ATOP Chapter Seventy-Four

With a sigh, Donna dropped a stack of dishes into the kitchen sink and shook her head at them. She certainly didn't feel like washing dishes, and yet... staying as busy as possible would more likely than not keep her mind from thinking too far.

Emma had stayed a few days in the hospital, and with every passing day she seemed to grow a little bit weaker. At last the doctor had pulled Josh aside, shaking his head. "Take her home," he said softly. "See that she gets as much rest and quiet as possible, and try to get good, nourishing food down her. Hot broth, strong tea. And sunshine and flowers, that will help. Mostly... just surround her with as much love and comfort as you can give."

So Josh had brought Emma home and had done what he could. He threw the curtains open wide, flooding the room with sunshine, and had filled every available surface with flowers. He almost never left her side from the moment he had carried her upstairs and tucked her into bed. Since then, the family had practically lived there, hovering in the kitchen and the living room, not wanting to disturb Emma and yet not wanting to be far away. Rob and Myra moved back in for the time being, and Jim and Donna were usually there too, Mickey doing his best to fend for himself at home.

"Oh, Donna," Myra smiled wearily as she entered the kitchen. "Let me deal with the dishes. You should go home and get some rest."

"How can I?" Donna only scrubbed harder. "My poor daughter... my baby... not a thing I can do to help..."

"We're doing as much as we can," Myra answered softly. "And the rest is in the hands of God. Oh... my friend, my sister..." hastily she crossed the room to wrap her friend in an embrace. "He cares, you know He cares. We've both felt this anguish before and know how God's mercy and strength... it is enough. God is enough."

"Yes, thank the Lord," Donna gasped out, turning to cling to her friend. "He brought my son back to me when I had given him up as lost. I am asking for a... miracle. I... have faith... that He will restore my Emma as He restored my Ronnie."

"And if He does not?" Myra's question was barely audible. Donna's face went white.

"Though He slay me," she whispered. "Yet will I trust in Him."

Footsteps echoed down the stairs and in another moment, Josh peered anxiously into the kitchen. He was gripping a tray on which lay a full bowl of now-cold chicken broth.

"Could you... heat it up again, Mom?" he shoved the tray at her, eyes wide with worry. "Em's awake now, maybe I can get it down her yet." He began to pace nervously as Myra dumped the soup into a saucepan and turned up the gas on the stove. 

"Looks like we have more than one nurse in the family," Donna laughed faintly. "You're taking such good care of her. Thank you."

"She won't eat," Josh whispered, his eyes growing darker still. They barely looked green these days. "I've been... forcing her. Prying her mouth open and pouring the broth down her throat."

The half-smile left over from Donna's laugh vanished. She said nothing in answer. The kitchen fell silent except for the scrape of Myra's spoon against the bottom of the saucepan.

The clock ticked. Donna's shoe tapped nervously on the floor, her fingers drumming on the table. Josh glanced around the room and then turned, his footsteps echoing back up the stairs. He was barely eating himself these days and dark circles had formed under his eyes. No one really knew if he ever got any sleep. At night, he could be heard pacing back and forth across the room, over and over...

Myra adjusted the heat on the stove, frowned at the steam drifting from the saucepan, and nodded to herself. As she pulled the pan from the burner, she glanced out the kitchen window and gasped.

"Donna! Quick... see who's coming down the lane!"

Donna rushed to the window, took one glance, and was out the door and running wildly down the path before Myra even realized she had gone.

Katie stopped only a moment to set Jamie on the ground... Mac was too loaded down with suitcases at the moment to take him... and flew into her mother's arms.

"You didn't tell me you were coming!" Donna cried, clinging to her youngest daughter. "You poor things... walked all the way from the station..."

"Didn't want to bother anyone with picking us up... came as soon as we could drop everything... no time to... telephone..." Katie's answers came in snatches. "We're staying until my sissie is ship-shape again... where is she?"

"Up in bed, of course... come in, come in... we'll heat up some lunch, oh, let me see my grandbaby... come to Gramma, Jamie... oh my big boy, look at those chubby cheeks!"

Minutes later, the suitcases were on their way to the Stewart's, via Ronnie, who had been summoned immediately. Jamie was wrapped tight in his grandmother's arms, and Mac and Katie were being led upstairs to Emma's room.

A knock on the door yielded no answer... and a second knock was no more effective. Myra opened the door slowly, ushering the newcomers in. 

Emma seemed to be asleep again and Josh, on his knees at her bedside, was also asleep, his head nestled against hers, their fingers twined together. Shaking her head, Myra backed silently out of the room, Mac and Katie following. 

"It's the first rest that poor boy's gotten since he brought her home," she whispered as she closed the door carefully. "He's eating himself up with worry over her. Both their hearts broken..."

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