Courting Buggy: Nurse Hal Among The Amish (25 page)

Hal was watching at the window. “Noah and
David are back. We can start now.”

Stella Strutt fanned her worried face. “I do
not think I will be very gute at trying to keep up in the
timber.”

Hal said, “That's all right. You stay here
and help my mother take care of the little ones. Why don't you sing
hymns. It will calm the children. If Peter and Aunt Tootie come
back you can keep them here. Peter would like hearing songs if he's
wandering close by.”

“
Boys, get the dog started,” Hal said.
“When you take the rope off roll it up and bring it along for later
to lead the dog back.”

Noah held the socks down for the dog to
sniff. Hal wondered how old the hound was. His body was so thin she
could count his ribs. He looked as old as Peter.

David took the rope from around the dog's
neck. “Find Dawdi Peter, Mose.”

The dog took off in a clumsy ambling gait
that made his long ears flop up and down. His front end looked to
be going one way and his back end the opposite direction. He
hunkered down and slid under the fence. The boys climbed over and
waited for Hal and Emma.

Hal had to fight her skirt while she lifted
one leg over and then the other. She said under her breath, “I wish
I had on a pair of slacks. Fence climbing would be so much easier.”
After she finally made it over, she said, “Okay, your turn, Emma.
Let me tell you that was not easy.”

“
Never is,” Emma acknowledge with a
grin. “But the bible says in Deuteronomy, The woman shall not wear
that which pertaineth unto a man, neither shall a man put on a
woman's garment for all that do so are abomination unto the Lord
thy God.” By the time she was done reciting, Emma had mastered the
fence.

Hal watched, hoping she'd learn the technique
before she had to go back over the fence. “Jesus wore a robe, but
he didn't have a reason to complain. There were no barbed wire
fences in his day to get his skirt hung up on.”

“
Hallie,” Emma warned and looked around
to see how close the other women might be. She didn't want them to
hear her stepmother make such remarks.

The boys whooped at the dog, but Mose was
almost out of sight in the underbrush, sniffing the trail and
baying his find. Suddenly, the dog stopped, giving them time to
catch up. He bayed deeply, raised his head to sniff the air and
took off again. He had Peter's trail.

After an hour in the timber, Hal said, “I
swear I remember seeing that snarled oak tree more than once.”

Noah agreed, “You did. The dog has been
circling the same area.”

David said, “Dawdi Peter and your Aendi
Tootie must be wandering in a circle.”

“
Sounds like they are,” Hal
said.

From off in the distance, Mose bayed a tree
bark.

Daniel grabbed Noah's arm. “Listen, Mose has
something treed.”

“
Let's just hope it isn't an old coon,”
Emma said.

Daniel grinned. “Maybe Barabbas. He might
have stayed in this timber after we turned him loose here.”

“
Oh, please, do not let it be so,” Emma
cried.

Noah said, “Do not worry, Sister. He would be
glad to see you again.”

“
He gave you a big hug before we turned
him loose. Remember?” Daniel asked and teased, “He liked
you.”

As Hal made her way through the underbrush
she said, “Keep moving, boys. Peter and Aunt Tootie have been out
here through the chilly night. It is not gute for them. We need to
hurry.”

David cupped his hands around his mouth and
called, “Dawdi Peter.”

Hal reached over and grabbed the boy's arm.
“Maybe we should not call out. It might frighten Peter into walking
away from us if he heard us call for him. He's confused.”

David nodded he understood.

Mose's bay grew louder and longer as they
closed in on the dog. Finally, they entered a small clearing.
Tootie was limply propped up against the rough bark of a hickory
nut tree with Peter's head in her lap. Mose was licking first the
elderly man's face then Tootie's.

Peter said weakly to the dog. “Gute to see
you, Pet.”

Hal put her arms out to stop the others. “Be
very quiet and stay back. I'm going to them, and see how they are.”
She knelt down in the leaves. “Gute morning, Peter and Aunt
Tootie.”

“
I'm glad you found us, Dear,” Tootie
said wearily.

For a moment, Peter puzzled about who she was
as he focused on Hal. As recognition came to him, he broke into a
smile. “Sara, I found you. I looked for you for so long I had to
give up and rest. It turned cold out here. Are you all recht?”

