When Beth Wakes Up

by Matthew Franks

  I nodded, failing to mention that fact that her will had been all but destroyed. “Thank you, Doctor.”

  We left the room together, and he went on to see another patient. I walked into the waiting room to tell Linden the news, but he was nowhere to be found. I looked through the open curtains of a window to see that it was dark outside. Like many times before, my work had caused me to lose track of time. I pulled out my phone to see that it was eleven thirty p.m. I stepped out of the waiting room and approached the late-shift nurse at the receptionist’s desk.

  “Did you happen to see an FBI agent leave earlier?” I asked.

  “Oh, sure,” she said facetiously. “And then the secret service came through and had a parade.” She handed me a note. “He left this for you.”

  Essentially, the paper said that Linden had gone back to the hotel and to call him first thing in the morning. I couldn’t help but realize the irony. He spent countless hours in a hospital waiting room, watching soap operas and anticipating me identifying Beth’s attacker, but, when I finally did, he was literally asleep on the job. I thanked the sarcastic nurse and headed for the exit.

  Since Linden had ditched me, I took an Uber to the hotel. The driver proceeded to share the history of Louisville, going on and on about how much the city changed in the fifty years he’d lived there. It’s not that I wasn’t interested, but after finding out that Edward Martin was the Highway Killer, it was difficult to focus on anything else. When we reached the hotel, I thanked him for sharing and gave him an extra tip.

  Once inside my room, I plopped down on the bed and closed my eyes. They suddenly opened again. As tired as my body was, my mind didn’t want to cooperate. I turned on the television hoping that it would put me to sleep. No such luck. I turned it off and tried counting sheep, but, as each one leapt over the proverbial fence it, transformed into Edward midway. He’d land on the other side holding his shovel and grinning maliciously. Unable to take it any longer, I reached for my cell phone and called Jessica.

  “Hello?” a drowsy voice answered.

  “Katie?” I said, surprised to hear her. “What are you doing with your mom’s phone?”

  “I’m sleeping in your room tonight,” she replied, sounding slightly more alert. “Mom didn’t hear her phone ring over her snoring.”

  I laughed. “That sounds about right. What made you sleep in our room? You haven’t done that in years.”

  “I don’t know. Is that not okay?”

  “Of course, it is.”

  “Why are you calling so late?”

  “I think we may have solved the case.”

  “That’s great. When will you be coming home?”

  “Soon. I’ll let you go. I know it’s late and a school night.”

  “Okay. Hey, Dad. Guess what?”

  “What?”

  “I think I’m mastering the mind reading thing. Today in English, I was able to go the whole period without knowing what perverted thoughts Mr. Yuri was having about Brianna Sanders.”

  “That’s good that you’re getting control over it, but you might warn Brianna to not be alone with Mr. Yuri.”

  “I will.”

  “I’m proud of you, Katie. I’m lucky to be your dad.”

  “Well, don’t get all mushy about it.”

  I chuckled. “Fair enough. I’ll let you get back to sleep. Tell Mom I’ll call her tomorrow.”

  “‘Kay. Love you, Dad.”

  “Love you too, peanut. Sweet dreams.”

  After I got off the phone with Katie, I went right to sleep. Never underestimate the power of hearing the voice of a loved one. Mind you, the effect only lasted the night. The next morning, I awoke to the abrasive and unnerving sound of pounding on my door. I put on my bath robe and looked through the peephole. Through the fisheye lens, I saw Linden in the hallway, already dressed in one of his three, token FBI suits.

  “Come on, Crawford,” he said into the door. “Let me in.”

  I reluctantly opened the door. “Always a pleasure, Agent Linden.”

  “It’s about time.” He let himself in. “Well? What did you find out?”

  I sat on the edge of the bed and pointed to the desk chair near the T.V. “You might want to sit down.”

  “Son of a bitch.” He sat down in the chair. “You solved it. Didn’t you?”

  I nodded. “It was Edward. He attacked Beth and, apparently, killed the others.”

  “Are you shittin’ me?”

  “You know I wouldn’t shit you, Linden.”

  “This is incredible.” He leapt up from his chair. “Well, come on. Why aren’t you dressed yet? We gotta get back to the hospital. I need to contact Sheriff Luttrell and get an officer down there to guard him. Seriously, why aren’t you dressed yet?”

  After negotiating five minutes to brush my teeth and throw on some clothes, I met Linden outside the hotel, and we drove to the hospital. Upon arrival, he immediately made his way to the wing where Edward had been admitted as a patient. I, on the other hand, went to see Beth. I felt like I’d given her ample time to float in space contemplating her existence and was ready to go back in to support her in any way that I could.

  When I reached her room, I saw that the door was open. I stepped inside and came to an abrupt halt. The bed was empty. In fact, a nurse was stripping the sheets, evidently preparing the room for the next patient. My heart sank. I moved back into the hallway and, right as I was about to inquire at the receptionist’s desk, heard footsteps behind me. I turned to see Beth sitting in a wheelchair with a portable IV, a nurse standing behind her.

