By five in the morning, after a restless night, she’d paced her room for an hour and then itched to play the piano. She’d padded to the parlor and opened the lid, revealing the ivory and black keys.
“It’s all right if you want to play. We’re awake.”
Havyn’s voice.
She’d turned around to see her sisters and their husbands huddled by the fire.
Maddy smiled at her. “Please play for us. We’ve simply been praying for Martin, Granny, the town, and yes, even Judas.”
As nerve-racking as it had been to think of an audience surrounding her the first time she came back to the instrument, she pulled out Chopin’sNocturnes opus 32and everything else vanished. She felt more refreshed by God in that thirty minutes of playing than she’d had in a year. She’d thanked her heavenly Father over and over again as she’d played and cried.
When she finished, she knew she had to go to town and see Judas.
Now that she was on her way, she was nervous. Her whole family had piled into the new three-seat sleigh they’d purchased after Maddy’s wedding. Whether they all came to give moral support or to see Judas for themselves, she wasn’t sure. But she was glad they were with her.
When they reached the hospital, she climbed out of the sleigh first. “Please. I’d like to see him alone.” She turned around and didn’t give anyone the chance to respond.
At the entrance, she asked the kind nun for Mr. Reynolds’s room number. Everything was a bit of a blur as she walked down the hall to his room.
She opened the door.
He was pale. His eyes were closed.
“Judas?”
No response.
She crept closer to the bed and fidgeted with the button on the front of her coat. “It’s not quite noon, but I’m here.”
His eyelids fluttered.
She took a deep breath. “You demanded that I come, but I’m not here because you demanded. I’m here because I care about where you will face eternity.”
This time he moaned.
“Judas?”
His eyes opened to slits. “Whit ... ney...” His voice was weak and breathy.
“I won’t marry you, Judas. And I will fight you about this other deed on our property. But I can’t in good conscience let you lie here in the hospital and not tell you the truth.”
“God is ... punishing me...”
She bit her lip. How many times in the past couple days had she wanted to punish this man? But what he said wasn’t true. Praise the Lord for His mercy and grace. “That’s not how God works, Judas. Just like Jesus did with the thief on the cross next to Him, He’s offering you hope. Forgiveness.”
“I’ve spent my life defying God. He took everything ...everythingfrom me. I hate Him.” His breaths came in large gasps. “There’s no ... forgiveness for me now. I don’t want it.”
“Yes, there is.” She stepped closer and grabbed his hand. No matter what he’d done, Jesus still loved him. Something she was supposed to do too. Closing her eyes for a briefmoment, she pictured her mama. What would she say? “His desire is thatnoneshould be lost. He loves you, Judas. He loves every single one of us the same.”
“It’s too late.... I was born lost. I’ll die ... lost too ... that’s how it has to be. I’m in ... control.” He shut his eyes.
“Don’t say that.” Oh, if only Maddy were here. She was the one full of mercy. Ready to help people no matter what they’d done.God give me the words. Please.
A sound at the door made her look over her shoulder. Peter stood there.
Judas gasped and let out a groan. “Your God couldn’t stop me.”
“Stop you?” What was he talking about?
