Chapter 23: Last Visit

After Emuna and her friends finished their art project at their usual hideout on a Saturday morning, Emuna, her friends, her grandparents and the boy arrived in the hospital to see the boy's father. They all saw the boy's father laid in bed, darting his eyes at them. He smiled and waved at them, as if he was happy to see Emuna, her friends and his son's arrival. "Hi, there, everyone. It's nice to see y'all again."

"It's good to see you too as well, sir!" Emuna, her friends and grandparents waved at the boy's father.

The boy happily dashed towards his father and hugged him tight, closing his eyes with a grin on his face. "Oh, dad! Thank Elohim I'm so glad you're still alive! I thought you wouldn't make it!"

His father looked down at him and smiled. "Me too." Then the boy's father hugged him back with his eyes closed. "Well, I'm glad to see you too as well, son."

After the boy and his son hugged one another for a while, they broke up their hugs and returned their attention to Emuna and the gang. For some reason, the boy's father curiously examined her grandparents. Emuna wondered why he was looking at her grandparents like that, until something popped in her head.

"Oh, right!" Emuna closed her eyes and scratched her head out of embarrassment. "I almost forgot." She turned to her grandparents and the boy's father back and forth, pointing her palm at her grandparents individually. "Sir, this is my grandma, grandpa."

"How do you do, sir?" Emuna's grandparents said, nodding. "Emuna told us about you. It's nice to meet you."

"Well, now it's nice to meet you too," the boy's father responded, also nodding. "Did she tell you that she and her friends financially assisted me from my hospital bills, before I get discharged from the hospital?"

"Oh, yes. She sure did, sir," Emuna's grandmother said, turning to Emuna and the boy's father with a smile back and forth.

"Oh, that's good," the boy's father said. "I could tell by her actions already. Elohim has already blessed me through her already."

"Yep," Emuna's grandpa agreed, turning to his granddaughter with his joyful smile. "That's our Emuna alright!"

The boy quickly returned to his father. "So when will you be discharged from the hospital, dad? I missed you back home."

"Oh, I don't know, son," his father answered. "Only Elohim can tell us that. Nobody else doesn't. So don't worry about it and be patient, alright?"

The boy put his head down with a frown. "Okay…"

"Elohim will get me out of here and take me home soon;it'll be alright," the boy's father calmly reassured.

"So, uh…" Yudia took a couple steps forward. "How are you feeling today, sir? Are you feeling a lot better?"

The boy's father turned to Yudia. "Oh, yeah. I'm doing fine right now. Hopefully I'll get healed soon enough to be discharged from the hospital."

"Oh, yeah. We hope so…" Zaboulon said, frowning at the boy's father.

"Yea…" Lazarus said, also frowning at the boy's father.

Emuna turned to her friends. "Awwweee, c'mon, guys. Where's y'all's faith in Elohim? He'll get the father healed through the doctors right here in the Xenopolis Hospital, remember?"

Her friends felt guilty over their lack of faith and turned to Emuna, smiling at her.

"Yea, I guess you're right about that, Emuna," Lazarus agreed.

"Yea, me too," Zaboulon and Yudia also agreed.

Emuna's grandparents grinned at Emuna and her friends, particularly Emuna due to her faith, after they watched her friends pray to Elohim for their forgiveness. They turned to one another.

"There goes our baby girl, doing the work for the Lord," Emuna's grandma exclaimed with a grin.

"Oh, yea. Now you're talkin', honey," Emuna's grandpa also exclaimed and grinned at his wife, then he smiled at Emuna with his wife. "She keeps making us and the Lord proud, does she?"

"She sure does, honey," her grandma agreed. "She sure does."

Emuna and her friends smiled at each other, then she turned to the ceiling.

-Thank You Elohim for reassuring my friends' faith in You. Please keep up the good work.

As soon as Emuna and the gang continued their chat with the boy's father for a long while, they prayed for the boy's father's recovery one last time, before they left the hospital with the boy happy. Their faith in Elohim had been reassured in their hearts, depending on His timing, no matter how long it took for the boy's father to be healed and discharged from the hospital.

