“What happened to Trina?” Betsy looked ashen even though she had no idea of the trauma we had just been through.
I forced Betsy into the recliner. “What’s going on here?” she asked, struggling to get out of the chair.
“She’s all right. Ted just brought her back from the hospital—”
“Why was she in the hospital? Why didn’t someone call me?”
“Betsy, if you’ll give me a chance, I’ll tell you.”
Slumping back into the recliner, Betsy stared at me with fear-filled eyes.
“She’s all right, Bets. I would have called you, honest. I would not have kept Trina’s welfare from you. Someone broke into the house during the night. Trina happened to be in the kitchen at the time, and the thief took her. But we found her, and she’s just shaken up.”
Betsy’s expression changed from fear to surprise. “What time was she kidnapped?”
“It must have been about two in the morning, why?”
Betsy sank back into the chair, shock etching her face. “You won’t believe this, but I woke up about two with this urge to pray for Trina. I pray for Trina every day, but this was different. It was like I was being directed to pray. I’ve never experienced anything like it before. The concern kept getting stronger, so I got in the car and drove. The whole way, something pushed me. Literally. I can’t remember half the trip.”
Betsy’s story sounded so much like mine, only hers had a focus and mine did not. Tears rolled down her cheeks. “I tried to call. I called each of you. No one answered.”
My heart ached for what my sister had gone through. “We were probably out looking for Trina,” I said. “Betsy, I’m so sorry…”
We met in the middle of the room, one stubborn brother and one independent sister, reconciled through love.
I shared my story with Betsy from the trip to the attic with Barbara, the almost-demon possession in the park, my mood swings, visions and sensations, finding the cave, and the exorcism of my room. I told her how the second ghost child had helped me find Trina and Jimmy. She listened, and never once said I told you so. Bless her.
“Is there somewhere I can take a nap?” Betsy asked as I finished the story.
“I know just the place.” I took her to the corner room, the one that had been Ted’s workshop and now was the most beautiful room in the house. I closed the blinds and pulled the door shut behind me.
Ted and Trina’s voices drifted from their room. The door was open, so I stepped in. Trina was lying in bed, with Ted propped up beside her.
“How are you doing, honey?”
“Dad!” She sat up and reached out to me, and for a moment, she became my little girl again. Swallowing a sob, I wrapped my arms around her. She nestled her head against me for a second, then returned to her pillow.
“How is Jimmy?” she asked.
“They admitted him to intensive care, and they’re doing all they can for him.”
Tears puddle in her eyes. “Shouldn’t someone be there with Sandra?”
“Lisa was there for a while. I tried to go, but Sandra won’t let me.” I turned my head and mumbled, “She’s afraid I’ll get myself into trouble.”
“What?”
“It’s a long story. I’ve been banned from the hospital for a while.”
“Did you know Aunt Betsy was coming?” she asked.
Smiling, I shook my head. “That’s a story Betsy will have to tell you. She’s resting in the corner guest room. You can talk later.”
Ted pulled his wife against his chest. With closed eyes, she smiled, and made a noise that sounded very much like a purr.
Warmth filled me. I reached to stroke my daughter’s hand, but stopped. She was already being comforted, and I had to learn to let go.
The ache returned. I not only had to give her away in marriage, but also I had to give her to cancer. At least she would not die in that metal tomb, alone and scared. She was surrounded by love. Why had I ever doubted Ted’s commitment to her?
She pushed up heavy eyelids. “How did you find us, Dad?”
“Remember that ghost boy I saw in the attic?”
“Jimmy?”
“No, the other one, the second ghost boy.”
“The bad one who’s picture is hanging on Aunt Betsy’s wall?”
“Yes, but he’s not bad. He led me to you.”
“If you wouldn’t have shown up when you did…” Silent tears slid down her cheeks. When the salty drips reached the raw skin, she winced.
Ted reached over and dabbed her eyes with his handkerchief. “We can put more ointment on your face if it hurts.”
