Whispers of Death (10 page)

    Mark quickly swept her up into his arms. "Did you bring some ice cream for me?" he teased.

    She looked from her ice cream cone to her dad. "Yes," she said. "You can share mine."

    "Thank you for sharing, but I'll let you have this one all to yourself," he said.

    She smiled even bigger, knowing that she had a big ice cream cone all to herself.  He put her down in the chair near the window, and she quickly began devouring her treat.

    "Well you have certainly made her day," Mark told Peter.

    "Where's mine?"

    We all turned quickly, and Hunter stared at us, bright-eyed.

    I grabbed his hand. "Oh sweetie, how are you feeling?" I asked, rubbing my hand along his forehead and feeling his cheeks with the back of my hand.

    "I'm fine," he said.

    "Are you sure?  Do you want anything?" Mark asked.

    "I'm sure.  Can I have ice cream?" he said, looking at Abigail's.

    "I don't see why not," I told him. "I'll be right back." I kissed him on the forehead, grabbed my purse from the table, and walked out into the hall.

    "Hold up," Olive said, running after me.

    I turned toward her. "You coming to keep me company?"

    "Are you ever going to tell me what is going on?" she said, staring at me. "Peter and I are really getting worried.  First you tell me you have a headache, and then you scream and faint in your living room.  Now you are almost always white as a sheet and this thing with Hunter.  Amelia, what is going on?"

    I looked at my sister; I could see that she wasn't going to let this go. I took a deep breath and focused down the hall.  I had no idea how she would react to my newfound "talent" of being able to converse with Death and my battle with Fear, or the fact that I constantly see spirits everywhere I go, who plead with me for my help.

    I took Olive's hand in mine. "I want to tell you, but I can't right now. I haven't even figured out everything yet."

    She looked me in the eye and glared. "Does this have anything to do with Hunter's drawing?"

    My heart stopped, and I held my breath. "What drawing?" I asked, trying to act calm.

    "You can't fool me. Hunter told me about your reaction to his drawing.  He said that he saw some guy dressed in black that asked him to draw his picture and give it to you."

    Olive's voice was cracking. She was at her breaking point, and I knew I had to keep her calm.  I didn't want Fear coming back here.  I already knew that a couple more people had died in the short time I had left Death standing in the Oncology hallway.  I’d felt their pain as they’d entered the Spirit World and could still feel the pull of Death.  He wasn't far away.  I looked around and led my sister to a group of chairs.  I urged her to sit down.

    "The man in the drawing, the one in black that asked Hunter to give it to me, well his name is Death." I watched as her expression turned fearful.  I could already feel the darkness lurking toward the hall where we were. "He has been talking to me."

    She inhaled sharply. "You have been talking to the Devil?" she nearly screamed.

    I looked around, grateful that no one was around. "No, I talk to Death, you know, the Grim Reaper," I whispered.

    Her eyes grew big, and her mouth dropped open.  She was quiet for what felt like forever.  I could see the darkness moving toward the closed doors and inching their way inside.  The patient on the other side would soon be in danger.

    "Olive, listen to me.  You need to stay calm.  You need to think of something happy.  Hurry!" I urged.

    "How can I stay calm? My sister just told me that she talks to the Grim Reaper!" she erupted in a loud voice.

    "Olive please, you need to calm down.  There is more going on, and right now your fear is going to cause a lot of pain."

    She sensed the urgency in my tone and began to take a few quick breaths.  She closed her eyes and drummed her fingers on her knee. I could see Fear starting to take shape.  I tried to remember a happy thought. I could hear the beeping of the heart monitor in the next room as it started to quicken.  I pictured Mark again and Abby as she ran into the room with her ice cream.  I remembered Hunter’s face as he asked for ice cream.

    "Come on Olive, think of Peter and how happy he made you on your wedding day.  Think of the fun things you did with Abby and Hunter this last weekend; concentrate on something that makes you happy," I pleaded with her.

    I could feel the shape starting to disappear.  "Keep going Olive, keep yourself calm. You have nothing to fear, everything is going to be okay." I urged.  I pushed my own thoughts toward the shrinking figure.  The monitors slowed, and the air around us felt calm again.  I turned toward Olive; she was staring at me, a look of awe on her face.

