Chasing Deception

by Dave Milbrandt

  He enjoyed his lunch as he carefully flipped through an examination copy of a journalism textbook a publisher wanted him to consider adopting for his class. He received several such books a year and always gave them at least a cursory review. While the textbook companies pushed for adoption right away, he liked to wait a year or two so students could find used and new copies of the book depending on their budget. He would take one book home and leave the other at the office to pick up on Friday when he came back.

  After he finished his lunch, he placed the first book in his leather USC messenger bag and turned his attention to the stack of mail on his normally bare desk. The letters he sorted into three piles: trash, immediate attention, and file for reading next week. Most of letters went into the junk pile and about three pieces he decided he should open right away. He picked up his letter opener and opened the mail. One was a check for a freelance article he had written for a Christian magazine. The next two letters from Dr. MacKinnon were in inter-office envelopes. Jim chuckled as he read the memos and jotted a long note covering both topics. Maybe some day I’ll convince Fred just to send out this stuff in an email like everyone else.

  Having thrown away the junk mail, Jim picked up the phone and punched in his voice mail code. He opened a drawer and pulled out a notepad, a holdover from his reporting days. The first message was from the adviser of the Emerald Valley High School newspaper asking when he might be available to come talk to her students during the first few weeks of the semester. Jim wrote himself a note to return the call next week after he could confirm what other commitments he had in the next month.

  The second and third messages were from students who wanted to pick up their final papers. I tell them every semester they aren’t very likely to get a hold of me in the summer, but I always get a call or two. By this time, Jim was leafing through one of his magazines, only half-listening to the messages.

  The last message had a time stamp of a few minutes before he walked in the door.

  “Jim, this is Elizabeth. I sent you a text, but never heard back from you. Call me when you get this, OK?”

  He checked his cell phone and realized it was turned off. He had purchased the phone a couple of months ago and this was the second time it at shut off on its own. I guess I’m calling customer service sooner rather than later.

  Jim dialed the number and his sister-in-law answered on the second ring.

  “Hi Jim. Listen, Melissa is in labor and we are getting ready to take her to the hospital.” Jim was stunned into momentary silence. The day had finally arrived. He was going to become a father today. He stumbled over his next words.

  “What…How… How long has she been in labor?”

  “It’s been about an hour, but she didn’t call me until about 10 minutes ago. She said she still had some cleaning to do and she wasn’t going to let a little pain get in the way. You know how stubborn she can be.” Elizabeth sighed.

  “I do indeed. I’ll be at the hospital as soon as I can.”

  “Jim, there’s no need to break any speed laws. After three children, I can tell you from experience this will take a while. You’re not going to miss anything if it takes you 20-30 minutes to get there.”

  “OK, OK. I’ll see you in a bit.” Jim hung up.

  He shoved the magazines and a couple letters in his USC messenger bag. Locking up his office, Jim walked briskly to his car.

  —

  He arrived at Emerald Valley Community Hospital 17 minutes later. After quickly stopping at the check-in desk, he rode the elevator to the second floor and walked to the nurses’ station on the maternity wing. He introduced himself and received Melissa’s room number: 227.

  As he entered, the first thing Jim saw was the back of the nurse tending to his wife. Then he noticed Elizabeth on the other side of the bed, holding Melissa’s hand and talking to her. Jim quickly crossed to the opposite side of the room, stopping about a foot away from his sister-in-law.

  “How are you doing? Are you OK, honey? Did I miss anything?”

  Melissa chuckled at the fact he had fired off three questions in a single breath. “Once a reporter, always a reporter.”

  “The nurse is checking the baby’s heartbeat and the doctor will be in when she can,” Elizabeth explained. “Jim, now that you’re here, it’s your turn to take over.” She placed Melissa’s hand into Jim’s as she stepped back and sat down.

  Jim smiled and bent to give her a kiss on the forehead. Just as he had risen, Melissa had a contraction. To manage the pain, she took deep, controlled breaths and squeezed Jim’s left hand with bone-crushing strength. Wow! I need to remember to change hands every once in a while.

  Jim, Elizabeth and Melissa chatted as casually as possible, with Melissa squeezing Jim’s hand every few minutes. In between the contractions, Jim learned her mom, Valerie, was on her way and Martin, her dad, was on carpool duty, picking up the grandkids from school. And Uncle Phil had called to say he, Aunt Patty and Jim’s mom, Karen, would be coming by later.

  About half an hour later, Dr. Elaine Forester came into the room. She exchanged pleasantries with Melissa as she examined her.

