BROWNIE: An Angel's Visit

by Linda Stanley Dalton

A veteran of the Brannan’s Point Police Department, Officer Raleigh Carmichael was stopped in his patrol car at the intersection of Edison Avenue and Main Street for a red light. He was thinking that his shift would be over soon and that it had been a very quiet evening. Suddenly, a dark-gray SUV came out of nowhere and Raleigh held his breath. He watched as if in slow motion the vehicle cut off another car, hit a curb, and defying the laws of physics as the officer knew them, landed upright on all four wheels. He shook his head, amazed by what he had witnessed. He had never seen that before, not in seventeen years on the job.

  With the light bar on and siren wailing, Raleigh drove the short distance to the accident scene. The driver of the car that had been cut off was an elderly lady with short, snowy white hair. She was out of her car and standing beside the somewhat crumpled SUV, wringing her hands helplessly while she peered inside at the driver. While she appeared uninjured, Raleigh had seen people look fine one minute, only to watch them collapse the next. He radioed the information about the accident to dispatch and requested an ambulance.

  “Ma’am, are you alright?” he asked as he got out of the vehicle and went to her side.

  She fumbled with trembling hands to put on her glasses. “I—he came out of nowhere!” she cried, her eyes wide and her voice shook slightly. She had been on her way home from celebrating her seventieth birthday at Santoni’s Italian Restaurant with her granddaughter before the accident. “I don’t think he saw me, Officer!”

  “Don’t worry, ma’am, I saw the whole thing,” he told her. Raleigh was a sturdily built man, stocky but not fat, and stood about five-foot-eight with short, salt-and-pepper colored hair. He wore silver wire-rimmed round glasses and a well-trimmed gray mustache sat atop his upper lip. “An ambulance will be here soon.” He shined his flashlight into the driver’s window; the driver was buckled into his seatbelt and looked unconscious.

  “Shouldn’t we try to get him out of there?” the woman cried. “Oh, the poor man, may God bless him! I hope he’s alright!”

  “Doors don’t usually open after a rollover, but we’ll give it a try,” he told the old lady even though he knew the effort would be futile. “Stand back a little, ma’am.” The officer tried the door and was surprised that it opened easily. “Hey buddy, are you okay?” he asked as he poked the man’s shoulder with his finger.

  Jeb Hastings blinked his eyes as he regained consciousness and tried to figure out what had happened. Ashamed, he concluded that he had fallen asleep. He noticed there was a large, golden-brown teddy bear belted into the passenger seat, but before he could think any more about it, the persistent voice of the officer asking him how he was compelled him to turn toward him. “I don’t think I’m hurt,” Jeb answered, slightly dazed and more than a little embarrassed.

  “Have you been drinking tonight, sir?” Raleigh asked sternly.

  Jeb knew that the officer was just doing his job. He turned to look at the teddy bear and gasped audibly when he saw that it was gone. Jeb turned back to the officer. “No, sir, only hot cocoa over at Sky’s Diner.”

  “Are you hurt? Can I help you out of your vehicle?”

  In the distance, the clear twilight sky reflected the reddish glow of the rotating lights of the approaching ambulance. The high-pitched whine of the siren grew louder as it came nearer, hurting Jeb’s ears. He got out of the car cautiously, and was able to stand and move without any pain, much to his relief.

  “I’m Officer Carmichael. Can you tell me what happened here this evening, sir? I’ll need to see your driver’s license and registration, please.” Raleigh eyed him suspiciously. He did not smell alcohol, but experience had taught him that impairment wasn’t always obvious, not always alcohol related, and could not be determined by simply looking at someone. During the course of his career, he had seen men drunker than skunks show no outward signs.

  “I’m Doctor Jeb Hastings, a pediatric oncologist and surgeon over at Brannan’s Point. I’ve had a patient in crisis, and I’m afraid I went too long without sleep. I must’ve dozed off on my way home.” Jeb reached into his back pocket and pulled out his wallet. “Too many hours at the hospital without sufficient sleep, then spending time arguing with an old classmate about why I pray,” he explained with a shake of his head and removed his license. He handed it to the officer who stared back at him with a neutral expression Jeb thought seemed a bit too blank.

