’t asleep, you wouldn’t have to ask.”
“She got you on
that one, Will. A nurse came in a few minutes ago and said the surgery was
going well. They’ve had some trouble keeping her under, but so far everything
looks good.”
“I’m so glad. We
need to pray.”
“Everything’s
going good.”
“I know. We need
to thank God for His mercy.”
“You’re a good
woman, Nan.” Wyatt said as he closed his eyes and bowed his head.
“Dear Lord,
thank you for showing mercy to our friend, sister, and sister in Christ. Please
allow her to heal, if it’s your will. If you have different plans, please give
us the strength to endure, amen.” Nan prayed.
“We should call
the pastor and tell him Lily’s in the hospital.” Willie said.
“I stopped on
the way here. He said he was going to get his wife and they’d be here as soon
as possible.”
“You think of
everything.” Wyatt said. “I haven’t been to church in a while. I need to get
back to it.”
“I couldn’t stay
away from church. I love the sermons, learning about God and who He is and what
He wants.”
“I do, too. Last
week Pastor Fowler talked about true Christians as opposed to false ones. I’ve
learned so much.” Willie told Wyatt.
“The last time I
went he preached on the sovereignty of God.”
“That was almost
a year ago, Wyatt.” Nan was surprised it had been that long since the sheriff
attended church. He definitely needed to get back to it.
“I know. All I
have is excuses, not even good reasons.”
“Did something
happen?”
“No, I just lost
motivation.”
“You have to use
self-discipline to begin with, but when you’re really saved, you love going to
church, being near like-minded people.”
“Maybe I’m not
really saved. How would I know for sure?”
“That’s a tough
one.”
“It is.” Willie
added. “Do you love God? Does your heart yearn for Him? Do you want to read the
Bible? Do you pray? Do you feel remorse and sorrow when you sin? Do you hate
sin? There are so many different things to examine. Read 1 John. There are some
self-examination tests in there that might help.”
“That’s a good
idea.” Nan said. A nurse came into the room and her heart sped up to a gallop.
Was something wrong?
“Hello. I came
to update you.”
“There was a
nurse in her a few minutes ago.”
“Yeah I know,”
She smiled and said, “Lily is out of surgery now and her vitals are good. She
should wake-up in about twenty minutes, or so. You can go see her, but I ask
you to use common sense. She just had surgery and she’ll be exhausted. I would
limit it to a few minutes at most.”
“Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.
If you’ll follow me, I’ll show you to the recovery room.”
They got up and
followed her out, anxious to see Lily.
“I’m so glad
this is over.” Willie said emotionally.
“It’s not over,
bud. They did the surgery, but she has to recover. How long will that take?”
Wyatt asked the nurse.
“If there
weren’t any impairments it could be anywhere from two to six weeks. Hopefully
there weren’t any and recovery will be a matter of rest and care.”
“What do you
mean by impairments? She’s going be the same as before, isn’t she?”
“There could be
complications, but we won’t know until she wakes up. Sometimes there is memory
loss, but it isn’t usually permanent.”
Nan was walking
beside the nurse and she stopped at those words. “Nobody told us that.”
“I’m sorry, they
should have.”
Nan swallowed a
bout of panic. “I hope she remembers.”
“I do, too.”
Willie said.
“I’ll third that
motion. If Lily doesn’t remember me it’ll tear me up.”
They continued
down the hall toward the recovery room, more wary now than before.
They sat down in
the chairs someone had been thoughtful enough to put there for them and waited.
Each one looked at Lily with mixtures of hope and anxiety.
***
The clock on the
wall ticked loudly and Nan sighed for the third time in as many minutes. Added
to the already enormous load on her shoulders was the possibility Lily wouldn’t
even remember her. She hadn’t thought of that. How often did a patient lose
their memories? If Lily did, she hoped it was temporary. She was the only
family Nan had left, and she didn’t think she was strong enough to get through
life without her friend.
“Willie, if she
doesn’t remember me I’m going to freak-out.”
“You don’t need
to tell me, I would too. We’re twins.”
“I don’t usually
‘freak-out’ about things, but in this case, I might. I’ve liked Lily for years,
and when we finally acknowledge each other, she might not remember?” He rubbed
his hand across his face.
Nan felt
compassion for the sheriff. He was so guarded when it came to his feelings, and
he’d allowed them to hear how he felt. It must be hard for him. “Hey, I forgot
about the pastor. What’s he gonna think when he shows up and we’re not there?”
“He’ll probably
realize she’s out of surgery, if you told him.”
“I did. He’s
smart enough to figure it out.” Nan fidgeted with the strings on her pajama
pants while she waited for Lily to wake-up. “This is excruciating.”
“I know, I can’t
remember ever being so impatient for something.” Wyatt said. He took his cap
off and scratched his head.
“Nan, where are
you?” Lily asked. She jerked, moaned, and blinked a few times, moving her head
in all directions. Her gaze fell on Nan. She held her arms out, tears
shimmering brightly in her gray eyes.
“I was so
scared.”
“I’m glad you’re
okay.” Relief flooded through Nan and she hugged her friend to her tightly.
This had been such an emotionally experience; one she didn’t want to repeat.
“I am too. What
happened?”
“You don’t
know?”
Willie rushed
over and hugged his sister, tears glistening in his own eyes. “You scared us
too, sis. I’m so glad you’re back with us.”
“What happened,
exactly?” Lily’s brow furrowed.
A trickle of
alarm surged through Nan. Was she okay? “”What’s the last thing you remember,
sugar?”
Lily’s face
scrunched as she concentrated on the question. “I remember going Christmas
shopping with you and Willie.”
