Remember Love

By Ellen C. Edson

Thirty-year-old April Chambers lived in Seattle, Washington. She missed her husband, James, a World War II flyer. He had to keep his flights secret, even from her. A phone call from Dallas, Texas changed their lives forever. It gave them the news that they had become instant parents of a beautiful young girl. However, because of a severe vehicular accident, this teen-ager was recovering from a coma, broken bones, and lost memories. Soon, Aprils new daughter became the focus of her life. The girls intelligence, maturity, and zest for living, gradually renewed Aprils faith in humanity.

This, then, is a story of love, belief in God, or not, hardships, and a sin that left a blot on Aprils perfect marriage. A recurring dream alarmed April almost as much as the earth-shaking news of casualties around the world. She nervously watched as this country pulled together to end a war that took a tremendous toll on her and the lives of the strongest men and women in the nation.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Nov 2, 2009
• ISBN: 9781450098397

Ellen C. Edson

As a young girl at the age of seven down in Texas, I picked cotton along side my mother and daddy. I would sometimes have to sit in the shade of a big oak tree and tend to my two younger brothers while our parents and sister continued to work. We did not own any books, nor did we have access to a library. Therefore, in order to keep the little guys quiet and from running around getting into things, I made up stories to tell them. They loved the stories, especially the one about the little lost dog who wanted his mother. I noticed that I could evoke different emotions from them by changing the types of stories I told.

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Copyright © 2009 by Ellen C. Edson.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted

in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying,

recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system,

without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are the

product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance

to any actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

Xlibris

1-888-795-4274

www.Xlibris.com

69360

To Harold Bell, whose love and encouragement

means so much.

To Cheryl, who has always loved and believed in me.

To Chris, my Christian friend, who read

the first chapter, and wanted

more.

Contents

CHAPTER ONE

CHAPTER TWO

CHAPTER THREE

CHAPTER FOUR

CHAPTER FIVE

CHAPTER SIX

CHAPTER SEVEN

CHAPTER EIGHT

CHAPTER NINE

CHAPTER TEN

CHAPTER ELEVEN

CHAPTER TWELVE

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

About the author

CHAPTER ONE

She heard the soothing voice of the man who stood looking at the wreckage with her. You are going to be okay. Don’t be afraid, he said. He took her hand, and peace filled her entire body. The pain in her left shoulder melted away. She felt light as air.

Come with me, the voice said. They started rising up and up—like when she would dive into the deep end of a pool and would slowly rise back up to the top. She saw her two-year-old twin brothers, Billy and Bobby, as they rose from the wreckage. She saw her father and mother. They were rising too. Behind them were her three sisters. Her sisters joined hands with the boys and their father and mother. She saw her father take hold of the man’s outstretched hand as they all rose together. They were way above the wreckage at that point. Everything happened so fast, and yet it was like slow motion. It was as if time were playing tricks on her. They traveled through empty darkness with tiny lights twinkling far away. Suddenly, it was very bright. The man’s clothing seemed to be glowing. Without a word, he led her daddy and the rest of the family to a beautiful courtyard in front of a large, rather rough-hewn building. The green-and-gold courtyard seemed to contain its own light. The man let go of her daddy’s hand and pointed toward a building. Still without speaking, her family walked through the courtyard toward the building. She thought she was supposed to go too and started to follow. However, the man held her back, tightening his grip on her left hand. No. Not yet, he said.

As her family neared the building, they turned and smiled. They all looked so happy. Their clothing began to glow too as they turned away from her and moved as one body into the building. She remembered seeing birds move together like that—all at once and at the same time—as they took flight. It pleased her.

Within an instant, she and the man were back on the side of the road again. Headlights and spotlights moving in every direction stabbed at her eyes as she peered through the smoke at the wreckage. Metallic sounds and the scream of sirens dug into her ears, and she covered her right ear with her free hand. The raw gas fumes and acrid smells of exhaust scraped her nostrils as though she were breathing hot sand instead of air. She tasted the salty taste of blood and realized she must have bitten her tongue. People were milling around. They were frantic, shouting for help, yelling for a doctor. Everyone was seriously doing what he or she seemed to know how to do. Men lifted lifeless bodies out of the car and placed them into ambulances. Two workers dragged a large man, dressed like a cowboy, from an old Ford truck and zipped a bag up over his head. Someone unzipped the bag and put a cowboy hat inside. She shivered slightly. Everyone seemed to be hurrying except for the man who held her hand. He stood beside her, quietly watching.

