Chapter 6 - Page 62 - Rhasha's Bed

   Jim put his hand on the man’s shoulder. “I saw her in a dream,” he said, “and God’s messenger told me her name.”

   Jim gently lifted Rhasha from the matted leaves and carried her inside the hospital.

   Thirty empty beds lined the walls of the hospital. Rhasha would be his first and only patient. The doctor and nurse hurried to her side as Jim laid her in the first bed. The nurse quickly stripped off Rhasha’s tattered clothes and washed her body with cool, clean water. She put a clean gown on her and washed her hair. The doctor put an IV in her arm and nutrients trickled through Rhasha’s veins.

   The two men who had carried Rhasha to the hospital watched from the entrance. Both men were tall and very thin, their stomachs swollen from hunger, their faces gaunt. They leaned on the door frame, as though they had very little strength.

   “Jim,” the doctor said, pulling his attention back to the girl on the bed, “a few more days, and this girl would be dead.”

   Jim heard a thunk and quickly looked toward the entrance. One of the men had collapsed in the doorway. The other man was helping him up. Jim and the doctor rushed over to them. The fallen man had tears in his eyes. Jim knew he’d overheard what the doctor said about Rhasha.

   “Are you Rhasha’s father?” Jim asked.

   The man tried to answer Jim’s question, but he broke down, and covered his face with his hands. Tears ran through his fingers. “Please don’t let my daughter die,” he sobbed, “I love her so much.”