Page 6 of A Hidden Hope

Early the next morning, Annie Fisher checked the message machine in the shanty, as she always did before doing anything else.

Sure enough, there was a message waiting from Dok.

“I’ll be late to the office today,” Dok’s voice crackled.

“Still waiting on the Glick baby, who’s apparently taking his sweet time making an appearance.

Move my appointments to later in the day.

” A pause, long enough for Annie to glance at the clock.

“And, Annie, until I get there, you’ll be responsible for the three new .

.. candidates.” Another pause, as if Dok had needed a moment to swallow that last word.

Unfair! First, Annie was still overcoming a crippling shyness, and talking to strangers made her stomach churn.

She gave herself a pep talk as she scootered her way to the office, telling herself to act like Gus, Mr. Wonderful—warm and friendly and welcoming.

She reminded herself of what good practice this would be for her.

As a soon-to-be EMT, she’d be thrust into all kinds of uncomfortable situations.

This was an excellent opportunity to work on her social skills.

Consider it, she told herself, to be like building a muscle.

As she veered around the last curve in the road, she tried to make herself smile. Inside, she was shaking like a leaf.

Ten minutes later, Fern drove her buggy into the Bent N’ Dent parking lot and the three climbed out.

What was it Dok called them? Something like .

.. candidates? Which sounded like politicians.

Annie preferred to think of them as medical professionals, just like EMTs.

She watched from the window as they left the buggy to approach the practice.

The young man veered off to give the horse a pat. Annie noted his dark hair in a lady’s topknot. A woman marched across the parking lot in a determined way. She looked like she belonged on the cover of one of Dok’s magazines for the waiting room. Fancy.

The other woman, more friendly looking, kept glancing back at the young man, slowing, waiting for him to catch up.

Annie watched them with a detached curiosity, wondering how these three would fit into Dok Stoltzfus’s practice.

Then her nerves kicked in and she remembered that she was responsible for them. Gus would love connecting with three medical professionals, because he was one himself as an EMT. She wished he were here right now. She found herself wishing that more and more and more.

So, she thought, do what he would do. Pretend I’m Gus.

She opened the door for them. “Welcome,” she said, smiling. “I’m Annie Fisher. I’m Dok’s office assistant.”

She took them on a complete tour of the office building, which took less than three minutes.

And then she ran out of things to show them or to talk about.

Her act-like-Gus show had quickly fizzled out.

Not knowing what else to do or say, she walked them over to the Bent N’ Dent.

Sarah Blank, blessed with the gift of conversation, was working the register.

“So you’re Dok’s new right hands!” Sarah said.

“We are so glad you’re here because poor Dok works herself to the bone.

Well, let me get you some coffee and we can get to know each other!

David Stoltzfus isn’t here right now, which is too bad, but that’ll give us time to chat.

” She winked at them. “Wann die Katz fatt is , schpiele die Meis.” When the cat ’s away , the mice will play.

The two doctors exchanged a look of confusion, but the nurse, Evie, had a look on her face like she was swallowing a smile.

Annie probably should have stayed, but as soon as she saw Sarah pour coffee into mugs, she slipped out the door to head back over to the office.

She needed to make phone calls to a long list of patients and rearrange the morning’s appointments.

To her delight, she noticed Dok’s car had arrived in the parking lot, and she took off running.

She found Dok in her office rummaging through the pharmaceutical cupboard. “Dok! I thought you weren’t coming in at all this morning.”

Dok didn’t even turn to look at her. “Pretend I’m not here. I’m heading right back out. Another house call. Shelley Yoder is either out of meds or she did something with them, like threw them out. Either way, I want to get her a fresh supply.”

“But your three ... medical professionals ... they’re...”

Dok stopped what she was doing and turned to Annie. “Where are they?”

“I took them over to the store.”

“Oh, good!” Relieved, she closed the pharmaceutical cupboard and locked it. Then she picked up her medical bag. “I’ll try to return by lunchtime.”

“Can’t they go with you?”

Dok shook her head. “Not to an Amish home with mental illness. Dave Yoder would send me packing.”

“But ... what do I do with the three of them until you get back?”

Dok frowned. “There must be something they can do.”

“Maybe ... they could see patients.”

“No! No unsupervised interaction with patients. Be sure to tell them.”

Annie’s eyebrows shot up. “Me?” It came out like the squeak of a mouse.

If Dok heard, she didn’t pay her any mind.

At the door, she stopped and spun around.

“Actually, now that I think about it, the nurse can see patients. Have Evie handle the patients who are in for a recheck.” With one hand, she brushed a lock of fallen hair out of her face.

“Did I tell you she has relatives who are Mennonites?”

Twice, Annie thought, nodding.

“Sadly, she’s only here for a few months. The other two ... will be staying on.”

Annie couldn’t quite figure out how Dok felt about Charlie and Wren. The look on her face was inscrutable. Did she think they didn’t want to be here? Or did she not want them to stay? Something felt off to Annie.