  She smiled weakly. “Hello, Max,” she said.

  Chapter Thirty

  Beth woke up from her coma at three a.m. As soon as the nurses realized she had become conscious, they began a routine that they’d been trained on and, thankfully, were able to complete successfully. First, Beth was asked a sequence of questions including having her tell them her name, her age, and the president of the United States. I wondered if some patients requested to be put back to sleep after recalling the latter.

  Next, they moved on to a series of simple physical exercises with her such as trying to get her to wiggle her toes, stretch her arms out, and eventually sit up in bed. Not only did Beth pass all tests with flying colors, but she impressed the hospital staff with how quickly she was able to do so. Finally, and this is where I showed up, she was helped out of bed into a wheelchair and taken out of her room to reorient her to her surroundings.

  “Hello, yourself,” I said. “How are you feeling?”

  “Like I’ve been run over by a bulldozer,” she replied.

  “Let’s get you back into your room,” the attending nurse told her.

  I stepped aside as the nurse rolled Beth into the hospital room. I walked in after them and stood close to the bed. I couldn’t believe it. I’d heard of people making miraculous recoveries but had, up until now, never witnessed it firsthand. Once they reached the bed, the nurse helped Beth out of the wheelchair. She held the back of Beth’s gown together in an effort to maintain modesty and then pulled open the sheets of the freshly made bed.

  “Don’t worry about trying to cover me,” Beth said, probably saying too much too soon.

  “He’s already seen my ass twice. One more time won’t make any difference.”

  Once Beth was lying down, the nurse, whose face was now turning red, tucked in her patient and checked her vital signs. After a few minutes, the nurse left with the wheelchair, leaving me alone with Beth for the first time in reality. There was a moment of awkward silence.

  Or maybe I was making it awkward in my head, and Beth had simply worn herself out making blatant comments about the number of times I’d seen her naked.

  “Can I get you anything?” I finally broke the quiet.

  She sluggishly shook her head. “They called my mom,” she said, closing her eyes.

  “She’s on her way.”

  “Don’t talk unless you have to. I’ll be right here till she arr
ives.”

  We sat there together for about an hour. When Allie got there, she was so elated to see that her daughter had come back to her that she broke into tears. I left the room, so they could have some time alone together. I crossed over to the wing where Edward was and found that the local police were already on the scene. Linden was talking to an officer stationed outside Edward’s room. He saw that I’d arrived and quickly came over to me.

  “Did you see Beth?” he asked.

  “Yes,” I told him. “She’s awake.”

  “Holy shit. How long?”

  “Since three a.m. this morning.” I motioned to Edward’s room. “What’s next for him?”

  “We’re still working on that. He’ll probably be transferred to a facility in a day or two.”

  “Will he even be able to stand trial?”

  He shrugged. “Either way, he’s not going anywhere for a long time.”

  I nodded. “Can I see him? I’d like to try to read his mind and see if I can get some evidence.”

  “Be my guest.”

  I walked past Linden, gave a nod to the officer, and entered Edward’s room. He was sitting in a chair, wearing a hospital gown and staring out the window. He rocked back and forth in what appeared to be a self-soothing motion, mumbling to himself. I stood right beside him, but he didn’t seem to know I was there. I blocked his view of the outside world and stared him straight in the face.

  For the first time, my own thoughts reflected back at me. It was as if his brain had become so broken nothing could get inside. I found it unsettling and quickly turned away. He finally realized I was standing in his way and slowly lifted his head to look at me. His eyes seemed lost in their sockets, like fish that had been forced onto land and were aimlessly fighting to find their way back to water.

  “The bible’s missin’ some pages,” he said listlessly.

  Choosing not to respond, I left the room to join Linden in the hallway. “There’s nothing there,” I told him.

  “I could’ve told you that, Crawford,” said Linden. “The guy’s cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs.”

  “So, what now?”

  He smiled, genuinely to my astonishment. “We’ll take over from here. You’ve done some great work, Max. Go be with your family.”

  Then again, I wasn’t too surprised. Once Linden got what he needed, he became much more relaxed. “Okay. I suppose I’ll just book a flight then.”

  “It’s already been done. You fly out at eleven a.m. I’ll have a car take you to the hotel to gather your things and then on to the airport. You can expect compensation in the next few days.”

  “I’m not worried about that. If it’s alright with you, I’d like to say goodbye to Beth.”

  “Of course,” he said, extending his hand. “Good luck to you, Crawford.”

  I accepted cautiously, expecting there to be a catch. There wasn’t. “So long, Agent Linden.”

  I walked out of the ward and made my way back to Beth’s room. It felt strange to me having spent so much time on the case and now it was over. Not that I wasn’t thrilled to be going home. I suppose I just never got used to things ending as abruptly as they do sometimes. I stopped outside Beth’s room and saw Allie by her side. The two seemed to be in a serious conversation so I waited. Beth saw me through the window and grinned. Allie turned, noticed I was there, and quickly came out to see me. She hugged me immediately.

