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that Shebna hated him as much as he hated Shebna.Perhaps more.
    “No, Shebna,” he said quietly. “I’m staying, too.”
    When Hezekiah awoke, a dark figure hovered over his bed. He focused his eyes and recognized Shebna, staring down at him with a worried frown.
    “All right, Shebna—you win. I’ll take the sedan chair.” He smiled weakly, but Shebna’s dark face remained somber.
    “Where do you want to go, Your Majesty?”
    “To the Temple. For the morning sacrifice.”
    “The sacrifice is over,” he said, shaking his head.
    “It is? How long have I been out?”
    Eliakim answered from the other side of the bed. “Several hours, Your Majesty. It’s past midday.”
    “That late?”
    Hezekiah felt much weaker than before. His anger had drained away while he was unconscious, and now he feared that the pain would consume him. For the first time he understood the seriousness of his injuries and realized he would have to fight to live.
    “Help me sit up.”
    “Please,” Shebna begged. “No more heroics. You need to rest.You are only making matters worse for yourself.”
    “What are you talking about?”
    “Even your valiant ancestors were not afraid to admit their weaknesses,” Shebna said. His somber expression frightened Hezekiah, but he knew it could prove fatal to give in to fear.
    “Since when are you an expert on my ancestors?” he asked.
    Shebna turned to Eliakim. “Help me convince him,” he said.
    “‘Be merciful to me, O Lord, for I am in distress,’ ” Eliakim quoted. “‘My strength fails because of my affliction, and my bones grow weak.’ ” “That was written by King David, I believe,” Shebna added.
    “Very good, Shebna. You’re becoming quite a Torah scholar.Now help me sit up. I’d do it myself, but ‘my strength fails because of my affliction.’ ” He saw Eliakim suppress a smile.
    The two men gently lifted him to a sitting position, propping cushions behind his back. Hezekiah gritted his teeth and blinked back the sweat that poured down his brow, careful to conceal any suffering that the movement caused him.
    “Now then, don’t we have work to do?” he asked. “Is the kingdom running on its own? Or have I been dethroned while I was unconscious?”
    “You want to work?” Shebna asked in alarm. “Now? Here?”
    “Well, since I can’t seem to walk more than two steps without falling on my face, I have no other choice, do I?”
    “Wouldn’t you rather rest?” Eliakim asked. “Shebna and I can—”
    “I know you can, but that’s not the point. I’m in too much pain to rest.”
    “I will call the physicians.”
    “No, Shebna. I don’t want their drugs. At least not until I can’t stand it any longer. What I need is a distraction.”
    “I understand. I will bring your work here.” Shebna bowed slightly and headed for the door.
    “Shebna,” Hezekiah called after him.
    “Yes, Your Majesty?”
    “I will sign those divorce papers now.”
    “Do you want me to read them aloud, Your Majesty?” Shebna asked when he returned a short while later. He had brought the certificate of divorce along with an armful of work.
    “No. I don’t even want to hear her name. Just give me the papers.I think I can seal them without taking my ring off.”
    “You are going to make your wounds worse,” Shebna warned.
    “They can’t get any worse! Now put something under the scroll to support it, like that tray over there. Then put the clay in place and bring everything here.” He would sign the papers if it killed him.
    Hezekiah positioned his hand, palm up, above the scroll, centering his signet ring over the lump of clay. “Now, push down on the back of my ring.”
    Shebna drew back. “No. I refuse.”
    “Eliakim! Do as I say! Push it hard so it seals.”
    Eliakim obeyed, and in a moment it was over. The official seal firmly imbedded in the soft clay ended Hezekiah’s marriage. He no longer had a wife.
    Memories of Hephzibah washed over him suddenly, nearly