Reckless Heart (Kauffman Amish Bakery 5.5) by Amy Clipston Read Free Book Online Page A

with a yawn. “
Gut nacht
, Lydia.”
    She left his room, gently closing the door behind her, and padded over to Irma’s room. Peeking in through the cracked door, she found Irma on her knees while silently praying. With her eyes shut tight and her hands clasped together, Irma looked deep in concentration. Leaning on the doorframe, Lydia waited for her to finish.
    After several minutes, Irma opened her eyes. “
Aamen
,” she said before standing up and crawling beneath the sheets.
    Lydia stepped into the room, and Irma looked up at her.
    “Where’s
Mamm?
” Irma asked. “She’s hasn’t come up to tuck me in yet.”
    Lydia stood over her. “She asked me to do it since she and
Dat
need to talk. Is that okay?”
    “
Ya
.” Irma gave Lydia a questioning look. “Do you think God will answer our prayers?”
    Lydia sank onto the bed, which creaked under her weight. “I do. Why do you ask?”
    “I’m just hoping my prayers for Ruthie will help.” Irma ran her fingers over the colorful quilt her grandmother Elizabeth had made for her when she was born. “I know God listens to us and he answers the prayers that are in his plan. Do you think he has a plan for Ruthie’s illness?”
    “I do believe he has a plan for Ruthie as he has a plan for all of us.” Lydia brushed Irma’s long blonde hair back from her face. “We have to trust God and let him take care of Ruthie. You can pray and think of her all the time. I know that will help.”
    Irma moved under the covers. “I’ll do that.”
    “
Gut nacht
,” Lydia said before kissing her head. “Sleep well.”
    “You too,” Irma said.
    Lydia exited Irma’s room and closed the door before stepping over to Ruthie’s room. She gently pushed open the door and found Ruthie on her side, sleeping with her blonde curls framing her pale face. Although she looked like a sleeping angel, it was clear she was ill. She looked frail and tiny, sleeping in her crib since she’d never outgrown it.
    Moving to the crib, Lydia peered in, tempted to touch her sister’s head. But she feared her touch might wake her, and the girl needed her sleep.
    She looked at the single bed across from the crib, next to the rocking chair. Her mother had slept in that bed many nights since Ruthie had become ill. Lydia considered sleeping there, but her room was just on the other side of the wall, and she knew she would hear Ruthie if she cried out. Lydia had lain awake many nights in the recent past, listening to Ruthie cry.
    Turning back to her baby sister, Lydia remembered the day Ruthie was born. She would never forget the excitement of waiting in the family room for the news while her mother delivered her in her bedroom with the help of Lydia’s father and a midwife. Lydia was ecstatic to hear she had another sister, while Titus had frowned and bemoaned being the only boy.
    Lydia smiled at the memory and couldn’t resist lightly touching one of Ruthie’s little feet. “We’re going to take
gut
care of you,” she whispered. “You just rest and keep up your strength.”
    She quietly returned to her room and flipped on the battery-operated lantern by her bedside. After getting readyfor bed, she retrieved the booklet her mother had given her from her bureau and began to read it, trying to absorb as much information as she could about the disease and the treatment. She discovered that bone marrow is the spongy center of bones where blood cells are formed. Leukemia is caused when the blood cells produced in the bone marrow grow out of control. She read about the chemotherapy and the different ways medications are administered.
    Most of the concepts were completely foreign, but she found herself staring at one sentence:
    Most children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia are cured of their disease after treatment
.
    Most
.
    The word rolled around in Lydia’s mind. It was a short word, but it held so much meaning. It meant that Ruthie could be cured.
    She
could
be. But there were no