When Rachael came in she was really nice to me and not just in a “Christian charity” sort of way. She sat on the end of my bed and told me about how embarrassed she had been when she found out at summer Bible camp last year that she had gone around for a whole day with a split in the back of her Bermuda shorts. And how she knew that everybody had seen her underpants and hadn’t said anything out of politeness but how she never wanted to ever see them again. So she understood how I felt and if I did decide to stay in the room, she would bring me my food on a tray at mealtimes, but not octopus, though, and we both laughed.

Then she asked me if I wanted to pray about it, and for once I was so sad about something, I said, “Yes, let’s take it to the Lord in prayer.”

So Rachael prayed, “Dear Heavenly Father, we just thank Thee that Thou knowest us in our inmost parts and that we have no secrets from Thee. And we just claim Thy promise that ‘When two or three are gathered together there will I be in the midst of them,’ and so we just ask that You will reach down and touch Your servant, Lord, so that he may be able to enjoy the rest of his vacation. And also that You will touch our dear father’s heart so that he will be in a good Mood tomorrow and not be too mean to Mother. In Jesus’ precious name we pray. Amen.”

Then Rachael asked me if I felt better and I said, “A little.”

She said, “The Lord will do a work in your life.”

I said, “I hope so.”

Rachael told me to “cast my burdens onto the Lord.”

“I’m trying to.”

Just then there was a knock at the door, and if I could have commanded my bed to swallow me up, let alone a mountain to move, I would have, because it was Jennifer. Then a sort of miracle happened, and the Lord did touch me in His mercy after all because Jennifer said, “I just wanted to pop round to see how our patient is doing.” She said it like her mother would have. Then she said, “Mum says you must have food poisoning and that the health inspectors in Italy are notoriously lax. She hopes you’re feeling better and wants to ask you if you’ll join us tomorrow for a row, presuming you are fully recovered. Daddy is going to let a boat in the morning and we plan to be out a half day. Mummy will bring a lovely picnic.”

Then she walked over to my bed and felt my head and said I had no fever, so she believed I could indeed join them for a “bit of a row.”