A Simple Charity (4 page)

“My wife needs a doctor, now, and Betsy King told me you have one here.” He removed his straw hat, revealing dark hair and a face drawn with exhaustion. “A guest. You have a doctor staying here.”

“Dr. Nelson? Oh, no, sorry. He and his wife checked out yesterday.”

His disappointment was palpable. “Ach.”

Meg had to look away as she did the math. Worried young Amish man plus wife in need of a doctor; in her experience, that added up to labor and delivery. She hoped that her sister didn’t give her up.

“Why don’t you call Dr. Trueherz?” Zoey asked. “You can use our phone, if you like.”

“Already talked to Celeste. Doc’s out of town.”

Meg saw his worry, the sweat on his brow, the tightness around his mouth. “There must be a doctor on call,” she said.

“There is, Dr. Minetta, but he couldn’t find his way. Still over in the next county, and Lizzy’s in poor shape. Fanny told me to find a doctor, now.”

“Fanny? So your wife is having a baby?” Zoey pressed a palm to her heart. “Oh, my gosh. And the regular midwife is out of town, too.”

The man was looking back toward the road, eager to return to his mission.

“Do you want us to call an ambulance for your wife … for Lizzy?” Meg understood his distress, but there was no other choice. In a town like Halfway, the nearest licensed physician was often miles away.

“Nay … no ambulance. I’m to find a doctor, right away. There’s something wrong …” He grimaced, looking away. “Trouble with the baby.”

Mouth gaping open, Zoey turned to Meg with a silent plea, but Meg shook her head. No, she couldn’t. Not now.

“Meg. Come on, now. It sounds like there are complications and you know you can help.”

Oh, no. No, no
. Meg wanted to go back into that bedroom upstairs, draw the shades, and hide for another few weeks. “I can’t do anything. I’m under investigation, and I’m not even licensed right now.”

Zoey nodded at the Amish man. “Do you think Joe here cares about your issues with the nursing board? No, he doesn’t. His wife is having a baby and she needs your help. These people need you now.”

Meg made the mistake of looking over at Joe. Holding his straw hat with both hands, he stared at her as if she were an answer to his prayers.

“Please, miss. Will you help us?”

The plaintive look in his dark eyes cracked her shield of resolve.

“Look, Joe. I’m not a doctor. I’m a midwife, but I’m not licensed to deliver babies at the moment. Besides that, it’s not good to jump in on a case at the last minute.”

“Meg?” A quiet panic glowed in his dark eyes, round as quarters. “Please, kumm. Help Lizzy. Bring us our baby.”

The plea was like rain to a parched traveler in the desert.

Bring us our baby
.

She had thought she might never have the chance to partake in such a miracle again, and here was a desperate situation, luring her back.

“Okay.” With her apron still on, Meg strode toward the man’s buggy, while behind her Zoey chattered on to Joe, singing Meg’s praises, calling her a gifted midwife and a miracle worker.

“Wait.” Meg paused midstride. “My bags … my equipment.” She turned to Zoey. “In the back of my car.” Although she was on the
skids with the medical board, she still carried her bags in her trunk. Toting the equipment was second nature to her.

“Of course.” With all the aplomb that had escaped Meg, Zoey pointed out the garage to Joe and told him to bring the buggy there and help Meg load her equipment.

The sight of the heavy cases tugged at an emotion Meg had buried inside her. Joe lifted them into the buggy as if they were light as a feather.

And then they were off, the powerful horse trotting Meg toward what she was sure would be the second biggest mistake of her life.

3

A
cocoon of peace and calm
. Fanny told herself that she had to keep her wits about her and maintain this quiet haven for Lizzy. Right now, Fanny’s only relief was knowing that Lizzy was too preoccupied to sense the danger in the moment. The young woman didn’t notice that Fanny was quivering beneath her tranquil smile.

The baby was in trouble. Fanny had told Lizzy that the heartbeat had slowed, and this dark discharge was not a good sign. Lizzy had borne the news bravely, but what else could she do, riding the fury of a contraction?

As Fanny wiped off the plastic sheets yet again, she wondered what was to be done to help an infant in distress. She had seen this a few times before, but since she had only been a helper, she wasn’t sure what to do. The doctor had always taken over, working the cord loose or moving the mother by ambulance to the hospital for … what? What did they do at the hospital to help the mother
and baby, besides surgery, of course? Ach, she couldn’t know these things without being a doctor herself.

As Lizzy rested through a lull, Fanny wiped the woman’s forehead with a cool cloth and listened for the welcome sound of a car coming up the lane. A medical doctor.
Please, Gott in Heaven, send us a doctor
.

