The Amish Midwife - By Mindy Starns Clark Page 0,116
a moment and then kept talking. “And there’s been a lot of tension between them since, actually since before you came around the first time. Marta stopped by a few weeks before you did. They argued that night.”
I slowed as I drove, not wanting to reach the farm. Ada began to shiver and I turned up the heat.
“I always wanted a sister,” she said. “I used to pray for one every night.”
“Me too,” I whispered.
She touched my fingers on the steering wheel and then her hand fell back into her lap as I turned down the lane. I wasn’t going to make her walk. She wasn’t strong enough. And I needed to face my fears.
“What are we going to do?” she asked.
“Confront Klara,” I answered.
“No,” Ada said. “I’ll talk to her. She’ll tell me, I promise.”
As I parked the car, Alexander hurried across the field toward us and Ada opened the passenger door. “I’ll call you tonight and let you know how things go,” she said. She took a step away but then she started to fall, in a gentle swoon. For a moment I wasn’t sure what was happening, but then her head thudded against the open car door.
“Ada!”
I was aware of Alexander running toward us as I tore around the side of the car, rolling Ada onto her side. She was unconscious. My hands flew to her carotid. She was breathing.
“Ada!” Blood oozed from the side of her head. “Ada,” I said again.
She still didn’t respond. I dug my cell from my pocket and called 911 as I rolled her to her back. She could have a head injury or a neck injury. And her blood count could be dangerously low. That could be why she’d fainted in the first place.
Before I hung up the phone, Alexander was on his knees beside her, wanting to carry her inside. “No,” I instructed. “Get a pile of blankets. And tell Klara what happened.”
“I’ll stay with Mammi,” I said as Klara crawled into the back of the ambulance.
“You should go. You know what questions to ask,” Alexander replied.
I shook my head and told him to use Ada’s cell phone. “Call me. I’ll talk to the doctors if you need me to. I’m in her contacts under L.”
From inside the back of the ambulance, Klara fished out Ada’s cell phone from her pocket and handed it to her husband. Alexander took it from her, still looking ambivalent.
“You’re her father. You need to be with her,” I insisted, a lump rising in my throat.
He nodded, sliding the phone into his own pocket as one of the EMTs directed him to sit up front.
“Thank you.” I wasn’t sure if Alexander was talking to the EMT or me.
I watched as the ambulance pulled away and then hurried to the daadi haus. As I walked in, Mammi said, “Ada, what’s going on? I heard sirens.”
“It’s me. Lex—Alexandra,” I said, stepping in front of her.
“Alexandra? What’s happened?” She was much more lucid than when I’d seen her before.
I explained that Ada had fallen and Klara and Alexander were going with her to the hospital.
Mammi began to cry and said, “Oh, dear, oh dear,” over and over again.
“She’ll be all right,” I said, hoping I was telling the truth.
“Why were you here when Ada fell?” Mammi asked, dabbing at her eyes with the tissue I handed her.
I hesitated but then decided I had nothing to lose. “I took Ada to the hospital. We had a test done… to see how we’re related.”
Mammi’s eyes overflowed with tears.
“There’s no reason to cry,” I said, patting her arm.
“I’m afraid there is.”
I sat down in the chair beside her.
“Alexandra,” she said. Something in her tone made me want to cry too. So much sorrow. So much regret. She looked at me with large, damp eyes.
Now I wanted to curl up on the floor and sob. Instead I smiled at her, hoping to encourage her to keep talking.
“I’m sorry,” she said.
I nodded.
“It wasn’t my idea. It was Klara’s. Well, Giselle’s, since Klara wouldn’t take you too.” She began to cry again.
“Mammi.” I hoped my voice was gentle even though I felt anything but. What was she telling me?
“I felt guilty from the start. That’s why I wanted you to have the box and the letter. I wanted you to know where you came from. I wanted you to come back some day.”
“Thank you,” I said. “I have the box. Where is Giselle now?”