  Jeb glanced at the elderly woman fidgeting with her hands and standing slightly off to the side. “Oh, Lord,” he sighed. “Is she okay?”

  “She seems to be, Doctor Hastings,” Raleigh replied. “I think you’re both damned lucky! Thank God we were spared from this being a fatality, especially right before Christmas. I’d say you've both had guardian angels looking out for you tonight. Excuse me, Doc, while I run your license through the system.”

  Jeb had never been pulled over before but knew that was standard procedure. “Yes, of course,” he replied and looked at his car. The rollover had taken its shape away and it would definitely need repairs. Still, he was surprised that it wasn’t in worse condition. He considered himself not merely lucky, but blessed, and the words “thank You, Jesus” originated in his heart before he spoke them aloud.

  The ambulance arrived; the paramedics went about their work and immediately began to assess their patients. The other driver, Mrs. Elmira Pratt of Covington, protested that she was fine, as did Jeb. He knew they were doing their jobs, but other than being exhausted and a bit confused over a peculiar stuffed bear he’d thought he’d seen in his car, Jeb knew he was not injured. He was more concerned about the senior Mrs. Pratt.

  “I would feel better if we transport,” one of the paramedics announced while Jeb tried to convince him that it was not necessary, that he was a little shaken but that was the extent of it. He was a large, muscular fellow named Don Vincent who looked more like a wrestler than an EMT. His head was shaved bald, and the top of it eerily, almost comically, reflected the red glow from the ambulance’s flashing lights behind him.

  “I’m fine, really!” Jeb protested.

  “Your car took quite a beating, and quite frankly, I’m flabbergasted that you walked away from it,” Raleigh said in a fatherly tone of voice. “I can’t force you, of course, but Doc, I would like to see you do the responsible thing and get checked out. If doctors won’t get themselves checked out after an accident like yours, people who should know better, what can we expect from the average Joe?”

  “C’mon, Doc,” Don encouraged. “I know who you are. My nephew, Evan Hartwell, is a patient of yours. My sister sings your praises and prays for you every day because you refused to give up when everyone else wrote Evan off as terminal. You won’t be much good if you collapse tomorrow, now will you? Do it for them if for no other reason.”

  “I know Evan well. He’s due in next week for a check-up.”

  “See? Evan is only one child who depends on your medical expertise. You will be on that ambulance now, won’t you?”

  Jeb was too tired to argue. “I need to call my wife.” He stole a look at his watch and realized the time. “The accident didn’t kill me, but Kenni just might.” He pulled his cell phone from his pocket. A red light was flashing, indicating that he had a voice mail message.

  “Sure,” Don replied, “we’ll have you loaded and be on our way in just a sec.” He smiled wistfully. “Good luck with the misses, I have one too.”

  “I’m sorry to do this to you, Doctor Hastings, but you’re being cited for the accident,” Raleigh said, handing him a ticket. “Please don’t drive when you’re tired, even when you don’t have very far to go. I know I’m preaching to the choir here, but consider it a reminder. You’ve got a lot of people, particularly kids, who depend on you.”

  ***

  Kenni paced the living room as a combination of fear and anger warred back and forth for position within her. “Lord, where is he?” she asked for the umpteenth time. Suddenly, the phone in her hand rang; startling her so that she nearly dropped it.
The caller ID displayed Jeb’s cell phone number.

  “I’m alright,” were the first words out of Jeb’s mouth. “I’m fine, Kenni. I’ve had an accident, but I’m not injured, Sweetheart—just a bit embarrassed.”

  “Jeb!” Kenni cried and made her way to the couch where she sat down uneasily. “What happened? Where are you? I’ve been so worried!”

  “I think I dozed off,” Jeb told her softly and tried to soothe the fear he heard in her voice. “I’m fine, but they’re bringing me to Valley Hospital by ambulance, just to be on the safe side.”

  “An ambulance? Are you sure you’re okay?”

  “I’m sitting here, talking to you, and I’m fine.” Seeing that teddy bear was still bothering him and he wondered if she had maybe put it in his car for some reason, perhaps as a surprise. If he was tired enough to fall asleep behind the wheel, he supposed—though he doubted it—that it was possible that he had overlooked it earlier. “Kenni, do you by any chance know anything about a…a teddy bear in my car?”