Sending up a silent prayer, Fanny told Lizzy she was doing just fine. When Lizzy squeezed her fingers, Fanny stayed by her side as another pain came and went. Sometimes, that was all a person could do, keep company and pray.

Lizzy wouldn’t believe it now, but the pain would become a distant memory after the baby was born. And the joy of having a newborn in the house! Fanny remembered cold winter nights when she and Tom would snuggle in their bed, tucked in a nest of blankets with a baby between them. Tom had been a patient father, good at consoling the little ones when they whimpered. How she’d loved hearing him speak to them or sing “This Little Light of Mine” in his winsome, smooth voice.

“
This little light of mine … I’m gonna let it shine …
”

Fanny closed her eyes for a moment, picturing the kind, gentle man she had expected to spend the rest of her life with.

Oh, Tom! We still miss you so!

A meek little cry brought Fanny back to the birthing room.

“When will my baby be here?” Lizzy asked in a voice weak from exhaustion.

“Soon, liebe.” Fanny checked the baby’s wavering heartbeat again and wondered what Anna would have done. When it came to helping mothers give birth, Anna had seen it all. A wonderful good midwife to this community for more than forty years, Anna had delivered Fanny’s three children with the help of Doc Trueherz. Fanny longed for someone else to take the lead here, but wishing wouldn’t make it so.

Wishing was a waste of time, but the power of prayer was endless. Again, she prayed silently, asking Gott to bless this mother and child. Fanny knew that Lizzy and Joe had been married for many years, longing for a child all that time.

Pressing a cloth to Lizzy’s forehead, Fanny recalled the couple’s wedding some six years ago. Tall, square-jawed Joe was nearly a head taller than Lizzy, a fair-haired girl with warm amber eyes. Two young folks with love in their eyes.

Even before that, Fanny had known Lizzy through David’s family, as Lizzy was one of David’s nieces. Just a teen when David had died, Lizzy had been so thoughtful during that difficult time when some of David’s family had suggested that Fanny return to Ohio. David’s sister Dorcas and his mother, Joan—oh, those two had probably thought they were being helpful, but they had made Fanny feel like a burr on the coat of the Fisher family. But not Lizzy. Lizzy had brought Fanny baked goods and even knitted her a scarf, which Fanny still wore on cold winter days.

And then, Gott had brought them even closer in the accident. Although Fanny missed Tom every day, she was grateful that the others had been spared. Lizzy was the closest thing that Fanny had to a sister here in Halfway.

Dear Gott, have mercy on this young couple and bring them a healthy baby
.

With a moan, Lizzy scrambled onto her knees. “I need to push.”

It was time. Fanny could only do her best; the rest was up to the Almighty.

4

H
umidity rose from the road in a steamy promise of a hot day as the Amish buggy rushed Meg into the center of a crisis. Was she about to revisit the same dire situation that had put her midwife practice in jeopardy? A likely possibility. Oddly, she felt serenity at being called to help with the thing she knew best, and a little excitement at the speed Market Joe had reached with the buggy. The vehicle jostled over bumps in the road, but the horse seemed to like having its head, taking the road at a fast trot. Meg didn’t mind the speed, though it did worry her that the vehicle had no seat belts.

Thinking ahead, she tugged off the kitchen apron and pulled her hair back with an elastic from a pocket of her shorts. She needed to be ready for whatever stage of labor this woman was in.

Lizzy. Meg knew her name but not much else. When she worked with a client, she wove a delicate relationship with the mother through weeks of prenatal care. She knew her medical history and gained her trust. The bond between midwife and mother was an
important part of the difficult dance of labor and delivery, which could be exhausting for everyone involved.

Meg didn’t like coming in at the eleventh hour—especially after the Collier case, which had turned tragic after Meg had taken on a desperate woman at the last minute.

She shot a look at the nervous Amish man beside her. “I need you to fill me in on your wife’s medical history. Has she had a baby before?”

“No. This is our first.”

“And you said she has a doctor. She’s been seeing him for regular prenatal checkups?”

“Ya. Doc Trueherz, and the Amish midwives. She saw Anna in the beginning. In the last month, Fanny began to pay us visits, seeing as Anna was going away.”

So Lizzy had been seeing a doctor and a midwife; that was a relief.

“Do you know the problem with the delivery? Is she bleeding?”

“That I don’t know. Fanny just told me that the baby might be in trouble.”

“A slow heartbeat?”

“You have to ask Fanny.”

She took her cell phone from her pocket and checked—two bars. “Should I call an ambulance while I still have reception?”

“Nay. Fanny didn’t ask for an ambulance.”