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We’re Praying For You, Joe

1/1/2025

“Joseph?” Mary looked at the phone. “Christopher, where is he? Did he fall asleep?”

He picked his phone up from the tripod. “Isidore, is Joe asleep?”

Sanctus bells jingled. “Joseph is being moved to the Intensive Care Unit. Additional details will be available when they have him stabilized.”

“Please notify the attending physician that I will be there momentarily.”

“Mary, visiting hours ended at nine o’clock.”

“Notify them of my impending arrival, Isidore. No arguing.” She hurried to the front door.

“The message has been conveyed. Please drive safely.”

“Mary, it’s late. Please let me drive.” Murray followed fast on her heels.

“No, Murray. Please stay here and manage things. I’ll see to this.” She grabbed her purse and headed back outside. “Whitney darling, where are you parked?”

“I’m just down the block a bit. Follow me.” She pulled her keys out and rushed to the car.

Mary kissed her husband. “Have faith, dear. We are not losing him. Do you hear me?”

“Of course. He’s receiving the best care. Go.”

She strode to the little car and climbed in.

“Are you sure about this, Mary?”

“As sure as I’m sitting here. They won’t object if you’re with me. Let’s get going.”

Mary was pacing when the doctor entered the waiting room. Whitney stood up with her hands clasped prayerfully.

“Mrs. Murray?”

“Yes, Doctor. How is Joseph?”

“We have him comfortable now. He will remain under observation today. If his condition approves, we will return him to his room for continuing care.”

“What happened?”

“There was an excess of fluid collecting around his brain. We’ve addressed that and adjusted his medication. I cannot allow visitation at the moment.”

“But–”

“Mrs. Murray, please trust us to do what is best for him. If you’d like to wait, Father Szulc has the chapel open. I will send word when Joseph is in a state to receive visitors.”

“I think that’s best, Mary.” Whitney whispered. “Joe can use our prayers more than our company, right now.”

Mary studied her. “Yes, of course. I know the way. Promise, Doctor, the very minute he is able to see us.”

“Absolutely. I promise to let you know right away.” He retreated through the double doors.

“Okay, boys, let’s get this cleaned up.” Murray wandered among the chairs.

Staś gave him a hug. “Joe is a good boy. We’ll be praying for him.”

“Thank you. This shouldn’t be happening, Staś. He’s an engineer. He’s supposed to push pencils and slide rules, not root around in ancient ruins.”

“He’s getting the best care there is. Have faith and pray for him. It works.”

“Of course, thanks.” Murray folded some chairs.

Staś patted his shoulder and folded some other chairs.

The families were deep in prayer as they milled around, cleaning up chairs and drones.

“Hey, are you okay?” Leo took Sarah’s hands.

She shook her head. “I’m so scared, Leo.”

“Joe’s going to be alright. Mom and Whitney are there looking after him.”

“I don’t want to lose anyone. Leo, I can’t do it again.”

“Shh, he’s getting top care. Don’t worry. Joe’s going to pull through.”

“But, what if…”

“The answer to ‘what if’ is prayer, Sarah. We can help Joe by praying for him.”

Jerry and Arletta pitched in, folding chairs and passing them off to Josh, Chris and Ronny.

John and Joan took the children inside. She looked at him in tearful concern. He nodded and set Jim down to rest, pulling up his blankets. Jenn fussed as Joan tucked her in, but quickly fell asleep. John took his wife in his arms and they prayed for Joe.

“Good morning, Father. We’re going to pray for Joseph while the ICU staff tend to him.” Mary said as he took her place in a pew. Whitney joined her and pulled a rosary from her purse.

“Take your time. I’ll join you for a while.” He said, taking his place beside them.

Mary prayed for a while and turned to Father Szulc. “Why is this happening?”

“Saint Paul tells us in his letter to the Romans, ‘And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.’ There is some good that will come of Joseph’s suffering. We may see the outcome of that work or perhaps not, but we can have faith that it is part of God’s plan.”

“I can’t see that.” Whitney shook her head.

“Saint Paul wrote to the Hebrews, ‘Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.’ It’s hard for us to imagine the suffering of a loved one, such as Joseph, working to any sort of good. Even so, we pray for Joseph with faith that God is working some good through this.”

“Come with me.” Elka said, taking Sarah’s hand. She led her into the house and sat her at the kitchen table. “Tell me what is upsetting you.”

“I’m not ready.”

“Ready to lose someone?”

She shook her head and wept.

“Have you actually processed what happened to your parents?”

“We’ve talked about it.”

“You and your doctor?”

“We’ve said some things.”

“But you haven’t really…”

“No.” She sniffled as she reached for a napkin. “Not really.”

“I’m sorry that Joe’s situation has opened that wound for you, Sarah, but the only real way out is through. We’re here for you, but you need to deal with this.”

“It’s so dumb.”

“Processing pain is not dumb.”

“Not that.” She wiped her nose. “The things that happen. They’re dumb. Joe was just doing his job, and he gets a deadly infection. I’ll bet he had a hardhat on, like the worst thing that could happen would be getting bonked on the head.”

“Yes. That’s true. Random things happen.”

Sarah pounded the table. “Random? You want to talk about random? Imagine losing your parents under a two hundred pound bag of coal. Both of them smashed like bugs. How’s that for random?”