Over here, Doc. I think I have a pulse on this one, a man said.

Okay, a man in a white jacket said. I’m coming.

Bring me a stretcher! the man in the white jacket demanded. Two men in uniform brought a stretcher to the side of the car. Easy now, I think her shoulder is broken, and maybe her arm too, he said as the two men carefully pulled a teenage girl out of the backseat of a Plymouth sedan. She looked dead.

The men strapped the girl onto the stretcher and carried it toward the open doors of an ambulance. Its red lights were still flashing. As they handed the stretcher into the ambulance, someone demanded, Put her on oxygen!

Still standing beside the wreckage, she looked up at the man holding her hand. He looked down at her with such love in his eyes she wanted to stay with him forever. No, you have your job to do, he said. He smiled at her, and as he let go of her hand, he faded from her sight.

Suddenly, she felt a mask on her face and the sharp sting of gas pushed through her nostrils. The man in the white jacket, whom they had called Doc, climbed into the ambulance and stood beside her. He stuck a needle in her arm, and as she drifted off, she remembered. Tonight was the night she and Donald were to have their special date. She loved him, and now, when they could finally be together again, she had to leave him without being able to tell him why. She started to cry, then slowly lost consciousness.

It was February 1944 in Dallas, Texas. A young girl from the Alton Austin family lay in bed in a three-bed ward in Parkland hospital. She was in a coma.

Her Aunt April received a phone call from Texas trooper Ben Wilkes.

Mrs. Chambers? Mrs. James Chambers? the voice of Ben Wilkes boomed on the long-distance call from Dallas, Texas, to Seattle, Washington.

Yes. This is April Chambers.

Quieter now because he had no trouble hearing her voice, the trooper continued, I’m Ben Wilkes, of the state police here in Dallas, Texas, ma’am. I have some bad news to tell you. Are you sitting down?

Yes, I am. April immediately thought something had happened to her pilot husband, James, then realized he was in bed next to her. What has happened?

I’m sorry to have to tell you this, but your brother and his family were in an automobile accident near here about eight o’clock tonight.

Oh my god, are they all right?

No, ma’am. It happened quickly. They didn’t suffer.

You mean they all died? she screamed.

Yes, ma’am, all but one. She’s in the hospital. I found your name and phone number in a letter in the glove box of the vehicle. It states that you are the girl’s guardian now.

April wanted to reach out and hit the man as hard as she could. She wanted to take a club and beat him to a pulp. How could her beloved brother and his family be dead? How dare this stranger tell her such an outrageous thing? How dare he be alive and her whole family be dead? She put her hand to her head as she fought against the blackness that threatened to engulf her. She felt as if she was drowning, but she knew she had to stay alert to get the information from the phone. Mustering all her strength, she forced herself to stay sane.

James was awake by then and turned on the light. Seeing the tears running down her face and the wild expression in her eyes, he gently pried the phone from her hand.

This is James Chambers, he told the trooper. My wife is in shock. Will you be good enough to tell me what’s happened?

I’ll do that, sir, of course, the trooper said and continued to tell James all the details.

Finally, James asked, Which girl is in the hospital?

We don’t know, sir. She can’t tell us. She’s in a coma.

James thanked the trooper and told him they would be there as soon as they could.

Turning to April, James said, She’s in a coma, darling. They don’t know which one she is.

He held her while she cried and yelled and beat the pillow with her fists. When she had exhausted herself into quiet sobs, he told her, Darling, you rest now. I have to make hotel reservations for us and get us a hop out of here. Tomorrow, if I can.

Cleve, this is James. April and I have an emergency here. We need to get to Dallas ASAP. Do you have anything faster than a C-47 going that way?

Roger is taking your DC-3 to Denver tomorrow, Cleve answered. He’s to pick up passengers there. If April were going, I would have to check with security. Let me see what I can do, and I’ll call you back.

Okay, Cleve. Thanks, I really appreciate it. Save us space if you can find anything. We’re desperate.

James hung up the phone and turned to April. There are no commercial flights into Dallas from here. Cleve thinks we might get a hop with Roger. He’s flying the DC-3 to Stapleton tomorrow. Depending upon whom he has to pick up there, there is a possibility he could fly a loop on to Dallas. He will call us back.

James called a hotel in Dallas and reserved a room for them, just in case they could get a flight. Then he warmed some milk, sweetened it, and brought the soothing liquid to April in bed.

