Cade drove Dru back to the house.

The house had a rustic air about it, probably because it looked as if it was made out of logs.  But, as Cade told Dru, it was an expensive wood sideboard that made it look that way.  Unlike a small cabin, the house was large.  It had five bedrooms, an office, a playroom, a den and living room, kitchen, a room that had a Jacuzzi and weight-lifting equipment, and another den.  It also had five bathrooms: one for each bedroom (excluding the guest room) and one downstairs.

Cade carried Dru’s things to the guest room, which was conveniently located next to the bathroom downstairs.

The room itself was decorated in blue and white.  The bedroom was suited for both males and females, so there were not any frills, which Dru liked.  The room looked as if it would be in a catalog where one could order bed sheets.

After Dru settled in, she and Cade had lunch.

Cade was a marvelous cook.  Dru looked on with amazement as he sautéed onions and mushrooms, while chopping tomatoes, tearing lettuce, and frying beef patties and bacon.  The finished product was a gourmet burger.

“This is delicious,” Dru complemented him.

“Ah, it’s nothing.  I’ve done much more than this!”

“Believe me, this is good!  For the last month, my diet has been mainly spaghetti, Cheerios and sandwiches, salads and fast food.”

“Why?”

“The only thing Amy makes is spaghetti, that’s what I make best, and both of us have been tired and lazy.”

“How are you doing?”

“I’m fine, I guess.  I’m tired a lot.  All the sleep I missed is finally catching up on me.”

Cade took another bite.  “Dru, I?“

He was interrupted by the telephone.

The phone was sitting on a stand next to Dru, so she picked it up.  “Hello; Burke residence.  May I ask who is speaking?”

“This is Dr. Fraker.  May I speak to Cade Burke, please.”

Dru passed the phone to Cade and said,  “Dr. Fraker.”

Cade took the phone and greeted the doctor.  From his side of the conversation, Dru could not figure what was being said.  Other than the occasional okay, or how, when, why, and hmm, he said nothing.

When Cade handed the telephone back to Dru, he said,  “Ivey isn’t doing good.”

“What do mean?  Not doing good as in not doing good, or not doing good as in life or death situation.”

“In between.  Dr. Fraker said her condition is declining, instead of staying the same, like it has for the whole time.”

“Should we go back to the hospital?”

“I don’t know, I’m trying to decide.”

“I have a bad feeling about this; I think we should go.”

Cade hesitated.  “Well, let’s go,” he said at last.
 

When the two arrived in ICU, there were people rushing around the halls.  Cade apparently saw someone, because he moved away from Dru almost immediately, leaving her alone.

Dru tried to get into Ivey’s room, but the doctors wouldn’t allow her in there.  Dru still didn’t see Cade anywhere, so she walked down the hall to a waiting area.

The waiting area was meant to feel cozy and homelike, but the air smelled of antiseptic and the cushioned seats were uncomfortable.  Dru sank down in one and closed her eyes thoughtlessly.  She didn’t notice someone sit down beside her.

“Hi.”

Dru opened her eyes and saw a girl, probably twelve or thirteen, looking at her.

“Hello,” Dru returned, hoping the girl would let her be.

“What’re you here for?”

Dru decided to be polite.

“One of my friends is here.”

“My brother is, too.  He was in a car accident a few months ago.”

“I’m sorry.  How did it happen?”

“He was drunk.  It was all his fault.  He was lucky nobody got hurt, except himself, of course.  He has burns on over half his body, now.”

Dru grimaced at the un-welcoming sight that suddenly appeared in her mind.

“He just had another skin graft, so that’s why he’s here right now.”

“Why aren’t you in there right now?”

“All the nurses are busy.  ‘Cause I’m not old enough, a nurse is supposed to help me get in scrubs before I see Dan.  Right now, all the nurses are either in the pretty girl’s room or with other patients.”

Dru smiled within, but did not let it show on her face.  “Tell me more about this pretty girl.”

“She has curly hair.  She came last month.  She’s in a coma.  A really nice guy visits her a lot.  At least, he always visits her on Saturdays, when I’m here.”

“Her name is Ivey.  She’s my friend.”

