The Lurking Man (22 page)

“I heard everything you said. About how you would give your life for mine.”

“I would do it if that is what it takes.”

“I know that, Dad. I love you, too.”

Wilson couldn't maintain his composure. He leaned on the bed and gave in to the cry.

“Dad, are you OK?”

“Yes, son, I'm fine.”

“Then why are you crying?”

“I'm just happy you're awake and that I'm able to talk to you.”

“Where am I, Dad? What is this place?”

“You're in the hospital. You were in a terrible accident.”

“I remember Mom falling on top of me.”

He nodded. “Yes, she did, Beau.”

“She hit her head on the bathtub and was bleeding really bad.”

“I know, son.”

“I could taste it,” he said and licked his lips. “I think I still can.”

“I'll ask them to give you something to help get rid of the taste.”

“Where is she?” Beau said and tried to sit up.

“No,” Wilson said and encouraged him back down with a gentle hand on his shoulder. “Don't do that. You have to stay in bed.”

“Where is Mom?”

Wilson's eyes overflowed with tears and he stroked Beau's hair. “She's in a different room down the hall from where we are and the doctors are looking after her.”

“I couldn't get her off of me. She was so heavy and it was really hard for me to breathe. I remember you calling and talking into the answering machine, and I even answered you, but you couldn't hear me.”

“I know, son, and I'm sorry. I will always be there for you from now on.”

“You have always been there for me.”

“Not when it mattered most.”

“How did you know?”

“I came over as fast as I could. I knew something had to be wrong when the phone kept going to the answering machine.”

“You found Mom on top of me?”

“Yes.”

Beau sat in silence, and soon said, “I know this is going to sound crazy to you, Dad, but I saw mom just before I woke up. She was talking to me.”

His father kissed him on the forehead.

“We were underneath a bright light together,” he said and pointed to the fixture over his bed. “It was a lot like this one, only it was much brighter. She didn't have any hair and seemed really sad.”

“Shh,” Wilson said and touched Beau's lips. “I need you to try and get some rest.”

“No, Dad,” he said and propped himself up with his elbows. “What I am telling you was real. She was talking to someone that was outside the lighted area and she was making a deal with him. She gave her life for mine. She
cried a lot and told me how sorry she was. And before I was taken away from her she told me that she loved me.”
 

“I know she loves you, Beau. I've never doubted that, not once.”

“I remember it snowing there but it wasn't cold at all. I could hear everything they were saying but I can't remember most of it. It was like I was in a dream, only it was real.”

“Please, you need to rest,” Wilson said.

Beau felt the gentle press of his father's hand as he encouraged him to lay flat again.

“I have to let the nurses know you're awake,” Wilson said.

Wilson pressed the call button on the side of Beau's bed, summoning a nurse.

“Wait,” Beau said and lifted the blanket and searched for something hidden there. “Mom gave me something before I left the light.”

Just then, a nurse entered the room and took notice of Beau. “He's awake? I need to get the doctor right away.”

“Dad?”

Wilson looked at him.

He held Rafi up for his father to see.

“This is what she gave me.”

Wilson's mouth hung open and he slowly reached out and took Rafi from Beau's hands.

“How is that even possible? I haven't left your side.”

“I told you, Mom gave it to me.”

“Nurse?” Wilson shouted, and a moment later she returned.

“Did you or someone on your staff bring this in to him?”

“No,” she said.

“Oh,” Wilson said. “OK, thank you.”

“Is that all? I should get the doctor.”

“Yeah,” he said.

She hurried out of the room.

“And, Dad,” Beau said. “There is something else.”

He pointed at the foot of his bed and wiggled his toes.

 

 

Wilson kissed Beau. “I love you son.”

“I love you, too, Dad.”

He let go of Beau's hand and watched a nurse wheel him down the hallway.

“His recovery is nothing short of a miracle,” the treating physician said. “The fact that he has awoken with such awareness is a wonder enough, but the fact that he has feeling in his legs again and is able to move them is simply astounding.”

Lost for words, Wilson shook his head in agreement and pure joy swept over him.