Not one minute after, Dok’s car disappeared up the narrow road and the medical professionals returned to the office. Two of them, anyway.

Wren Baker was first through the door. “That woman doesn’t stop talking.”

Sarah, she meant. Annie bit her lip. Just wait until Wren met Hank Lapp. As her father always said about Hank: Viel gschwetzt, awwer wennich gsaat. He talked much but said little.

Evie came in next. “Did I see Dr. Stoltzfus’s car drive up the road?”

“Yes,” Annie said. “She was just here for a quick resupply and then she had some house calls. She mentioned that you could see her morning patients, assuming it’s all right with them. Patients will start arriving soon.”

“Excellent,” Wren said, clasping her hands together. “I’m more than ready to get to work.”

“Dok meant just Evie,” Annie said, eyes on the tops of her shoes.

“What?” Wren said, taking a step closer. “What did you say?”

Annie repeated herself, a tiny bit louder.

“Me?” Evie said, looking pleased. “I’d love to.”

Wren’s chin dropped. “Why not a doctor? That makes no sense.”

Terrible! This was a terrible situation that Dok put Annie in. Eyes still on her shoes, she whispered, “She said something about the doctors needing supervision.”

Wren huffed at that.

The door opened again and in walked Charlie, with Sarah beside him. “I noticed Sarah has a bit of gravelly sound to her voice.”

“Annie!” Sarah said, sounding distressed. “He said I have polyps!”

“Actually,” Charlie said, “I said that it’s possible you might have a polyp.” He turned to Annie. “Does Dr. Stoltzfus happen to have a laryngoscope? I can take a look.”

“Apparently, Charlie,” Wren said in a try- to-keep-up tone, “we are not permitted to treat patients without the doctor’s supervision.”

“Ah,” Charlie said. “Oh well. Maybe later, then, Sarah.”

Sarah’s eyes went wide. “But what if I’m dying?”

“No, no,” Charlie said. “You’re not dying. Polyps are usually benign. Harmless.”

Sarah didn’t look convinced.

“The nurse could examine her,” Annie said quietly.

“You see, Charlie,” Wren said, giving him a look, “Dr. Stoltzfus has given Evie carte blanche to treat patients, but not us.”

Charlie didn’t seem concerned. “Well, that’ll work. Evie, let’s get Sarah in an exam room and see about that polyp. I’ll help.”

Wren stepped in front of them. “Not necessary. She has inflammation of the throat, not a polyp.”

“I do?” Sarah’s eyes went wide. “From what?”

“Allergies, I suspect,” Wren said. “You sneezed several times in the store.”

Sarah looked surprised. “Did I?”

“Either way, I think we’d better have a look,” Charlie said. “Evie, follow me.”

“But,” Evie said, “I’ve never been trained to use a laryngoscope.”

“Not to worry!” Charlie said. “I’m sure Dok has a medical textbook or two in her office. If not, there’s always the internet. I can talk you through.” He took Sarah by the elbow and headed back to the exam room.

Evie looked at Annie with a question in her eyes.

Annie was pretty sure that Dok would not approve of this, but she wasn’t here, and patients would be arriving soon, and ... well, quite frankly ... she was at a loss to know what to do. She didn’t even know what Gus would do in this situation.

Evie turned and headed to the exam room.

Wren paced up and down the small hallway, making Annie anxious. “Where are we supposed to work? To ... be?”

Annie shrugged. The office was already too small for Dok.

Then Wren stopped at a door. “Where does this door lead?”

“To the basement,” Annie said. “Dok uses it for storage.” She hated going down into the basement. Musty, dank, full of spiders. Who knew what else was down there?

Wren opened the door and disappeared down the steps. Fifteen minutes later, Charlie and Sarah came out of the exam room.

“Annie,” Sarah said, eyes wide, “call Dok. Tell her it’s an emergency. This doctor says I have a polyp on my vocal cords that needs to be removed.”

“Not immediately,” Charlie said. “Eventually, I said. Very minor procedure.” He turned to Annie. “Evie asked me to tell you that she’s getting the exam room ready for the next patient.”

The door in the hallway opened wide, and Wren emerged. “It’s a treasure trove down there!” she said, beaming.

A treasure trove? Annie thought of the basement as more of a cluttered nightmare—a place where old files and forgotten junk went to die. She raised an eyebrow. “Really? All I’ve ever found down there are mice and musty old boxes.”

Wren laughed, brushing some dust off her sleeves. “Oh, there’s plenty of that too. Old medical equipment, and even an antique scale for weighing babies. It’s like stepping back in time.” She turned to Charlie, eyes gleaming. “I think we might have struck gold by coming here.”

Sie waar ganz unverhofft. That was entirely unexpected. Of the three medical professionals, Wren Baker would be the last one Annie’d expect to be happy about ending up in Stoney Ridge. Turning back to work, she smiled. People could surprise you.