WITHIN THE LATTICE

The nurse looked at Ahnna, who was simply staring at the wall clock. "Mrs. Harris, I know you've been here all night. Why don't you go get a bit of rest now?"  She didn't like the look of the young woman at all. Dark smudges of fatigue lay under her eyes and she seemed quite pale. "I could arrange a bed in an empty room for you," she added hopefully.

Slowly Ahnna turned her gaze from the clock to the nurse. "Where is the hospital chapel?"

The nurse sighed. There were some people who just refused to know when they needed to rest. "If you go back up to the main lobby and take the hallway to the left, it will be right before you get to that first crossing hall."

She lifted Alistair's hand again, kissed it, then whispered, "I'll be right back, darling."
The nurse shook her head, watching Ahnna walk out of the room and head for the bank of elevators. With a final check of Alistair's IV drip, she went back to the nurse's station.

Ahnna found the door to the chapel and before opening it, lay both palms and her forehead flat against its smooth wood grain.

"Are you all right, Ma'am?" a passing orderly asked.

She straightened and murmured, "I'm fine, thank you. Just a bit tired."

She entered, stepping off the tiled floor of the hallway onto soft, deep blue carpeting, and found herself in a small passageway facing a curved wooden wall that had been carved into an almost lattice-like design. She could see through it into the chapel itself, which also had curved, wooden walls. Trailing her fingers along the lattice, she followed the passageway around until it opened onto the chapel. It was even smaller than the one she and Alistair had been married in and with a totally different look to it. Whereas that one had been all light because of the large window and the sunshine streaming in, this one was dimly lit, soft and curved and reminded her somehow of a nest or a womb. It was a place for curling up on the lap of God when one's beloved lay in some other part of the the glass and tile sterility of the rest of the hospital.

Ahnna walked slowly around to the center of the room, just standing there, looking at the main wall. A three dimensional dove, carved of wood and about two feet wide, had been placed there, with lights behind it that radiated small beams across the wall. She smiled at it, going to it and tracing one of its wings with her fingertip. Then she turned, looking at the two wooden benches with their thickly-padded seats of blue velvet. Again her head turned toward the dove and she simply sank to her knees, then lay on her face on the carpet. She folded her arms, clasping her fingers tightly behind her head and let the tears come, strained beyond the end of her strength. "Thank You," she mouthed soundlessly over and over. "Thank You, thank You." Then her arms slipped to the sides of her head and she fell asleep.

Reverend Willis Todd had spent much of the night praying for Alistair and at dawn had left his church and come back to the hospital. He stopped by the nurse's desk, asking after the young pastor's condition, pleased to hear of his slight improvement.

"Is his wife with him?" he asked.

"She was there all night long, Reverend Todd," the nurse replied. "I told her she needed to rest, but she went off toward the chapel just a while ago instead. You might look in on her. She seemed ready to drop."

Todd immediately went to the elevators and on to the chapel. Quietly he opened the door and looked through the lattice. "Oh, no!" he gasped. Ahnna was there, face down on the carpet. He hurried around the lattice and knelt beside her. "Ahnna?" He rested a hand on her shoulder.

"Mmmmm?" she murmured, turning slightly.

"Did you fall?"

"Mmmmm?" she repeated sleepily.

"You...you're sleeping here?"

Ahnna blinked, the reverend's face slowly coming into focus, and rolled onto her side. "Wh...what?"

"Are you all right?"

"Oh, hullo, Reverend Todd," she said. "I'm just tired. That's all. Just tired." She closed her eyes again, starting to drift off. "He didn't go," she murmured. "Alistair. He didn't leave." Then she was asleep.

Willis wasn't sure what to do. Finally he decided to let her lie there a while longer and so he sat on one of the benches, not wanting to leave her alone. It was, after all, such a peaceful place to rest, so mindful of being in the arms of God. He leaned his head back against the lattice and drifted off himself.