“They're going to need to run some tests on him to see if they can find some answers to this.”

“I understand.”

“But we also need to discuss your wife.”

Wilson nodded. “Of course.”

“I want you to count your blessings with the miraculous recovery your son has had and understand that he will need your continued support.”

He nodded in his continued understanding.

“The trauma your wife has suffered is severe, and I'm afraid I have done all I can do. The swelling on her brain required me to remove the top of her skull. She's slipped into a coma and it is something she will never come out of. I need you to prepare yourself for what is to come and reach out to any family members that you are able to count on. Although she is still alive, she is in a vegetative state and is steadily declining with each passing moment. It is my opinion that she will not live past the night.”

Wilson nodded, deeply saddened.

“I'm truly sorry,” the doctor said. “If there is anything you need to say to your wife, now might be the time for you to do so.”

 

 

“I'm sorry you had such a hard life,” Wilson said, standing over the bed Cailean was in. Her breathing was more like a raspy gargle. He sat next to her and rubbed her arm.

“I was really scared when I found you on top of Beau. I didn't know what to do. And all that blood . . .”

He shook his head at the memory and saw her nail beds were turning a blackish purple. He checked her feet and they were also turning color, and he knew from his father's passing that death was entering her body.

“Right after I found you, Emerson stopped by to check on you at the house. He told me that he was in a relationship with you because he felt guilty. He said that his daughter was responsible for Beau falling off of the playground, not you. She pushed Beau out of jealousy. He said there was something emotionally wrong with his daughter. And for that, I'm sorry I was so hard on you.”

Her face was wrapped with a thick layer of gauze and her eyes rested easy.

“Maybe you can hear me. I don't know. Beau believes he saw you on the other side and that you gave up your life for him. If that is true, I want you to know that he came back to me.”

Wilson took Cailean's hand into his own and he rubbed it gently.

“When he awoke, he pulled Rafi out from under his blankets to prove to me he was with you. It sounds crazy, I know, but it's the truth. I wouldn't have believed it if I didn't see it with my own eyes.”

A tear rolled down Cailean's cheek and Wilson wiped it away.

“But the most amazing thing is he wiggled his toes. I think the accident somehow fixed his spine. But if you did have something to do with this, thank you, it's the best present you could ever give him.”

Wilson began to cry. The tears were for her and the tragic events that brought them together and split them apart. They were for Beau and the possibility that he might walk again someday. And lastly, because he knew this was his goodbye to her. As difficult and chaotic as she had made his life, he really loved her.

“Go on,” he said and placed a gentle kiss on her cheek. “Rest in peace.”

 

 

Cailean could hear everything Wilson said to her, but no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't respond. There
were so many things she wanted to say before she died, but her lips were as heavy as bricks and she no longer had command over her voice.
 

Panic filled her body and wrapped her tightly, proving its might was much stronger than her will.

She realized that she had been tricked.

Sariel made a promise to give her twenty-four hours of life to try and right her wrongs. His promise has been fulfilled. She was still alive, but unable to communicate.

She was certain that this is what he meant when he told her she deserved what she would experience in her final hours. Because she wanted nothing more than to say two little words that meant so much now. 

Chapter 29

 

 

THE LAST BLACK BOX

 

 

Present day.

 

Cailean stood naked beneath a light that hurt her eyes. For some reason, she peeled black wrapping paper off of a box she had found sitting on a table unattended. She couldn't remember how she got there or where she was. Her thoughts were consumed with the idea that she had left something undone. But the chill all around her distracted her and she moved quickly to extract a neatly folded garment out of the box.

The black robe was as soft as silk, yet somehow heavy, and it offered her protection from the elements. Putting the gown on, she neatened it and raised the hood over her head.

Comfortable from within the black cavity, she peered out; the light above her head buzzed and flickered. Sparks shot from the fixture and the light went out. Immersed in darkness, a distant voice called out to her. Impossible to ignore, she set out on her journey to locate its source. Somehow she knew that during her travels she would have plenty of time to think about what she had left unfinished.