Chapter Three

John paced up and down the hallway anxiously waiting for news from the doctor. He had been there for approximately two hours, but there had been no news.

Just then, a man wearing a white lab coat walked up to him.

John turned to speak to him.

"How is she?" The man turned away.

"It's not going well. Her condition has improved somewhat since she was admitted, but it's still touch and go at the moment. We have no idea whether or not she's going to make it." The doctor spoke honestly.

"She has to make it. I-I can't live without her," he whispered, his voice cracking. Elisabeth was his first and only love. He couldn't imagine life without her.

The doctor was upset. It was inevitable that in his line of work, he would have to deliver bad news, but every time he did, it tore at his heart. He wished he could do more, but he had done all he could. The rest was up to fate.

John's phone rang, and he picked it up.

"Hello?" His voice came out harsher than he had wanted it to, but at that moment, it didn't matter to him.

"Well, I'm sorry for whoever is standing with you at the moment," said an amused voice. Margaret. His wife's best friend.

"What do want Maggie?"

Margaret frowned. No matter how gruff and rude he was around other people, he was never like that around her, or Elisabeth.

"I'm at your house right now. I've been banging at the door so hard, I'm pretty sure the neighbours are considering calling the cops. Where are you?"

John sighed, and rubbed his forehead with his calloused palm.

"I'm at Riverside Hospital. Liz—she had a heart attack."

He heard Maggie gasp.

"I'll be there in ten minutes. Hang on John." He hung up on her, and went back to pacing. The doctor had disappeared when he had picked the call.

John Barnes was not used to being powerless. He was a business tycoon; he called the shots, not the other way around. He wasn't used to being the pawn, wasn't accustomed to being battered by life's storms. He had no control. And he hated it.

He grunted in frustration.

Ten minutes later, Maggie ran into the room, her appearance completely dishevelled.

"Is—is Liz okay?" she panted.

"She just had a heart attack, do you think she's okay?" John snapped.

He saw the hurt in her eyes, and he sighed.

"I'm sorry Maggie. I've been here for hours, and she's still not out of the danger zone. I can't lose her like this Maggie, I can't." Tears pooled in his ice blue eyes.

"Don't worry, God's not going to let her go that easily," Maggie said soothingly.

"God? God?" A wild look appeared in his eyes. "The woman in that room served God wholeheartedly! She prayed, she tithed, and she sacrificed! She gave him everything! Heck, she spent more time in the church than she spent with me! And what did she get as a reward? A heart attack."

The bitter tone in his voice did not go unnoticed.

"John, calm down. You know what, I think you need someone to pray with." She took his hand, and he pulled away as if he had been burnt.

"Pray?" he asked, ice practically dripping from his voice. "I'm not praying to the God who did this to my wife. If he's truly God, he's going to do something about this situation."

"John!" gasped Maggie. "You can't just give up on Him so easily. Look at how far he's brought you. You can't turn your back on Him. Sure, sometimes we don't understand what He does, but we do know that all things work together for the good of those who love Him."

"Well then. I guess things aren't going to work out for my good then, are they? I can't love a God who obviously doesn't love me." He turned his back on Maggie.

"Go. I don't want to see you here."

"John, wait—"

"Get. Out." There was a note of finality in his voice.

"Liz is my friend too," said Maggie, raising her chin stubbornly. "I don't know what has come over you, John. But I do know that you need time to work it out. I'll go, but I'm not leaving this hospital."

She walked away.

The doctor came back, his shoulders sagging. John could see from his gait that he wasn't bringing good news.

"Mr Barnes, I'm sorry, but your wife...she doesn't have much time left. We tried all we could, but it didn't work. She probably won't make it through the night."

"I want to see her."

"Of course Sir." John followed him and entered Liz's room. He sat by her side, staring forlornly at the frail figure she posed, with tubes and wires all around her.

Her eyes fluttered open.

"John," she said weakly. "Is that you?"

"Yes, Liz, I'm right here." He took her hand I his, and frowned at how cold it was.

"You know that I love you, John?"

"Of course."

"And you know that God loves you?"

He remained silent.

"John? You know God loves you?" Her breathing became heavier.

"Yes," he lied, to keep her happy. He didn't want to upset her.

"Good." She lay down contentedly.

"Never forget that. He loves you, and he's never going to stop loving you, no matter what. I know that I'm dying, don't try saying that I'm not." She shot him a look, and he smiled wryly. Whatever else she was, no one could accuse Elisabeth Barnes of being clueless. She was quite the opposite.

Her grip on his hand tightened as she continued to speak.

"I've chosen to look at it this way. He's given me seventy-eight happy years on this earth, and has decided that He wants me back. Frankly speaking, I quite glad I'm going home now. Not sure I can keep up with all the technological gizmos popping up." She laughed, but it quickly turned into a wheezing cough. John made to call the doctor, but she stopped him by raising her hand.

"I'll be fine. It's just a cough. You worry too much."

He sat back down, and she continued.

"John, when I die, I want you to keep loving the Lord. No matter what you may think, He's done, and is doing, more than you'll ever realise. It's going to be hard, I know, but you need to hold on to your faith. The devil's going to try and take advantage of you, and of your sadness. Just hold on tight."

Her breaths came in spasms, more irregular and raspy.

"R-remember this," she panted out, fighting the urge to close her eyes and sleep. "Second Corinthians chapter twelve, verse nine. But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.

"Remember that He's already got this covered, that He loves you, and that His grace is sufficient to take you through. You may feel weak, but He will give you strength. His love...He loves you."

She closed her eyes, lay her head on her pillow and took her last breath with a smile on her face, confident of where she was headed after death.

It was eight o'clock that Friday night. The rain beat heavily on the window panes. The thunder roared and the lightning flashed, as if the heavens themselves were mourning the death of Elisabeth Marie Barnes. But John didn't notice, as he sat crying shamelessly by her bedside.

The only thing he knew was that his wife was gone.

Elisabeth was dead.