22 chapter 1
this storm together, with the help of all the spiritual assistance that had been promised.
The day of surgery, as Susanna looked at all the trays of gleaming, sharp tools, there was terror in her eyes. I squeezed her hand to reassure her that she wasn’t alone. I slowly turned to look behind me and was face-to-face with all the doctors and technicians on the surgical team. Many of them looked at me out of the corners of their eyes with disbelief I was there. The team began to get Susanna ready for surgery. The gurney was wheeled up next to the operating table, so she was now lying parallel to it. Still on the gurney, I was allowed to hold her hand while a wire was painfully inserted into her groin area. I flowed Reiki into her hand, knowing that its power would automatically move through her body to where it was needed. In spite of the pain, Susanna managed to stay focused on my eyes. I held her gaze and looked back at her with total concentration on her words. “Raven, I want to live! I have so much to live for. I have so many hopes and dreams for the future. Please hold on to my life during this and make space in this room for me to survive and to live a meaningful life so I can fulfill all those dreams.” “I promise that I will do my very best for you, Susanna, always.” She didn’t know I was trying not to cry. Once the painful insertion of the wire was complete, Susanna was injected with sedation. She intensely looked in my eyes until hers fluttered, and then closed. The head O.R. nurse asked me to sit on a stool in front of what I later learned was the cardiopulmonary bypass machine, also
