-Telephones

Back in Hebron, Larry came back into the Emergency Room.  Nothing had changed.  He walked over to dad standing protectively over us, addressing him as he approached.

“Doc, I made a call to the Lincoln Air National Guard,” he said.  “They are aware of the situation and are making arrangements to get you to Lincoln.”  For the first time, Larry saw a hopeful look from dad.

“It might be awhile, but they are on the way,” Larry continued.  “They’re sending a big helicopter.  Is there anyone you need to call?”

Dad nodded and Larry asked one of the hospital orderlies to take him to a telephone.  Larry told Dr. Bunting and Dr. Pembry of the arrangement, and he began to make preparations for the transport.  He ordered people to move their cars so they could land the helicopter in the parking lot of the hospital.  We would leave from there.

The telephone rang shrilly from somewhere.  Bruce Miller groggily opened his eyes to the darkness of the room.  Diane slept peacefully next to him.  The phone harshly jangled out from beside him again.  He shook the cobwebs out of his head and reached out into the darkness to feel for it, then brought the receiver to his head.

“Hello?” he mumbled tiredly.  There was a moment of silence.  “Hello??” he said again.

“Bruce?” the creaking and broken voice said.  It was Jim, Bruce immediately recognized, but he sounded much different. 

The bad feeling Bruce had been carrying all night had receded like the tide as he drifted to sleep, but like the tide, suddenly came rushing back at the sound of dad’s voice. 

“Jim?” he said.

“Bruce?” dad said again.  “There-there’s been an accident…the plane…”  Tension wound down Bruce’s spine. 

Oh my god, he thought and his heart began to pound.

“The plane crashed…” dad said, his voice quivering.  “Char is dead, Bruce.  I saw her.  She’s dead.”

Oh no, no, no!  Bruce pleaded silently in his head to no one.  He reached over to touch Diane.  She felt the tension in his touch and woke immediately to sit up beside him.  A million thoughts swirled in his head.

“Wh-where are you?” he managed.

“We’re at Hebron hospital right now, but were coming there,” dad said.  “They’re flying us there…”

Flying them? Bruce thought.  He was horribly confused, but shook it off.

“Are you okay, Jim?  The kids?” Bruce said.

“Char is dead.”  Dad replied, his voice on the verge of breaking.  “I’m pretty bad, too.  The kids…we’re all bad…all bad…” 

Bruce knew he had things to do now.  His heart pounded in his chest.

“Okay, you just get up here, and I’ll make sure things are ready,” Bruce said.  “Just get up here.”

“Can you call Clarke?  Have him meet us at the airport?”  Dad said.  “The National Guard…they’re sending helicopters…I need him.”

“Of course,” Bruce replied.  “I’ll take care of it.”

Dad grunted a response and the line went dead.  Bruce ears rang. 

Jesus Christ.

Diane gripped his hand.  Char and her were best friends.  He hung up the phone then quickly dialed another number.

“Lincoln General Emergency…” came the voice of one of the nurses.  Bruce knew her, but couldn’t remember her name just then.  He asked for Ron and waited a few moments.

“This is Dr. Craig,” Ron’s pleasant voice came over the line.

“Ron its Bruce Miller,” he said.  “Listen, we need to get the ER ready.  Jim Styner has been in a plane crash in Hebron.  He and his kid’s are badly injured…his wife…” he trailed off.

Beside him, Diane tightly gripped his hand and her body began to hitch with sobs.

            From the warmth of his sleep, Clarke Mundhenke was now drawn to the ringing of his telephone next to his bed.  He did not know what time it was but it was early.  He felt Sharon stir beside him and without opening his eyes reached over and after a bit of fumbling picked it up.  His job as a chaplain kept him up sometimes, but as a man of God he was obligated to respond.  He was aware of the sleepy hoarseness of his voice as he spoke.

            “Hello..?”

            “Clarke..?  Bruce Miller.”  The voice said.  Clarke opened his eyes.  Bruce?  Why was he calling?  His attention was all of a sudden rapt.

            “Bruce?”  Clarke greeted him.  “How are you?  Is every thing alright?”

         “Clarke, Jim Styner crashed coming home,” Bruce said.  Immediately Clarke thought of an auto crash.  The thought of the plane didn’t hit him immediately.

            “Crashed?” Clark stammered, surprised.  He would have to prepare to comfort his family…then he remembered that he thought we were on vacation…that we had flown to California in the airplane.

            “Oh, my god…” he almost whispered. “The plane?”

            “Yeah, he went down in Hebron.”  Bruce said.

Clarke refrained from babbling the myriad of questions that immediately flooded his mind.  Jim’s family was on that plane.  It would be a big funeral, was his first thought.  Then Bruce floored him again.

            “He’s alive.  His kids survived too, but they’re all in bad shape.”  Clarke could not believe his ears.  They survived a plane crash?  Then it occurred to him that Bruce hadn’t mentioned the wife.

            “Charlene?” he asked.  The pause that followed was all he needed to hear.  He imagined Bruce shaking his head.

            “No.” was all he heard. 

The gravity of the news swirled into Clarke.  Sharon had sat up next to him hearing Charlene’s name.  They were all friends.  Charlene was a strong member of their church.  They had all just been skiing together in Colorado just a couple of weeks ago, where dad had hurt his arm in a nasty fall. 

He was momentarily overcome, and then his thoughts went to Bruce.  Jim was his partner.  He knew they were great friends.  Dianne Miller and Char were very close, like sisters Clark had always thought.

            “Bruce, my god!  What can I do to help?” he asked.  “Are they at the hospital?”

            “No, they are going to be moved from Hebron in helicopters.” Bruce replied.  “The Air National Guard is going to get them and bring them here.  I have to go to the hospital and get things ready there.”

            “Okay,” Clarke responded making mental notes.

            “Jim asked for you, Clarke.”  Bruce said, which took Clarke slightly aback.  Bruce continued. “He wants you to meet him at the airport when they get here.”

Clarke immediately understood.  He was their pastor, and they were coming out of hell.  He needed to be there to comfort them and let them know they weren’t alone.  The souls of those kids might be in the balance.  Suddenly, he realized how important his mission had become.  He was compelled to offer Bruce his counsel, but realized Bruce’s night had just begun.  He had to get ready to save those kid’s lives.

“Should I call anyone?” Clarke asked.  Bruce said he was already taking care of it.  He had been through a lot tonight, and Clarke really wanted to take a moment to make sure he was alright, but they both needed to get going.

“Thank you for calling, Bruce.  I will head out there right now,” he said, then added:  “God bless you.”

The line was silent for a moment.

“Thanks,” Bruce said and the line clicked and went dead.  Clarke tuned to look at Sharon, who stared back, wide-eyed.