“Don’t be afraid,” said the black man in the red beret who was gazing down at her with a smile on his face. His feet in their black sneakers were hovering an inch or so above the ground.
She recognized him at once despite all the years that had passed since she’d seen him. He hadn’t aged a day. But somehow, she couldn’t speak. Could barely even breathe. Then it was as if his shadow suddenly darkened, flowing over her to blot out the sun.
When she opened her eyes again, she was lying on the ground, gazing up at the dark moon of his face. He was kneeling beside her, looking at her with concern. She realized she must have fainted even as he asked gently if she was all right.
“I’m fine,” she said, sitting up. The shock of seeing him had given way to anger. “Now you show up. Do you know how desperately I looked for you all those years ago? How I prayed for you to come to me again?”
“Yes.” He stood, still hovering inches above the ground.
“Then why did you stay away?”
“I had my orders. I’m sorry.”
“And you’re following orders now, I suppose.”
“Yes.”
She sighed, no longer angry, just weary. “Go away, Gabriel. Hasn’t God punished me enough? Go away or I’ll scream.”
“No one will hear you,” he said. “No one can see or hear us.”
She sighed again, defeated. “What do you want?”
“Your son needs you, Kate.”
“My son is dead.”
“No, he lives.”
She almost fainted again at that. But she steeled herself, shook her head. She couldn’t let herself believe what he was telling her. It would be too painful to find out he was wrong. “You’re lying.”
“Did I lie before? Look into your heart, Kate. You know that Ethan lives. You’ve always known.”
She shot to her feet. “And you let me suffer all these years thinking he was dead! You bastard!” She swung her hand at his face, intending to slap him, but the air itself opposed her, held her arm immobilized until she let it fall to her side. “How dare you call yourself an angel!”
“I do as I am commanded,” Gabriel said.
“Well, I’m through with being commanded. Do you hear? Finished!”
“This is no command.”
“What is it then?”
“A gift. An apology.” He spread his hands and shrugged. “Think of it as you like.”
Her anger drained away, leaving only grief behind. “Papa Jim . . . He lied to me, didn’t he? They all lied.”
“Yes.”
“Why? Why would they tell me Ethan was dead?”
“Because he is who he is.”
“The Son of God, you mean.”
“The Son of man.”
“I don’t understand.”
“You will,” Gabriel said. “If you go to him.”
“But I can’t just walk out of here.”
“Why not? No one will stop you. No one will even see you go.”
“I don’t have any money, for one thing. And even if I did, I wouldn’t know where to go to find him.”
“Seek him in Kansas,” said Gabriel.
“And how am I supposed to get there? Follow the Yellow Brick Road?”
“God will provide.”
“Yeah,” she said, glaring at him. “That’s what worries me.”
CHAPTER 15
It was hard to say which was the greater shock when Lisa opened her eyes in the hospital room and saw Ethan gazing down at her: the knowledge that she’d died and been brought back to life, or the sudden return of all the memories that had been taken from her nearly ten years before. The immensity of both stunned her.
“Hi, Mom,” Ethan said meanwhile, smiling as tears glimmered on his face in the cool white glow of the overhead lights. “Welcome back.”
“Oh Ethan,” she said softly, her own eyes filling with tears. “What have you done?” She understood right away that by bringing her back, Ethan had proclaimed his existence to Grand Inquisitor and the Congregation.
“I had to,” he said, and she saw in his eyes that he understood as well, and that he had accepted the ramifications of his action. This miracle he had performed. “I couldn’t let you go.”
