18. Bianca
Chapter 18
Bianca
“ O kay, so where do we get our water?” I ask, turning to Abana.
“There’s a well about a quarter mile from here. I can go retrieve your water, then bring it back and boil it over the fire,” she says, gesturing toward a fireplace.
“A quarter mile?” Unbelievable . “It’ll have to do. Are there any chronic illnesses we’re dealing with?”
She shakes her head. “Though there is a pregnant woman. She is due to birth her child in a few weeks.”
“He has a pregnant woman working in the mine pit?” I shouldn’t be surprised after seeing those children starving to death on the streets. Yet here I am, once again shocked by the monsters in my bloodline.
“There is, Miss?—”
“Bianca,” I correct.
“Bianca,” Abana repeats.
I can’t free anyone just yet, so I’ll control the things I can. Lord, please be with me. Please guide me so I can help these people and show them Your holy light. Amen. I take a deep breath. “Okay. I want to see her first. Check her vitals and make sure the baby is okay. Where is she now?”
Abana looks at the small clock over the door. “Her shift will be over in thirty minutes.”
“Shift? No. Go collect her now.”
“Now?”
“Yes. I want her out of that pit now.”
Abana tries to hide her smile. “Yes. I will do that. Excuse me,” she says to Silas, then leaves the medical building.
Already exhausted, I rub both hands over my face.
“Are you all right?” Silas questions. He looks worn out too. He’s taken up a post right beside the door. There are no windows, just muted light coming from the gas bulbs in the building. There’s no air conditioning, no fan, just hot, humid air.
We might as well be inside a tin can.
“No. Not even a little.” Closing my eyes, I take another deep breath. “But I will be, because I know God has this and we’re not alone.”
“Still with the faith, even as we’re trapped in the depths of hell.”
“I will have faith until the moment I draw my last breath, and then even still after.”
“That powerful?”
“I feel Him, Silas.” I press a hand to my chest. “Around me. In my heart. Months ago, something like this would have broken me, but now I know there’s nothing to fear because no matter what, we’re going to be fine.”
“You feel so strongly you had them get a Bible for you.”
I glance at the worn leather Bible on the table beside me. “Yes, I do. Sometimes you have to praise Him in the furnace,” I say, repeating something Pastor Redding said to me a couple of weeks ago.
“Praise Him in the furnace?”
I smile. “You know the story of Daniel, right?”
“Man. The lions who didn’t make a snack out of him. Yeah, I’ve heard it summarized.”
Chuckling, I lift the Bible. “Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were three of Daniel’s friends. They refused to worship a golden statue or the gods of a king. As punishment, the furnace was heated seven times hotter than normal, and the guards were ordered to bind Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, then throw them into the fire, fully clothed. It was so hot that it killed the guards who threw them in, but the three men were untouched by the flames. And when they looked into the furnace, they even saw a fourth in the fire with them.”
Silas continues to stare at me. “God saved them.”
“Yes,” I reply. “He did. And it’s yet more proof that no matter where you are, no matter what you face, His will is what will prevail. Not the will of man.”
“Hmm,” he grunts.
I open my mouth to respond, but the door swings open and Abana walks in with a very pregnant woman beside her. The woman is out of breath, her skin shimmering with sweat even as it's smeared with dirt.
“This is Laring,” Abana says as she guides the woman over to one of the exam beds. The woman begins speaking in a language I can’t understand, but thankfully, Abana is listening intently. “She is afraid. Doesn’t understand why she’s here when she should be working.”
“She’s here because she is far too pregnant to be working in the pit.” I lift my stethoscope and slip it over my neck, then walk closer. “Can you tell her that she doesn’t need to be afraid? I’ll make sure she has food.”
Abana repeats what I said, but the woman shakes her head and speaks again.
“She said that the boss will not tolerate her laziness.”
“This is not laziness,” I repeat. “You’re posing a health risk to you and your baby, and I need to make sure that you’re both healthy.”
Abana repeats what I said, but the woman looks unconvinced.
“Have her lie back,” I tell Abana.
Abana gives the order and the woman lies back.
“I’m going to give you privacy.” Silas excuses himself, leaving just the three of us in the medical building.
I listen to the woman’s heart, then use the stethoscope to listen to the baby’s movements. When I hear the child alive within its mother’s womb, I breathe a sigh of relief.