  “What did you say?” Kenni asked, her thoughts immediately turning to Brownie. “A teddy bear? What kind of teddy bear?”

  “What kind? I don’t know, sort of brownish—does that matter?” Jeb laughed nervously. “I must have blacked out during the crash and when I opened my eyes, well, it was the strangest thing,” he relayed in as light a voice as he could manage, not wanting his wife to worry that he was delusional. “I could swear I saw a big, golden-brown teddy bear wearing a red bow tie strapped into the seat next to me.”

  ***

  It was after one by the time Jeb was released from the ER. He had been given a clean bill of health by the attending physician and was released to be driven home by his wife. He knew they would run a drug panel and toxicology report on his blood sample to make sure he wasn’t drunk or drugged, following standard procedure. The strongest beverage he’d had was hot chocolate.

  “I’m sorry I worried you,” Jeb said softly as he studied Kenni’s profile illuminated by the lights on the instrument panel, her cute little upturned nose, as she drove. There weren’t many other vehicles on the road, only a few cars at a twenty-four-hour gas station they passed near Waffle House. “I’m just glad that no one got hurt. Mrs. Pratt checked out okay, she didn’t even go in the ambulance. A very sweet lady, bless her heart. Fortunately, she was able to get out of the way. I know it shook her up, poor thing. What a way to end her seventieth birthday celebration.”

  Kenni took her eyes from the road just long enough to smile at Jeb. “It was scary not being able to get a hold of you. When you didn’t answer your cell, I didn’t know what to think. It’s so out of character for you, Jeb, you’re the most responsible person I know!”

  “Yeah, now I’m responsible for an accident, and got my very first ticket. Well, at least the only car damaged was mine.”

  “Don’t be so hard on yourself. You’re only human you know. God was definitely watching over you tonight.”

  “That was the general consensus at the scene. Officer Carmichael told me that our guardian angels must have been on duty, and that he’d never seen a rollover like mine, where the car landed upright.”

  “Guardian angel,” Kenni mused and immediately thought of Brownie. She couldn’t help herself and added, “Maybe it was your teddy bear.”

  Jeb laughed. “So now God is using stuffed animals to protect us? I must have been hallucinating or something. There’s no other explanation.”

  Kenni smiled to herself. “You never know, my love. You just never know.”

  “What’s that supposed to mean?” Jeb eyed her suspiciously. “If I didn’t know better, I’d think you know something about that bear.”

  Kenni shrugged. “All I’m saying, Love, is that we never really know some things in life.”

  Moments later, Kenni pulled her car into their driveway and then parked it in the garage. When the door had safely closed, she and Jeb left the car and went into the house. They hung up their coats on an antique coat tree of carved oak that stood in a little alcove just inside the doorway that led from the garage to the house. Suddenly, Kenni stopped. “Oh!” she cried out, her hands over the promising tummy bulge of their growing child.

  “Kenni! What’s wrong?” Jeb asked, alarmed. Then he saw the smile on her face. “Kenni?”

  “No doubt about it; that was a kick!” she said excitedly. “Well, maybe more like a forceful flutter. All I know is that I felt our baby move!” She took her husband’s hands, placed them on her abdomen and held them over the spot where she’d felt movement only seconds before. “C’mon, sweet baby, do one now for Daddy.”

  As if on cue another flutter occurred and was strong enough for Jeb to feel. It was only the tiniest sensation of movement against his hand—scarcely felt—but enough to touch his heart and excite him. He looked at Kenni in amazement and tears filled his eyes. “I hate to think what could have happened to me tonight. Had it not been for God’s grace, I wouldn’t be here to feel our baby’s first kicks.” He didn’t want to think about what his wife would have faced, alone, had the accident been fatal.

  Kenni took her hands in his. She kissed the back of each one and smiled up at him. She glowed, the epitome of radiant beauty exhibited by a woman with child. Kenni was anxious for the future to unfold, to hold the first of what she hoped would be many of their children in her arms. “I had my own praise and worship session in the car on my way to the hospital. God has something very special in store, Jeb, I can feel it! I doubt we’ll ever be the same again.”