Drink this. It will help you sleep. Please try to sleep a little. He held her close and said, Don’t worry, we’ll get through this.

I’ll try, hon. I would love to just go to sleep and wake up to find this is all a nightmare.

The phone rang. It was Cleve. James, you’re in luck. There are just a couple of senators in Denver. You’ll land there to pick them up and probably refuel. Roger said he had to go on to Chicago, so a dip down to Dallas would not be too difficult. He’ll be ready at nine tomorrow morning.

Thanks, Cleve, you’re a lifesaver. I’ll see you when my leave is up next week.

James and April slept in each other’s arms for about three hours. That is all April’s distress would allow her.

Trying to think of all the things she would need to have with her in Dallas, April dressed and quickly packed her bags. James set the breakfast table, and she nibbled at some fruit and cereal and then drank two cups of strong coffee.

The phone rang. James sat in the chair next to the bed and answered it. April ran to the bedroom to listen. She saw the familiar, determined look on her husband’s face, and her heart sank. She knew what was coming next, and she walked back into the kitchen to pour herself another cup of coffee.

James finished his call and joined her in the kitchen. Taking her in his arms, he said, I am so sorry, precious.

I know you can’t help it. I am so tired of not having a husband. You do so much for me anyway, but every time I really need you, you have to go away again. When is it ever going to end? I hate this war.

We all hate it. That’s why every one of us is putting forth everything he has to put an end to it. You know I don’t like leaving you, especially now.

But you just talked to Cleve last night. Why didn’t he say something then? Didn’t you tell him you were on leave? Isn’t he your supervisor?

Not the only one. I can’t explain things to you, precious, like I would like to. I have a top-secret job. You will just have to understand. When the war is over, I hope I am able to explain everything to you.

But, James, how am I supposed to get to Dallas?

With Roger, as we planned. There will be a stop in Denver to pick up a couple of men, and then Roger will take you to Dallas. I just won’t be with you, that’s all. I am so sorry you will have to handle everything down there alone.

The phone rang again, and they both ran to the bedroom to answer it. April picked it up. Hello, April Chambers here, she said.

Hello, April. This is Doc.

Doc Sanders had read the news about the deaths in the Dallas Morning News. It was a brief account about the Alton Austin family being wiped out in an accident near Dallas less than sixty miles north of their home in Eureka. Since the war news took up most of the other pages, he found the article buried on the back page. The paper neither said anything about the fact that they were on their way to Washington State nor that one child had survived. He had learned that from his friend Ben Wilkes, the state trooper who had covered the accident.

I know how distraught you are, April, and that you’re going to have a lot more to handle when you get down here. If you want me to, I’ll handle the funeral arrangements and send an obituary to the paper.

Oh, Doc, you are such a lifesaver. I hadn’t even thought about the funeral or the obituary. My mind has been on that poor little girl, lying there alone in that hospital with no family to visit her. No family to ever visit her again, April’s voice wavered as she tried to hold back the tears.

I’m sorry, April. This is a terrible blow to you. You just take care of yourself. I’ll help with anything else you need. When do you think you can come down?

Today. I’ll call you when I get in. Can you pick me up at the airport? she asked. You bet I can. You just hang tough now, you hear?

When she had written down Doc’s phone number and hung up, James had already carried her bags to the car. She grabbed up her purse and coat and joined him. The drive to the airport took only minutes.

Before they parted, destined to go in two different directions, they held on to each other for one last minute, kissing each other deeply, not caring if someone saw them. They wondered when, if ever, they would see each other again.

When Doc picked her up at the airport in Dallas, he could see that April was exhausted. After the initial hug and greeting, they were unusually quiet until they reached the Regency. He waited for her to check in and then walked her up to her room. Once inside, she held on to her friend and family doctor and poured out her grief between sobs and wiped her eyes.

Doc brought a cool cloth and wiped her face. You need to rest now. I’ll go so you can get some sleep. What time do you want me to pick you up in the morning? I’d like to go to the hospital with you, if that’s all right with you.

Doc, I would love to have you with me. I feel so alone right now. How does nine sound to you?

It sounds fine. I’ll be here. You’ve had a trying day and a long, hard trip. You try to get some sleep now, you hear?

April cried herself to sleep. The bright sun streaming through her window awakened her. The renewed realization that her brother and his family were dead hit her like a heavy weight that she could not lift. Trying to keep the tears in check, she dressed for the trip to the hospital.