  “Things are looking good. You’re dilated to about four centimeters. You’re contractions are strong and regular. How’s the pain?”

  Melissa let out a long breath. “I’m doing OK.”

  “Good to hear.”

  The doctor asked Melissa a few more questions before she left. “I’ll be back in about an hour.”

  Karen arrived a few minutes later. She knocked on the door. Elizabeth relieved Jim as he went to greet her.

  “How’s she doing?”

  “Just fine, Mom.”

  He was walking her to the waiting room when they ran into Aunt Patty and Uncle Phil. Karen and Aunt Patty hugged and then the four of them walked to the waiting room. Jim spent a few minutes updating them before heading back to be with Melissa.

  Over the next two hours, Dr. Forester came in twice to check up on her. During both visits, the doctor said Melissa was progressing well, but that it still would be a few more hours.

  —

  9:35 p.m. Wednesday

  They ate in shifts, with Patty, Elizabeth, Valerie and Karen going to dinner first and Phil taking Jim to the hospital cafeteria after they returned. Jim hadn’t eaten much in hospitals and was glad the selection included a wider variety of food than expected. He topped off the chicken croissant and banana with a chocolate chip cookie.

  As they ate, Phil reminisced about when his own son was born. “Back in those days, they thought it was unhealthy for the father to be in the delivery room.” He shrugged his shoulders. “Maybe it would have been better to be in there with Patty to help her as she was going through all that pain.”

  Phil paused as he took a bite out of his turkey sandwich. “Have you picked a name yet?”

  A grin turned the corners of Jim’s slightly upward. “I’ve been thinking about naming him after Dad.”

  Phil returned the smile. “That would be real nice. Mark was a good man. And I’m so glad he became a believer before the Lord took him home.”

  “It didn’t hurt that you shared the Gospel with him every chance you got.” A light-hearted tone had returned to Jim’s voice.

  “Hey, I was just the messenger. The Holy Spirit was the one doing the hard work. But you know what that’s like.”

  “Yep.” Jim remembered his own battles against the conviction of the Holy Spirit prior to his conversion.

  Phil glanced at his watch and gathered up his used napkins. “We’d better get back before they send out a search party.”

  Phil returned to the waiting room while Jim went back to his coaching duties. Dr. Forester came in a few minutes later to examine Melissa again.

  “You’re doing just fine, Melissa. You’ve reached seven centimeters and things are going smoothly. It’ll probably be a couple of hours or so.”

  As soon as the doctor left, Jim turned and looked at Melissa. “We’re going to be p
arents in a couple of hours.”

  “Yeah.” She gave Jim’s hand a gentle squeeze.

  —

  12:27 a.m. Thursday, August 8

  In the last 15 minutes, there was a great deal of noise and commotion as Dr. Forester helped bring their child into the world. Having never seen a baby being born before, Jim was surprised by the slimy coating that covered the child.

  “Congratulations, you have a healthy baby boy.” The doctor held the child up for a momentary inspection.

  Melissa previously had decided to wait until the infant was cleaned up before holding him. She and Jim were talking as they suctioned out the nose and mouth. The doctor interrupted their conversation.

  “Would you like to do the honors, Jim.” She held out a pair of surgical scissors. He took the tool in hand to carefully cut the umbilical cord. It’s a good thing she doesn’t know what a klutz I am with tools around the house. Once he finished cutting, the baby was whisked away to another part of the large room to be measured before being returned to his mother. Amid the flurry of activity, Jim heard the vital statistics of weight and length.

  As they continued to clean up his son, he turned to Valerie, who had been in the room with them, and volunteered to go out and share the good news.

  Melissa smiled wanly. “You can both go. You two look like you could use the break.”

  Valerie and Jim made their way to the waiting room. Along with his family, he noticed another group of people waiting on the other side of the room. He looked at his watch and noticed it was almost 1 a.m. At least we’re not the only ones losing sleep tonight.

  Despite being exhausted, Jim bubbled over with the details. “It’s a boy, born at 12:42 a.m. He’s tipping the scales at 8 pounds and 11 whole ounces and is a full 20 inches long. We’re already considering football camp in a couple of years. Other than being cursed with my nose, he’s the cutest thing I have ever seen.” As usual, he was using humor to mask his true emotions. Right now, he was awed by the beauty of new life and felt the weight of parenthood creeping onto his shoulders.

  “Do you have a name yet?”

  “The committee is still debating the issue,” Jim grinned. “Seriously, Melissa and I have a couple of names in mind but we haven’t made a final decision.”