“What happened to her?”

“Her father wasn’t a good man, and was involved with criminals.  He did something wrong, and his partners took it out on Ivey.  She was poisoned.”

“That’s, well, horrible!”

“Un-hmm.”

“I’m the only person that visits Danny anymore.  My whole family gave up on him.  It’s sad, really, for Dan, I mean.”

“I bet it is.”

“The only way he deals with it is because he’s a Christian.  He taught me to be one, too.  Are you?”

“Am I what?”  Dru did not like the way the conversation was turning.

“Are you a Christian?”

“No.  I have no reason to be.”

“The way I see it, you have every reason to be, with your friend in here and all.”

“That’s not a reason to be religious.  People are only religious when they can’t handle things on their own, so they pretend to let someone else do it.”

“Nobody can handle everything on their own.”

Dru was silent.  She remembered sitting at Jill’s funeral, thinking about religion.  Now was her chance to learn more about it.

“Will you tell me more about this Christianity thing?” Dru asked timidly.

“Sure,” the girl replied.  “But, first, my name is Jill.”  She offered her hand.

Dru’s face drained of color, until she thought about it.  How perfect!  It’s almost as if Jill is telling me this herself!

Dru shook Jill’s hand and said,  “My name is Dru.”

“Now, what do you want to know?”

“I don’t know.  I haven’t much experience in this area.  What do you think I should know?”

“The most important thing is to know that Jesus died on the cross to save our sins.  That is the basis of Christianity.”

Dru vaguely recalled hearing all this before, from her father.  How long has it been?

Eleven years; it had been eleven years since she had talked about this.  Gradually, everything came back to her.  Her father telling her about the Bible, teaching her how to pray, urging her to give her heart to Jesus.  But Dru had not done that then, it had all felt too remote.  She could not understand why anyone would actually need that.

The next year, her father had once again told her that she needed Him.  Dru had been foolish enough to ask her father not to talk about ‘that kind of stuff’ anymore, because she felt uncomfortable with it.

When Dru was twelve, her father brought it up again, but Dru reminded him of his promise not to bother her with it.

Now she understood.

Jill continued,  “And, the only thing you have to do to become a Christian is ask Him into your heart.  Jesus, I mean.”

“That’s it?  Isn’t there more to it?  Like reading the Bible, and praying, and going to church.”

“That all goes along with asking Jesus into your heart.  Once you’ve done that, you’ll want to read the Bible, and you’ll want to go to church, and you’ll want for praying.  You’ll see the need for it.” Jill paused, letting the words sink into Dru's mind.

“Why would I want to go to church?  It’s long and boring!”

“I like going to church because it teaches me how to be a better Christian, and I learn stuff.  And my church isn’t boring!  My Sunday school teacher brings me there on Sundays, and it’s lots of fun!”

“Then why do I need to read the Bible?”

“Reading the Bible is like going to school.  You do it because it teaches you things you’ll need to know in life.”

“Well, why would I need to pray?”

“You need to pray because even Christians have problems.  We still need God’s help, but he doesn’t just give to us.  We have to ask for his help.”

“So praying is like asking for help.”

“Yeah.  Praying is for other stuff, too, though.  You can pray for a friend who’s sick, and you can thank God when your friend gets better.”

“So there are two main points of prayer: thanking and asking.”

“Yup, that’s pretty much it.”

“May I ask you where your church is?  I think I might go there if I have time.”

Jill picked up a backpack from the floor.  She unzipped it and pulled out a sheet of notebook paper; on it she quickly designed a map.

“Here it is.  It’s really close to this hospital; just down the street and make a left turn.”

Dru looked at Jill.  The girl looked happy.

“Thank you.”

“I’m going to go see if I can find a nurse to help me.  Bye.”

As Jill walked away, Dru said,  “Take care.”

Dru sat in the chair for another five minutes.  She thought about what Jill had said, and, much as she hated to admit it, she knew she couldn’t handle everything on her own.  As time passed, it became more and more clear that she needed someone to lean on, someone to help her.

Dru thought, maybe I have finally found what I have needed for so long.  Maybe Jill is right.
 

“Cade!”