As soon as the exam is over, I step back and use the hand sanitizer in the corner to clean my hands. “The baby is healthy,” I tell the women.
Abana translates, and the woman smiles, her eyes filling with tears.
“She says thank you,” Abana replies.
“You’re welcome. You both stay here. I’ll be back in just a few minutes, okay?”
Abana nods, so I head for the door, shutting it behind me. Silas is nowhere to be found, and for a split second, my stomach turns into a pit of dread.
But then I hear yelling from the pit. Rushing forward, I find Silas standing in front of one of the guards, a worker behind him. The worker charges, and Silas holds him back. I sprint toward them.
“What’s going on?” I demand.
“This is the husband of the woman you took to the medical building. He’s worried about her.”
“They both need to get back to work,” the guard orders. “Now. Or I won’t give any meal tickets to either of them.”
I step up between Silas and the guard, going toe-to-toe with a man who stands a good four inches above me. “Listen here, I’m the doctor, and I’m telling you that Laring will be getting meal tickets, but she will not be working. Understand?”
The guard glares at me. “You’re not in charge.”
“I am of this. And as for her husband? It just so happens I’m in need of a second pair of strong hands, so he’ll be coming with me.”
“Again, you’re not in charge.” The guard moves closer, his gaze turning murderous.
I step forward and feel Silas right at my back. “Neither are you. And I’ll be taking him with me.”
“You have fun taking that up with River.”
“I will.” Turning toward the man, I offer him what I hope is a smile he’ll understand. “Come,” I say, reaching for his arm and gesturing toward the medical building. He eyes me warily, clearly confused, but soon he follows, and Silas falls into step beside me.
“You can’t be picking fights with the guards, Bianca,” Silas growls. “In case you forgot, I don’t have a weapon.”
“I’m not worried,” I reply. “Because I’m doing what I’m supposed to.”
We’re nearly at the medical building when River and Yarrow step out of the house, both of them headed toward us. Yarrow speaks into a radio, and I imagine the guard at the top of the pit called it in.
Good.
“Go inside,” I say, gesturing toward the door of the medical building. The last thing I want is this innocent man getting caught in the middle of this.
He looks from me to Silas, so I gesture toward the door again. This time, he understands, and pulls the door open, slipping inside. I step right in front of it, a challenge for Yarrow or River should they choose to deny what I’m about to request.
“Making waves on day one, huh?”
“It’s what I do,” I tell Silas. “Make them understand that I won’t be pushed around, and they’ll think twice before doing it.”
He chuckles. “Smart woman.”
“What is this I hear about you pulling two of my workers?” River questions.
“The woman is due to give birth any day now. She’s not fit to be working in the pit. As for her husband, he needs to be with her, and I need an extra set of hands to get me water and fill my basins.”
“Silas isn’t cutting it?” Yarrow grins.
“Silas is my guard. He can’t be leaving to get water.”
“How about your nurse? We gave you one for this.”
“I need Abana with me at all times for translation and an extra set of hands. I’ll also be keeping the pregnant woman as a nurse before and after her baby is born. You’ll ensure that she and her husband have enough meal tickets for themselves and their families.”
River looks genuinely amused, but Yarrow looks about ready to blow a gasket.
“You make a lot of requests for a woman who’s a prisoner here,” Yarrow growls.
“I’m here to do a job, and if I can’t do it effectively, why have me here at all?”
“You cannot be pulling my workers,” River says. “I need them to meet my quota. Otherwise, this entire operation might as well go up in flames.”
“Understood. But you can’t expect me to run the only local hospital with only one extra set of hands.”
He considers. “Fair enough. You may have the woman and her husband. But you take no others, understand?”
“They’ll still get meal tickets?”
“Yes.”
“They need an increase in whatever you’re giving them.”
River’s amusement fades just slightly. “Excuse me?”
“She’s eating for two, and by the looks of it, you’re still only allowing her basic nutrition for her survival.”
“Fine,” River says. “But this is the last request you make of me. Do we understand each other?”
“We do.”
“Boss, we need you on the south side of the fence, over,” someone calls through the radio.
Yarrow lifts it. “On our way, over.”
River continues staring at me a moment longer, then he and Yarrow turn and leave.
I let out a breath I hadn’t realized I was holding.
“You good?” Silas questions.
“I am now. Come on, I need to get this woman cleaned up so she can be comfortable.”