Helen tapped her clipboard twice with her black ballpoint and gave me a quiet nod.

“Her vitals are steady, Pastor,” Helen said briskly, stepping back from the stainless steel pole.

“She slept almost an hour after drinking her apple juice.”

The moment Helen slipped behind the privacy curtain to check the IV pump, Margaret beckoned me with two fingers to lean down close to her pillow.

“He came back,” Margaret whispered, her dark eyes bright despite the dark circles under them.

“Who came back?” I asked, bending until my ear was inches from her lips.