And he left. It was only after he was gone that Enar noticed he’d left his half-finished bottle of water on the seating surface. That was a bad sign. He’d have to burn some sage before his next meeting.
“Sister Helen?”
Sister Mary rapped lightly on the closed bedroom door.
“Sister Helen?”
Inside she heard someone rustle and then Sister Helen’s strong, calm voice.
“Enter.”
Sister Helen was watching television. Sister Mary avoided television whenever possible, just as she avoided motion pictures, caffeinated beverages, popular music, tobacco products and refined sugar. Sister Mary was very careful to avoid all stimulants, both mental and physical. But she forgave Sister Helen her television watching because Sister Helen was the first nun who had welcomed her into this community and because she felt very guilty about Sister Helen’s legs. She had merely wanted to make a small footbridge across the drainage ditch that divided their property from the road. She thought that it would be so much more convenient for Sister Helen to walk over the ditch rather than having to go around it, and she thought that she could repay Sister Helen’s kindness by saving her a few seconds every day. Sister Helen had not liked the look of the footbridge, but Sister Mary’s heart was so set on her using it that she finally gave it a try.
The doctors said there was no permanent damage to Sister Helen's spine, but she had, nevertheless, lost the use of her legs. It still amazed Sister Mary that a three-foot fall could paralyze Sister Helen from mid-thigh down, but the doctors had pointed out that she had landed funny. Now Sister Helen lay in bed most days, watching the DirecTV that Sister Mary had gotten installed for her by way of penance and, over time, she had found that she was actually enjoying herself for the first time in her life.
“What are you watching?” Sister Mary asked.
“These young women claim to have had children with these young men, who are denying it,” Sister Helen said. “The young men claim to have had children only with the young women they are currently in relationships with. Maury is doing DNA tests and revealing the results on air.”
“That sounds interesting.”
“One woman has already torn off another woman’s weave. Oh, no. Look at that. Claudius’s baby isn’t his.”
Sister Mary looked at the screen where a young man was weeping while a woman walked around him shaking her finger and screaming things that were bleeped out. Sister Mary couldn’t follow any of it.
“Sister,” she said. “Are you comfortable?”
“Mm-hm,” Sister Helen said, opening a bag of Hydrox cookies. She had been eating a lot of them since losing the use of her legs.
“Something has happened to me,” Sister Mary said. “And I need to talk with you about it.”
Sister Helen froze, and looked at her with horror.
“You haven’t been...praying for me, have you?”
Sister Mary felt her heart clench into a fist as she realized that she was now and always would be a Prayer Leper to her Sisters. She tried to find acceptance in her heart. Instead, she found an unexpected fragment of cruelty.
“Would you like me to pray for you?” she asked.
“No!” Sister Helen said, recoiling. And then, more calmly, “Save your prayers for when they are truly needed.”
“But you still don’t have the use of your legs.”
“The feeling is coming back. I’ll be up and around by next week,” Sister Helen said.
“Then I won’t pray for you,” Sister Mary said.
“Good,” Sister Helen said.
“Sister, I’ve come because something is disturbing me.”
“What is it?” Sister Helen said, her attention wandering back to the TV.
“This,” Sister Mary said and she put an Early Pregnancy Test wand on Sister Helen’s TV tray. There was a blue plus sign in the middle of it.
“Ah!” Sister Helen recoiled. “That has someone’s urine on it, sister.”
“It doesn’t have someone’s urine on it,” Sister Mary said.
“It does have someone’s urine on it, because it’s giving a positive reading,” Sister Helen said. “You may not know how these things work – ”
“It doesn’t have someone’s urine on it,” Sister Mary repeated. “Because it has my urine on it.”
Sister Helen turned pale, but she quickly got a hold of herself. If there was one things nuns understood it was unwanted pregnancies.
“Obviously, it’s an inaccurate test. A false positive. According to Maury they happen all the time.”
Wordlessly, Sister Mary put a second EPT wand on Sister Helen’s TV tray. It, too, displayed a blue cross.