She was still weak from grief when she heard Doc’s knock and opened the door. Oh, Doc, thank you so much for coming. She gave him a hug. There is no way I could have managed this without you.

They stopped at a little café on the way to the hospital that April vaguely remembered. While they waited for their food, April blurted out, I hate this war! If that truck driver had been able to buy good tires instead of the junk we civilians are left with, my brother and his family would still be alive.

Maybe so, April. But I think God sets the time for each of us to die. When your time is up, it doesn’t matter how you die.

I don’t believe that. Surely, we worship a good god. He would not purposely allow a young family like Alton’s to be wiped out all at once. He would not allow more and more of our boys to die in the madness of this world war either.

I can’t argue with that, Doc answered. I hope and pray that it will be over soon, for all our sakes.

Doc lowered his voice and continued, April, I know it’s none of my business, but are you and James going to be able to take in a child? I mean, can you afford to raise a teenager? My wife and I would take her in a minute if you can’t.

That’s very kind of you, Doc. We’re okay. The depression didn’t hit us badly. It broke my brother and a lot of other people we know, but we are fine, praise God for that. I hate this war, but because of it, James is earning more money flying for the government than he was before as a regular pilot. Don’t worry, we’ll be fine. We loved all of Alton and Jenny Lynn’s children, and they wanted us to raise them if anything happened. I have a letter from Alton and Jenny Lynn giving them to us.

I know. Ben Wilkes let me read the letter he found in the glove compartment. That’s how I got your phone number. I thought that was the case, but I just had to know for sure that the girl would be wanted and that you could take care of her without any problems.

She is the only bright light in this whole disaster. We not only want her, but we also love her dearly, and I know she loves us no matter which one she is. We’ve been waiting ten years for God to give us a child.

You’re only thirty, April. You still have time to have a child of your own, Doc replied.

I know, and we have always thought that someday God would give us a child. We never dreamed that the child would be a teenager when it arrived. Having a teenager might be more difficult than starting out with an infant. Nevertheless, it is doable. Even raising a teenager who has lost her entire family must be doable, April said with her voice quavering.

You bet it is, sweetheart. These are trying times we’re going through, Doc continued. Fathers and sons are being sacrificed to protect our freedom. It seems that our strongest are perishing so the weakest have to become strong. People are taking on new roles. When something has to be done, someone rolls up his or her sleeves and gets it done. You’re going to have to be strong now too, April—strong for your husband, strong for your niece, and strong for yourself. With God’s help, I know you can do it. But all three of you are going to have a rough row to hoe.

With fresh tears streaming down her face, April replied, I know you’re right, and thanks, Doc, for your confidence. I’ve already had a lot of practice in being strong, with James gone most of the time and my not knowing where he is or when he will be back, but I’m worried about my niece. How badly injured is she? I wonder if this accident will allow her to live a normal life. Will she come out of this coma? How do I tell her about her parents, brothers, and sisters? How does a teenager feel when she wakes up and discovers that she no longer has a family?

It’ll work out, April.

Thanks, Doc. I just hope and pray that it will.

I haven’t identified the bodies yet, Doc told her. I called the coroner’s office and told them I would be in today. Do you want them buried at the Chatfield Cemetery? I thought you would want them there where your parents are buried.

Yes, I would, Doc, thanks.

Doc Sanders had delivered all of Alton’s children. He took care of Alton’s parents before they died and both Alton and April when they were children. He was often a Sunday-dinner guest in their home and considered them friends as well as patients.

Doc, I was just thinking. Patsy Ruth was already eighteen. She was the eldest. It would probably be the easiest for her. I mean, it will still be hard, but not as hard as it would be if it were Mary or Martha. Twins have such a close bond. For one of them to lose the other and the rest of their family too, it would be a lot harder I think. Let’s see, I think the twins were sixteen or almost seventeen. I can’t remember. But I know Jenny Lynn got pregnant right after she had Patsy Ruth.

That’s right, Doc chimed in. It was a hard pregnancy. But Jenny was strong, and her mother helped out a lot.

The trooper said it was a teenager. Yet all the girls were teenagers. Tiffany was fourteen or fifteen. She was such a beautiful little girl, April said. I visited them a couple of times a year, and she would always remember me and come running to me and throw herself into my arms, even when she was little. She was the only one with blond hair.

