Angel Promises Fulfilled

by Angel Promises Fulfilled (v5. 0) (epub)

  About thirty minutes after Carey’s call for an ambulance, it arrived. Dianne heard the siren stop from her spot at the nurse’s station as she worked on the requisite paperwork on her desk.

  Dianne looked up at the front door as it opened. She expected the ambulance attendants, but it was Tony, the care home’s custodian.

  “Hi, Dianne,” said Tony, “Did someone get hurt? Why is the ambulance here?”

  Since Tony was only beginning his afternoon shift, he didn’t know yet that Father Engelmann had passed away. Just as Nurse Frowler was about to explain what happened, they were interrupted by the ambulance attendants that walked through the front door carrying a stretcher.

  “Hi, Tony,” Dianne finally said.

  She didn’t know how to tell Tony, as he and Father Engelmann became very close friends during the past several months. Tony’s attitude towards the residents and his care for their quarters greatly improved since Father arrived, but then Father had that influence on everybody.

  “Tony, I have some sad news to tell you. Father Engelmann has passed away. He is in the sun room. Would you mind taking the ambulance attendants to him?”

  Tony looked at the nurse with a look of bewilderment. “What? Are you kidding me?”

  “No, I’m not. I wish I could say I was,” replied Dianne, with a hopeful tone.

  “Well, that’s impossible, Dianne.”

  “No, I’m afraid it’s true, Tony,” Dianne replied, more firmly.

  “No, Dianne, it’s impossible,” Tony repeated, just as emphatically as Nurse Frowler.

  “What do you mean that’s impossible?” Dianne said.

  “Dianne, I just saw Father walk out the door. I saw him get into a taxi. He was just leaving as I walked in. I even said ‘hello’ to him.”

  Dianne stared at Tony. “Oh, Tony, that’s impossible. Father Engelmann is dead. He is in the sun room. We had a little prayer wake for him during the last hour and a half. I checked his pulse—”

  “No, you’re kidding me,” Tony questioned, his voice rising. “I know what I saw, Dianne.”

  Dianne was flushed and nervous. She didn’t want to continue this insane argument any longer.

  “Look, Tony, just come with me and see for yourself.”

  Dianne dropped what she was doing and marched down the hall towards the sun room. Tony and the attendants followed closely behind. Dianne turned sharply into the sun room and was instantly dumfounded, flabbergasted, so astonished, that she staggered backwards into Tony’s arms. The chair where Father Engelmann had been seated not less than thirty minutes ago was empty!

  The ambulance drove at a normal speed, towards the morgue at the General Hospital. The guy they just took out of the rolled-over SUV was a goner, so there was no hurry to get him to the hospital. His days of rush and hurry are over. No need to speed and risk another possible accident. It was a good thing in a way, as they had time to stop and examine an elderly lady who had fallen. But she proved to be okay and so they continued on their way.

  Normally, when the attendants picked up a dead body, they simply put the corpse in the back and both the driver and the aide drive in the front seat. In their haste to clear out and get the traffic back to normal on Hill and Elphinstone Street, Steve went into the back with the body and Doug jumped into the truck and, out of habit, sped off.

  Doug was just thinking about the accident. How the moving van had hit that SUV and it rolled over several times. It was amazing that the driver of the Escalade wasn’t crushed in the severity of it all. He only had a slight red bruise on his forehead. That’s probably what killed him. A sharp blow to the head when the SUV rolled and the driver’s side slammed into the concrete road.

  “Oh well, an autopsy will determine the cause,” he mumbled, as he fumbled for his cigarettes.

  At that moment, his partner buzzed up to him.

  “Hey, Doug, you’re not going to believe this. You better pull over. The guy who we just picked up at the accident, well, somehow he… he, has just come back to life.”

  “Ah, come on, Steve, don’t give me the gears. The guy was dead, we both checked his vitals. Look, I’ve only been spooked one other time in my life like this. You can’t BS me.”

  “Honestly, Doug. I’m not giving you the gears. He’s alive. Just listen.” He turned to Henry, sitting up on the cot. “What did you say your name was?”

