Chapter
53
Two days later
Jackie
sobbed as the black limo pulled away from the cemetery. She stared out the tinted window at the place
where her eldest son had just been buried, the same cemetery in Lexington where
many other deceased members of the Littrell family had been buried as well.
The
funeral had been nice enough, but horrible all the same. It was hard enough having to go through the
funeral of her oldest son, but knowing that her younger son lay in a coma in a
hospital many miles away from her made it even harder.
Jackie
and Harold had flown to Lexington just that morning for the funeral, which had
taken place that afternoon, and they were headed to the airport later that
evening to catch a flight back, not wanting to leave Brian alone, for fear
something would happen, and they wouldn’t be there.
***
Just a few hours later, they were on taking off
from the airport in Lexington. As the
plane ascended, and the seatbelt light went off, Jackie sank back in her seat
and closed her eyes, physically and emotionally drained. Just moments later, she had drifted off to
sleep…
Jackie jerked up with a start and realized she was sitting
in Brian’s room at the hospital. “When
did I get here?” she wondered. She
shrugged and leaned closer to Brian’s bed, staring at him intently. To her disappointment, he looked just the
same as when she had left him.
“Oh, Brian,” she murmured, watching his bandaged chest rise
and fall with the rhythm of the respirator.
“My poor baby…” Tears trickled
down her cheeks silently, as she gazed down at her child.
Suddenly sensing someone in the room, she turned around and
gasped at what she saw. There, standing
in the doorway of the room, was Harold.
“Harry?” she asked in awe.
“What… no, it can’t be…” Her
voice trailed off as she stared at her son.
Could it really be him? It looked
like him. Was he real? How could he be real? He was dead.
Hadn’t she just seen his body be lowered into the ground? Was she hallucinating?
“It’s me, Mom,” Harry said, stepping into the room. Jackie gasped, her eyes widening in a mix of
wonder and fear. “Don’t be afraid. I haven’t come back from the dead. I’m an angel.
A messenger of God.”
“An… an angel?” she whispered.
He nodded solemnly, stepping up to Brian’s bed. “Hey, little bro,” he whispered, his gaze
fixed on Brian.
“But, Harry… wh-“
“Shh,” he said, his fingers going to his lips. “Don’t worry, Mom. I’m going to be fine… and so will Brian. Heaven’s a wonderful place.”
Jackie gasped, her blue eyes overcome with fear. Had he come to take Brian with him to Heaven?
“No, no,” he said quickly.
“I’m not here for Brian. He’s
going to be fine. He’s going to
recover. Don’t you worry.”
“But, Harry…”
“And don’t worry about me either. I told you, Heaven’s a wonderful place. It was my time to go there. But it isn’t Brian’s time yet,” Harry said.
Jackie said nothing, just stared incredulously as Harry
bent over to touch Brian’s head. He
gently smoothed Brian’s matted hair from his forehead, lightly stroking his
pale, cool skin. His fingers drifted
down Brian’s cheek, down his neck, coming to rest on his rising chest. He rested his palm on the left side of
Brian’s chest for a moment, and then he slowly pulled it back. He turned slowly back to Jackie. “Goodbye, Mom,” he whispered.
“But, Harry-“ she protested, watching as he began to fade
away right before her eyes. “Wait! Don’t go!
Harry!” But he was already gone
from sight. “Harry! Harry, please come back! Harry…”
“Harry….
Harry,” Jackie moaned.
“Jackie,
wake up,” Harold whispered, shaking her shoulder gently.
Jackie’s
eyes popped open in surprise, and she looked around wildly. They were still on the plane. “But… what…” she stammered. Her heart sunk as she realized she had just
been dreaming.
“Honey?”
Harold asked, as tears rose in his wife’s eyes.
“Did you have a bad dream?”
“A
dream,” she whispered, through her tears.
“But not a bad one.”
Harold
looked at her questioningly, and taking a shuddering breath, Jackie began to
tell him about her dream.