A Scary Phone Call

The phone is a great piece of technology, but when it rings at 4:05 am it will scare you wide awake. It was beginning its second ring when Drew grabbed it from its charger. "Hello." Drew Stafford had only been a pastor for about 6 months, but he knew that when the phone rings this early it is never good news, and, he was right.

"Pastor Drew," said the shaking voice of Debbie Miller. Debbie and her husband Mike had quickly become like family to him. Mike owned the local hardware store and was the town’s handyman. Many refrigerators, air conditioners, and whatever else was broken were fixed by him and often for free. 

"Debbie,” asked Drew, "What's wrong?"

"It's Sam," she replied as she began to lose control of her emotions. Samuel was their 16 year old son; their only son. When Sam was born there were complications and Debbie had to have a full hysterectomy.

"What's wrong with Sam?"

"We don't know," she responded, "he was complaining of a headache when he and Mike came back from Yellowstone, then he started vomiting. When I touched him he was burning up with fever." She stopped to try to regain her composure. "We called Dr. Lott and told him what was happening and he said to take him the emergency room immediately, and that was about an hour ago."

"What have the ER doctors told you," asked Drew.

"Nothing," she replied with a frustrated tone, "they don't know what's causing it. They think it might be meningitis."

"Debbie I'm on my way," assured Drew who was getting dressed during the conversation.

"Thank you," she replied wiping her eyes, "Hurry."

They hung up and Drew sprung out the door and jumped into his jeep. As he backed out of the driveway he began to pray. The more he prayed, though, a heaviness settled on him. It was as if someone had thrown a blanket of darkness and despair over him. In the shadows, voices conspired.

Drew entered the ER and headed for the triage nurse. From behind the counter she saw him approaching with a look she had seen far too many times. She started to speak, but he cut her off before she could utter a syllable.

"The Miller family," Drew said quickly, "I'm their pastor."

"C 7," she replied as she pushed a button that opened a heavy double door.

"Thanks," he replied without looking at her and took off through the doors. He and Mike saw each other at the same time. Mike told Debbie that he was there. She stepped into the hallway and when they met it was with a hug. Both of them thanked him over and over for coming.

"Have they told you anything new," he asked them.

"Nothing," she replied wiping her nose.

"They are doing a spinal tap on him now," said Mike with his arm around Debbie, "They didn't think we needed to be in there."

"That’s our baby Mike. Our baby is hurting and we can't help him," she said fighting back the sobs. Mike hugged her tightly trying to bring her some comfort.

“If he knew you were calling him "our baby", he would probably reply with an, “Aw mom,” said Mike trying to bring some levity to his wife who was just being crushed by what was happening.

"We need to pray," said Drew. He believed in prayer, and he knew first-hand how truly helpless a person can  be. As he prayed he felt his hands being squeezed tightly by two frightened parents who were begging God for their son to be okay.

Nearby, two pairs of hate filled eyes watched them, eyes bent on destruction.