Lisa remembered the accident, the realization even as the oncoming tractor-trailer was jackknifing across the road in front of her that there was no avoiding it, that she was witnessing the final moments of her life. There had been time only to feel surprise and the beginnings of sadness, then nothing. Or no: Hadn’t she felt her soul drift clear of her body? It seemed to her now that she had, and had felt, too, a surge of bright anticipation, something like when she’d been ten years old and had been coming home after a month away at Girl Scout camp. She’d had a fantastic time, made lots of new friends and had wonderful experiences, but all of it had paled into insignificance as she sat on the chartered bus that was bringing her closer every second to the home she’d hardly even given a thought to for most of the last month, had practically forgotten about altogether in fact, but which now loomed ever larger in her mind and in her heart. Home. Such a simple word for the place that she loved like no other, where her parents were waiting to welcome her and hear all about her adventures, where she was loved and accepted unconditionally and would always have a place, no matter what. That, she thought now, dazed and tearful in the hospital bed, was what it had been like to die. It had felt like coming home, only to her real, true home, the home that had preceded every other home she’d ever had, and which, although forgotten, she’d yet sensed dimly from time to time, shining through the smeary neon haze of daily existence, just as the soul sometimes shines through the body. The home of homes. Heaven. That was where she’d been bound when Ethan had called to her. She’d heard his voice, full of love yet also hard and commanding, a voice she could not deny. Even death could not deny it.
Mother, wake up . . .
As if she’d only been sleeping. And yet to him it was the same, she realized. Lisa had known before this moment that Ethan was the second Son, but only now did the truth of it strike her viscerally. This young man, her son in all but blood, was more than mortal: He was divine. And though a part of her mourned the Heaven she had lost, and all that she knew or believed was waiting for her there—Gordon, her parents and grandparents, and other friends and family members no longer among the living—she knew too that it wasn’t lost to her forever, and that if Heaven was being in the presence of God, then she was in Heaven right here and now, and always had been, for where the Son of man was, there too God must be.
She groped for his hand, drew it to her lips, and kissed it fervently. “Lord,” she began, “I am not worthy—”
Ethan turned bright red and pulled his hand away, interrupting her. “Come on, Mom, knock it off. It’s still me, Ethan, okay?”
“But—”
“We can argue about it later if you want. Right now I think we should get out of here before things get too crazy.”
Now it was Lisa’s turn to blush. He was right. The longer they stayed, the more likely it became that the Congregation would send its killers to finish the job they’d botched ten years ago. “I’m sorry,” she said. “I’m not thinking too clearly . . .”
At which he burst into laughter. “Mom, considering all you’ve been through, you’re doing pretty good, if you ask me.”
She had to laugh herself at that. Then, as she began to get out of bed, marveling at how good she felt, the injuries she must have suffered in the crash not merely healed but as if never inflicted at all, she suddenly stopped. “Oh no!”
“What’s wrong?”
“I can’t just walk out of here wearing a hospital gown.”
“Sure you can. Nobody will see you, I promise.”
“You’ll see me. And these things don’t close very well in back! Besides, how are we getting home? We can’t exactly take my car, can we?”
Ethan frowned. “I didn’t think of that.”
“Can’t you . . .
” She gestured with one hand. “You know.”
He rolled his eyes. “Mom, it’s not like I’m Harry Potter. I can’t just wave my magic wand and make things happen.” Seeing her expression, he amended. “Okay, I could, but that’s not how it’s supposed to work. There are rules, and I’m not supposed to break them.”
“Rules? You mean like raising someone from the dead, maybe?”
He blushed again. “I wasn’t going to lose you,” he said stubbornly. “Not after what happened to Dad.”
“I just don’t want you to get into trouble,” she said. Then shook her head. “Listen to me! As if you could get into trouble!”
“I can,” he said. “I will. It’s what I’m here for.”
And such sadness came into his eyes as he spoke that she felt her heart breaking for him. She would do anything, pay any price, to take that sadness away, but she knew that it was beyond her. Still, she had to ask. “What’s going to happen, Ethan?”
He shrugged, looking so much like the small boy she remembered that she had to fight to keep herself from crying. “I can’t tell you that, Mom. I’m sorry. I wish I could, but I can’t.”
“You know, though, don’t you? You’ve seen the future.”
“I’ve seen things, yes. But nothing is set in stone. All God’s children possess free will. Even me.”
“I don’t understand.”
“How could you? But try not to worry. And Mom?”
