A Brush of Wings (23 page)

EMBER WAS AWAKE
the entire time, but she couldn’t intervene. Not while Mary Catherine was still typing. The letter needed to come from her. But now there wasn’t a moment to lose.

Father, go before us . . . please keep her alive.
Ember wasn’t a doctor. But she was skilled in lifesaving. It was one of the reasons she had been chosen by the team to take on this part of the mission.

In a rush, she took Mary Catherine’s laptop, hit send on the email, and put the computer aside. Then, using a strength specific to angels, Ember carried Mary Catherine into the orphanage. She needed to be near water and food, blankets and medical supplies.

The girl was burning up—so hot Ember felt a new level of dreaded fear. She carefully pushed through the doors, laid Mary Catherine down on a couch in the living room, and then ran to the kitchen. Ember knew exactly where the pills were. She immediately found several medications in the supply cupboard.

For weeks she’d been dreading this moment and ready for it all at the same time. She filled a glass with water and hurried back to Mary Catherine. “Come on, sit up for me.” Ember’s voice was gentle. She helped Mary Catherine to a sitting position.

Then by some miracle of God, Ember was able to get the pills down Mary Catherine’s throat. Pain relievers and a megadose of antibiotics. Whatever infection was attacking her, it would have trouble standing up to these pills.

She found a cool cloth and ran it over Mary Catherine’s forehead and along her arms.
Father, she is Yours. All of heaven knows the plans You have for her. Please, bring down the fever, let her wake up. Please, God.

For two hours Ember stayed at Mary Catherine’s side, praying for her, giving her sips of water, using the cloth to cool her. And finally at just after seven o’clock Mary Catherine opened her eyes.

“What . . . happened?” She was drenched in sweat. “Why am I here?”

“I brought you.” Ember helped Mary Catherine sit up. “I think your fever broke.”

“I . . . don’t feel good.” Mary Catherine closed her eyes. And just like that she began shivering once more. Twenty minutes later she was burning up again.

Ember wouldn’t give up, not while Mary Catherine was still breathing. She gave Mary Catherine another medication for lowering her fever. And a dose of probiotics—to strengthen her immune system. Ember could feel all the prayers of heaven surrounding the orphanage with light and power.

Even so, Ember wondered if it would be enough. This was Earth, after all. Every day mankind encountered new losses, fresh battle scars. The sad truth was something Ember had to consider.

Not all missions succeed.

DESPITE LEXY’S PROTESTS,
Sami took her to church that Sunday morning.

It was the girl’s fourth day living at the apartment, and already Sami could tell the journey wouldn’t be easy. Lexy was terrified that Ramon would find her, moody over the changes in her daily routine, and frustrated by the rules. But yesterday seemed to be a breakthrough. Lexy found Sami in the kitchen and started helping—all on her own, without being asked.

After a while she looked up. “I’m sorry. I’ve been a jerk.”

Sami smiled at the girl and kept washing the sink. “Thank you. I appreciate that.”

“I’m just scared. You know?” She found a towel and began drying the places on the counter where Sami had washed. “Everything is changing so fast.”

“It is.” Sami had waves of doubts since asking Lexy to stay. But every time, God reassured her that this was the right thing to do. Through a Bible verse about not growing weary in doing good, and her conversation with Tyler the other night—when he told her he’d never loved her more than now, seeing her help Lexy.

Today Sami planned to get Lexy set up with online school. She waited until they were done cleaning the apartment and then Sami found her computer.

She had heard of a program that might work for Lexy. It was through Liberty University Online, and it was interactive—allowing for better communication between students and teachers. Sami was about to look into it when she saw she had new email.

Sami checked her in-box and noticed the message was from Mary Catherine. Sami’s heart skipped a beat, and again the familiar sense of fear and concern came over her.

She opened the email and began to read.

From the beginning, Sami was shocked. Mary Catherine needed a heart transplant? She hadn’t wanted to sit in the apartment and wait so she went to Africa . . . even knowing she might not have long to live? Sami was too afraid to be mad at her friend.

Reading to the sound of her own racing heart, Sami finished the letter. Bottom line, Mary Catherine desperately needed to come home, but she was very sick. Too sick to travel. Sami carried her laptop to her room and shut the door.

Immediately she called Marcus.

He answered on the third ring. “Hey. What’s up?”

“Marcus . . . it’s Mary Catherine.” Sami’s words all ran together. “She’s in trouble.”

“In what way?” Instantly Marcus sounded frantic. “Sami, tell me everything.”

Sami rattled off the details of the email, including how Mary Catherine had asked for help, saying she had to find a way home. Just then, Sami remembered something. She had the number for Janie Omer—the coordinator for Mary Catherine’s trip to Africa. She promised to forward everything to Marcus, starting with the email.

“I’ll need an address, maybe the name of the nearest airport.” Strength filled Marcus’s voice, like he was ready to take charge of the situation.

“What are you going to do?”

Marcus didn’t hesitate. “I’m going to go get her.”

18

M
ARCUS WAS TOO WORRIED
to be angry at Mary Catherine. He called the airline as soon as he got off the phone with Sami, and ten minutes later he had a flight out later that afternoon. Los Angeles to Amsterdam to Nairobi to Entebbe. Uganda was eleven hours ahead of Los Angeles, so he would arrive in Entebbe tomorrow night.

