by S. L. Baum
Krista leaned against the other side of the door and closed her eyes. “Okay,” she quietly answered.
By the time she got out of the shower, Sam had gone. Krista had peeked outside the bathroom after she wrapped a towel around herself, and then did a quick once-over of the house. After blow-drying her hair, she went to her bed to get dressed. Underneath her shirt, waiting for her, was a little paper swan.
Marlene was exhausted and swollen when Krista got to her house, but she was in a crazy positive mood – or at least, that’s how Ben described it. Krista hadn’t seen her yet.
“She thinks she is going to get all better, that you told her that, and that I should just believe it because she does. She’s been arguing with me since last night.”
“I thought you weren’t going to be here this morning,” Krista said to him when he met her outside and unloaded on her. “And are you trying to tell me Marlene is too tired to walk today?” She was getting a little annoyed with his accusatory attitude, and she wanted to smack the finger he kept pointing at her as he spoke.
“Sheriff Tucker had to postpone until tomorrow, so I told him I’d like to be here at home this morning. And, no… I mean, yes. Marlene is in no condition to go out today,” Ben huffed.
“Can we go inside and talk?” Krista asked, trying to remain calm.
“I don’t want you to upset her or fill her with false hope.”
“Yesterday you were all about the hope, Ben. What happened since then? And there is no such thing as false hope, or true hope, or any other kind of hope. Hope is just hope. It’s a desire for something to happen. She has every right to desire, to want, her heart not to fail her. Doesn’t she?”
Ben put his hands behind his head and gripped at his hair in frustration, his eyes glistened with tears that he tried to blink away, and his body started rocking. “She just looks so bad off this morning and I freaked. That woman means the world to me… the whole goddamn world, excuse my French. I got put on this rollercoaster from hell, and it’s driving me crazy with all the ups and downs, and… and… The woman is only thirty-five years old!”
Krista placed her hands on Ben’s shoulders and he stopped moving, he stopped talking, he stopped ranting in his own head. He just stopped. “Ben? Can we go inside?”
Ben looked at Krista. “I’m sorry. What?”
“Can we go inside, please?”
“Yeah. I guess we should. It’s better than being out here, with me raving like a madman...”
Marlene was sitting on the couch with a perfect view of her husband and Krista. Ben was agitated. Marlene could see it in his posture, she could tell by the occasional rise in the volume of his voice, and then there was the fact that he hadn’t let Krista in the house yet. When they finally came up the walkway together, she felt a bit relieved.
“Marlene, I’m bringing Krista in,” Ben called to her as he opened the front door.
“Good,” she told him. “It’s better than you being out there, raving like a madman.”
“That is exactly what he just said.” Krista smiled. “How are you feeling today?” Krista felt a dull ache in her chest.
It had started.
Marlene was sitting sideways on the couch with her feet propped up by a few pillows, and a blanket lay over her lap. “Oh, I’m alright. Just a tired day, that’s all. My stupid feet are all puffy. Nothing sweeter than a girl with cancles.”
“I’m going to call Doc and see if he can stop by on his way in,” Krista told her. “Is that alright?”
“Do you really think it is necessa-?” Marlene asked.
“Of course it’s alright,” Ben interrupted his wife.
Krista pulled her phone from her purse and called Doctor Baker. “I’m just going to go outside for a minute,” she told the Richardsons, while the line was ringing.
“What is it, Krista?” Doc answered the phone.
“I’m with Ben and Marlene. Now is the time, Doc. We have to convince Ben. I was hoping you could come by their house this morning and help me plant those seeds inside Ben’s mind. They trust you. Marlene sees me every day, and I know she’s good. But Ben’s hardly around me, so it will be easier with someone he trusts.”
“Is there a particular reason that today is the day?” Doc asked. “Scientifically speaking, I’d like to know.”
“I felt something click with her yesterday,” Krista told him. “And today, well… Doc, a few minutes ago I felt a chest pain.”
“I understand,” Doc said, even though he didn’t really. “I’ll come now.”
“Thank you,” Krista said as she ended the call.
The cool October morning breeze caught the fallen leaves and tumbled them across the lawn. Krista looked around at the few neighboring houses, with their fall decorations; the ghosts, witches, and skeletal Halloween adornments. Everything was picture perfect in Cedar Creek. It was a serene little town, with the cozy, warm, and festive streets, which seemed like they should house ideal, problem free, families. Funny how those kinds of things always seemed to exist in old TV shows and movies, but they never did in real life. No one could escape the twists and turns life threw at you.
Krista stayed outside for a few minutes, and then quietly went back into the house. Her heart ached when she saw Ben kneeling next to the couch, holding Marlene’s hand. If they refused to believe what she could do, her connection to Marlene would break. And unless she was allowed to be near her when the time came, Krista couldn’t even forcefully take the death from Marlene.
“We are going to make it through this,” Ben rasped.
Marlene ran her hand over the top of his head. “Of course we are, pumpkin.”
They would make it through, but only if Ben was able to have blind faith in what Krista wanted to do.
“Doc’s on his way,” Krista told them. “He’ll be here soon.”
“He can’t really do anything for her, can he?” Ben asked, keeping his eyes on his wife.