    "What just happened?" she said at almost a whisper.

    I looked into her eyes; she was confused but also still very fearful of my news. "All I can tell you is that Death needs my help," I explained, knowing that she wanted an explanation of why she needed to calm down.

    "The Grim Reaper needs your help? Doing what?" she said, almost sarcastically.

    I thought for a moment, looking through my memories of everything that Death had told me. "I think I need to get his Scythe back from someone who stole it."

    Olive's mouth dropped open. "You have got to be kidding.  Who would steal from the Grim Reaper?"

    I was surprised at her reaction; she wasn't questioning my talking to the Grim Reaper. She was more curious about why he would need my help.

    "Fear," I said, unsure of what else to tell her.

   She looked at me.  I could feel her curiosity as she considered what I had said. Her mouth opened and then closed again.  She stared at the ground for a second, then out the window.

    "I don't know what you are doing," she finally said, "but if you need my help, all you need to do is ask."

    She stared at me intently.  Her face was full of concern and love for me. "Thank you," I said, standing up.

    She stood up and put her arm in mine. "I always knew you were weird." She teased.

    I laughed. "Yeah, but who would have thought I would someday help the Grim Reaper?"

    "My sister is going to be Death's right hand man," Olive said giggling.

    "Woman," I corrected her.

    "Right," she said, "woman."

    We walked arm-in-arm to the cafeteria and ordered a large cup of ice cream for Hunter.  Olive insisted on stopping at a vending machine and buying a bag of candy to add crunch on top.  We returned to the room, and Hunter's face lit up at the sight of the giant cup full of candy and ice cream.

    "Whoa!" he said, taking a large bite.

    Olive and I smiled.

    "Did you like your ice cream little squirt?" Olive asked Abby.

    "It was yummy," she said, returning to her toy that Peter had bought for her in the gift shop.

    "What took you ladies so long? The cafeteria isn't that far," Peter said smiling. "Did you get lost?"

    Olive laughed. "No. We just stopped to chat for a minute, you know, girl talk." She joked.

    Both men laughed. "Figures," they said in unison.

    I looked at Mark and nodded.  Understanding crossed his face immediately, and he nodded back.

    "How are you feeling?" a deep voice said from behind me.

    Hunter's doctor walked in and smiled at us. "It's nice to see that you are awake and eating," he said.

    "I'm fine," Hunter said quietly. "Can I go home now?"

    He looked at us and then back at Hunter. "Well let’s have a look at you, shall we?" he said politely.

    The doctor listened to Hunter breathe with his stethoscope, took his blood pressure, shined a light in his eyes, and looked inside his ears.

    "Well besides a little dry blood in your ears, you seem to be just fine."

    "So I can go home now?" Hunter asked excitedly.

    "I'm going to take your parents outside in the hall for a minute, okay?" he said to Hunter.

    Hunter let out a deflated sigh, shrugged, and went back to his ice cream.

    We followed the doctor out of the room and into the hall.

    "I have checked over Hunter's x-rays and his CT scan at least a dozen times, and I can't seem to find anything that shows that he has or had a concussion, or that he went through any trauma.  Usually when something like this happens, patients show confusion, memory loss, double vision, and several other factors that confirm a concussion.  Hunter shows none of these.  The fact that he is eating ice cream and is so wide awake is a mystery."

    "If he doesn't have a concussion, can we take him home?" I asked. "I think he would do better where he is comfortable." I knew that there wasn't anything wrong with Hunter, but explaining that to a random doctor wouldn't be good.  He would surely have me put under surveillance.

    "Well, I really wanted to keep him overnight, but I think you may be right.  With him showing no signs of any trauma and all his vitals are normal, I think he will be fine to go home," he said. "However, I want him to stay in bed and rest.  He should also stay home from school tomorrow."

    My heart leapt for joy.  I couldn't wait to get out of this hospital. "When can we leave?" I asked; the excitement coming from my voice couldn't be hidden.

    The doctor smiled. "I'll get his paperwork filled out right now, and he will be discharged within the hour."