His flight left in three hours. Too much time. He packed a single leather backpack with a change of clothes and a few toiletries. What about Mary Catherine? He went to his pantry and searched the shelves. She would be dehydrated and weak, no doubt. He found a few individual packets of a hydration drink and a small container of ketogenic protein powder.

The last thing Mary Catherine needed was refined carbs. They were bad enough for healthy people—let alone someone fighting an illness or inflammation. He threw the packets into his backpack.

Before he left his house, Tyler and Sami stopped by and prayed with him. “Call us, please. When you know anything.” Sami hugged him after the prayer. “Tell her we love her, okay?”

“I will.” He hugged Tyler last. “I haven’t told anyone . . . but I knew God wanted me to go to her. Fly to Africa. I got the shots a while ago.” He shook his head. “The idea seemed crazy.” He paused, still trying to comprehend what was happening. “I asked God for a sign. If He really wanted me to go.”

“You got your answer.” Tyler took a step back and put his arm around Sami.

“Yeah.” Marcus opened his car door. “Pray, please. The whole time. It sounds like she’s going to need a miracle.”

They all agreed about that much.

Not until he was headed to the airport did he let the reality of the situation hit him. All this time she’d been deathly sick. All this time. Of course everything made sense now.

This was why she hadn’t wanted a relationship. It was the reason she never wrote back and ran from him as soon as she felt herself falling. She hadn’t wanted to be a burden—not to him or Sami. Probably not even to her parents.

The whole thing was so sad. She could’ve spared herself this crisis, and all the months of heartache, if only she’d been honest. If she had trusted him with her darkest secret.
Mary Catherine, I’m coming for you. Hold on, baby. Please, God, let her hold on.

Marcus gripped the steering wheel and flexed the muscles in his jaw. Did she really think he would run if he knew the truth? Did she honestly think she’d be a burden to him? If he’d known from the beginning they would’ve prayed for an answer and together with God’s help they would’ve found it.

He couldn’t wait to see her, to take her in his arms and tell her enough. Enough hiding and pretending and lying. From now on she had to be honest. If he wanted to date a girl with a sick heart, that was his decision. It wasn’t up to her to run from him because she was worried about how he might react. Or how he might suffer.

Covering up her health had only hurt both of them.

Marcus stepped on the gas and got to the airport in record time. The entire flight to Amsterdam, he replayed every wonderful time they’d been together. She always had an answer, a reason why she didn’t want to date. Everything made perfect sense now. She wasn’t ready for a relationship. She wasn’t looking for love. She wasn’t the marrying type. She didn’t want the house in the suburbs or the white picket fence.

Marcus closed his eyes and thought about the last time he saw her. Hadn’t he known she was lying? He had even told her so, right to her face. And even still Mary Catherine simply wouldn’t tell him the truth.

He tapped his foot. If only the plane could fly faster.
Father, I never would’ve left her. You know that. And now . . . please keep her alive, Lord.

Marcus felt a sense of peace in response. He couldn’t wonder about her reasons all the way to Africa. Mary Catherine cared about him—he was sure of that much. And suddenly he remembered other things that she’d said. How she’d choose him if she were going to choose any man, and how she couldn’t just be his friend.
If I was going to love someone . . . it would be you.
Those were her words. He would remember them forever.

She had loved him all this time.

He took a quick breath and exhaled slowly. He needed to relax. More than that, he needed to pray. God was with him, Marcus could feel His presence. And something else. It made him hold on to hope: The Lord had prompted him to get shots at just the right time. Otherwise he couldn’t take this trip without the risk of getting sick.

They had rough turbulence landing in Amsterdam, but Marcus wasn’t concerned. He was on a mission, and he believed with everything in him that God would assign him angels to get him to the orphanage in Uganda, if that’s what it took.

He slept on the flight from Amsterdam to Nairobi, and prayed from Nairobi to Entebbe. By then he’d practically memorized Mary Catherine’s email to Sami. He read it on his phone every hour or so, searching for clues. How sick was she? And why was she finally telling them the truth? Did someone in Africa change her mind?

With so many flights, the odds were high that Marcus would experience a delay. But that didn’t happen until they landed in Entebbe. Another plane was in their spot, so for ten minutes Marcus and the other passengers sat on the tarmac.

Father, she needs me . . . please get this plane to the gate. Whatever it takes.

A few minutes later the plane began to move. As they deplaned Marcus saw a few mechanics talking, walking away from the gate. Marcus made eye contact with one of the men and he stopped for half a second. There was something familiar about him. Where had he seen the guy before?

Marcus let the thought go.

He hurried through the small airport, boarded a shuttle bus out front, and took it to a car rental agency a mile away. He’d talked to Janie on the layover from Amsterdam to Nairobi. The drive to the orphanage would take an hour and he’d definitely need a Jeep. Some of the roads weren’t passable any other way.

Marcus was first off the bus. He ran into the building and up to the man behind the counter. “I need a Jeep. As quickly as I can get it.”
Help her hold on, God . . . Please, help her.
He was almost there, almost to her side.

But the man shook his head. “Sorry. I rented my last Jeep an hour ago.”

This couldn’t be happening. Marcus felt the blood drain from his face. “When will you have another one?”

“One day. Maybe three days.” The man pointed to a laminated piece of paper with other, smaller vehicles. “This may help?”