  Jeb gave in eagerly to the desire to hold his wife in his arms. He looked into her eyes—they still had the power to hold him spellbound—then he kissed her slowly and unhurriedly, savoring the warmth of her body against his.

  ***

  Despite exhaustion that affected every part of his body, Jeb could not sleep. He was in overdrive, random thoughts and images had filled his mind and kept him too stimulated to drift off to sleep. He gently untangled himself from Kenni’s arms and quietly got out of bed. He was hungry, and hoped a snack might make him drowsy enough to fall asleep. He knew that eventually sleep would come, but for now, it seemed to have other plans.

  He had left a voicemail for the department secretary to clear his calendar so he could take the day off. The ER doctor had given him a clean bill of health, but his wife operated under her own God-given authority. Kenni ordered him confined to bed for the day, teasing that she was placing him under house arrest for what she called “crimes against common sense.”

  Jeb slipped his feet into his brown leather slippers and pulled on his flannel robe. It was chillier outside the bed covers and without the warmth of his wife nestled against him; he rubbed his arms to hasten warming up.

  Silently, Jeb pulled the bedroom door closed and padded through the house to the kitchen. He clicked on the light and wondered if there was any egg salad left. He went to the refrigerator and opened it. From the corner of his eye he saw the teddy bear from the car perched on top of the table, and he froze where he stood. “What on earth—Did I bang my head in the crash and not realize it?”

  “Don’t be frightened, Jeb. You’re not hallucinating; I’m as real as you are.”

  It took several long seconds that seemed to last hours before Jeb turned to face the source of the voice. His mouth was dry and he felt his heart begin to race.

  “Jeb, I’m sorry to just pop in on you like this, but you actually know who I am.”

  In bewildered amazement, Jeb looked at the bear sitting at the edge of the kitchen table, swinging his dangling legs much like a child. He cleared his throat and let the refrigerator door close by itself. The bear had luminous green eyes and a sweet, loveable expression. Jeb jumped when he saw him blink.

  “Perhaps this will help. It's obvious we're not getting anywhere this way.”

  “You actually talk!” Jeb cried. “A teddy bear talked to me!” He shook his head. “Oh, Lord!”

  Suddenly, the golden glow others had seen in thei
r encounters with Brownie showed itself to Jeb. Tiny, gold crystals began to swirl while Jeb stared, transfixed by the sight before him. Seconds later, Kevin Browne stood only inches away.

  “I don’t understand why some of you are more comfortable with me as a bear and others with Kevin, but here I am. Perhaps one day I’ll be able to show myself in the right form the first time, but no matter.”

  “Uh, does Kenni know about this?” Jeb asked almost fearfully.

  “Yes, Kenni knows who I am, as do several others,” Brownie explained and smiled. “Like everyone else I’ve revealed myself to, she was made to promise not to tell anyone about my identity, and you must also promise. She’s felt horribly guilty about it by the way, but that’s the way it had to be. I’m sure if you think about it you can see why it was necessary.”

  “I don’t feel so good,” Jeb said and took a seat at the table, sinking wearily into the chair. This cannot be real, his thoughts silently screamed. He shook his head and then looked back at Brownie. “Who are you? Or should I ask what are you?”

  Brownie pulled out a chair and sat down across from Jeb. “I’m an angel on a special Christmas mission. I can’t talk about it, I’m sure you’ll be like everyone else, and not ask.” Jeb nodded. “God gave you a precious gift tonight. I know that Officer Carmichael is completely baffled as to how your vehicle managed to deny the laws of physics and get back on its wheels, and why the door opened effortlessly when he went to check on you. Raleigh Carmichael isn’t exactly a tower of faith, at least not yet. He doesn’t realize that he witnessed a divine intervention, but that is a work in progress you don’t need to concern yourself with.”

  “I really don’t understand,” Jeb complained wearily. He wished he had fallen asleep instead of meeting an angel in the kitchen, carrying on a conversation that should not be taking place while fully awake. Teddy bears angels are working in hospitals as male nurses? His mind simply refused to grasp the concept.

  “Of course you don’t, Jeb.” Brownie folded his hands on top of the table. “I know that you’re tired and you’ve been through quite an ordeal tonight, but there are things we need to discuss. I promise to be as brief as possible.”