A Love For Lizzie. Tracey J. Lyons

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СКАЧАТЬ heard rumors about you. About your plans for the future.”

      The sound of Lizzie’s soft voice snapped him out of his reverie. “Who told you?”

      “Though our land is vast, we live in a very close-knit community. Word gets out,” Lizzie answered. She turned a thoughtful blue-eyed gaze to him. “Are you sure you want to break from your family business?”

      He nodded. “I don’t see it as breaking away. Maybe the move could be more of an expansion of the business. I’ve started to pick out the pieces I’m going to sell at the new store. It’s been a dream of mine for a very long time. Sort of like you and your paintings.” He grinned at her.

      “I don’t do my paintings for profit.”

      “No, you don’t. But I—” His explanation was interrupted when he heard Lizzie’s name being called.

      “Come on, I think there’s some news.” Paul guided her over to the reception area. Once there, the woman instructed them on how to get to the emergency room.

      He started through the doors and turned back when he realized Lizzie wasn’t with him. She stood in the doorway to the long corridor, pale as a ghost. Her blue eyes were wide as she stared down the hallway.

      Rushing over to her, he took her trembling hands in his. “Lizzie, your vader is going to be all right. I know it. Joseph is a strong man. As strong as the oxen he uses to plow the fields.”

      She shook her head. “That’s not what I’m thinking about.”

      He furrowed his brow in confusion. And then it dawned on him. On the day of the accident that had taken her bruder’s life and left her injured, the ambulance had brought her to this very hospital.

      “Lizzie. I’ll be by your side the whole time. I promise,” Paul said.

      “The last time I was in this building was all those years ago. I don’t remember everything. Just...there was so much blood.” She started to pull away.

      * * *

      She felt Paul place his hand under her elbow. For a brief moment Lizzie allowed herself to take comfort from his touch. It would be so easy to let him take the lead, but Lizzie wanted to be strong for her family. As they made their way down a long hallway, she tried hard to ignore the antiseptic smell. The acrid scent brought to mind what little she remembered about that long-ago day. She covered the scar on her face with a hand, feeling the soft ridge of skin, remembering the blood.

      Lizzie jumped as the sound of Paul’s voice jarred her back to the present.

      “Here we are.” He looked down at her and then nodded in the direction of the emergency room.

      Lizzie appreciated the concern in his eyes, even though it did little to calm her nerves.

      “Are you going to be okay?”

      She dropped her hand against her side, nodding. Lizzie walked with him through another set of sliding glass doors and looked around the brightly lit area. It wasn’t long before she saw her mamm’s plain black shoes poking out from beneath a curtained-off section of the large room. Heading that way, Lizzie slowly pulled back the white curtain and peeked in. Her vader lay on a narrow bed, with wires coming out from beneath a white blanket that covered him. His eyes were closed and his face looked very pale. Thankfully his chest rose and fell in a regular rhythm. Her gaze followed the cords to a monitor on a pole. She heard the beeping of his heart and saw a wavy line running across the flat screen.

      “Dochder. You shouldn’t be here.” Her father’s weak voice startled her.

      Lizzie stepped into the tiny space, while her mamm stood to gather her in a hug. “It’s going to be all right,” she whispered against Lizzie’s ear.

      “I’m worried about you, Vader.”

      “I’m...” He paused, struggling to take a deep breath. “I’m going to be out of here in time for the next milking.”

      Her mamm gasped. “No, Joseph. That is not what the doctor said.”

      “What did they say, mamm?” Lizzie wanted to know.

      “They could tell from the EKG that they ran in the ambulance that he’s had a mild heart attack. He needs to stay here for a few more days while they run some more tests. They want to do a procedure called a catheterization to see if there is any damage to your vader’s heart.”

      “I won’t be here for any of that,” her vader grumbled. “I am in the middle of the first harvest. It’s not like I have a strong son who can take over.”

      Lizzie stiffened at her father’s harsh words. She knew better than he what the family had lost. Even though he’d never come out and accused her, she knew he blamed her for David’s death. She felt her mamm give her hand a quick squeeze.

      She released Lizzie, then walked across the polished black-and-white floor tiles to her husband’s bedside. She took his hand in hers and kissed the top of it.

      Very quietly, but with a firmness in her tone, she said, “Joseph, you will do exactly as the doctors tell you.”

      “But who will take care of the cows and the crops?”

      Paul and a tall man dressed in Plain clothes entered their room. Lizzie recognized Amos Yoder, one of the elders in their church district. He stood at the foot of her father’s bed, wearing dark pants and a crisp white shirt tucked beneath his black suspenders. On his head he wore a dark brimmed hat with a black band.

      “Joseph,” he said, his deep voice resonating throughout the space. “You will not worry about your crops or your cows. The men and I can each spare a son to help out until you are well enough. The boys will rotate their days.”

      Her vader sighed. He avoided making eye contact with her. “See, this mess has already brought the two of you away from your work.”

      “It was nothing, Joseph. I was at the house, visiting already, and didn’t mind coming with Lizzie to the hospital,” Paul said.

      Taking her mamm aside, Lizzie knew she and Paul had stayed past their time. And she didn’t want to be the cause of any more stress for her vader.

      “Mamm, I think I’ll go home. I’ve kept Paul here long enough, and I have much to tend to back at the house.”

      “Ja, Lizzie, you go home. If there are men working at our fields and in our barns, they will eventually need to be fed. You must cook for them.”

      “Ja. Of course.” Her mamm led her back to her vader’s bedside so she could say goodbye. “Vader, I don’t want you to worry about the farm. I can help keep things running.” Lizzie tried her best to put on a brave front. But the truth was she was worried.

      “Ach!” Her vader half raised a hand off the bed, swishing it in the air as if swatting at a fly. “You go home and do your chores, Dochder. I’ll be fine.”

      Though she wanted with all her heart to believe him, she СКАЧАТЬ