It was a rainy evening about 9 p.m. when members of the Pulaski County,
Arkansas, volunteer fire department were summoned to the site of an automobile
accident. Chief and EMT Tom Caton, one of the first to arrive, surveyed the
scene with horror. A car, now almost torn in two, had spun off the rural road,
hitting trees with such force that pieces of metal lay throughout the woods. One
teenaged girl had been flung into the ditch, the other near a creek. Both were
unconscious and looked badly injured.
"I'll take this one!" As the sheriff's deputies arrived to cordon off the area,
Tom ran to the girl nearest him. There was a large hole in her skull, and Tom
tore gauze out of his medical bag and pushed it against the gaping wound. He had
to stop this terrible bleeding, before she hemorrhaged to death right in front
of him!
But the flow continued, running through his fingers. As fast as he replaced the
gauze pads, they became saturated. Tom was well-trained, but he felt helpless as
he gazed at the innocent face. "Lord," he whispered, "it's such a waste for this
child to die so young. Please heal her."
Suddenly Tom felt a presence at his side, and caught a glimpse of black shoes
and grey pants. How had anyone gotten through the police line? Then this
stranger bent, and gently laid his hand on the girl. Maybe he was a doctor, Tom
thought; the deputies would have let a passing physician through. "Do you think
she's going to make it?" Tom murmured, his eyes still focused on his task.
"She'll be okay." At the calm response, Tom looked up. But there was no one
standing near him. Nor was anyone walking away from the scene. Where had the man
gone?
It wasn't until after the ambulance left that Tom approached several firemen
still standing guard. "Did any of you see where that guy went?" Tom asked.
The men frowned. "What guy?"
"Maybe he was a doctor. The man who came up and touched the girl while I was
working on her."
"Impossible, Chief. We had this area completely blocked off."
"But he stood right next to me. I saw him."
The others shook their heads. "There was no one ever with that girl. No one but
you."
Tom understood. More than one angel of mercy had been on duty tonight. And
later, when the girl made a complete recovery, he wasn't the least bit
surprised.
Copyrighted 2002 by Joan Wester Anderson. For more stories, check the website at
http://joanwanderson.com.
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