shouldn’t have come. Mother was right, as usual. Penny didn’t have the good sense that God gave a green bean.
C HAPTER 6
“I WOULD LIKE you to stay in the hospital for one more night, Mr. Mendel. Just to be sure.” The doctor scribbled something on the chart that hung from the end of Jacob’s bed as he made his evening rounds. Jacob, however, wasn’t in the bed. Why lie around for no good reason? His bruised knees still ached from his fall to the sidewalk, but his legs weren’t broken, were they? Only his arm.
“To be sure of what?” Jacob turned away from the window and the uninspiring view. His sore throat made his voice sound hoarse, not at all like his own. His chest hurt every time he drew a wheezing breath.
“Your blood pressure is elevated. And there is always the risk of infection with third-degree burns.”
Jacob looked down at his bandaged hands and the cast on his right arm. Like the righteous Job in Scripture, Jacob had lost his family and now his health. But he wanted to go home and sleep in his own bed.
“I am fine. I would like to go home. Kindly give me my clothes.”
The sun had set, which meant that Shabbat had ended. He could travel now – not that it mattered. Why should he care about Hashem’s rules?
Habit. That was all it was, a lifetime of habit.
“I’ll discharge you, Mr. Mendel, but you will be going against my advice if you leave.”
“I understand. Thank you.”
Jacob could smell the aroma of smoke on his clothes as soon as the nurse brought them into the room. He went into the little bathroom to get dressed, and the sleeve of his shirt barely fit over his cast. It took a very long time to close the buttons and zippers with his useless hands. He had to leave half of his shirt buttons undone. When he came out, he was surprised to see his friend Meir Wolfe and Rebbe Grunfeld standing beside his bed. Naturally, they had waited until after Shabbat to visit him.
“Yaacov! There you are!” His friend wore a wide grin.
“I hope you came by car, Meir, because I am ready to go home. You can drive me there.”
“But the nurse said you would be here for one more night.”
“The nurse is misinformed. Will you take me home, please?”
Jacob sat in the front seat beside his friend while the rebbe sat in the back, surrounded by casserole dishes and fruit baskets and boxes of food. The aroma of potato kugel made Jacob’s mouth water. He had been unable to eat very much in the hospital. His sore throat made it painful to swallow.
The rebbe leaned forward from the back seat. “Several of the women have prepared food for you, Yaacov, as you can see. And I am going to arrange for them to come every day to help you clean, do the dishes, take out the garbage – anything you need.”
“Thank you, but that is not necessary.”
“You have bandages on your hands, Yaacov, and your arm is broken. Everyone wants to help. It’s the least we can do to thank you for saving the scrolls. What a blessing that you were nearby and noticed the fire. Of course, it wasn’t so good that you were injured – ”
“I will be fine. Did the firemen save the shul?”
“Well, no. It looks very bad. A great deal of damage. Some of us will go through the building and see what we can salvage once the fire department says it’s safe, but – ”
“Do they know how it started?”
“A fire inspector must come and make that determination. We won’t know until he is finished. But it seems to have started in the beit midrash in the rear of the building. That’s where the worst damage was. We have been trying to think what might have been in that room that could have started the fire, something electrical maybe, but nothing comes to mind.”
Meir Wolfe grunted angrily. “I cannot help thinking that it was deliberate. In the old country, such vandalism happened all the time, remember? And now the hatred has made its way here to America.”
“Let’s not think that way, Meir,” the rebbe
C HAPTER 6
“I WOULD LIKE you to stay in the hospital for one more night, Mr. Mendel. Just to be sure.” The doctor scribbled something on the chart that hung from the end of Jacob’s bed as he made his evening rounds. Jacob, however, wasn’t in the bed. Why lie around for no good reason? His bruised knees still ached from his fall to the sidewalk, but his legs weren’t broken, were they? Only his arm.
“To be sure of what?” Jacob turned away from the window and the uninspiring view. His sore throat made his voice sound hoarse, not at all like his own. His chest hurt every time he drew a wheezing breath.
“Your blood pressure is elevated. And there is always the risk of infection with third-degree burns.”
Jacob looked down at his bandaged hands and the cast on his right arm. Like the righteous Job in Scripture, Jacob had lost his family and now his health. But he wanted to go home and sleep in his own bed.
“I am fine. I would like to go home. Kindly give me my clothes.”
The sun had set, which meant that Shabbat had ended. He could travel now – not that it mattered. Why should he care about Hashem’s rules?
Habit. That was all it was, a lifetime of habit.
“I’ll discharge you, Mr. Mendel, but you will be going against my advice if you leave.”
“I understand. Thank you.”
Jacob could smell the aroma of smoke on his clothes as soon as the nurse brought them into the room. He went into the little bathroom to get dressed, and the sleeve of his shirt barely fit over his cast. It took a very long time to close the buttons and zippers with his useless hands. He had to leave half of his shirt buttons undone. When he came out, he was surprised to see his friend Meir Wolfe and Rebbe Grunfeld standing beside his bed. Naturally, they had waited until after Shabbat to visit him.
“Yaacov! There you are!” His friend wore a wide grin.
“I hope you came by car, Meir, because I am ready to go home. You can drive me there.”
“But the nurse said you would be here for one more night.”
“The nurse is misinformed. Will you take me home, please?”
Jacob sat in the front seat beside his friend while the rebbe sat in the back, surrounded by casserole dishes and fruit baskets and boxes of food. The aroma of potato kugel made Jacob’s mouth water. He had been unable to eat very much in the hospital. His sore throat made it painful to swallow.
The rebbe leaned forward from the back seat. “Several of the women have prepared food for you, Yaacov, as you can see. And I am going to arrange for them to come every day to help you clean, do the dishes, take out the garbage – anything you need.”
“Thank you, but that is not necessary.”
“You have bandages on your hands, Yaacov, and your arm is broken. Everyone wants to help. It’s the least we can do to thank you for saving the scrolls. What a blessing that you were nearby and noticed the fire. Of course, it wasn’t so good that you were injured – ”
“I will be fine. Did the firemen save the shul?”
“Well, no. It looks very bad. A great deal of damage. Some of us will go through the building and see what we can salvage once the fire department says it’s safe, but – ”
“Do they know how it started?”
“A fire inspector must come and make that determination. We won’t know until he is finished. But it seems to have started in the beit midrash in the rear of the building. That’s where the worst damage was. We have been trying to think what might have been in that room that could have started the fire, something electrical maybe, but nothing comes to mind.”
Meir Wolfe grunted angrily. “I cannot help thinking that it was deliberate. In the old country, such vandalism happened all the time, remember? And now the hatred has made its way here to America.”
“Let’s not think that way, Meir,” the rebbe
Similar Books