After walking through the halls for ten minutes, Dru had at last found him.

“Where have you been?  I’ve been looking all over for you!” Cade exclaimed.

Dru pointed down the hall.  “I was sitting down.  You left and I didn’t see you.  I tried to see if you were with Ivey, but they wouldn’t let me in.”

“I know.  They won’t let me, either.”

“Then where were you?”

“I was talking with Dr. Fraker for awhile, then looking for you.”

They started walking to the waiting area again.  They sat in the same chairs she and Jill had occupied earlier.

Cade started talking first.  “Ivey isn’t going to make it,” Cade said.

Dru was speechless.

“Dru?  I said?“

“I heard what you said,” Dru cut him off, though her tone was soft.  “I just don’t understand,” Dru said,  “why now?  Why, after all these weeks, does she have to go now!”

Cade was silent; he could not answer her questions, as they were also running through his own mind.

Dru stood.  “I need to get away from here,” she said as explanation.

She took off down the hall, with Cade following her.

“Dru; stop!  Where are you going?” He yelled after her.
 

Dru did not return to the house that night.  She went shopping for the duration of the afternoon.

Drake had left money in a locker at a train station downtown.  Coincidentally, Dru had put the key in her purse should she need it.  At the time, she had thought, Should I need it: what kind of thought is that!  Then she had realized that with all that was going on, nothing should seem strange anymore.

Dru took a cab to the train station.  Drake had had the foresight to draw a map of the station, showing exactly where the lockers were, and also where the locker in question was, in the locker section.

“Drake is always thinking.  Now I won’t like a fool- or suspicious- when I’m getting the money out of they locker!” Dru muttered to herself.

Dru quickly found the locker and put the key in the lock, opening it; all the time wondering what exactly she would find.  She knew Drake was not asinine enough to just put stacks of money in the locker, but there was always that little bit of doubt that hung around in her head.

The door popped open and Dru pulled out a briefcase, duffel bag, and coat out of the copious locker.  Her fear of Drake’s stupidity was eased considerably.

Dru put the coat on, realizing Drake had left it there so the person collecting would look an ordinary traveler.  She slung the duffel bag over her shoulder and clenched the briefcase in her hand, then calmly walked out of the station.

Dru climbed into the cab, to whose driver she had suggested waiting, and requested him to drop her at the nearest car rental dealership.

This he did, and Dru was promptly driving through town in a gleaming jet black BMW.

She stopped at a shopping center, on the inner excuse of buying a dress if she was to go to church the next day.  Dru found a mall directory and checked for a maternity store.  She was in luck: not only was there one, there was two of them!

Nearly ninety minutes later, she emerged from the second store with a large bag.  In it were a dress, T-shirt, nice satin shirt, jeans, and slacks.  The red dress had short sleeves, as it was still quite warm, and came to her calves; it was simple, yet stylish and elegant at the same time.  The jeans were of normal caliber, only much larger around the middle.  The T-shirt had a print of an abstract watercolor with a mother holding a newly born baby.  The more dressy shirt was made of a creme satiny material, and had the normal button down front with a pocket on either side; the black slacks she bought to go with the creme shirt were normal omitting the waist.

The next morning, Dru awoke refreshed, with an agreeable disposition.  She quickly slipped into the red dress after showering.  She blow-dried her hair, something she had not done in quite some time.

On a normal day, she dried it with a filter over the dryer, so as not to dispose of the natural curl.  Today, however, she ditched the filter and dried it straight.

She applied some powder, which was usually the only make-up she used.  Dru had figured out years ago that make-up made her look overdone.  She usually used powder because her cheeks had a ruddy look that she thought entirely unbecoming.

Dru smiled at the final product as she scrutinized herself in the mirror.  She looked older, which was something she liked, considering her pregnancy.

She especially liked looking older now that she was going to a church; she assumed they would not take kindly to a teenager that got herself pregnant.  Because that was what she appeared to be to the rest of the world: a teenager that made a mistake and messed up her life by getting pregnant.
 

When Dru arrived at the church, the parking lot was already filled.  Dru checked the paper Jill had written the directions on, and also the time of both services, for the umpteenth time.  Yes, the early service started at 8:30.