  “Thank you so much,” she said. “I don’t know what you did, but I’m forever in your debt.”

  “It wasn’t me. It was her. Your daughter’s a strong woman.”

  She let go of me. “Will you be staying a while?”

  “Actually, I’ll be heading home in a few hours.” I motioned toward Beth. “Do you mind if I have a minute with her before I go?”

  “Of course not. You take your time.”

  I went in and sat in the familiar chair beside her, relieved that I could talk to her face to face and not have to intrude on her thoughts. “When I left you, you were in a pretty dark place. What happened?”

  “I was floating there, thinking about everything, when I felt something push me. At first, I thought I was having some sort of physical reaction and that it would pass. But it kept propelling me forward, getting stronger and stronger like heavy wind gaining momentum. I tried resisting, but it was futile.” She paused for a moment, seemingly worn out from talking. “And then…”

  “It’s okay if you need to rest.”

  She slowly shook her head. “I’ve been resting long enough. After it forced me along for a while, the sun appeared in the distance. It sped up exponentially and then hurled me directly into the massive fireball. That’s when I woke up.”

  “Wow. I guess sometimes will transcends the mind.”

  “Will had nothing to do with it. I wasn’t ready to come back yet.”

  “Maybe you were and just didn’t realize it. Regardless, you’re here now. The question is what are you going to do?”

  She closed her eyes and laid her head against the pillow. “The families…I’m going to contact them.”

  “What families?”

  “Of the others. Whoever’s still living, I’m going to do whatever I can to help ease their pain.”

  “That’s noble of you, but what about you? What are you going to do to take care of yourself?”

  “I’ll stay with my mom for a while. Go back to work.”

  “At the gallery?”

  “Hell, no.” She opened her eyes and looked at me. “Somebody told me I was pretty good at painting. Thought I’d give it another go.”

  “That’s great, Beth. I’m proud of you.”

  She smiled faintly but it quickly faded. “My mom doesn’t know yet.”

  “She will as soon as she goes to see him. There’s an officer outside his room.”

  “If it’s alright, I want to be the one to tell her. I’d rather her not find out that way.”

  “Of course.”

  “Did you see him?”

  “Yes.”

  “And?”

  “He’s getting worse. You know, I was thinking. It is very possible that he didn’t recognize you when he attacked you.”

  “I know he didn’t. That doesn’t make it any better. The fact he had it in him toward anyone makes him a monster. I don’t think I’ll ever be able to look at him again.”

  “That’s understandable. I’ll be leaving in a few hours. I just wanted to see you before I left.”

  “I’m sure your family will be glad to see you. They’re lucky to have you.”

  “You sure you’ll be okay?”

  “The way I see it I have two choices. Either wallow in the misery of the past or try to make a better future. The first one sounds like a pretty awful way to live, so I’ll go with the second.”

  “Sounds like a good decision.” I suddenly felt awkward. “Well, I, uh—”

  “Don’t make it weird, Max. But, then again, the whole thing has been weird. Hasn’t it?”

  “Definitely.” I stood. “Goodbye, Beth. Take care of yourself.”

  “Goodbye, Max.” She held out her hand. “Thank you.”

  I took her hand and felt a slight squeeze. “You’re welcome.”

  I left her room shortly thereafter and told Allie to call me if they needed anything. I then followed Linden’s instructions and was taken back to the hotel to collect my things. The driver was the same one that picked me up at the airport, and, like before, didn’t say one word to me the entire time. That was okay with me. My thoughts kept me company from the time we departed the hospital to the moment I got on the plane.

  When I initially took the case, I had selfish intentions. I wanted to learn more about the mind in between life and death but, in the process, discovered that the human will was much more intriguing. Beth was not only overcoming the physical aspects of her circumstances but also determined to take control of the psychological and emotional ones as well. Every time I entered her subconscious, my goal was to help her, yet, in
the end, she inspired me.

  As I sat on the plane waiting to take off, my phone buzzed. It was Jessica. “Hello?” I answered.

  “Hey,” she said. “Sorry, I missed your call last night. I was out.”

  “So, I heard. We solved the case.”

  “Really?! So, who attacked her?”

  I hesitated. “Her father.”

  She was silent for a moment. “That’s horrible.”

  “Yeah, but, the good news is she’s awake. I think you’d like her. She’s got quite a spirit.”

  “I’m glad you were there for her. Where are you now?”

  “On a plane coming back to you.”

  “That’s wonderful! We’ve really missed you, Max.”

  “I’ve missed you too.”

  The announcement to turn off all electronical devices came over the PA system. After exchanging “I Love You’s,” I got off the phone with Jessica and looked out the window of the plane. As we started our ascent, I thought about the challenges Beth had ahead of her and had no doubt she would face them. I thought about Jessica and how fortunate I was to have her in my life. I thought about Katie and how I’d be there when she needed me. I felt optimistic about the future. After all, in a few short hours, I would be home.