Faith

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The paramedics quickly arrived to take Ashlyn to the hospital. They asked Mari what had happened, and Mari quickly took one look at the bag that Ashlyn had been carrying over her shoulder and said, "She must have run away and come over here. You see, she and my daughter are best friends, and her father and I had been close, too, but then her father and I had a falling-out, and he said he didn't want his daughter coming over anymore. Ashlyn must have snuck out to come over to our house, and then she must have climbed onto the roof to get to my daughter's window while my daughter and I were asleep, and she fell." There were tears running down her cheeks, even as she was holding Emmy and trying to comfort her.

"From the looks of the head injury, things look beyond grim," the female paramedic said. "We'll do our best. We need to get her to the hospital right away and let her father know. We'll call him if you'd like. What is his phone number?"

Mari gave the paramedics Rick's phone number, and the male paramedic dialed.it right away. The phone next to Rick's nightstand rang. Rick rolled over, making a snoring sound, then opened his eyes and answered the phone. "Hello?" he said groggily.

"Hello, sir. I'm calling because I'm a paramedic who's taking your daughter to the hospital."

Rick's heart was ready to jump out of his chest, and he sat bolt right up in bed. "You're WHAT???!!!" he exclaimed.

"Your daughter apparently ran away to her best friend's house tonight while you were asleep, and she climbed a tree to try to get into the window of her friend's bedroom. She's suffered a massive head injury, and it doesn't look good, sir. We're taking her to Crestfall Hospital right now," the paramedic told him. "Her best friend's mom had called me, and she and her daughter are going with us to the hospital."

"Thank you, sir," Rick said, his heart pounding and his head and body sweating like mad. He threw on his jacket and glasses and jumped into his car, hurrying to the hospital. All he could think was that this whole thing was his fault. If he hadn't have lost his temper with Mari, Ashlyn wouldn't have run away, and she wouldn't have had her accident. If he lost his daughter, he would never forgive himself. Since he'd already lost his wife, he didn't think he could go on if his daughter died, too. The hospital was quite a way downtown, so he drove as fast as he could.

At the hospital Ashlyn had been taken into the emergency unit. Doctors were examining her and determining what could be done, if anything, to help her survive. It looked like a mass concussion, and so far they had found a lot of internal bleeding in her brain and a skull fracture. They were doing everything they could to heal her.

Mari and Emmy were in the waiting room. Mari sat in a chair, and Emmy sat in her lap. Both had been praying hard for Ashlyn to be all right. It would take the doctors forever to examine her, which was no surprise, considering the injury. Mari and Emmy were both drained and emotionally exhausted. After praying, they both nodded off.

When Rick got to the hospital's emergency unit, he found Mari sitting on a chair, sleeping with her mouth open and her head against the wall. Emmy was curled up in her lap, also asleep.

He went to Mari and shook her shoulder. Mari woke up and looked at Rick's tear-stained face. She gently set Emmy on the ground and stood up and hugged her friend. "Oh, Rick!" she said. She was crying, too.

Rick was sobbing and trembling. "I'm so sorry, Mari. I should never have gotten angry with you and told you that Ashlyn couldn't come over anymore. If I hadn't done that, this never would have happened! Where is she?"

Mari gestured toward the hospital rooms. "The doctors are still examining her."

Rick hurried into the room Ashlyn was in and sat down at her bedside. He leaned over and kissed her on her forehead. "Ashlyn, baby, Daddy's here. I'm so sorry. It's all my fault you're here. I shouldn't have told Emmy's mommy you couldn't go over to her house anymore. I'm so sorry." He took her hand and held it tightly, then asked the doctor, "Doc, what are her chances of survival?"

The doctor looked down sadly and sighed. "I'm afraid it doesn't look good. Her head injury is massive--a skull fracture, major internal bleeding, major concussion. Over 50 percent of patients have died from an injury like this, maybe even higher."

Rick felt a lump in his throat and more tears. "Can I have a minute, doc?" he asked.

The doctor nodded solemnly and stepped out. When he left, Rick buried his face in Ashlyn's chest and cried for all he was worth.

Meanwhile, in the waiting room, Mari had nodded off again from emotional exhaustion, but now Emmy was wide awake. She prayed, "Dear Jesus, please don't let my best friend die. I know it doesn't look good, but she's my best friend. Please don't let her die."

At that moment she felt Jesus speak to her heart: "Ashlyn will be fine."

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