Joy in His Heart by Kate Welsh

he could, Brian still didn’t see how she thought she was going to hike down a mountain side and then back up another in her shape.
    He woke her a little while later and gave her some of the rations he’d heated up. While she went off alone after eating, Brian tucked the gurney pad and blanket inside her shelter, then helped her inside when she’d returned.
    Feeling the need to fill in the awkward silence that once again settled between them, Brian tried making small talk about the beauty of God that surrounded them. He wondered aloud how anyone could doubt the existence of the Creator with masterpieces like trees and flowers as examples of His majestic wonder.
    It wasn’t long before Joy once again fell into a deepsleep. A few hours later he woke her and asked, “Who was the first woman to fly around the world?”
    “Amelia Earhart,” she muttered sleepily.
    “What book of the bible follows Genesis?”
    She yawned. “Exodus. What happened to my birthday or the president?”
    He grinned, knowing she couldn’t see him. “These are supposed to be pop quizzes. You had time to think up the answer to those. Go back to sleep. I’ll see you in a couple of hours.”
    “Shouldn’t you get some sleep, too?” she asked, her voice muzzy with sleep.
    Brian gritted his teeth against the wave of longing and something he refused to name. Reaching for an impersonal tone he said, “My watch has an alarm. I’ll sleep. Don’t worry about me. I survived my residency just fine. Now, I mean it. Get back to sleep.”
    After adding more wood to the fire, Brian ducked inside his shelter. And not a moment too soon. The skies opened up as he settled on the ground. He sighed, as the fires started to sputter out. It was going to be a long night.
    Three hours later, hoping to avoid going out into the downpour, Brian called out to Joy from his shelter. “What’s the capital of New Jersey?”
    “Trenton,” Joy shouted back. “Now will you go to sleep and leave me alone.” There was misery in her every word.
    Brian didn’t like the way she sounded. So he ducked under one of the extra solar blankets and went over to her shelter. The rain was still coming down, butnowhere near as hard as it had been when it started. “Are you cold? Or wet? Or in pain?”
    “No, doctor, I’m tired. And if my partner in this ridiculous misadventure would leave me alone, maybe I could sleep.”
    “You know, one of the symptoms I’m supposed to look for is irritability. Do you have any idea how hard it is to tell if you’re more irritable than usual? You’re always in a bad mood.”
    She sighed. “Brian, please just leave me alone and please don’t wake me again. I’d rather die in my sleep than spend another minute awake in this. I don’t understand why anyone would go camping and call it a vacation. I really don’t. If you wake me again, I swear I’ll crawl through the mud and put you out of my misery!”
    Without another word Brian left her, hiding a smile. He was sure she was fine. There was no sense in making them both miserable. Or was that more miserable than they already were?
    For him it was only Joy’s condition and the thought of those kids out there all alone that cast a pall over the night. He closed his eyes and listened to the sound of the rain and the utter quiet surrounding them. For the first time in years Brian felt as if he’d come home. He’d mentioned the cabin his parents had owned to Joy earlier and, in reminding her, he’d reminded himself of those special days long gone.
    For him those trips had been less about the companionship of his older brothers, and even his father, and more about time spent in the quiet of the woods. Histhinking had always been more focused, his distractions less noticeable, his dreams clearer and his prayers seemed to connect his spirit more completely with the Lord.
    Now he once again prayed for guidance and patience with Joy, and that the morning would see her greatly improved. He hated