Page 59 of Perilous Healing

“Now?”

“Yes. I want her out of that pit now.”

Abana tries to hide her smile. “Yes. I will do that. Excuse me,” she says to Silas, then leaves the medical building.

Already exhausted, I rub both hands over my face.

“Are you all right?” Silas questions. He looks worn out too. He’s taken up a post right beside the door. There are no windows, just muted light coming from the gas bulbs in the building. There’s no air conditioning, no fan, just hot, humid air.

We might as well be inside a tin can.

“No. Not even a little.” Closing my eyes, I take another deep breath. “But I will be, because I know God has this and we’re not alone.”

“Still with the faith, even as we’re trapped in the depths of hell.”

“I will have faith until the moment I draw my last breath, and then even still after.”

“That powerful?”

“I feel Him, Silas.” I press a hand to my chest. “Around me. In my heart. Months ago, something like this would have broken me, but now I know there’s nothing to fear because no matter what, we’re going to be fine.”

“You feel so strongly you had them get a Bible for you.”

I glance at the worn leather Bible on the table beside me. “Yes, I do. Sometimes you have to praise Him in the furnace,” I say, repeating something Pastor Redding said to me a couple of weeks ago.

“Praise Him in the furnace?”

I smile. “You know the story of Daniel, right?”

“Man. The lions who didn’t make a snack out of him. Yeah, I’ve heard it summarized.”

Chuckling, I lift the Bible. “Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were three of Daniel’s friends. They refused to worship a golden statue or the gods of a king. As punishment, the furnace was heated seven times hotter than normal, and the guards were ordered to bind Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, then throw them into the fire, fully clothed. It was so hot that it killed the guards who threw them in, but the three men were untouched by the flames. And when they looked into the furnace, they even saw a fourth in the fire with them.”

Silas continues to stare at me. “God saved them.”

“Yes,” I reply. “He did. And it’s yet more proof that no matter where you are, no matter what you face, His will is what will prevail. Not the will of man.”

“Hmm,” he grunts.

I open my mouth to respond, but the door swings open and Abana walks in with averypregnant woman beside her. The woman is out of breath, her skin shimmering with sweat even as it's smeared with dirt.

“This is Laring,” Abana says as she guides the woman over to one of the exam beds. The woman begins speaking in a language I can’t understand, but thankfully, Abana is listening intently. “She is afraid. Doesn’t understand why she’s here when she should be working.”

“She’s here because she is far too pregnant to be working in the pit.” I lift my stethoscope and slip it over my neck, then walk closer. “Can you tell her that she doesn’t need to be afraid? I’ll make sure she has food.”

Abana repeats what I said, but the woman shakes her head and speaks again.

“She said that the boss will not tolerate her laziness.”

“This is not laziness,” I repeat. “You’re posing a health risk to you and your baby, and I need to make sure that you’re both healthy.”

Abana repeats what I said, but the woman looks unconvinced.

“Have her lie back,” I tell Abana.

Abana gives the order and the woman lies back.

“I’m going to give you privacy.” Silas excuses himself, leaving just the three of us in the medical building.

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