SummerHill Secrets, Volume 1 (48 page)

The door opened.

Dad was wearing a big, almost mischievous grin. “What do you need for the night?” he asked. “A pillow, maybe?”

“I can stay?” I ran to him. “Oh, thank you, thank you!”

“You’re doing the patient a lot of good,” he said. “The nurses said so.”

“What’s that mean?” My heart was pounding with excitement. “Is something new happening?”

He shook his head. “There’s nothing new to report on Susie’s condition, but look, see that color in her cheeks?” He went over to the bed and touched her face gently. “Just a hint of color.”

We stood side by side, looking at her.

“You’re right,” I said, picking up the small jar of fireflies. “Do you believe in miracles, Daddy?”

“Sure do.”

“They happened in the Bible all the time.” I kept staring at the lights inside the jar.

“Miracles can happen any time. Sometimes when we least expect them.”

Dad made sure I was comfortable—I had several pillows and a lightweight blanket—before he left. “I’ll see you in the morning.” He hugged me close. “You’re a very courageous young lady.”

I sighed. “I sure hope Mom’s not too upset.”

“Don’t worry,” he said with a wink. “She’ll be fine.” Then he was gone.

I turned to Susie, still holding the jar filled with fireflies. “I’ll be right back. I have to set your lightning bugs free.”

I told the nurse at the nurses’ station where I was going, then hurried to the elevators and down to the main level. Outside, I opened the lid.

“Come one, come all, to the firefly ball,” I quoted Grandfather Zook’s poem as the twinkly bugs flew out of the jar. “Dance with ’em, laugh with ’em. Run straight and tall.”

Then I raced back inside. That’s when I bumped into Lissa Vyner.

“Merry, hi!” She sounded excited to see me.

What is she doing here?

I had just pressed the elevator button. “Oh…hi.” I remembered that I’d thought of calling her several times this week. Now I felt worse than ever because I hadn’t.

“I…uh…really wanted to clear things up between us,” I began, faltering a bit. “I wanted to talk to you about last Sunday—”

“Don’t worry about it,” she said. “Jon and I aren’t going out anymore.”

“You’re
not
?”

She studied me for a moment. “Oh, Merry, I’m so sorry about your Amish friend. When I heard about Susie and everything, I wished I hadn’t said all those things about you and…and them.” She stared at the numbers above the elevator door. When the door opened, we got on together. “That’s why I’m here. We’ve been such good friends, until…” Her voice trailed off.

“Guys can get in the way sometimes,” I said, still wondering if she suspected anything between Jon and me. “You’ll have to come help me talk to Susie.”

She looked at me with a blank expression. “I really didn’t come to see her.” She stepped off the elevator when the doors opened, and we walked together down the hallway to the waiting area.

I explained my ideas, strange as they sounded. “Susie’s in a coma, but I’ve been talking to her anyway. I’m trying to stimulate her brain.”

“You have to do this?”

“I don’t have to, really. I guess you could say it’s more of a faith thing—something Levi and I are doing because we found this really great verse in the Psalms.”

“Levi? I thought he was Amish.”

“That’s another story,” I interrupted, not wanting to share Levi’s plans just yet.

“So you’re saying Levi’s not into powwowing—that folk-healing thing some of the Amish farmers do?”

I’d heard about it, too. But most of the Amish I knew frowned on the practice. They viewed the use of charms, amulets, and silent incantations as questionable. Possibly evil.

I took Lissa into Susie’s room. “Here she is,” I said, introducing Lissa to my friend. “And, Susie, this is my girl friend from school, Lissa Vyner.”

“This is so weird, Mer. You’re talking to Susie like she hears you.” Lissa stared at me.

I nodded. “I honestly think she does.”

“Really?”

“It’s a strong feeling I have.”

Lissa and I stood at the foot of Susie’s bed and talked about all sorts of things. I couldn’t believe how far behind I’d gotten on the activities at our church youth group.

“Don’t forget we’re having that river hike Saturday,” she reminded me. “Maybe you and I can team up.”

“I’m sorry, but I can’t go. My aunt and uncle are coming with their new twin babies.”

“Lucky for you,” she said pensively. Then, “I’ve really missed you, Mer. It seems like ages since we’ve really talked.”

“I know what you mean.” I was curious about what had happened between her and Jon, but I didn’t dare ask.

After she left, I pulled a chair of equal height up to the big, comfortable chair, making a little bed for myself. When I had both chairs situated so I could stretch my legs out slightly, I positioned the pillows, then reached for the Bible.

Susie and I were going to have a Bible study. She was going to know what God’s Word said about miracles.

I propped my pillows up so I could see her from my chair-bed. My plan was to talk until I fell asleep. Maybe I’d even talk
in
my sleep!

Long after midnight, the super-friendly nurse came in for a routine check. “Everyone ought to have a friend like you, Merry.” Her words were the very last thing I remembered as I fell, exhausted, into a deep sleep.

Sometime before dawn, I awoke with a start. The Bible had slid off my lap, inching its way down against Susie’s bed. The hard edge poked into my legs.