    Mark shook his hand. "Thank you for all you have done for our son."

    "Not a problem.  Just remember to have him rest.  If he starts getting a headache, or showing signs of a concussion, I want you to take him to his regular doctor, or bring him back here," he explained.

    "We will. Thank you," I said, shaking his hand.

    As soon as the doctor left, I felt stress just melt away.  It had been a very long day, and I just wanted to go home.

    "Are you okay?" Mark asked.

    I looked at him and smiled. "Yes, I am now," I said, giving him a hug.

    He returned my hug and kissed me softly on the forehead. "I love you Mrs. Sable."

    "I love you too," I said. "Let's go home."

Ten

    An hour later we were all packed in the car and ready to leave.  Hunter was smiling from ear to ear, and Abby was crying because she wanted to go with her aunt and uncle.  Olive told her she would see her tonight but had to run a few errands first and that Uncle Peter had to drive daddy's car home. Abby wasn't happy about it, but let her go.

    The house looked so peaceful as we pulled into the driveway. Hunter quickly opened his door and ran inside.

    "Hunter!" I yelled after him. "Don’t run.  The doctor already told you that."

    "Sorry mom!" he yelled back at me.

    I shook my head.  Keeping him calm wasn't going to be easy; he was too excited about not being in that hospital anymore.  He said it gave him the creeps.  When I asked him what he meant by that, he just shrugged and said it just felt weird. I began to wonder how much Hunter wasn't telling me.

   
Was he still seeing and talking to Death?  Did he know that he wasn't actually hurt?  Did he see Spirits like me?

    It scared me to think that he was.  I didn't want him to experience that.  It just felt like it would take away his innocence of being a child.  Although, who was I kidding, that boy was more grownup than his dad and uncle sometimes.

    "What are you thinking about?" Mark asked me, snapping me back to reality.

    "Nothing." I lied. "Why?"

    "Because I've asked you the same question three times, and you haven't answered me," he said, half smiling.

    I grinned. "Sorry."

    "Are you going to tell me what Olive said when you told her?" he asked for the fourth time.

    I thought back to her reaction. "She was scared at first. I think she thought exactly what you and I were thinking.  Once I explained it a little more, she seemed really calm about it and even started to tease me about being a ghost whisperer," I said, smiling at the last remark.

    Mark didn't smile. "This isn't a joke Amelia.  This is serious."

    "You know Olive, she likes to joke when she's uncomfortable about something or when she can tell we are.  I know this is serious, trust me.  No one knows that more than me." I sighed deeply.  My heart ached to be normal again.

    Mark sensed my uneasiness and wrapped his fingers through mine.  He gave me a quick half smile that melted away all my fears.  I leaned into him, grateful to be home.  We walked into the house, and Abby and Hunter were sitting at the table having another snack.  I just shook my head and went to the living room.  I hadn't told Mark or Olive the whole story.  Neither of them knew what was really going on.  They didn't know the extent of what I was truly seeing.  Ever since I’d gone on my little journey with Death that morning, I’d been surrounded by Spirits. They followed me to the car, lined the streets as I drove to the hospital, stood outside in the hall at the hospital, and even came into the room every now and then.

    The only time they weren't everywhere was when Fear was nearby.  It was also a way that I knew that Fear was coming, because they would disappear.  There were several Spirits in my living room and even some
sitting
at the kitchen table watching the kids eat their snack.  I didn't recognize any of them but two, Vanessa, and the spirit whose life ended while I’d watched in the hospital.  She had been following me for a while.  Each Spirit that I saw all had the same look on their face, hope filled with pain.  I knew they hoped that I could end the pain they were experiencing, but the truth was I had no idea what I was going to do to help them.

    I lay on the couch and closed my eyes.  I didn't want to see any more Spirits or have any more stressful things happen to me today.  I just wanted to curl up in a ball and fall asleep.  Mark sat at my feet and pulled my shoes off.  He always gave me the best foot rubs when I wasn't feeling well.  I rolled over to my side and listened to his breathing.  I knew he wanted to talk to me more about what had happened at the hospital, but he was being patient until I was ready to tell him.  I truly loved that man; he was my greatest treasure.