His tenderness was a reminder that I was an interloper. “I’ll let you sleep, honey. We can talk tomorrow.”
She reached up and caught my hand. “Dad… I love you.”
The knife dug deep into my heart. I had rescued my daughter, but now I would watch her die.
After supper, I pulled Ted out to the front porch. Betsy was upstairs with Trina. The last thing I wanted was for Trina to overhear my conversation with Ted. She needed to avoid stress. I needed her to avoid stress. Stress makes cancer grow. I wanted her to live as long as possible.
I told Ted about the voice, about commanding the spirit to leave, and about the electrical jolt. He listened quietly, never interrupting my bizarre monolog, but his smile broadened with each word.
“I knew something was different as soon as I walked into the house,” he said, a broad smile on his face. “I knew it.”
It was my turn to stare.
“The air felt different. I had a feeling of heaviness whenever I was in the house, and I didn’t know why. But as soon as I walked in with Trina this afternoon, I could feel the difference.”
“I’m sorry Ted. I didn’t mean to bring all this trouble.”
“I kept wondering why God showed you the vision of Jimmy, and why He led Trina and me to this house. When Pastor Steve was arrested, I knew God’s hand was in all of it.” His gaze deepened. “I have a feeling God isn’t done yet.”
Could I handle any more of God’s plan?
34
“Jimmy’s out of his coma!” Trina shouted.
My ban from the hospital was lifted once Jack had been moved to the county jail, and Mitch admitted to the Palmetto Rehab Center. I spent several hours a day with Sandra at Jimmy’s bedside watching for changes in an unresponsive little boy. Otherwise, I joined Ted and Betsy in guarding Trina against herself. We were all gathered in the parlor when Sandra’s call came.
Betsy had made Trina a nest on the couch, and Ted had instructed her to stay there unless she was in her own bed. He placed a small table close beside her, and provided a glass of water, a cellphone, books, and a basket of snacks. Of course, all of that was unnecessary, as she never lacked attention.
Pastor Steve had once again been released from jail. No apology, no sorry, no nothing. The police were doing their duty. They had no idea they had been pawns in Satan’s plan to discredit the church.
I had no right to criticize. Only a week ago, I doubted the existence of God, denied the work of demons, and denounced my faith. But my doubt was gone. I had been given all my answers except two. First, who was the second ghost boy? I resigned myself to the fact that I may never know. The second question, my likeness to the old portrait—sometimes life is strange, just like my dreams.
Jimmy had remained in a coma. On reaching the hospital, the doctors had worked frantically to stabilize him. Sandra had been told that if he’d been left one more day, he would not have survived. The entire church constantly offered up prayer for the boy’s recovery. If Satan had wanted to destroy the fellowship of God, he had failed.
And now Jimmy was awake.
Trina and I both stood. Betsy looked up from the book she had been reading.
“Where are you going?” Ted asked Trina.
She plastered the stubborn expression I knew well, having faced it down dozens of times. I stood aside, wondering how T
ed would handle this one.
“The doctor told you to stay quiet for a few days. It’s only been two. We agreed on four. You have two more to go.”
“Ted, that’s silly. I feel fine. I’m bored to death, and there are so many people who need me right now. Someone should be with Sandra…”
“I’m usually with Sandra,” I reminded her. “I’ll go back now.”
“And someone should visit Mitch,” she continued.
“You can’t visit Mitch for thirty days,” Betsy stated. “I checked with his case manager, and the rehab program won’t let him have visitors until then.”
Trina plopped back down on the couch. I could swear Ted smirked, but I don’t swear and Ted never smirks.
“Mitch will be fine,” I added, heading toward the door. “He’s young. I’ve seen kids go to rehab, and they come back looking good. If they stay away from the wrong crowd, they keep clean. We’ll have to help Mitch make new friends.”
I had warmed to Mitch, somewhat, after seeing his concern for Trina the day she went missing.
The pout on my daughter’s face told me the fight was over. It always ended when she put on the pout-face. Interesting how some things never changed.
