Anna's Healing (29 page)

“Sorry, miss. The boss's orders were
no one
passes these barricades, especially press.”

“Please, call. Call your boss and ask him. Tell him to ask Anna. She will want to see me.”

Starnes looked toward the other officer, who had been listening to their conversation. He shrugged, and Starnes pulled the radio off his belt.

Two minutes later, Chloe was walking up the lane.

There had been quite the ruckus when the officers let her through. One lady had thrown herself at Chloe. “I need to go with you. I have cancer—brain cancer. Please, let me go—”

The officers had stepped in to pull the woman away. The entire episode had unnerved Chloe, though she noticed that Manuel snapped several pictures of the event.

Now that she was walking toward the house, with the crowd behind her, she allowed her mind to go over what had happened so far.

Someone had reported that Anna was healed. Word had leaked out, as word is bound to do in a small town. And now there was a crowd of folks—some gawkers, some people in search of a miracle—desperate to see her friend.

To think that when she got out of bed that morning, she had feared it would be a slow news day.

There appeared to be no one working in the barn and no one on the front porch. Three cars were parked in the gravel area between the barn and house. One was obviously the sheriff's patrol car. Chloe thought she recognized the white sedan. She'd seen it there before, so it must belong to one of the visiting nurses. The third car—a black Mercedes with tinted windows—she'd never seen.

She walked to the front door and tapped lightly.

All of the shades were pulled down, which struck her as odd. Usually the shades were up and the windows raised.

Then she saw that the windows were open, allowing a small amount of breeze into the room. But why were the shades pulled down?

Samuel answered the door, stepped closer to the screen, and peered past her. Satisfied she was alone, he opened the door, motioning for her to enter quickly.

“What's going on, Samuel? Why are all these people here?”

Instead of answering, he nodded toward the sitting room. “Go on in. She wants to see you.”

What Chloe saw next would be forever imprinted on her mind.

Erin and
Mammi
sat on the couch, hands folded, expressions unreadable. Jacob stood near the wall, fidgeting with his hat and frowning. Dr. Hartman and the nurse stood to the side, deep in conversation. Bishop Levi sat in the chair across from the ladies. And standing by the window, her arms crossed and her foot tapping impatiently against the floor, was Anna.

Chloe felt her world shift, literally tilt, and she shook her head to clear it. She couldn't be seeing what she was seeing. It wasn't possible.

Then Anna looked at her and smiled, and she knew it was true.

She hurried to her friend's side, grabbed her hands, and pulled her into a hug.

Somehow what couldn't happen, had happened. Anna was healed.

CHAPTER 44

T
wenty minutes later, they were in the kitchen at the table, just the two of them.

Chloe had a glass of water, Anna had a glass of milk, and a plate of cookies sat between them.

At Anna's insistence, Chloe had taken notes.

“Someone is going to put it in the papers. It might as well be you.”

Now Chloe looked back over what she had written. But they were only words on a page—words she expected no one would believe. She glanced up at Anna, who stood, picked up the cookie plate, and said, “I might as well take this to the sitting room. Someone will eat them if we don't.”

Chloe watched her walk out of the room. She had a thousand questions. She felt shaky and ecstatic at the same time. Her reporter's brain was fighting with her heart.

How could this have happened?

It was true. There was no doubt about what she was seeing. But how? She'd begun attending church again last winter, at the height of her depression over Anna's condition. She couldn't have explained to anyone why Anna's injury had affected her so severely, but it had. She'd needed to look for answers to her questions about why such terrible things happen to good people. She'd wanted to know what kind of God could allow such a thing. She had hoped to understand all that had happened to her friend.

But church didn't provide her with those types of answers. It did start her reading the Bible again, though somewhat sporadically. It brought her closer to her mother. It reminded her of the faith of her childhood. But she wasn't a child any longer, and now she had more questions than ever.

If she didn't file this story, Eric would probably fire her, and then he'd send someone else to do it. Someone who more than likely would know nothing about the Amish or their customs and beliefs.

The enormity of what she was about to do sank into her heart like a stone. She was about to file a report on a miracle. How could she do that? How could she possibly find the words to report what she was seeing? And be objective? Well, that was impossible.

Anna walked back into the room. “The sheriff says there are even more people out there. He suggested we go away for a while.”

“Will you?”

“
Nein
.
Onkel
has work to do in the fields. Jacob is helping him.
Aenti
and
Mammi
? Why would they leave? And
Onkel
called my mother. She's on her way here. She promised to take the bus today.” Anna shook her head. “We can't leave.”

“You could go alone. Go back to your home in Goshen.”

Anna stood with her back against the counter and her hands in the pockets of her apron. Perhaps she didn't understand the seriousness of what lay ahead, because she smiled and said, “Why would I leave? This is my home.”

“Yes, but… maybe the sheriff has a good point. Maybe it would be the wise thing to do until another big story comes along and folks become distracted and leave.”

Anna frowned and pulled one of her
kapp
strings forward. “I'm ready to start quilting again, and gardening, and keeping the produce stand—”

“You might be able to do the first two, but there's no way you're going to be able to sell produce out of the stand. Do you realize how many people are out there? Not to mention the newspaper and television crews.”

“Media! Oh, my!” Anna nearly laughed as she said it. “You're all the same, aren't you.”

Chloe cleared her throat and put on her most serious expression. “I know you're teasing, but many reporters are ruthless. I don't think you understand, Anna. Some people will do anything for a story, and this story? It's big.”

