Piper arrived at the hospital with Nick to offer support to their friends. They had not seen Chase or Cherie in a few months. It was a shame that this awful incident was what would bring them together again. All of their other memories of times together were much more pleasant.
They found Chase on the third floor, pacing in the hallway outside of Cherie’s room with tears in his eyes. Nick was the first to hug him and Piper followed his lead. No one said anything. No one could find the right words. Piper knew her friend’s life had taken a turn for the worse. She needed support. She walked into the room and found Cherie in her hospital bed sleeping. The heart monitor beeped quietly next to the bed and Piper was comforted in the way that the beeps were steady. Her face was bruised, battered, and bandaged, and Piper knew that her body had also met the same fate. Tears welled up in her eyes as she took her friend’s hand into hers and sat down beside her in a chair.
Please, Lord, bring her peace.
Nick and Chase joined her in the room, yet the air was still devoid of any words. Words were embedded in thoughts. Sorrowful and merciful thoughts. And prayers. Nick put the vase of freshly cut flowers they bought onto the window sill before sitting down in the chair next to Piper. He stared at Cherie and his eyes filled with tears.
Piper wasn’t sure how to break into a conversation, but she wanted to say something. Chase had already shared with them the sickening way Cherie had been attacked by a man the night before while returning a book at the library. Violently beaten, raped, and bloodied, her life had almost ended. Her second baby’s life had ended. The little baby inside of her womb was now in heaven with his or her older sibling. Thinking of the way the baby would never meet her mom on the earth, Piper burst into tears. The poor little baby would never walk the earth with his or her mom and dad. The poor little baby was relegated to the same fate as her older sister.
“I’m so sorry about this Chase,” she said. “So sorry.”
Chase looked over to her and mumbled, “Thanks. I am too.” His eyes were bloodshot and his face red and puffy. More time passed in silence.
“It’s my fault,” Chase blurted.
“What? It’s not your fault!”
“It’s my fault, Nick. God wanted to punish me for ignoring Him. Ignoring all of the signs He sent. Ignoring you and everything you told me. He wanted to punish me by taking our babies away and destroying my wife.”
“No way, Chase. That’s crazy. This wasn’t an act of God. This was an act of Satan,” Nick said.
“Well, God let it happen.”
Neither Nick nor Piper responded to that comment as both digested the words. Piper thought of the book of Job and the way God let Satan attempt to destroy Job. Then she recalled her conversation years before with Chase about God.
“So you believe in God?” Piper asked.
“Of course,” Chase said. “I don’t have a choice,” he whispered.