“How about this Saturday?”
“That’s four days!” Keren shouted.
Rosita said, “LaToya ‘n’ me wanna be bridesmaids.”
One of the nurses said, “You can get a blood test right down the hall.”
The other nurse said, “Kerenhappuch?”
Keren slugged Paul for that. He gently rubbed Keren’s sore arm as if worried that punching him might hurt her.
“When will Rosita get out?” Paul asked the nurse.
The nurse gave him a stern look, but a smile lurked behind her glaring eyes. “If she’s not out by Saturday, it wouldn’t be the first wedding we held at someone’s bedside.”
Paul looked at Keren. She said, “Oh why not? I guess I can be ready by Saturday. Can O’Shea come?”
Paul said, “I already asked him to be my best man.”
“You talked to O’Shea about this before you talked to me?” Keren snapped.
Paul kissed her quiet, and, when she had forgiven him—or maybe forgotten what was the problem—the two of them turned to smile at their friends.
Keren said as she looked at LaToya’s smiling face, “The plague has really finally ended.”
“Not the way we’d have hoped. It sounds like you led Francis as close to the Lord as anyone can,” Paul said with a solemn shake of his head.
“He had to make the last step himself.” Keren frowned. “And even now, even seeing what I saw, I can dance around in my head and hope God gave him one more last chance before his soul departed his body.”
Paul looked at Keren.
She read such love in his eyes that her heart pounded and her knees went weak and she had to hold on to him tight.
“ ‘It is not good for the man to be alone.’“ Paul planted a kiss on her temple, then her nose, then her lips. He quit just when it was getting good. “That has never been so true as it is for me right now.”
Keren smiled at the ancient words that were God’s blessing on the first marriage. The room and all its distractions melted away. “ ‘I will make a helper suitable for him,’“ she added with a sassy smile. “That’s me. I’ll help you, Rev.”
“I’m counting on it,” Paul said. “Let’s go call our parents. And we’re getting married whether they can come or not.”
“Getting us married’ll be the first thing I help you with.”
With a quick nod at a glowing Rosita, who waved them away and went to watch over LaToya, they left the room. They left behind the sadness of the plague that had brought them together.
In the hall, they had a moment alone. Paul turned her to face him and pulled her into his arms. “Your courage is something that will humble me for the rest of my life. The way you faced a demon… the way you tried to help a man so many people would have killed…”
He slung his arm around her shoulders and they headed for the exit and their future. “So, you think you’ll spend much time fighting for your life when you should be picking the kids up from school?”
“I’m planning to request a transfer to properties crimes. I’ll chase demon-possessed embezzlers for a change.”
“Bet you’ll be surprised how many of them there are.” Paul tried to take her keys when she pulled them out of her pocket.
She held them out of his reach. “I’m driving until you can produce a valid driver’s license.”
“I’m in a hurry. I want to run the siren on our way to city hall to get the license.” He kissed her until she was completely cooperative. But by then he seemed to be feeling pretty agreeable himself, and she got away and slid behind the wheel.
Paul climbed in the passenger side. “We’re gonna have fun.”
The car roared to life and Keren flicked on the siren and tore out of the hospital parking lot.
About the Author
Mary Nealy is the suspense genre pen name for bestselling and award-winning author Mary Connealy, who is best known for her humorous Old West romances. She makes her home with her husband on a farm in Nebraska near her four grown daughters.
1. Discuss the gifts of the Spirit. 1 Corinthians 12:8–10 lists the gifts as wisdom, knowledge, faith, healing, miracles, prophecy, discerning of spirits, speaking in tongues, and interpretation of tongues.
2. Do you have any of these gifts? Have you ever given it much thought?
3. Some are more miraculous gifts like healing and speaking in tongues. But discerning of spirits may be the least well known. Do you know anyone with this gift? Do you have it yourself? Why is this gift so under discussed?
4. Do you believe in demon possession?
5. The fruit of the Spirit found in Galatians
6. Paul, the mission pastor, struggled with sin, especially anger. Have you ever struggled with sin in your life and then realized you were supposed to feel some things that seemed wrong to you?
7. Have you ever known a very young person with a spiritual gift that they, in their innocence, maybe didn’t use wisely—like Keren telling a classmate she was possessed by a demon?
8. Keren discerns spirits, and she is clear that she not only discerns evil but also good spirits. Discuss the good spirits in people.
9. Keren has made the decision to never marry because she feels called by God to police work and can’t see that calling working well with being a wife and mother. Discuss the tension between a woman needing or wanting to work and needing or wanting to be a stay-at-home mom.
10. Have you ever known anyone who was possessed by a demon?
11. In literature and movies, demon possession is often used in madly graphic ways. Is Satan ever this blatant in real life, or is he far more subtle?
12. Discuss the subtle evil that can creep into your life.
13. Discuss Paul’s out-front faith compared to O’Shea’s more privately held faith.
14. So often policemen are seen as terribly cynical because they see so much of the worst side of life. Do you know any policemen? Is this true or is it a cliche?
