Christmas Angels

Chapter 8

DECEMBER 18, 2016

"Josh"

He left the hospital feeling sad that Marianne hadn't even known that he was there today. Since she had been admitted to the hospital, not a day went by for him without at least a short visit to her room. She always had a smile for Josh, no matter how badly she felt. He missed talking to her too, but she needed all the rest that she could get and he had not wanted to disturb her today. She was sleeping more and more as the days went by. How much longer could she hold on? He felt his panic rising and tried to think of something else to occupy his mind.

As he drove out of the hospital parking lot, he forced himself to think about the office and the mundane tasks he had to deal with in the next few days. He had worked at National Freight all of his adult life and at fifty-five he was one of the most senior people there. Running the accounting department of such a large, transaction oriented firm demanded a lot of his attention at any time, but these days it was becoming a bit overwhelming for him. He found he was relying more and more on Jim Walsh, his second in command, to keep on top of daily operations. He knew Jim would have his back, but he couldn't keep taking advantage of the man like this forever, it really wasn't fair. Just five more years, then he would retire. Then it would all get handed over to Jim and he would no longer have to worry about such things. How he hoped that his own retirement would include Marianne.

Pushing the hair back off his forehead as he drove, his mind wandered to university days at Michigan State. Things had been so much simpler then. No responsibilities, lots of dates and the excitement of football, of course. He had been quite a jock back then, and the girls took notice. When he came back to Mount Bethel and renewed his friendship with Marianne, however, her realized that everything he wanted was right there at home.

This thing with Marianne wasn't new; she had been struggling with a bad heart all of her life, but in all those years she had only once seemed so close to death. That had been a long time ago and she had beaten it then. He prayed she had the strength to do it again. She had lain in the same hospital twenty-three years ago, at Christmas time, with a pregnancy that almost killed her. Once again he marvelled at how a near tragedy could result in such life-long joy.

                                                                      DECEMBER 24, 1993

After Josh spoke to Marianne on that fateful Christmas Eve, he broke the telephone connection, and with shaking fingers, he immediately dialled 911. He went through all of the details with the operator, including Marianne's pregnancy and her heart condition. In a calm voice, the operator assured Josh that an ambulance was on the way and that it should arrive at the specified address within eight minutes.

When they arrived at home finally, an ambulance was backed into the driveway, the flashing lights casting first a red and then a bright white beam of rotating light across the front of the house and the snow covered spruce on the front lawn. The attendants were just loading Marianne into the rear of the vehicle. She was tightly wrapped in blankets and strapped onto a gurney. Jack parked at the curb in order to leave the exit clear for the ambulance's departure, and Josh jumped out of the rear seat as soon as the car came to a stop. He climbed over the snow bank, almost falling in his smooth-soled dress shoes, which were now packed with snow.

"Marianne!" he cried, slipping and skidding across the lawn to the ambulance.

"We have to leave immediately, sir. Are you related to this woman?" The nearest attendant held up his hand to block Josh.