Read Online Divine Intervention by Lutishia Lovely - Free Book Online Page B

barely closed before Mama Max completed dialing the number. “Nettie,” she said once her call had been answered. Located in Palestine, Texas, Nettie Thicke Johnson was a mighty prayer warrior and one of Mama Max’s closest friends. “We need to circle the prayer wagons, sister. The devil is trying to steal one of our own.”
     
    The waiting room at Shawnee Mission Medical Center was filled with folk from the almost-wedding. King stood in one corner, along with his father, Obadiah; his assistant, Joseph; his son, Michael; Cy Taylor and Nate Thicke. Concerned friends surrounded Princess and Rafael in another corner, with Joni providing a play-by-play to her husband, Brandon, by cell. Mount Zion’s prayer circle lined the chairs along one wall. They included the two oldest mothers of the church, Elsie Wanthers and Margie Stokes (or Sistah Alrighty and Sistah Almighty as they were referred to in the inner circle), along with a few deacons, trustees, and—truth be told—a couple lookie-loos who couldn’t wait to telephone, telegraph, telegram, or tell-a-fellow-church-member the latest scoop. Down the hall, just a short distance from the waiting room, was a seldom used office. The doctor had graciously allowed Vivian to wait in there, with an anxious-yet-trying-to-becalm Tai sitting right by her side.
    “It’s going to be all right, sis,” Tai said, rubbing her hand across Vivian’s tight neck and shoulders. “We know that with God, all things are possible. He never fails.”
    Vivian said nothing, just continued to rock back and forth, whispering a barely audible prayer in tongues.
    “Was there any indication that something was wrong?” Tai queried, after a time. “Has he been sick, tired, complaining of headaches . . . anything?”
    Vivian rocked a few more times before rising from her chair and pacing the office. “I’ve been asking myself that since he collapsed. I went over the last few weeks, months even, in my head. He’s been so busy, Tai,” she continued, reclaiming her seat next to Tai. “Back and forth to South Africa, revivals everywhere. And there’s been so much stress with the expansion.... I guess it was just too much. I should have seen it,” she declared, again rising and pacing. “I’m his wife! I should have sensed that something was wrong!”
    Tai walked over to where Vivian leaned heavily against the wall. “Don’t do this to yourself, Viv. Sometimes these things just happen. There’s nothing you could have known, and nothing you could have done. The only thing we can do now is pray and have faith in God’s healing powers. Do you believe?”
    “I want to,” Vivian whispered. “But he looked so pale, Tai. My cocoa brown baby had a gray sheen on his skin.” Fresh tears cascaded down Vivian’s face and although the room was quite warm, she shuddered against the power of her thoughts. “I kept talking to him, telling him, begging him to wake up. My God! If something happens to him, Tai, I don’t know what I’ll do.”

    Back inside the waiting room, Rafael sat next to Princess. Her head was on his shoulder as he mindlessly ran a soothing hand through her now tousled, errant curls. His mind was racing a mile a minute, a plethora of thoughts vying for space. He was still trying to process what had just happened. Why instead of eating grapes and sipping champagne in the junior suite of Kansas City’s downtown Hotel Phillips, he was comforting his would-be wife in an anesthetic-feeling and smelling hospital waiting room. Why after waiting for what felt like half his life, the woman by his side still wasn’t Mrs. Rafael Stevens. He felt bad for Pastor Montgomery, he really did. Hopefully the prolific and charismatic man of God would be just fine. But dammit! This was my day! This was my moment with the woman I love! Suddenly, Rafael eased Princess’s head off his shoulders and stood.
    “Where are you going?” Princess asked, noting the determined glint in Rafael’s