“I think that you’re making yourself nuts with all of this speculating. Let me go see what I can find out.”
“They won’t let you in.”
“Yes, they will,” she said confidently. “I’m a preacher. They won’t deny me the right to be with her.”
As grateful as he was that at least someone dear to Maisey would be with her, Richard couldn’t bear the thought that the only reason Anna Louise might be admitted was because his grandmother was dying.
* * *
Anna Louise’s spirits sank at the sight of Maisey looking so incredibly pale against the white sheets, hooked up to tubes and monitors. She had paid visits to hundreds of patients, comforted their families, but never before with this terrible sense of personal loss crowding her thoughts.
Maisey appeared to be sleeping. Doc Benson was nowhere in sight, but as she’d expected, the nurses had given their approval for Anna Louise to sit with Maisey for a while. She pulled up a chair and took Maisey’s hand in her own. She wasn’t aware she was crying until a tear splashed against her fingers.
Apparently Maisey felt it, as well, because she opened her eyes. “Anna Louise, you’re here,” she said weakly. “I’m so glad. Just don’t go drowning me with those tears.”
“I wouldn’t be anywhere else. Stop talking now and rest.”
“Richard?”
“He’s in the waiting room.”
“Is he okay?”
“He’s worried about you.”
Maisey dampened her lips and seemed to be struggling to catch her breath. Anna Louise smoothed a hand over her forehead. “Shh. Don’t try to talk.”
“Have to,” Maisey insisted. “Worried.”
“Please don’t worry about anything. Just concentrate on getting well.”
“No. If it’s my time, I’m ready to go. Richard will have a terrible time with that. Please, promise me.”
“Promise you what?”
“That you won’t let him blame himself.”
“Why would he do that?”
“For not coming home sooner. He’s always taken everything so personally. His parents’ deaths, all the world’s problems. He thinks he should be able to change things. You and I know it doesn’t work that way. Help him to see that. Promise.”
Anna Louise drew in a deep breath at the difficult task Maisey had set for her. The past weeks had taught her that even with all of her faith she might not be up to changing his way of thinking. But for Maisey’s sake and, more importantly, for Richard’s, she would try.
“I promise,” she said softly.
Maisey managed a faint smile and squeezed her hand, then closed her eyes and drifted back to sleep.
Before she left the cardiac unit, Anna Louise asked one of the nurses to track down Jonathan Benson. She gazed into his troubled brown eyes and forced herself to ask, “Will she make it?”
“There’s always a chance,” he said. “But I’d say she could use your prayers. They’ll do as much for her now as I can.”
Her spirits low, she forced herself to go back to the waiting room. Richard took one look at her expression and sank into a chair and put his face in his hands.
When he finally lifted his head and met her gaze, he said, “It’s bad, isn’t it?” He sounded numb.
“I believe she can pull through this,” Anna Louise said adamantly. She knelt down in front of him and took his face in her hands. “We have to pray for that.”
“But—”
She refused to hear his arguments. “No, both of us. Please, Richard. For Maisey’s sake.” Without giving him a chance to protest, she began a familiar prayer, repeating the words slowly and quietly, listening desperately for the sound of Richard’s voice joining hers. Finally she heard the first halting words. By the time she said Amen, his voice was stronger. It might not have held conviction, but she was almost positive she heard hope.
It was a start.
* * *
The night seemed endless to Richard. Anna Louise slept curled up in a chair. He’d found a blanket to put over her. He knew it was selfish of him to let her stay on, but he couldn’t bear to face whatever was ahead alone.
They had let him see Maisey twice and each time for only a few minutes. Even after years of reporting from terrible make-shift hospitals in war zones, nothing had prepared him for the shock of seeing her like that. Each time he had left the cardiac intensive care unit, he had prayed a little harder. Not because he believed it did any good, but because he could think of nothing else to do.
It was dawn when Doc Benson came into the waiting room. Anna Louise apparently heard his voice and woke up. She stood up and moved closer to Richard’s side, as if willing him to feel her strength.
“I think she could pull through,” the doctor said with cautious optimism.
“Are you sure?” Richard said, not daring to believe it was possible.
“There are no certainties,” the doctor warned. “But she seems a little stronger this morning. The medicine has regulated her heartbeat. Her color is better. She’s asking to see you both.”
“Can we go in?”
“Give the nurses a few minutes to finish up their shift-change reports, then go on in. Just don’t stay too long.”
“Thank you for staying the night,” Richard said. “Not many doctors would have done that.”
“That’s why I chose to practice in a place like Kiley. It allows me to be where I’m needed. I’m going home for a shower and a change of clothes now. I’ll see you both later.”
When he was gone, Richard drew Anna Louise into his arms. “She’s going to make it. I believe that now with all my heart.”
“Our prayers were answered,” she said with absolute conviction.
Richard couldn’t help but wonder if this time, anyway, she might be right. Perhaps God had heard the prayers of one wayward, lonely reporter, after all. Or maybe having someone who believed as strongly as Anna Louise did by his side had made all the difference.
“How did your faith get to be