  “Henry Pederson.”

  “Holy s_ _ _,” yelled Doug, his cigarette flying out of his mouth just as he was about to light it. “The artist? Henry Pederson?”

  “Yeah, that’s me,” Henry calmly replied.

  “Geez, I’ve got one of your paintings in my house and my mother-in-law, she just loves your work. Steve, is he really alive? Is it really Henry Pederson back there?”

  Both Henry and Steve were now smiling.

  “Yeah,” said Steve, “He’s wondering if we can take him back to his gallery?”

  Doug burst out laughing, “This is so bizarre, too funny for words.”

  Steve looked at Henry, shook his head and then chuckled.

  “Listen, Steve, we better take him to the hospital and make sure everything is okay,” Doug said, trying to resume some role of responsibility in all this.

  “But he says he is fine. He looks fine to me, too. I checked his pulse and blood pressure and he’s very much alive and healthy. He had a serious bruise on his forehead, but I don’t see that anymore, either. I don’t understand what’s going on here, it seems like we must have missed his pulse the first time or some kind of a miracle is going on back here.”

  “We better check him again at the gallery.” interjected Doug.

  “Yeah, we can check him over again and make certain he’s all right,” Steve concurred.

  Doug flipped on the siren and with a chuckle and a burst of exuberance in his voice he exclaimed, “This is one time I don’t mind turning on the siren. Let’s get this guy home.”

  The blip and sound on the screen monitoring Peter’s heart was so strong it startled the nurse. She turned to Peter but his face was covered by the sheet. Florence quickly made her way over to him and once again picked up his wrist fully expecting not to feel any pulse.

  She was wrong!

  She immediately felt a pulse and then another much stronger than the one before. The beat was accelerating so rapidly Peter’s body began to shake and he abruptly sat up throwing the sheet off him. His eyes popped open and grew wide.

  It was like a bolt of lightning was surging through him. Florence tried to pull her hand away from Peter’s wrist, but was unable to. The electrical charge zooming through Peter’s body kept it stuck. The charge was now flowing through Florence’s body, shaking her as well.

  Angie and those in attendance looked on in awe, their eyes and mouths wide open. The power of the Holy Spirit was so strong in the room it was palpable.

  The blip on the monitor was racing up and down across the screen with blitzing speed; its sound deafening. Suddenly the monitor flashed with glowing sparks and went out. An eerie silence followed. Everyone turned to Peter…

  Was Peter healed?

  Chapter Twenty Three

  Just as Jeremy crossed the intersection of Albert and College Avenue, he noticed the lights of an ambulance up ahead. It had just turned right on 14th Avenue.

  “Did you see the ambulance up ahead, Camilla?”

  “Yes, I did. It’s heading up 14th to the General Hospital, probably.”

  Jeremy picked up speed, trying to catch up to the ambulance. As soon as he turned at 14th Avenue, it was Camilla who spotted the van.

  “Look, there’s the ambulance up ahead. It seems to be stopping at the gallery…”

  “What on earth for?” muttered Jeremy.

  Patrons in Henry’s café looked out of the south windows as an ambulance, with its sirens on, pulled up in front of the café.

  “Look, it’s Henry getting out of the ambulance!” exclaimed Millie. She said it so loud, customers who were not aware
of it turned to look too. Some even stood up and went to the window. “I wonder if someone in the café got sick or had a heart attack?” asked one. “I hope whoever it was is okay.” said another. “Maybe Henry was hurt or in an accident? He seems to be all right though, look how he is joking with the ambulance attendants.”

  More patrons in the café went to the window. Some, who had heard from Lauren and Justin that Henry had been in a serious accident, looked puzzled. One rushed off to the gallery to get Henry’s children!

  Henry shook Steve and Doug’s hand.

  “Thanks for the lift fellows.”

  “It is our pleasure,” replied Doug. “Are you sure you’re okay?”

  “Yes, I am fine. In fact, I never felt better!”

  “That was some accident you were in.”

  “You say it happened on the corner of Hill and Elphinstone?”

