Resurrection (Blood of the Lamb) by Mandy Hager Read Free Book Online

brow knotted as she carefully peeled back the blood-soaked dressing to reveal the wound.
    It was the first time Maryam had seen it since the operation, and her stomach contracted as she peered down at the swollen flesh. The ragged gouge created by the excised tissue was drawn together with neat stitches, the jutting break in the bone no longer visible, and Maryam presumed they'd straightened it back into place. Seeing it like this was a stark reminder of how close she'd come to losing her arm: any more infected flesh and there would have been nothing left to buffer or support the fractured bone.
    “Not bad,” Veramina said. She opened the bag at her side and produced a small bottle, dabbing its bright purple contents over the wound. “Gentian violet,” she explained. “It'll help to keep any new bacterial infections away.” She looked up sternly. “You are taking the antibiotics with every meal?”
    “I am.”
    “Make sure you do, right to the end.” Veramina placedthe cap back on the bottle and started to re-bandage the arm, her face a picture of concentration as she carefully wrapped the dressing in a neat figure of eight to protect the wound. “Good,” she said when she had finished. “I'll be back early next week to take the stitches out. Just make sure you rest it well and take the pills religiously till then.”
    She had gathered up her bag and was about to leave when Maryam placed a steadying hand on her arm. “Please,” she said. “My friend Ruth here is not well.”
    Ruth blushed as red as a frigate bird's gular pouch.
    “What is it, child?” Veramina asked.
    As Ruth described her symptoms in a wavering voice, Veramina began to smile and then to laugh. “Lord love you! Have you been hanky panky-ing with the boys?”
    Confused, Ruth looked to Maryam for translation, though Maryam herself was struggling with their meaning. Hanky panky? Boys? Oh Lord. Could Veramina be implying that Ruth was with child? Heat roared up her neck. Why hadn't she thought of this? Poor Ruth was going to die of shame.
    She ignored Ruth's puzzled eyes, and answered Veramina on her behalf. “My dear friend Ruth has the purest of hearts…” She tried to stress the words so Veramina would understand Ruth's piety. “She was, however…assaulted…before we escaped.”
    Ruth's eyes widened. “Why tell her that?” she hissed, rising to her feet now, ready to flee.
    The smile dropped from Veramina's face as she took all this in, perhaps now recognising how naive and innocent Ruth really was. She leaned over and caught Ruth's fingers, tugging her back to the sleeping mat so she could not escape. “Forgive me, angel. I didn't mean to joke.”
    She asked Ruth to lie down on her back, then took her pulse and gently prodded her bared stomach in a thorough sweep from her belly button and her pubic bone. Then, to Ruth's great mortification, she insisted on examining Ruth inside. Maryam couldn't bear to watch—the tears that slid down Ruth's cheeks could well have been her own, such was her pain for her friend.
    She knew Ruth would be remembering their awful initiation at the hands of the Apostles when they'd Crossed—remembering how Mother Lilith had examined them in much the same humiliating way, yet with none of Veramina's care nor skill. But what pained her most was knowing that it was the cruel face of Father Joshua Ruth would see inside her mind. He had trapped her in the storeroom and brutally attacked her. So-called “hanky panky” played no part.
    Finally Veramina patted Ruth's thigh and told her to sit up, then she gave her verdict. “There's no doubt about it, you are going to have a child.”
    “What?” Ruth blindly scrabbled for Maryam's hand. “But how?”
    Veramina smiled. “There's only one way that I know of, love. Many a child has been created through force, but it doesn't stop its existence being a wondrous gift.”
    Horror drained Ruth's face of colour as Veramina's words sank in, and Maryam found herself