Reflection / Natalie Hoefer

When a Raphael appeared in an emergency room on the feast of the Archangels

The 87-year-old woman was wheeled into a room in the emergency wing of IU Health Methodist Hospital in Indianapolis at 9:30 p.m. on

Sept. 29. A fall 30 minutes prior left her with a bleeding chin and abrasions on her nose and cheeks.

Nevertheless, her face lit up when she saw the triage nurse.

“I know you! We sit in the same pew at St. Mary’s, and you do such a beautiful job as a lector,” the woman said. The two women are members of the Indianapolis parish, and both frequently worship at the parish’s daily Mass.

They shared their names as the nurse tended to the woman’s wounds. Then she turned the woman’s care over to the doctor and the supporting medical team.

The doctor finally arrived around 11 p.m. to assess the patient, ordering a CAT scan and stitches for the woman’s chin.

Neither had taken place when the initial triage nurse stepped into the room a few minutes after midnight.

“How are you doing? Can I get you anything?” she asked the woman and her two visitors—the patient’s husband and a friend who drove him to the hospital.

The woman requested a cup of water, which the nurse quickly brought.

When the woman said she was waiting for a CAT scan, the nurse checked to see what she could do to speed up the process. Then, with no additional chair in the room, she leaned against a wall and visited with the woman.

“Is this your full-time job?” the woman asked.

“Yes, but I also work full time with the INDYCAR medical team,” she answered, a job that takes her to the Indy 500 and to tracks around the country during the roughly six-month racing season.

Then there’s the volunteering. She uses her medical expertise to help organizations like Gennesaret Free Clinics and on medical missionary trips. Throw in serving on several committees, and “sometimes it’s a bit too much,” she admitted of her busy life with a laugh.

The woman then asked the nurse if she knew a particular person who also worshiped at St. Mary’s daily Mass.

“Yes,” she said. “In fact, I just babysat for her kids the other night.” The nurse described how the request came at

5:30 p.m., and she responded she’d be there after her shift ended at 6 p.m.—no hesitation, just an immediate response to someone in need.

Returning to talk of St. Mary, “Did you see the students from Indiana Wesleyan University at Mass the other evening?” the woman asked.

“Yes. They were there for a comparative religion class,” the nurse responded. “I don’t know why, but they came up to me and started asking questions after Mass.”

The nurse then shared the questions and how she responded. From statues to the Eucharist, to Mary and more, the nurse’s answers proved her to be a welcoming, knowledgeable witness true to Church teaching.

At that point, the doctor entered the room to clean and stitch the wound on the woman’s chin. The doctor accepted the nurse’s offer to help.

Afterward, the nurse asked the woman and two visitors another round of, “Can I get you anything?” and promptly returned with the husband’s requested apple juice.

The couple’s friend asked where the nearest vending machine was. The nurse personally showed her the way and, when the vending machine didn’t work, offered her snacks she had on hand.

It was now 2:30 a.m., and the woman still hadn’t had the CAT scan. The nurse pulled the couple’s friend aside.

“I can stay with them and take them home,” she offered. “You have to go to work in the morning, but I’ve got the day off.”

The friend thanked her but declined.

With that, the nurse returned to the woman’s room and bid her farewell, saying with a warm smile, “We’ll have to sit a little closer in the pew now, and say each other’s names at the sign of peace.”

After the nurse left, the woman turned to her two companions and pointed out that the nurse’s shift ended at midnight.

The three agreed: From the nurse’s compassionate care, devoted accompaniment, selfless giving and love for the faith, she brought the presence of the healer and companion Archangel Raphael—from the moment she arrived on the scene the night before, the feast of the Archangels.
 

(Natalie Hoefer is a reporter for The Criterion.) †