“Honey, that’s terrible. I’m sorry that happened to you.”

“I wish it had happened to me, Elka. I should have been there so he could get me, too.”

“No, Sarah. God wanted you to live.”

“So, he wanted them to die? What kind of God wants to kill my mom and dad? What kind of God wants to kill Joe for just doing his job? He’s an engineer. He’s supposed to sit in an office and crunch numbers or whatever. He’s not supposed to get a killer fungus.”

“I know, Sarah.”

“Joe is nice. He hasn’t hurt anybody. Why does he have to die?”

“He doesn’t have to. We need to have faith that he’ll pull through. We can pray for healing, if you want.”

“I didn’t get to pray to keep my parents. I didn’t know I’d need to. By the time I could, they were already long gone.”

“True, but we can pray for Joe. Shouldn’t we do that?”

“He’s not going to listen to me, Elka. He doesn’t care about me. He stole my parents from me and left me all alone. What’s the point?”

“It was a pleasure meeting you, Murray. We’ll keep Joe in our thoughts.” Jerry shook his hand.

“Thank you both for coming. I hope we can have you over for dinner soon and really get to know one another.”

“That would be great. Let us know, and we’re here.”

“Absolutely, good night. Safe home.”

Chris stepped up behind his dad and waited for the Maldonados to leave. “Dad, we’ve got this. Go inside and warm up.”

“Thanks, but I’m not ready to be alone yet. What needs doing? I need to stay busy.”

Chris led him around back. There were still a few dozen drones waiting to be boxed up.

“See? There’s plenty to do. Let me help.” Murray looked around. “How do you package them?”

“Here, I’ll do one so you can see.” Chris handed his dad a box and picked up a drone. “It fits just like this, and the box has a latch here.”

“That seems pretty straightforward. I’ll do this row here.” Murray took a box and bent down for a drone. “How was he when you went to see him?”

“He looked good, Dad.”

“No sign of anything?” He packed the drone up and snapped the latch. “Where do we want these?”

“You can just put the box there. We’ll stack them up and put them away after.”

“Okay. He was alright?”

“The lights were bothering him. He kept the lights off. I don’t know if that was a sign of anything.”

“The lights?” He boxed up another drone. “Yes, that could have been a sign of something.”

“Probably so. Hey, Leo. We saved you a couple.”

Leo started on a row. “Have you seen Sarah?”

“Elka took her inside.” Dad said. “She looked upset.”

“She is. That’s what concerns me.”

Murray boxed up another drone. “How do you mean?”

“She’s afraid of losing Joe.”

“As are we all.” Dad snapped a latch. “I’m struggling with it, Leo. I want to have faith and stay optimistic, but this sudden turn.”

“It’s hitting her really hard.”

“I don’t mean to be rude, but she barely knows Joe. Why is this rocking her so badly?”

Leo boxed a drone. “I don’t think she’s dealt with the loss of her parents. I think she’s been avoiding it.”

“Poor kid. So young to lose her folks.” Murray shook his head. Sanctus bells rang from his watch. “It’s from your mother.”

Chris and Leo gathered close.

“They have him stabilized and under observation. If he remains stable, they’ll move him back to his room. Thank God.”

They huddled up and said a prayer of thanks.

“Mrs. Murray.”

She looked up to find a nurse entering the chapel. “Yes?”

“We have Joe stabilized and comfortable if you’d like to come for a short visit.”

“Whitney.”

She crossed herself and kissed the crucifix before packing her rosary away. “Is he awake?”

“He’s still heavily medicated, but he’ll know you’re with him.” The nurse held the door for them.

“Is he going to keep having these…”

“If he had sought treatment when he first experienced his headaches, there would be less chance of him having these secondary infections. Dr. Shetty has adjusted the medication to treat Joe’s condition and to fend off other problems.”

“His light sensitivity was a symptom of this secondary infection?” Whitney asked.

“Yes, he should not have that when he returns to general care.”

“Will there be lasting damage to his eyesight?”

“His vision may be impaired slightly while he recuperates, but he should recover fully in time.” The nurse swiped a badge to open the doors. “We’re right down here.”

Mary and Whitney clutched each other’s hands as they approached Joe’s bed, not knowing what to expect. Mary drew a sharp breath.

Joe was resting amid more equipment than he’d been hooked to when they saw him last. His head was wrapped in bandages with tubing emerging from them. He wore an oxygen mask and his eyeglasses were missing.

“Where are his glasses?” Whitney asked.

“There’s a locker for personal belongings back in the ward. His glasses and other personal effects are locked up for safekeeping.”

“Can he hear us?” Mary asked.

“Probably. He’s got a moderate sedative to help him relax, but he should be responsive.”

“Joseph.” She took his hand, and he squeezed it. “You gave us a scare, honey.”

He muttered. “Us?”

Whitney stepped up to where he could see her. “We’re here, Joe. Promise you’ll get better. Promise me.”

He opened his hand. She took it. He squeezed gently and turned her hand over. He drew a swirl across her palm and wrist. She looked at Mary nervously.

He pulled her fingers to open her palm up so he could draw a heart and a U.

“Yes, Joe. I love you, too. We’ve been praying for you. Everybody has.”

He gave her a thumbs up and drifted off to sleep.