No Water! Part 4

Daddy's temperature was 103 degrees. What could my mother do?

She went to the wall phone and took the bell-shaped receiver off the hook. Thankfully, no one was on the party line. She called our pastor to ask for prayer. No answer.

She called the doctor's office and his home. No answer.

When she returned to the bedroom, Daddy's condition seemed to be worse. He had tossed off his covers again, and his forehead felt hotter. Again, she tried to take his temperature. In less than 30 seconds, it registered 103.6.

She stood over him, crying and praying. We children, wide-eyed and scared, gathered around the bed. Trying not to frighten us further, she told us all to pray while she went to the phone again. Still no answer.

Mother looked out the window. The front porch light shone into the darkness outside. Fat, wet snowflakes plummeted to the ground. The driveway was now completely filled in. No way could she drive the car out even if she could manage to get Daddy into it. Our nearest neighbor, a frail, 86-year-old lady, lived alone in a tiny house almost a block away.

Back in the bedroom, Mother knelt by the bed, and we did too. "Oh, dear Jesus, please heal my darling," Mother prayed. "Oh, Jesus, help us!"

********** 

In town, the Public Health nurse was enjoying her day off, relaxing with her husband in front of a bright fire in their fireplace, snug and warm in spite of the swirling snowstorm outside. Suddenly, she felt uneasy.

"Honey," she said, "I don't know what's the matter, but I feel I must go out to the Bethel Beach Children's Home."

"You don't mean right now, do you?" he asked.

"Yes! Right now!"

"But, honey, this is your day off. You give a good five days a week to running all over helping people. Isn't that enough?"

"I know," she said, getting up and heading to the closet for her coat, "but I feel I must go out to the Bethel Beach Home right away!"

"But it's snowing so hard, and it's a long way out there. You could get stuck in the snow. I can't let you go out there alone."

"Then come along with me," she said as she plunged a foot into her fur-lined snow boot.

"I hope this isn't some wild goose chase," he grumbled as they stepped out into the storm and trudged gingerly to their car.

To be continued...

Have you ever been prompted to do something that felt like a "wild goose chase"? What did you do?