“
Jah, I'm fine. We need to find a place
where it's warm for all of us,” Hal said softly.

Peter breathed with a rattling wheeze as he
spoke, “I am so stiff I am not able to move.”

“
I brought some boys and Emma to help.”
Hal said softly, “Boys.” She kept her attention on Peter as she
stretched her arm out slowly and wrapped her fingers around his
wrist to feel his pulse. “We will need a litter made to carry
Peter. Have you all got a pocket knife?”

“
Jah,” the boys said in
unison.

“
Go get two sturdy limbs longer than
Peter and cut enough small ones to space along the carrying poles
so we can tie them on. That will be the litter,” Hal
instructed.

“
What are we going to use to tie the
sticks on with?” Noah asked.

“
Our shoe strings,” Hal
said.

“
How is he?” Emma asked.

Peter's head bobbed over toward his left
shoulder, and his eyes went shut. Hal looked doubtful. “Pulse is
very weak. Lungs are congested. We have to carry him out of here
and get him and Aunt Tootie to the hospital as soon as we can. Aunt
Tootie, how do you feel?”

“
I'm fine.”

“
Are you able to walk?”

“
I will be glad to walk to get out of
here. This timber has been a nightmare,” the elderly woman
whimpered.

The boys scattered into the underbrush. After
the sound of snapping twigs, Noah said, “The sticks are cut for the
litter.”

“
Everyone take out your shoe strings.”
Hal unlaced her shoe strings and handed them to Noah. “Make sure to
bound the sticks gute and tight. Cover the litter with pine boughs
and leaves to cushion it for easier riding.”

Mose ambled up and sniffed at Peter,
expecting a greeting. “David, catch the dog and tie him to a bush
so he can't bother your grandfather.” Hal stuck her arm out in
front of the dog to keep him away.

David scrambled to the dog and put the loop
around his neck, tightened it and secured him to a nearby
gooseberry bush.

“
We have the litter ready, Mama Hal,”
Daniel said quietly.

“
Gute, now bring the litter here and
lay it beside Peter.” Peter opened his eyes at the mention of his
name. “Peter, these boys and Emma are going to help you onto this
bed.” She stood up and turned to the boys. “Say very little to him.
Take hold of him under his arms and legs and lift him onto the
litter gently. He thinks I'm his wife so let him think that.” Hal
got middle ways of the litter and knelt again. “When you have
lifted Peter, I'm going to put my arms under his middle to support
him until we get him centered. Now on the count of
three.”

Swiftly, the children lifted and placed the
elderly man over the litter and held him up until Hal removed her
arms. She stood up and backed out of the way. “David, do you want
to lead your dog or carry your grandfather?”

David looked confused.

Hal said, “The job you don't want I'll
take.”

“
I can help lift my dawdi if you want
to lead the dog. Dawdi Peter will be heavy,” David
offered.

Hal put her arm under Tootie's arm and lifted
her to her feet. “Can you stand all right?”

“
I'm fine, Dear,” Tootie assured
her.

Hal went over to the bush to untie Mose. He
bounded ahead of her, thinking he was free. She had to give a hard
tug on his rope to slow him down. She put her free hand under
Tootie's arm and supported her.

The four children took an end of the litter
and lifted. Hal cautioned, “Try to balance Peter and watch where
you walk. It will not help him if you trip and drop him.”

When they got back to the school, the
children helped Hal transfer Peter to a bench. They scattered to
round up all the other women hunting in the timber. Nora and Stella
went to the remaining buggies for blankets to cover Peter. Nora put
one around Tootie's shoulders, but she took the blanket off and
rolled it up tight. She stuffed it under Peter's head for a pillow.
Then she sat down across from him on a bench and held his limp
hand. His eyes were shut, and he was very still except for wheezing
when he exhaled. The women all gathered around, knelt down and
prayed for him.

The boys scattered in buggies to tell the men
the search was over. Hal sent Emma to the nearest phone shed to
call an ambulance. “Emma, when the ambulance gets close to the
school tell them Nurse Hal requests no sirens. I don't want the
patient to become upset by the noise.”