“Are you
serious?” Willie asked. “This is May, Lily.”
“What? You can’t
be serious? Why would I think it’s Christmas time?”
“You know you
had a tumor, right?” Nan asked.
“I have a
tumor?” Confusion spread over Lily’s face.
Nan could see
she was becoming alarmed. She walked over between Wyatt and Willie and
whispered, “Don’t upset her, and give her the time she needs to process.”
“Sheriff Adams, what are you doing here?”
***
Wyatt got the
‘deer in the headlights’ look and mumbled around until she said, “Well?”
“We’re kind of
Boyfriend and girlfriend.” He looked at Willie and Nan to see how they would
take his statement.
“We are?” Such
hope lit Lily’s eyes that the group laughed at her exuberance.
“We were
talking.”
“What were we
saying?”
Wyatt laughed in
joy. He was so happy she was okay, and actually remembered him. So what if she
didn’t remember anything since Christmas? The people were the important thing.
“We were telling
each other we’d liked each other for a long time. I didn’t think you were
interested in me.”
“I didn’t think
you were interested in me, either.” She held a hand out and he moved forward
and took it gently in his. It was hot and dry. He looked at Nan in alarm. He
used his eyes to try to get her attention, but she was looking at Lily’s face.
He cleared his throat, but neither Nan nor Willie got the hint.
“What’s wrong,
Wyatt?”
“You’re fevered.
I’m going to get the doctor.” He left the room at a run. He found a nurse and
directed her back to Lily’s room. She feels really hot and I’m worried.” The
nurse followed him and immediately pulled a thermometer out. As she put it up
to Lily’s forehead, she went into convulsions, and chaos reigned.
The three
new-found friends were pushed out of the room to wait and worry.
“Why is she
having convulsions?” Nan asked.
“It could be a
febrile seizure, but doesn’t that usually affect children?”
“I don’t know.
Please Dear Lord let her be okay.”
“Yes Dear Lord,
please let her be okay.” Wyatt said.
Pastor Fowler
walked up to them and said, “Is everything okay?”
“It was, and
then she had a seizure. We do know she was running a fever.”
“Let’s pray for
her.” They all joined hands and bowed their heads. “Dear father, please be with
this young lady in her time of need, and give her the strength she needs to
fight whatever is taking over in her body, amen.”
They sat down on
a bench along the wall to wait for someone to come out and tell them something.
They waited almost an hour. The green double-doors finally opened and the same
nurse who’d come and got them earlier that day came out. “Lily is stable. We
have the fever under control but it’s unclear whether it was the cause of her
seizure.”
“Is she gonna be
okay?” Nan asked as she sat forward.
“We think so. As
I said, her fever is under control and she’s stable. She needs to rest though
so there won’t be any more visits today.”
“That’s too
bad.” Pastor Fowler said. “I was looking forward to seeing her.”
“You can come
back in the morning. I’m sorry for the inconvenience but we think it’s best for
her recovery.”
“That’s
perfectly fine, young lady. Whatever’s best for her is exactly what we want.”
The nurse
returned behind the doors and Wyatt said, “Now what?”
“We might as
well go home until the morning. We can’t stay in her room if she can’t have
visitors.” Willie said. “I’ll be back at 5:00 a.m. sharp, though. I want to
make sure my sister is okay.”
“I do, too. I
guess I’ll go back to the station and catch up on some of the paperwork I
missed yesterday and today.”
“That sounds
like fun.” Nan said. “I wish I could just see her for a minute, make sure she’s
okay.”
“I do too but
they’re not going to allow it. Pastor, it was nice to see you.” Wyatt stretched
his hand out and the pastor shook it.
“Why haven’t you
been to church lately, son?”
“We were talking
about that a little bit ago. All I have are excuses, not good reasons.”
“Then we’ll see
you Sunday?” The pastor asked.
“I’ll probably
be here Sunday, sir. If I’m not, you can bet I’ll be there.” Wyatt smiled and
turned his attention to Nan. “Walk you out?”
“Yeah sure, let
me get my bag.” They walked down the hall together, toward Lily’s room.
***
“Thank you for
coming pastor, Mrs. Fowler.”
“How have you
been Willie?” Marion Fowler asked with a sweet smile. She was always so quiet
and soft-spoken.
Willie liked her
a lot. The Fowlers were like the grandparents he’d never known. “I’ve been
good. I’m terribly upset about my sister. She’s so young and full of life. It’s
one of the things I have difficulty with.”
“Do you mean the
sickness and death of those so young?” Pastor Fowler asked.
“Yes. Why would
God do that?”
“That’s a hard
question. I could tell you the answer but it isn’t going to make you feel any
better.”
“What is it?”
“Once sin
entered the world, so did pain, suffering, sickness and death. Someday there
won’t be any more suffering. I can’t wait for that day.”
“I can’t either.
Lily is a good person, you know? She helps others, she’s generous, kind and
compassionate; all things I need to work on, but it comes to her naturally.”
“I think it
probably comes to her supernaturally.” The pastor grinned. “If you need to
talk, Willie, make an appointment and we can discuss the things you’re having
trouble with.”
“That would be
great, pastor, thank you.”
“You’re welcome,
William. We’ll get a pray chain going for your sister. Call us if something
happens before we come back in the morning. Is eight okay?”
“That’s perfect,
sir. I know she’ll want to see you.”
“Okay son, take
it easy.” Mrs. Fowler smiled and they left.
“Now what do I
do?” Willie said to the empty hallway. He waited for a few seconds, not sure
what he was waiting on. There was nobody here. He missed his sister, and he
missed Nan. She was so vibrant and alive, and he wished she was back here with
him. He left the hospital quiet and bereft.