“What?”
“Our ride home is here.”
“What?”
But even as she spoke, the door to the room opened, and Peter came in. He looked a little bit as if he’d been raised from the dead himself, his hair sticking out in all directions, his eyes wide open with shock or wonder. He half stumbled into the room, shutting the door forcefully behind him. “Man, it’s nuts out there!” he gasped. “I nearly—” Then, as he registered the fact that Lisa was sitting up in bed, obviously uninjured, he dropped to his knees.
“Ethan, man, you healed her!”
“He did more than that,” Lisa said proudly.
“Huh?”
“Let’s just say that I’ve got a pretty good idea how Lazarus must have felt.” She flashed him a wink.
Peter’s eyes grew even wider. “Holy shit! I mean . . .”
Ethan laughed. “It’s okay, Pete. Get up, will you? You don’t have to kneel to me.”
Peter got to his feet, looking a little embarrassed. “Kneel to you? Dude, I should smack you! There I was, lying in bed, tossing and turning, you know, all worried about you and your mom, when suddenly, bam, out of the blue, I remember. You know what I’m talking about. Man, I bolted up out of bed and drove right over here to give you a piece of my mind. I mean, I thought we were friends, Ethan. I thought . . .” He paused, frustrated. “Do you have any idea what it’s like to suddenly remember that the last ten years of your life are a kind of lie?”
“Actually, I do,” Ethan said. “I know I made you forget some things, and I’m sorry for that. But I made everybody forget. Even me.”
“Wow, you can do that?”
“Yes, but I won’t anymore. I promise. Not to you, not to anybody.”
Peter nodded slowly. “Good. Because, no disrespect or anything, you being who you are and all, but that still doesn’t give you the right to mess around with people, you know?”
“Yeah, I know. I didn’t before, but I do now.”
At that, Peter laughed. “You got a funny way of showing it.”
“What do you mean?”
He jerked his head toward the door. “Like I said, it’s nuts out there! I’m surprised we can’t hear all the commotion in here . . .”
“That’s me again,” Ethan admitted. “I’m keeping everything out.”
“Must be nice to be able to do that. Anyway, the hospital’s in an uproar. They’re saying that everybody’s cured. Every patient in the whole damn place.”
Lisa gasped, hand to her mouth. “Ethan!”
He gave that same stubborn shrug again. “I said I was through with hiding.”
“Yes, but every patient?”
“Which ones should I have left alone, Mom? The lady with breast cancer across the hall? The old guy with diabetes on the next floor? The kid with HIV?”
She flinched before his vehemence. “I . . . I didn’t mean . . . It’s just . . .”
He pressed on. “I know I can’t cure everyone. Like I said, there are rules. But I had to do this. I couldn’t bring you back and then ignore everyone else. I just couldn’t do it!”
“I know, honey. And I’m prouder of you than I can say. But they’ll be coming after you now. In full force.”
He nodded grimly. “It’s begun,” he said.
“Hello?” Peter was looking back and forth between the two of them. “Remember me? The guy who doesn’t know what the heck is going on?”
“It’s a long story, Pete,” Ethan said. “How about I fill you in while you’re driving us home?”
“Home? Dude, if someone’s coming after you, don’t you think they’ll go to your house first?”
“We’ll be safe there,” Ethan assured him.
“Huh. And you know that how? Don’t answer! I don’t want to know.” Peter ran his hand through his hair, mussing it further. “Oh, man. I just realized! Does Maggie know any of this shit? ’Cause I’m thinking that she’s not going to be too happy when she finds out her boyfriend is, like, the Second Coming of Jesus Christ or something.”
“He’s not Jesus,” said Lisa. “He’s the Second Son.”
“I didn’t know Jesus had a little brother.”
“There’s the Son of God, and then there’s the Son of man. It’s in the Bible.”
“Whatever,” Peter said. “I’m just saying, you might want to talk to her, Ethan. You know, before she turns on the tube or goes online or something and hears about the big ‘Miracle of Olathe Medical.’”