When Cooner Jonah parked his buggy in the
yard and started for the building, Hal was watching out the window.
Peter had his eyes open. She said, “Peter, here comes your son. He
has been worried about you.”

Peter's face was blank as he looked at the
man in the doorway. “That is not my son. My son left home a long
time ago and turned English. He is never coming home again.”

Cooner Jonah's eyes filled with tears when he
heard his father's words.

Hal said to the old man, “My mistake, Peter,
but you do live with this man and his wife, Anna. They're going to
go with you to the doctor in Wickenburg.” Hal told Cooner Jonah, “I
had Emma call an ambulance. Your father is in poor shape right now
from exposure.”

The ambulance emergency crew pulled up in
front of the school. Daryl and Ivan carried in a stretcher and
placed Peter on it. The elderly man became more alert after they
moved him. “I am very tired and cold.” Ivan pulled the blankets
over him and buckled the stretcher straps. Peter held his hand out
to Tootie. “Dolly, you are coming with me, ain't so?”

“
I want her to be checked by the doctor
in ER,” Hal told Daryl. She asked Cooner Jonah and Anna, “Will it
be all right with you if Aunt Tootie rides with Peter?”

Cooner Jonah said to the EMTs, “Please, let
her go with my father. It might keep him calm to have his friend
with him.”

Tootie took hold of Peter's limp hand. “I'm
going to the doctor with you.”

“
Remember your promise. You will tell
the truth,” Peter urged.

“
Yes, I will take care of it,” Tootie
said. “Now rest.”

The elderly man closed his eyes and let the
EMTs transfer him. Hal rode up front with the driver, Steven. The
Rogies followed the ambulance in their buggy.

In the hospital, Peter was put in one
emergency exam room and Tootie in another. Hal explained Peter's
condition and her findings to Doctor Christensen. While he did an
extensive exam on Peter, Hal sat with Tootie.

Nurse Lucy Stineford redressed Peter, while
the doctor went next door to examined Tootie. He asked, “How do you
feel?”

Tootie said, “I'm fine. Just tired and
cold.”

Dr. Christensen patted her on the shoulder.
“I shouldn't wonder with all you've been through. You go home, take
a hot bath and get into bed for a long rest.” He turned to Hal.
“Now I have to talk to Peter Rogies family. Want to go with me to
the waiting room?”

“
Sure,”Hal said and turned to her aunt.
“Aunt Tootie, I'll be back soon.”

“
I'll explain my findings on the way.”
By the time Hal was updated on Peter's condition, they reached the
waiting room. Hal introduced Peter's son and his wife to the
doctor. Doctor Christensen shook hands with them and got down to
business. “Your father has many problems right now. Alzheimer's
disease is taking its toll on him mentally and physically. The
exposure last night while he wondered around in the timber weakened
him. I seriously doubt Peter is ever going to be able to get out of
bed again. From what I know of your customs, I expect you're going
to take Peter back to your home. Is that right?”

Cooner Jonah said, “Jah, that is recht.”

“
He's going to need nursing care around
the clock. He will not eat very much from now on, and his appetite
will decrease to nothing in time. I don't know how long it will
take, but your father is going to die soon,” the doctor said to
Cooner Jonah.

“
Denki for telling us, Doctor. It is
God's will. We will take gute care of him,” Anna said.

“
In that case, Peter can go home with
you now. Do you want him to ride to your house in an ambulance?”
The doctor asked.

“
Nah, we will make a bed for him in the
floor of the enclosed buggy. That will be gute enough until we get
him home,” Cooner Jonah said.

“
I'll get some help to bring Peter to
the buggy on a stretcher,” the doctor said.

Hal went to tell Tootie about Peter.

“
Can I see him before we leave?” Tootie
asked.

“
Sure, come with me,” Hal
said.

Tootie walked over to the bed and patted
Peter's hand. His eyelids fluttered and then he focused on her. She
said, “I'll be over to see you as soon as I have rested up.”

He gave her a weak smile. “You remember to
keep your promise.”

Tootie sighed. “Yes, I'll remember. You rest
easy.”