  “Yeah, your SUV is totaled for sure. It’s amazing that you got out with only a scratch on your arm—and even that mark on your forehead is gone… someone upstairs must be looking after you.”

  Henry just listened, totally bewildered and dumbfounded. He recalled visiting Jenny at the hospital. After she passed away, he left and decided to go back to his home at Hill Avenue.

  “Yes, now I remember… I was driving down Elphinstone and… I missed the stop sign.”

  A deep wrinkle grew on his forehead, as he tried to recall more.

  “Oh Yes!” Henry blurted out to Doug and Steve who were still standing there, a little concerned by the seemingly vacant look on Henry’s face.

  “I remember a truck coming towards me, as I failed to stop at the stop sign … but that’s all I can recall.”

  “Yeah,” said Steve. “A moving van broad-sided you. Your SUV rolled over at least twice. When we got there, you were unconscious. In fact, when we pulled you out of the SUV, we thought you were dead for sure.” Steve stared at Doug with a look that asked if this all really happened…

  Doug gave his answer to Steve by replying for him.

  “Henry, when we took you into the ambulance, you were dead. It’s amazing you didn’t have any broken bones or more open wounds, other than a bruise on your forehead. By the time we got halfway to the hospital, you suddenly came back to life!”

  Henry’s head snapped back, still in a daze and trying to understand what happened. “I do recall waking up in the ambulance and you guys kidding about me being dead… are you sure I just wasn’t unconscious from the accident?”

  “You were a goner, Henry; you had no pulse, no vital signs whatsoever. We have never had equipment failure.”

  “I was dead and came back to life… how on earth could this be?”

  Henry shook his head. “I, I…don’t understand it all fellows…but one thing for sure, I’m glad to be here and… alive.”

  Steve and Doug looked at each other and then back at Henry and sort of chuckled, still amazed and bewildered by it all too.

  “Well, we better get back to the station and have all the equipment examined and tested,” said Doug and added, “Better check into that Escalade of yours as soon as possible… they probably towed it to the police compound.”

  “Yes, thanks again, guys.”

  “Good luck, Henry, nice meeting you!” yelled Steve, as he got into the ambulance and closed the door behind him.

  Henry watched as the ambulance sped off, still in a daze. He couldn’t believe what he just heard… I was pronounced dead in an accident and then came back to life?… and Steve said it was some kind of a miracle?

  “Dad! Dad!” cried Justin and Lauren almost in unison as they rushed down the front stairs of the café. Justin flew into Henry’s arms. He felt his son’s heart beating as they tightly embraced one another. Justin was filled with tears and too choked up to speak. Lauren expressed what Justin couldn’t say, “We heard that you were in a serious accident Dad, and that you were… killed. Was someone kidding us? Justin thought for sure it was a police officer that phoned.”

  Henry opened his other arm to embrace his daughter, as she too, was tearful and in a state of shock.

  “I don’t understand it all, honey. But I guess I was in a serious accident and somehow came out of it… I’m sure glad I did.”

  “So am I,” Justin finally muttered, as he gained some composure.

  Henry turned as Keith, one of his servers, came out the front door of the café, followed by several customers.

  “Are you okay, Henry?” inquired Keith.

  “Yes, yes, I am fine…never felt better for a guy who was just pronounced …” Henry couldn’t finish the statement; that he was dead and came back to life. No, he didn’t want to go there, it was all too bizarre.

  Embarrassment overshadowed his previous thoughts as Henry became aware of the crowd of people standing there, staring at him, wanting to know what this was all about.

  “Oh, I just had a little accident and the ambulance gave me a lift home, or rather to the gallery. I’m okay, really…nothing to worry about.”

  Henry motioned that he wanted to get back into the café. Everyone turned and went back inside. As Henry followed the patrons with his two children, he heard Jeremy running up the street hollering his name. Close behind were Camilla and Josh wiggling through the crowd that had gathered.

  “Hey, Dad is that you?” Jeremy slowed, as he approached his father… a puzzled look on his face. He stopped and stared hard at Henry, tears surfaced in his eyes, “We thought you were… the police said you were killed in the accident… what happened, Dad?”