Ethan, who hadn’t really thought about how he was going to break any of this to Maggie, glanced up at that. “The Miracle of Olathe Medical?”
Peter grinned. “Yeah, that’s what I heard a couple of nurses call it. They were talking to some reporter.”
Lisa sighed heavily. “That means the news has already reached Grand Inquisitor. We have to move fast, Ethan. Are you sure it’s safe for us to go home?”
“As safe as anywhere,” he said.
“Who’s this Grand Inquisitor guy?” Peter wanted to know.
“It’s not a guy,” Lisa said. “It’s a computer. An artificial intelligence.”
“Jesus,” Peter said. “No offense, Ethan, but what’s next? Aliens?”
“There are no aliens, Pete.”
“Vampires, maybe?”
“I’m afraid not.”
“Good. Because you’ve already blown my mind enough for one day, you know what I mean? Anything more and you might as well just drop me off at the nearest padded cell.”
Lisa draped a blanket over her shoulders like a shawl, and then they walked out of the room and into a scene of utter chaos. Despite the lateness of the hour, the halls of the hospital were jammed with patients and their families, doctors and nurses, and media representatives. People were laughing and crying, hugging, running and skipping, dancing, praying: It was like a big wedding reception that had gotten a bit out of hand. Music was playing over the PA system, and some visitors had brought in alcohol, which they had generously shared around. Even the security guards had joined the party. Only the team of munchies assigned to the facility appeared immune to the general enthusiasm, not interfering but not joining in, either. With their dark visors and white body armor, they reminded Lisa of rejects from a Star Wars convention.
Ethan, Peter, and Lisa moved through the halls of Olathe Medical like ghosts. No one seemed to see them, not even the munchies with their electronically augmented senses, but people stepped out of their way, warned by some instinct below the level of consciousness. Occasionally, as they made their way out of the buildin
g, someone would brush or stumble against them, but even then the spell remained unbroken, and they passed on without interference, exiting finally to the parking lot, where they piled into Peter’s parents’ car and drove off.
On the way home, as Ethan had promised, he and Lisa filled Peter in on Conversatio, the Congregation, Grand Inquisitor, and the second Son.
“Wait,” Peter said at last. “You’re telling me that Pope Peter II is really a front man for a robot brain? And that robot wants to kill Ethan because he’s the second Son of God? Did we take a wrong turn somewhere and end up in a Philip K. Dick movie?”
“He’s not a front man,” Ethan said. “The pope runs the show. Grand Inquisitor is just a tool, a servant.”
“It’s not a robot,” Lisa added. “It’s a massively parallel processing network with quantum superpositioning software.”
“Riiiight.”
“I touched the mind of Grand Inquisitor once, a long time ago,” Ethan said. “It’s self-conscious, but not like a human. It’s a machine, a servant. It has no desire to rule. It has no desires at all, not as we would understand them. It doesn’t want to kill me. It’s just doing what it was made to do.”
“Somehow that doesn’t make me feel any better, dude.”
Lisa laughed. “I guess it must seem a little overwhelming and hard to believe.”
“Oh, I believe it,” Peter said. “I’ve seen what Ethan can do. It’s just . . . I’m not all that familiar with the Bible or anything, but isn’t the Second Coming supposed to be the trigger for, well, the Apocalypse? I mean, is the world coming to an end? ’Cause if it is, I’d kind of like to have a heads up.”
Ethan grinned, grateful for Peter’s commonsense perspective. Nothing seemed to fluster him for long; his defense mechanism of ironic humor deflected every worry, every fear. “I’m not going to lie to you, Pete. God sent me here for a reason. I’m not going to trigger the Apocalypse or anything, at least I don’t think so, but I am going to shake things up.”
“The world needs shaking up,” Peter said after a moment’s consideration. “I’d like to help if I can.”
“Me too,” said Lisa.
“Good,” said Ethan. “I’ve got a feeling I’m going to need it.”
Godsent Page 23