It took me twenty-five minutes to get to the hospital, park, and reach Jimmy’s room. Sandra was sitting at the bedside, holding the boy’s hand just as always. But this time Jimmy was holding hers back.
I gave Sandra’s shoulders a gentle squeeze before looking down at the miracle boy. He was a miracle. Everyone, especially me, had thought he was dead. Young boys don’t go missing for six weeks and show up alive. Even after we had found him, I still thought he would die.
Sandra reached up and grabbed my hand with her free one. She lifted her beaming face. “Let me introduce you to my grandson.”
I smiled at the skeletal boy. His blue eyes were the exact color I remembered; only now they were sunken into his face. A gauze dressing loosely covered his neck. The intravenous line remained, but the oxygen, that had been there hours ago, was gone.
As his blue eyes held mine, a lump crept into my throat. I had fallen in love with this boy. There was a personal connection that only I understood. “Hi Jimmy. I’ve wanted to meet you.”
“This is the man who found you. This is Bill Iver, Trina’s daddy.”
Jimmy’s lips parted into a faint smile.
“It’s OK buddy. We’ll have plenty of time to get to know each other. You just rest now.”
Jimmy shut his eyes. Soon his chest rose and fell in a regular pattern.
Sandra let go of my hand and brushed a tear from her cheek, never taking her eyes off her grandson. “I thought I would never see him again.”
“I understand.” And I did. I had lost my wife, and had almost lost Trina. The final pain was still to come. Yes, I did understand.
Sitting in the chair I always occupied, I watched as Sandra kept her eyes focused on Jimmy. I looked at the child, reveled in the slight rise and fall of the bed sheet as he breathed. His smile earlier had reminded me of the first smile I had received from Trina, and the hundreds since. Jimmy and I would share hundreds of smiles.
A sob caught in my throat. I was out of practice, but I needed to pray. Thank you, God, for this child, for his precious life. Thank you for the second ghost boy, whatever he is. I know you provided him to lead me to Trina and Jimmy. And God, whatever you have in mind for Sandra and I, thank you… I had so much more I wanted to tell God, but the words wouldn’t form. I sat in silence, my mind empty, but my heart felt so full.
It was getting late, and I knew Trina would want news of Jimmy before she went to bed. “Can I get you anything?” I asked quietly.
“I’m fine, thanks.” She continued looking at the sleeping boy. “I have everything I need.”
“I’ll be back in the morning.”
“Gramma.”
The faint voice caught our attention. “What do you need honey?”
“My friend. Is he here?”
“Bill’s still here, sweetheart.”
“I’m right here, big guy.”
“Hi Mr. Bill. No, my other friend.”
Sandra and I looked at each other. Surely he didn’t mean Jack. Had he mistaken Trina for a boy?
“Who do you mean honey?”
“My friend. He told me God sent him to stay with me until I was safe.”
It all made sense. There had been two ghosts, Jimmy and another child, the one standing beside him. Had I misinterpreted the role of the second child?
Could my second ghost boy actually be someone God had sent to comfort Jimmy? Had the second boy once been alive and now wasn’t—at least not in an earthly sense? Would God do that?
I had underestimated God’s power; had I also underestimated His overwhelming compassion?
“Your friend,” I murmured. “Does he have a name?”
“It’s Jimmy, same as mine. He’s nine and I’m seven.” The boy closed his eyes again, the wisp of a smile painting his lips.
With these thoughts fresh in my mind, I kissed Sandra’s cheek and promised to return in the morning.
Jimmy’s words stayed with me as I drove home. The second ghost had a name—Jimmy. Somehow, he was connected to my family. Who was this child of the north?
I updated Betsy, Ted, and Trina, and went to bed. I was tired. Besides, I wanted to get up at dawn and take some breakfast to Sandra. If Trina felt up to it, Ted agreed to allow her to come along.
My room was quiet, as it had been since I…since God had sent the demon scurrying for another hang-out. The memory made me shiver. The demon I had been hunting had been in my room all along, teasing me, taunting me, trying to steal my soul.