  Henry let go of Justin and made his way down the steps towards his son.

  “Grandpa, Grandpa,” said Josh as he broke away from Camilla’s hand and ran to Henry. “We asked your angel to ask God to make you better!”

  Henry picked up his grandson and hugged him, “Your prayer sure worked, Joshua, I’m all better.”

  Jeremy and Camilla were standing side by side with wide open eyes, in a state of disbelief. Jeremy began shaking his head. “What is going on, Dad?”

  Before Henry could answer, Camilla came to his side and hugged Henry. “Oh, Dad, we were so worried about you. Did a miracle really happen to you?”

  Jeremy approached his father, wanting to make certain it was him, and waited for an answer. When Henry didn’t answer, Jeremy continued with more questions.

  “Do you remember anything about being—dead? Where you went? They say you see a tunnel of light… did you see it?”

  Henry’s mind was completely blank. “I don’t recall anything Son, other than leaving the hospital, driving back to Hill Avenue, seeing this truck come at me and… after that, all I remember is waking up in the ambulance.”

  After a brief silence, Henry added, “No, I don’t remember anything at all about that time in between.”

  An uncomfortable, yet pleasant feeling crept over Henry as he tried to remember more. It was all like a dream he wished could go on forever, but sleep could no longer hold him. And once awake, the dream vanished, gone into some abyss… “Perhaps someday it will come to me,” Henry murmured.

  Henry could feel the eyes of the patrons upon him and he also wanted to let his son know what he still didn’t understand. Henry looked at Jeremy and nodded, “I think that is a possibility… let’s go inside to the gallery and I’ll explain what happened… at least as much that I know.”

  In an attempt to bring things back to normal and distract attention from him, Henry began engaging in idle talk as he made his way into the café with his children.

  “Hi Millie, that’s a great hat you have on today.”

  Millie nodded and cast Henry a warm smile. Not to leave her companion out, Henry continued sincerely, “And that’s a nice blue dress, Marie. The colour looks so nice with your grey hair.”

  “Thank you, Henry.” But not so easily distracted, Marie asked, “Are you okay, Henry?”

  “Yes, yes, I’m fine. Thanks for your concern, Marie.”

  Henry quickly moved on and waved to Tom and G
eorge at another table. He heard people still talking about the ambulance and wondering what had happened. Henry ignored the curious remarks and comments and didn’t stop to explain or listen to people’s conjectures. Finally, he and his family made it into the gallery.

  “So what happened, Dad?” Justin wanted to know and so did everyone else.

  Henry started to explain how the accident happened, but then his words trailed off. His thoughts began to drift back to earlier this morning when he discovered from the diary that Marjorie was Jenny, and how he raced to see her at the hospital… he realized he should really start from the beginning and tell his family everything. He had been through a lot that day and yet, felt surprisingly spry. Perhaps now was as good a time as any to tell his children about the blonde girl that moved into the neighbourhood three doors down when he was fifteen years old…

  “Are you okay, Dad? You look suddenly lost in space,” Lauren asked on behalf of everyone there.

  “Yes, I was just thinking about all this and I think I best start from the beginning. You all have a right to know…” and turning to Camilla he continued, “Especially you, Camilla—”

  “Geez, Jeremy, a policeman is writing out a ticket at your car… you didn’t park it!” blurted Justin.

  “Oh, for Pete’s sake. There were so many people milling around the ambulance when we pulled up I couldn’t find a parking space so I just double parked.”

  “Well, you best get out there and explain what happened,” said Henry. “In the mean time, Justin, bring up a couple of chairs from the basement as this is going to take some time to tell you this story.”

  Henry waited until Jeremy came back before beginning. His son was holding a ticket.

  “So, he didn’t have compassion on you?”

  “No, I told him what happened. That you were in an accident and an ambulance brought you back to the gallery and… well, he was sympathetic, but as soon as he saw my name on the driver’s license, he asked if I was related to you. When I said yes, he shook his head and said he should have given you a ticket this morning. Perhaps then you would have been more cautious and not been in that accident.”