Read Online Promise to Cherish by Elizabeth Byler Younts - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Elizabeth Byler Younts
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attention, and especially every girl. Pushing his ego ahead of everyone else, proving his masculinity, his popularity, to anyonewilling, or unwilling, to hear and watch him. Who was he without this arrogance?
He would have to lose himself here in the filth of the hospital in order to find himself—to become the person God wanted him to be.
Usually he only knelt in prayer out of obedience to the church and his dat . But tonight his knees fell onto the concrete floor harder than he expected, and yet it was trivial to wince when there was so much greater pain surrounding him. He rubbed away the furrow on his brow and laid his head in his hands, his back hunched over his bed. The realization dawned that he knew he could do nothing truly good on his own—not with the patients, not with the staff, and not with his life—without Him. Why hadn’t he realized this of himself when he was at home?
Lord, help me decrease.
CHAPTER 5
A s Christine walked to Edgewood from her apartment in the Kirkbride building, she noticed a commotion at Ryan Hall. Jeanne caught up with her and linked her arm through Christine’s.
“Are they really getting fired and arrested?” Jeanne questioned. “I knew Ryan Hall was bad, but I never expected this.”
Christine vacillated between frustration with the C.O.’s for having gotten the attendants at Ryan Hall fired to being glad that the four regular attendants were gone—arrested even. The patients didn’t deserve to be abused.
“How are the C.O.’s in your ward?” Jeanne asked.
Christine shrugged. “Well, if any of them try this with my crew, they’ll have another thing coming.”
“But your staff isn’t anything like the Ryan Hall staff.”
That was true.
“Are they nice?”
“I have to admit, they are nice and fine workers. The patients like them and they’ve been a huge help, even if they’re cowards.”
“Hear from Jack?”
Christine raised an eyebrow as she looked over at her best friend.
“When are you going to stop asking, Jeanne? It’s been weeks. He hasn’t even acknowledged me the few times he’s been to church. It was just a few fun dances, that’s all.” Christine hoped she had convinced her friend. She’d secretly hoped on a daily basis that Jack would seek her out and ask her on a real date, but so far—nothing.
Only ten minutes later Christine was in the corner office in the day room. Brenneman’s loud whoop caught her attention as she prepared the medications for the day. He had the patients more engaged in a fake game of checkers than she’d seen them in all of her time there. Wally laughed out loud and it annoyed her that he had chuckled.
His shoulders barely fit into his starched attendant jacket. His white-blond hair and icy blue eyes made him striking. He was handsome, in an unrefined, rustic sort of way—nothing like Jack. Eli had avoided personal conversations with her since that first day when she’d let him have it. He seemed to have gotten over the verbal slapping she’d administered and had been cordial ever since. His easygoing manner had deflated her. His special attention to Wally forced a knot in her stomach as tight as her clasped hands. She cleared her throat and lifted her chin. She would not be remorseful for the truth she’d spoken to him.
Eli even took five or ten minutes to sit next to Wally and read novels about some amazing adventure or tell him about the green farmlands he came from. At first she wanted to tell him there wasn’t time for sitting and reading, but it calmed the patients, like reading a child a bedtime story. In the end, it was worth his time. The patients loved the colorful covers and even the less-than-intricate line drawings inside. He’d taken to the job quicker than expected and even Adkins complimented his work.
Brenneman began doing a magic trick—a rather poor one, too. He then pointed in her direction and the patients near him began lining up for their meds.
He stood by the Dutch door
He would have to lose himself here in the filth of the hospital in order to find himself—to become the person God wanted him to be.
Usually he only knelt in prayer out of obedience to the church and his dat . But tonight his knees fell onto the concrete floor harder than he expected, and yet it was trivial to wince when there was so much greater pain surrounding him. He rubbed away the furrow on his brow and laid his head in his hands, his back hunched over his bed. The realization dawned that he knew he could do nothing truly good on his own—not with the patients, not with the staff, and not with his life—without Him. Why hadn’t he realized this of himself when he was at home?
Lord, help me decrease.
CHAPTER 5
A s Christine walked to Edgewood from her apartment in the Kirkbride building, she noticed a commotion at Ryan Hall. Jeanne caught up with her and linked her arm through Christine’s.
“Are they really getting fired and arrested?” Jeanne questioned. “I knew Ryan Hall was bad, but I never expected this.”
Christine vacillated between frustration with the C.O.’s for having gotten the attendants at Ryan Hall fired to being glad that the four regular attendants were gone—arrested even. The patients didn’t deserve to be abused.
“How are the C.O.’s in your ward?” Jeanne asked.
Christine shrugged. “Well, if any of them try this with my crew, they’ll have another thing coming.”
“But your staff isn’t anything like the Ryan Hall staff.”
That was true.
“Are they nice?”
“I have to admit, they are nice and fine workers. The patients like them and they’ve been a huge help, even if they’re cowards.”
“Hear from Jack?”
Christine raised an eyebrow as she looked over at her best friend.
“When are you going to stop asking, Jeanne? It’s been weeks. He hasn’t even acknowledged me the few times he’s been to church. It was just a few fun dances, that’s all.” Christine hoped she had convinced her friend. She’d secretly hoped on a daily basis that Jack would seek her out and ask her on a real date, but so far—nothing.
Only ten minutes later Christine was in the corner office in the day room. Brenneman’s loud whoop caught her attention as she prepared the medications for the day. He had the patients more engaged in a fake game of checkers than she’d seen them in all of her time there. Wally laughed out loud and it annoyed her that he had chuckled.
His shoulders barely fit into his starched attendant jacket. His white-blond hair and icy blue eyes made him striking. He was handsome, in an unrefined, rustic sort of way—nothing like Jack. Eli had avoided personal conversations with her since that first day when she’d let him have it. He seemed to have gotten over the verbal slapping she’d administered and had been cordial ever since. His easygoing manner had deflated her. His special attention to Wally forced a knot in her stomach as tight as her clasped hands. She cleared her throat and lifted her chin. She would not be remorseful for the truth she’d spoken to him.
Eli even took five or ten minutes to sit next to Wally and read novels about some amazing adventure or tell him about the green farmlands he came from. At first she wanted to tell him there wasn’t time for sitting and reading, but it calmed the patients, like reading a child a bedtime story. In the end, it was worth his time. The patients loved the colorful covers and even the less-than-intricate line drawings inside. He’d taken to the job quicker than expected and even Adkins complimented his work.
Brenneman began doing a magic trick—a rather poor one, too. He then pointed in her direction and the patients near him began lining up for their meds.
He stood by the Dutch door
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