I know exactly how old Tiffany would be, Doc added. She was born on my forty-ninth birthday. Ida was having a party for me, and Alton and his family were there. I used our spare room downstairs for her delivery. It was not the first time it’d been used for that either. I’ll be sixty-five March sixth. Tiffany would be fifteen now and sixteen next month on our birthday. Jenny named her Tiffany Lynn after my mother, Tiffany Irene, and her mother, Sarah Lynn. I remember that like it was yesterday. My mother was there. She thought it was quite an honor to have the baby named after her. That little girl added a lot of excitement to my forty-ninth birthday party, I can tell you that.

They finished breakfast and were soon in the hospital parking lot. Well, it won’t be long now, Doc declared. We’ll know in a few minutes which little girl you have.

April shaded her eyes from the sun as they walked toward the hospital’s front doors. You know, as I look back, I just don’t know which of their children I would have chosen if I’d had the choice. The twin boys were the sweetest little babies. I haven’t seen them since they were a little over a year old. They were the cutest little things I ever saw. They had dark hair and big adorable brown eyes, chubby cheeks, and dimples.

Yes, they were something, all right, Doc agreed. We were surprised that Jenny had two sets of twins. You know twins usually skip a generation. Jenny was a twin too. She had a twin brother. I haven’t heard anything about him in years. He was in the navy, wasn’t he?

As they entered the elevator, April said, Yes, he was a chief petty officer. He was killed in the Battle of the Bismarck Sea, Jenny wrote.

That’s too bad. Uh—I met him once, you know. How old was he? He seemed like such a good man.

He was thirty-eight, and the last of her family. I think that his death was one thing that made Jenny finally agree to leave Texas and come to live near us, that and the fact that James found a perfect job for Alton in Washington.

The elevator door opened onto the second floor. Doc Sanders and April Chambers each took a deep breath, exited the elevator, and turned right toward the nurses’ station.

Hey there, Doc, how’re you doing? the nurse on duty called out.

I’m fine, Jessica. Are you doing okay? he asked.

I’m fine as frog’s hair, she quipped, giving him a big smile. She was an attractive tall woman.

This is April Chambers. The Austin girl’s aunt. We’re here to see her if we may.

I’m pleased to meet you, Mrs. Chambers. She nodded. Right this way, Doc. She is in ward 3 by herself. We didn’t want anyone in there with her in case she wakes up and makes a scene.

As she led them to ward 3 and opened the door, Jessica said, Dr. Adams took over her case today. She was in the emergency room before that, of course.

The blinds in the dimly lit room at the south-facing window were down all the way. The turned-up slats kept out most of the sunlight. The first two beds were empty, as the nurse had said, and a curtain hung partway around the last bed so they could not see the head of the bed or its patient.

Nurse Jessica went in first, with April and Doc following. She slid the dividing curtain back against the west wall.

There on the bed lay a beautiful fifteen-year-old girl. Her blond hair spread out on the pillow. Her face was pale, but there was not a blemish on it. She had a cast over her left shoulder and halfway down her left arm. An IV fed into her left hand. Except for the cast on her shoulder, there were no other obvious signs of injury.

April looked at Doc and whispered, It’s Tiffany.

It sure is, Doc whispered back. And she’s still as beautiful as she ever was, maybe more so.

A week and a day after the accident, in the only chair available in ward 3, April sat quietly by the window in Parkland hospital. As the steadily rising sun sent hot streams of light across the book on her lap and Tiffany’s bed three feet away, it crossed April’s mind that she would have to get up and adjust the blinds soon. She wanted Tiffany to awaken, but not by having bright sunlight in her eyes.

April’s eyes watered up again as she gazed at her niece. April thought she looked like the picture of an angel with her hair spread out across the pillow. She wondered why there were so many pictures of female angels when the only references to angels in the Bible that she could remember were all strong men.

Tiffany’s face was still pale. Her left shoulder was broken. That was the worst thing. Dr. Adams had patted April’s hand and told her that children’s bones heal fast and that there would be no permanent damage. The doctor had also assured her that Tiffany would come out of her coma soon.

At April’s request, Doc had brought an attorney to the hospital to draw up papers so that Tiffany could be legally hers.

The attorney assured April that everything was in order, that it was clear Alton and Jenny Austin wanted April to be Tiffany’s guardian. He had brought legal documents for them to sign. Doc Sanders swore under oath to the attorney that the girl in the bed was indeed Tiffany Lynn Austin. The attorney brought in a couple of the nurses to witness everything. Now they just had to wait until Tiffany woke up to ask her if she wanted her Aunt April to be her legal guardian—and for April to tell her that her whole world had been smashed to smithereens.