I would never knowingly have allowed that to happen, but it had happened, and it had happened so easily, one tiny mistake at a time.
I had almost lost so much.
The sun was barely above the horizon when Trina and Ted accompanied me to my SUV. Trina, eager to reach the hospital, danced ahead. I grabbed Ted’s arm. Keeping my eye on Trina, I pulled Ted to my side. “Look, Jack might be in jail without bond, but I’m still worried that somehow he will manage to escape. He’s a tricky guy, and if he escapes, you know where he’s going to head first.”
“What are you trying to say?”
“He’s going to want to finish what he started. He’s going to head to Trina and Jimmy. I stay with Sandra as much as she allows, but now both Jimmy and Trina are going to be together again. This is his chance.”
“How would he know?”
“He’ll find out somehow. Look, I talked to Studler about it, and he assures me Jack is locked up tight, but he doesn’t know the power of Satan like I do.” The memory of my interactions with demons had sealed fear in my heart.
“Dad, unlock the door.” Trina called from the side of the vehicle. “Come on, you two can talk on the way.”
I looked at Ted. “Just keep your eyes open. That’s all I ask.”
Buckled into the car, I headed down 52 towards McLeod Hospital. I slowed as the traffic light turned yellow.
“You could have made it,” Trina murmured from the back seat.
We drove past the Ebeneezer Road turnoff. “The speed limit’s fifty-five here,” a voice behind me stated.
“Trina, there’s a car in front of me. I can’t run it over.”
“Then pass it!”
From the rearview mirror, I saw Ted take her hand. “Relax. We’re almost there.”
She huffed out her frustration, but the remainder of the trip was made in silence.
Trina set the pace, and Ted and I had to almost run to keep up with her once we parked. She picked at her sleeve in the elevator.
“What room?” she asked.
“Down the hall. Third door on the left.”
A food cart with partially eaten trays stood in the hall. As we passed the nurses’ station, one of the nurses smiled and waved. I had become a regular.
Trina tapped lightly on Ji
mmy’s door before she pushed it open.
“Trina!” Sandra jumped from her chair and put her arms around my daughter. Marveling again at the bond between the two women, I was warmed and grateful.
“Ted. Bill.” We each got a hug. Betsy had accompanied me to the hospital a couple of times, but decided to stay home this time, feeling the reunion with Jimmy belonged to us. I assured her she was welcome, but Betsy can be stubborn.
Trina was already at Jimmy’s bedside. She was still pale, and tended to jump at the sound of dogs barking and cars backfiring. Hard scabs had formed on her face, in spite of the ointment she and Ted liberally applied. The wounds on her wrists became visible as she eagerly reached for the young boy. My jaw tightened. Would I ever be able to forgive Jack for what he did?
“Jimmy, you look like your old self,” Trina said, leaning over the bedrail and kissing his cheek. “What are you doing in bed?”
“Trina!” He grinned and grabbed her neck.
They clung together, like two lone souls in a huge empty sea. I looked away, the joy of their reunion a private moment.
Trina settled into Sandra’s chair, and grasped the outstretched hand pushed between the bedrails. Trina had told me how much she and Jimmy had connected before he disappeared, but I had given it little thought since I believed Jimmy was dead.
Overnight the boy had improved. The head of his bed was raised. Beside the bed was a tray of gelatin, clear broth, and apple juice. Not exactly the breakfast of champions, but more than he had been given in days. With his sunken cheeks, and ribs visible through the drooping top of his hospital gown, he reminded me of the pictures I had seen of concentration camp survivors. I didn’t know how Sandra could stand the pain of looking at him.
“His dressing is gone,” I said.
“He kept picking at it,” Sandra said. “This morning, when the nurse cleaned his neck, he refused to let her put a new dressing on. He went into a near panic when she tried to tie his gown.”
After looking from Jimmy to Trina, Sandra turned toward me. “You know, you promised me breakfast.”
Deadly Decision Page 22