Anna waved her concerns away, but then she sat down next to Chloe and grabbed her hands.

“Don't you see? It's as if I've been given a second chance. Am I supposed to be afraid of the people waiting in our lane? I don't feel afraid of anything. I feel marvelously alive.”

Tears pricked Chloe's eyes.

“I don't know why, Chloe. You asked me that question. Look back at your notes. I don't know why me or why now. I don't understand any of it.” She tapped her feet against the floor. “I only know that I couldn't stand or walk. My life was changed the day the tornado came across my
onkel
's field. And now it has changed again.”

Before Chloe could think of how to respond, Erin walked into the room. “If you two are finished, the doctor would like to talk to all of us.”

“
Ya
, sure.” Anna squeezed Chloe's hand, and together they walked into the sitting room.

Dr. Hartman had stepped out onto the front porch to use his phone. The bishop moved from the chair, though now he was vigorously chewing a piece of gum and occasionally blowing bubbles with it. The image settled Chloe's nerves. Samuel was seated on the couch with
Mammi
and Erin. Jacob walked over and stood beside her and Anna. Sandy stood at the window, dividing her attention between watching the doctor and staring at Anna. The sheriff had left.

A few moments later Dr. Hartman walked back into the room. He glanced around at each of them, but finally turned his attention to Anna. “I'd like you to come back to Tulsa. I want to run a few tests.”

CHAPTER 45

I
don't want to go back to the hospital. I don't
need
to go back to the hospital.” Anna resisted the childish urge to stomp her foot. She wasn't a child. She was a woman, and they couldn't make her go.

“I understand a little of how you feel.” Dr. Hartman stared at the floor for a moment. When he glanced back up, looking directly at her, Anna realized for the first time that he was merely a man. She'd always been a little in awe of doctors and nurses. Of their skill and their knowledge. It was plain from the look on his face that Dr. Hartman didn't understand what had happened any better than they did. His knowledge and his skill only went so far.

“You're well now. You've been given your life back, and you want to be left alone to enjoy it.”

Anna nodded slowly. That was exactly what she'd been thinking.

“But you couldn't walk and now you can. I've been your doctor since that fateful day you were brought into Oklahoma Surgical, Anna.” He shook his head and the next thing he said was more to himself than to her. “I didn't read those X-rays wrong. You shouldn't be able to walk.”

“What is the point of the tests?” Bishop Levi tapped his cane against the floor. “We are thankful for your help with Anna, but she was healed by
Gotte
. A miracle is not something that can be explained. It's not something that will show up on your tests.”

“But it will. The MRI will show if her spine is actually healed. And possibly… maybe there is something we would see that would help
someone else. I don't know what. I can't even imagine, but I also didn't believe Anna could walk when Sandy called me.”

“It might help others?” Anna crossed her arms. She didn't want to ever walk inside a hospital again, but if it could help someone who was enduring a lifetime in a wheelchair, perhaps she should.

“How would you even get her there?” Samuel asked. “You heard the sheriff. A lot of people are waiting to catch a glimpse of her. How would you get her off the farm without at least some of those people following?”

“We'll transport her in an ambulance. The sheriff department would probably provide us with an escort if we need it.”

Samuel shook his head. “We live our life separate—and quietly. I don't want Anna to be followed around like some movie star.”

“Your
Englisch
vehicle, it has dark windows, yes?”
Mammi
had been fairly quiet all morning. Now she pushed up on her glasses, stood, and walked over to Anna, stopping in front of her.

When she reached up and touched her face, Anna closed her eyes. Her grandmother's love was both deep and wide. It was a miracle in itself.

“Go and help the children, Anna. Perhaps
Gotte
will use you today. You can wear Chloe's ball cap over your
kapp
. If anyone gets close enough to look through the windows, they will only see the ball cap. Perhaps they will think they're seeing Chloe.”

“Wearing
Englisch
clothes, disguising herself—I'm not sure that's something we want to do.” Samuel also stood, now obviously agitated, but Levi reached out and touched his shoulder.

“It's
gut
that you are thinking these things through, Samuel. It's
gut
that you care about your family as well as your commitment to the
Ordnung
.” Levi stood, leaned against the cane with his left hand, and ran the fingers of his right through his beard. “But these are extraordinary circumstances, and perhaps we should deal with them as such. I think Ruth's idea is a
gut
one.”

Anna smiled at the use of
Mammi
's name. Nearly everyone simply called her
Mammi
, but Levi had known her for a long time.

“Will you do it, Anna?” Dr. Hartman looked hopeful. “Will you come with me?”

“I'd rather not go alone.”

“I'll go.” Sandy stepped forward. “I'll be happy to ride in the backseat with you.”

“It would probably be best if you followed in your car, Sandy. No doubt some in the crowd already know who we are and what we drive. They will only see the doctor and nurse leaving. There will be no need to follow us.”

“I could follow in my car if you'd like me to be there with you,” Chloe said. “And I can bring you back.”

Anna squeezed her hand. It seemed they had found a way to fulfill Dr. Hartman's request.

“That's a good idea,” the doctor said. “But perhaps you should wait a few moments—so they don't see a whole convoy of cars leaving at once.”

“I'll ride in the back with Anna. No one will be able to tell whether I'm Amish or not.” Jacob touched the top of his head. “I'll keep my hat off.”