  When Jim re-entered Room 227, he noticed his swaddled son lying in the crook of his wife’s arm. He looked much better now that he had been cleaned and dressed. Jim leaned over to kiss Melissa and get a closer look at their son. He rubbed his cheek, touching his child for the first time. His skin is so soft, Jim thought in amazement.

  “Do you want to hold him?”

  Jim nodded as he gently picked up his child. He’s such a small thing. The new father held the bundle in his arms, entranced by the face and tiny hands. A tear of joy ran down his cheek.

  “What do you think we should name him?” Melissa asked. They had known the child was going to be a boy for several months. After reading a couple of books on baby names and listening to endless advice from friends and relatives, they still hadn’t made up their minds. Jim had been thinking about naming the boy after his father, but he wasn’t sure.

  There was a moment of silence before he heard a still, small voice speak two names. They were the names of men who had played a vital role in Jim’s life. Men who had died before their time.

  “Mark Vincent Mitchell,” Jim said softly.

  Melissa smiled and nodded. “That sounds lovely.”

  A few minutes later, family members entered the room in small groups. His mom and Aunt Patty held the infant for a few minutes, commenting on how healthy and strong he looked. Family members whipped out their iPhones and took pictures of Mark by himself and with people holding him. Jim’s mother took a couple of photos of him, Melissa and the baby.

  After about half an hour they left, promising to return by the next afternoon so the new mother and father could get some sleep.

  Once everyone had gone, Jim was amazed at how quiet it had become. The only sounds in the room were their voices and the soft hum of the air conditioning. The nurse wasn’t expected for another few minutes.

  —

  1:19 a.m. Thursday

  As they continued to talk, Jim’s adrenaline rush began tapering off. He had been up for 18 hours and the lack of sleep was starting to catch up with him. After his third yawn, he decided to give in. “I don’t know about you, but I need to get some rest.”

  “That’s fine honey. I’m going to nurse him in a few minutes and then I’ll probably try to sleep a little myself.”

  Jim situated himself on the cushioned window seat that would serve as his bed. The nurse had brought in a pillow and blanket for him. He removed his shoes and lay down.

  Looking at his son, Jim felt a pang of sadness that the two people he had been named after were not here to witness his birth. I wish you could see his deep blue eyes, that patch of dark brown hair, those cute little fists. He felt as if he was about to cry.

  Then it hit him. He had never thanked God for the conversion his father made. He had spent years being angry with God for allowing his dad to die. But he had never thanked Him for allowing Uncle Phil to lead him into a relationship with Christ just before he passed away. Maybe Dad needed to be on his deathbed before he would accept the gift of eternal life. And only Vince’s death and Melissa’s persistence could convince me the Bible had the answers I could never find on my own.

  Jim spent a few moments in silent prayer, praising God for the many blessings in his life: his faith in God, his wife and family, his new son. And with a sense of soothing peace, something that had been all too rare in his life, Jim drifted off to sleep.

  I hope you enjoyed this book!

  To learn more about me or

  what I’m working on next,

  check out my website at

  www.davemilbrandt.com.

  Discussion Questions

  Which character do you relate to the most? Which character is least like you? Why?

  Jim and Melissa work in the high-pressure environment of a newsroom. Would that kind of career appeal to you? Why or why not?

  Melissa works in an environment that is hostile to her faith. Do you think she handles the pressures well? Have you ever been in a similar situation?

  Jim’s cousin Vince was in a dangerous situation and, while Melissa offers advice, she doesn’t directly intervene. Should she have done more to help save Vince?

  Melissa is critical of Pastor Jeremiah’s religious values from the beginning. What standard should we use when evaluating new teachings?

  As the story progresses, Melissa learns about Jim’s past relationships, which causes some tension between the two. How can past relationships impact current ones?

  Jim’s character has quite a few rough edges. Why do you think Melissa is attracted to him?

  Throughout the novel, Jim struggles with containing his ego. Do you think people who are well known always wrestle with this or are there ways to remain humble even if you enjoy fame and success?

  Melissa chooses not date Jim as long as he doesn’t share her faith. What are some of the problems that can arise when you are in a relationship with someone with different religious beliefs?

  Jim’s conversion to Christianity is fairly dramatic. Have you, or someone you know, had God act in such a powerful fashion in their lives?

  After Jim became a Christian, he decided to leave journalism. Do you think that was the right decision, or should he have stayed and tried to change things from the inside?

  Toward the end of the book, Jim lists off a series of issues important to people of faith that the mainstream media tends to ignore. What other stories would you add to that list?

 

 

 
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