Today, as April sat watching her breathe, she could not imagine how Tiffany would take the news of her family’s death. She knew how she felt knowing that her brother and family would never walk on this earth again, that she would never talk to them again this side of heaven, that Alton would never tease her or play practical jokes on her again, and that their plans to be a family together in the state of Washington would never happen. She felt sick in the pit of her stomach. It sometimes seemed unreal to her, that she must be having a dream and any minute she would wake up and everything would be back as it was.

At least I’ve been to their funeral, April thought. Tiffany would not even have that comfort. However, to April it was not comforting. Doc had made all the arrangements.

After the service, April had shaken hands with a sparse group of people that she did not know. They were mostly friends or neighbors of her brother and sister-in-law. The pastor of their church was there, as were a few of Doc’s friends. Only she and Doc went out to the cemetery for a brief ceremony at the grave sites. Doc said a few words, and it was over. Funerals were supposed to comfort and heal you. But this was a strain instead, one more stressful duty that she had to get through.

There would be more duties to come. One thing she had to do was to go through the belongings stored in Doc’s barn. He had told her that the trailer Alton was pulling was not damaged too badly and that he had picked it up from the police storage area. They had piled all the salvageable items from the accident into the trailer, and now it sat locked up in Doc’s barn. The accident totaled the car.

April would wait until Tiffany was well enough before she would try to handle the sorting chore; after all, they were Tiffany’s things, and she should be involved in deciding what should be done with them.

The sun’s rays crept closer to the head of Tiffany’s bed. April carefully inserted a napkin as a bookmark and laid her book on the bed. She rose to close the blinds and turned her head quickly when she heard a faint moan.

Tiffany said, Donald, I’m sorry. It was so faint. April was not positive she had heard it, but then she heard Donald spoken clearly and lovingly. Tiffany’s eyelids fluttered, and her cool blue eyes looked directly at her. Then she closed her eyes and was sound asleep again.

April rang for a nurse.

When the nurse arrived, April told her, Tiffany woke up for just a second and mumbled something about being sorry for Donald or something! She looked straight at me and then went back to sleep.

I’ll get the doctor, the nurse said.

So we have our little sleepyhead waking up, huh? Dr. Adams carried his rather heavyset frame into the room. He had a clipboard in one hand and a stethoscope in the other.

Laying his stethoscope on an empty bed’s night table, he said, Why don’t you step out for a minute, Mrs. Chambers? We need to check on her, and the nurse will stay until you get back. You’ve been sitting too long. Why don’t you go on down to the cafeteria and get a cup of coffee or something?

April understood that he was not asking questions, but giving polite orders. As anxious as she was to be there when Tiffany came to, she knew he was right. She did need to move around, and the idea of a cup of coffee sounded wonderful. She also needed a little time to compose herself. She needed to decide what her first words to Tiffany should be.

She walked down both flights of stairs for the exercise and took her coffee into the garden just outside the cafeteria. She had eaten all her meals here for a week.

She liked the gentle heat reflecting off the white building. The ice-cream-parlor chairs and the pink marble tabletop reminded her of when she was small and her grandmother had taken her out to get ice cream. This garden was a small enclosed area with multicolored flowers growing in planter boxes on two sides. God had furnished a perfect place for her to handle her grief. This place, where she could pray and meditate, healed her much more than the funeral had. It was cold in Seattle, and she was thankful for this friendly little nook where she could feel the warmth of the Texas sun. She noticed that she felt shaky inside and knew that it was not just the caffeine.

Mrs. Chambers? Mrs. Chambers? a woman in a blue uniform was calling her name.

Yes? I’m Mrs. Chambers, she said as she rose and walked toward the young woman.

You’re wanted in your niece’s room, Mrs. Chambers. Dr. Adams sent me to tell you.

Thank you, dear, April answered. The shaky sensation was now in the pit of her stomach. She had been so anxious for Tiffany to awaken. Now that it seemed to be happening, she asked herself, How do I explain to her that she no longer has her family? She will want to know what happened. I’ll have to break the news to her some way, but how? She rode the elevator back up to the ward to save time. She arrived there with even more questions and no answers for any of them. As she walked back into Tiffany’s room, which still housed no other patients, she saw at once that she was awake.

Tiffany, darling, you finally woke up, she gushed as she rushed to her bed and kissed her on the cheek. How do you feel?

Awful. Tears were running out of her eyes and