Dru entered the sanctuary and took a seat towards the back.  There were a few people scattered about the large hall-like room.  It appeared that the majority of people who owned the cars outside were in another room or rooms elsewhere.

Over the next twenty minutes people filtered in the doors and sat down in the cushioned benches.  The quiescence of when Dru arrived gradually progressed into a hubbub of conversations between friends and acquaintances.

Minutes later two girls about Dru’s own age sat down at a keyboard and proceeded into playing a duet.  The music was quite enjoyable, and Dru was contented to sit back and listen.
About halfway through the duet, Dru felt the bench beside her sink down a bit.  Dru turned and saw Jill grinning at her.

“You came,” she said.

Dru smiled her reply.

A man in his mid-twenties held out his hand and said,  “Glad you joined us.”

Dru politely shook his hand and then turned back to the front.

After the duet was finished, a group of ten people ranging from ages about fourteen to thirty stood up in front of the congregation.

The people led the congregation in singing songs.  The songs were most definitely not how Dru had imagined them.  Dru had imagined them as old hymns, with every other note striking a minor chord, and words no one would be caught dead using nowadays.

Contrary to Dru’s first impression of them, these songs were actually fun to sing.  They were very contemporary, songs that were written in the style of stuff one heard on the radio.

After singing about five songs, a man somewhere around thirty stood up and proceeded to greet the assemblage.  Dru assumed he was the minister of this church.

Once again, what Dru imagined was entirely different from reality.  Dru’s idea of a minister was a white-haired balding man wearing thick spectacles, with a paunch bigger than Mt. Rushmore.  The man standing at the front of the church was anything but that!  His blond hair was cut neatly, but not too short, and he was not wearing glasses.  He had the body of an athlete, very muscular and shapely.

Dru looked down at the bulletin she had been given.  It said the minister’s name was Mike Sietz.

He jumped right into his sermon.  The sermon that week was about following God’s will.  Before he started preaching, though, he read the scripture.

Dru thought everyone would take out their Bibles and read along with him, but in actuality, very few people did.  Most stared at the man, enamored.

As Dru listened to him read, she noticed that his voice had become alive.  The tone of voice and timbre he was using led Dru to be certain he believed every word he said.  His voice danced through the room, occasionally reverberating off the walls, but always strong and clear.

Dru listened intently, enthralled with the way he made the passage come alive.  When he closed the Bible, Dru heard a soft thud through the speakers.

“There have been many times in my life when I did not know what to do,” he began.  “Many times when even praying did not bring an answer.”

Dru could recognize with not knowing what to do.

He continued,  “The problem was, I was not seeing what God wanted me to see.  He was showing me his way the whole time, but I chose not to follow it, which led me to problems.

“There have also been many times when God clearly showed me what to do, but I blatantly ignored it.  This also led to problems.”

Dru did not understand how one could ignore God.  She wondered how one could ignore something not shown to them, for she knew God didn’t talk to one!

“You see,” Mike explained,  “I was ignoring God’s will.  I did not like, or didn’t want what was given to me.  I was acting like a high-born snob not wanting to eat broccoli, while starving children in Africa would love to have it!

“What I needed to do was try to find the good in the things I did not like.  For there is good in every situation, no matter how little it may be.  God wouldn’t lead me to do something that is impossible, and with no good.

“As long as God leads me in one direction, that does not mean I will have an easy ride.  In fact, many times it is tougher!  But it eventually levels out and gives you the rewards for obeying Him.

“Nothing is completely bad.  There is always a way to get out of a bad situation, and use it to your own advantage?“

Dru was astounded at what he was saying.  This sermon seemed pointed directly at her!  In all her troubles recently, had she once thought that good might come of it?

Now that she thought about it, everything that had happened to her could, or already had, given Dru something valuable.  Even when Drake had defiled her and she had ended up pregnant as a result, was there good; now she was going to have a child, a wonderful baby she could not have any other way!

Dru was so caught up in her sudden insight she missed the rest of the sermon; it was only when two men walked to the front of church for offering that she came out of the reverie.

Dru decided she wanted to talk to the minister before she left.
 
 

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