****

A couple days passed by, and the boy's father's health was improving so rapidly that he finally was discharged from the hospital. His arrival home made the boy's family have a barbecue party to celebrate, inviting Emuna, her friends and even her grandparents along side with his other family members and neighbors over to his house. It was Sunday afternoon and Emuna and the gang arrived there right after they accepted the boy's family's invitation.

While most people there were inside the boy's family's house, Emuna stood outside right after she ate some food inside. She smiled and looked up at the cloudy sky that covered the sunlight. She was not only glad that the barbecue was made on time, but also it wasn't raining just yet.

"From healing my aunt from a stroke, providing Yudia justice from her abusive step father, and healing this man from his seizures in the hospital…" Emuna stated, "I thank You, Elohim. For everything. I love and appreciate what You've done for us. In Yeshua's name, Amen."

The boy's voice called Emuna's name, echoing behind her. "Huh?!" Emuna asked as she turned around. She saw the boy close the door and dashed towards her. "What's up?"

"I was jus' checkin' to see how are you're doin'," the boy responded.

Emuna closed her eyes and smiled at the boy. "Why, I was doin' fine. And you?"

"I'm doin' fine myself," the boy responded, looking up at the sky. "I thank you and your friends for helpin' me out on saving my father. To be honest, I thought I wanted to save him on my own at first."

Emuna opened her eyes and raised her eyebrow at the boy. "Oh, really?"

"Yea." The boy shook his head. "But now after seein' your kindness, I realized now that, without your help, my family would struggle financially. And I thought Elohim wouldn't help us out until I reunited with you guys, and I thank Him for it. It was my fault that I should've asked for others for help, y'know."

"Hmm!" Emuna reclosed her eyes and smiled at the boy even more than ever before. "You're welcome! And I'm glad you regained your faith in Elohim! I'm so happy for ya!"

"Yea, I sure have." the boy grinned back at Emuna, then he returned his attention to the sky. "I'm very happy that everything went back to normal."

"Yea," Emuna agreed as she also turned to the sky with a smile. "I'm so glad everything went back to normal too."

The boy returned his attention to Emuna. "So anyway. How are ya doin' today?"

"I'm doin' fine actually," Emuna answered, turning back to the boy with her constant smile. "How are ya?"

"Same."

Then Emuna turned right and sighed with a frown. The boy curiously wondered what was going through Emuna's head.

"Uh, Emuna?" The boy curiously asked.

Emuna returned her attention to the boy without a frown on her face. "Yes?"

"Are you okay?"

"Yea, I'm fine." Emuna turned right again and put her head down. "It's jus' that…" She stood there for a few moments.

"'It's jus' that,' what, Emuna?"

"It's jus' that I have to go back to work, as it gets tirin' at times, and…" Emuna stood there in silence again, moving her eyes sideways.

He became annoyed by Emuna's brief silence. "'And…,' what?!"

"And I won't be here in Xenopolis," Emuna finally answered.

"Really?" He raised his eyebrow at her.

Emuna shook her head. "Yes…"

"Where?"

"Back to the village in the desert with my grandparents, where my parents started to take me there when I was little. I haven't been there since last summer."

"Oh well, where to?"

"Barash."

"Oh, I never heard of that place."

"I'm sure you haven't. People only recognize cities like Xenopolis."

"Oh…" The boy turned left and put his head down. "I see…"

"And it's not jus' me who's goin' this time though."

He returned his face to her. "Oh? Well, who?"

"My friends."

"Oh, so only jus' your friends?"

Emuna shook her head. "Mmm-hmm. Jus' my friends, that's all."

"Oh…I see…"

Then when thunder roared across the sky, Emuna and the boy curiously looked up at the sky. "Huh?" It began to rain…hard.

"Ah, shit! It's raining here!" The boy yelled as he and Emuna closed their eyes and wiped the rain drops off of their eyes.

"You don't have to tell me 'bout it!" Emuna said, opening her eyes, turning to the boy. "Let's go inside before we get sick."

"Mhn!" The boy shook his head as he and Emuna quickly dashed back inside the house. They couldn't believe that the rain ruined their time being outside for enjoyment. But they were finally relieved when they went back outside though, not being completely wet.