Drowsily, I reached for it, putting it on the table. Then I began the flow of words to Susie’s brain. “It’s almost morning, and can you believe it—I’ve been here all night! This is my very first hospital sleepover.” I chuckled to myself. “Sleepovers are supposed to be full of excitement. People aren’t
really
supposed to sleep at these things, you know. So, c’mon, Susie, won’tcha ple-ease wake up?” I stretched a bit, trying to get the kink out of my neck.

Then I felt it. Something powerful. My heart beat a little too fast, and I looked over my shoulder, wondering if an angel had come to call.

Rubbing my eyes, I heard a tiny sound. It came from Susie’s bed. My arms froze in place as I turned around.

Slowly, I opened my eyes, half expecting to see her guardian angel.

“
Wo bin
ich?” came her husky voice. “Where am I?”

I sat up, nearly falling out of my makeshift bed of chairs.

“Susie! You’re back!”

I was afraid to hug her, but I leaned over the bed, smiling, not sure what to do.

“What happened?” she asked, sounding groggy.

“There was an accident. But you’re going to be fine now.”

“Come one, come all…” Her voice was weak.

I grinned down at her blue, blue eyes. “Susie…could you hear me reading to you? Did you—”

The door opened and the morning nurse breezed in. Her face burst into a surprised but delighted expression. “Well, what do you know!” She grinned from ear to ear, looking first at Susie, then at me.

“This is my friend Susie Zook,” I said.

From that moment on, there was a flurry of activity. Almost more than when Susie had been in the coma. Her Amish friends and relatives came from miles around to witness the truly amazing change in her.

“Jah, it’s a miracle,” Grandfather Zook said later, stroking his beard. He touched Susie’s forehead lightly.

I noticed his hand tremble as he did.

“Well,” he continued, “you shoulda seen them fireflies last night.”

I explained to Susie that he’d brought a jarful to keep her company.

“Jah?” she said, eyes bright. “Ya brought ’em here? To the hospital?”

Grandfather nodded. “Right here, child.” He showed her where the jar had sat on her chest, nearly touching her chin.

“Ya didn’t let ’em die, didja?” she asked me.

I spoke up. “I set them free—right out in front of the hospital.”

A smile spread across her thin face.

“And I read ya the last verse of my poem,” Grandfather said. He didn’t exactly sound proud, as in arrogant, but there
was
a hint of pleasure in his voice. “My work is done now, little one. My work is done.”

His words gripped me. What did he mean?

“I wanna hear what you wrote, Grossdawdy,” Susie said. “Can ya say it by heart?”

Grandfather reached into his black coat. “My mind’s not what it used to be.” He unfolded the paper, and I saw it shake as he began to read. “’Tis the night of the fireflies, ’Tis the night of God’s call. Dusk comes and is gone, and now…true light shines on us all.”

Susie’s face shone. “It’s so-o pretty!”

He smiled. “It’s
your
poem, child. ’Tis for you.”

A soft, distant look crept into her eyes. “I had a dream about beautiful lights. Lights…everywhere.”

I thought of the many Bible verses I’d read about God’s light. Maybe Susie
had
heard my words.

Be strong and take courage.
The words buzzed in my head as I left Susie’s room. Filled with absolute delight, I headed down the hall to call my mother. In spite of the excitement, I knew I was worn out. My adrenaline was depleted; it was time to go home.

Susie would be coming home, too. Sooner than anyone ever expected.

“What a wonderful thing for you to witness firsthand,” Mom said as she drove away from the hospital. She was cheerful and full of questions.

“I don’t know how to explain it,” I said. “Somehow I knew that I was supposed to be with Susie last night. And when she woke up…it was so-o incredible. It was the most wonderful thing that’s ever happened to me.”

“In your whole life?” Mom was smiling.

“In my whole, entire life!”

Mom was dressed up—her best white summer suit and pumps. I wondered if she was headed somewhere important. But when I asked her about it, she said she was celebrating life.

“Me too!” Actually, I couldn’t wait to get home to SummerHill Lane. I needed a shower and a change of clothes. I’d been wearing the same ones way too long.

Mom came into my bedroom to chat after I was dressed. Honestly, it was like old times. The tension between us had disappeared. She was relaxed about everything. Even when I told her Levi’s plans to attend a Bible school. She didn’t second-guess me the way she’d been doing the past few months.

“Guess we’ve all seen it coming,” she said about Levi.

I cuddled both Abednego and Lily White. “For as long as I remember, he’s been pushing the rules over there.” I glanced out my bedroom window.

It was truly good to be home. The smell of the country and the sounds—it sure beat the hospital all to pieces!

“It’s good to have you here, Merry,” Mom said. The way she said it made me wonder. Had Susie’s accident changed things for
everyone
?

Susie came home on Friday, and the next day my aunt and uncle arrived with their six-week-old twins, my new cousins, Benjamin and Rebekah.

Miss Spindler showed up for the occasion. Her blue-gray kink of hair was done up all prissylike. “Oh, aren’t they the most adorable little precious things ever!” she exclaimed when she saw the babies.

They were precious all right. Baby Benjamin wore the tiniest blue suit I’d ever seen. Petite Rebekah was dressed in one of Faithie’s fanciest pink lace dresses—looking like a real live doll.