“He’s coming here to talk,” Krista told him. “Doc and I, well, we want to talk to the two of you about Marlene’s condition.”
Ben looked at her. “Do you know a lot about heart conditions?”
“I know some. Doc knows more. But I can tell you exactly how Marlene is going to survive this.”
Ben grunted, doubtful that a young girl, without extensive medical training, could tell them more than their own cardiologist could.
Marlene squeezed Ben’s hand. “This girl is special, Ben. I can feel it. Just listen to her.”
Ben moved his head back and forth; it was an almost imperceptible movement because he didn’t want to openly disagree with his wife. Krista seemed nice and caring, she was a good health care worker, he assumed, but she was just a girl who had somehow managed to get into his wife’s good graces. Ben didn’t think she was all that special. “I’ll listen to her… for you,” he told his wife. He turned to Krista and gave her a look that screamed, impress me.
“Should we wait for Doc?” Krista asked.
“I’d prefer it if you start talking now,” Ben told her.
“I want you to speak to someone on the phone, first. It would be good if you could both listen in.”
“There is a line in the kitchen and another one right here,” Marlene pointed to the phone on the table beside the couch. Cedar Creek was the kind of town where everyone still had multiple home phones.
“That’s perfect. I’ll make the call.”
“Ben, go into the kitchen,” Marlene sweetly ordered her husband. She picked up the phone and held it out to Krista. “Make your call.”
Krista punched eleven digits into the push button phone and waited for the line to pick up on the other side. “It’s ringing,” she told Marlene. “Ben, just give me a minute before you pick up.”
Ben nodded in understanding.
Krista’s eyes lit up. Marlene and Ben carefully listened to the only side of the conversation they could currently hear.
“Hi, Linda. It’s Jesse. …
Yes. It’s really me. How is she doing? …
That’s wonderful! I’m so glad. …
Yes, I do need you to talk to someone. It’s a husband and wife. …
The wife. …
Soon. …
Just tell them the truth. Tell them whatever you want to. …
Thank you, Linda. Give your daughter a big hug from me. …
She’s such a blessing. …
I’m not. I’m really not. I’m putting them on now, okay? …
Give her a wonderful life. …
You’re welcome.”
Krista handed the phone to Marlene, and then turned to Ben. “You can go ahead and pick up now,” she told them and then went outside.
She didn’t want to hear their questions or try to gauge their responses. When faced with an untimely death, people were usually desperate enough to believe in the unbelievable. Krista hoped that talking to Linda would spark that desperation. Once the spark ignited, she and Doc could fan the flames and then get the Richardsons ready to embrace something they’d previously thought impossible. She knew that Ben and Marlene, like all people in their situation, wanted a miracle… no matter how unbelievable it seemed.
Doctor Baker arrived while Krista was outside waiting. “What’s going on in there?”
“I gave them the phone number that you didn’t use.”
“Good thing I didn’t use it.”
“Yes, it is,” Krista agreed. “Ben needed it. He feels so defeated about the whole thing. He keeps telling Marlene to have hope, but he seems to only want her to have a little bit of hope, and he isn’t holding on to any hope of his own.”
Doc scratched at the back of his head. “I thought that might happen. Ben’s always seemed to be the black cloud sort. He’s always looking for rain on a sunny day. ”
“He has had a lot of rainy ones lately.”
“No reason to stop looking for the sun. Should we go inside?”
Krista shrugged.
Doctor Baker grabbed her hand. “Come on.”
“We could always just keep ourselves informed of her deteriorating condition, then tie them down and forcefully take it from her when the time comes, and then run them out of town.”
“We could,” Doc agreed with a chuckle. “Or we could get them to cooperate. You said the process would be easier on both of you.”
“I did say that,” Krista frowned.
Doc opened Ben and Marlene’s door. “Anybody home?” he called out.
Marlene motioned them in. They were still on the phone.
“Did the doctors give her any chance?” Marlene asked Linda.
“Wasn’t there some further treatment options you could have tried?” Ben voiced.
“I see,” Marlene said. “She’s a miracle.” And then after a pause she added, “She is an angel. I guess we are the lucky ones. Thank you so much for your time.”
“Yes. Thank you,” Ben added and then they both hung up their lines.
Marlene swung her feet to the ground and flung the blanket off. She sat up tall. “Doctor Baker, do you know about Krista?” Marlene asked, her eyes wide with wonder and excitement.
“She’s told me, but I have to admit that I haven’t witnessed anything. I’m compelled to have faith in her,” Doc answered.
“Why?” Ben charged in from the kitchen. “Why would you ever believe in something this insane?”
“She can diagnose patients, just by being near them. She’s the one that told me Marlene needed a cardiologist, even before I was able to examine her. I’ve taken her with me to the home, in Greenville, and she was able to do it there too, and she’d never seen anyone’s chart.”
Ben opened his mouth to protest.
“She didn’t even know the name of the place I was taking her. She’d have had no way to try to sneak the information beforehand. I already thought of that.”
Ben snapped his mouth closed again.
“When can we do it?” Marlene asked. Her voice held none of the trepidation that her husband had.
“I need to talk to you about that.” Krista sat down next to her. “After it is over, we can never be near each other again, because there will be a piece of the sickness living inside me. It will seek you out, and want to inhabit you again, and if it gets ahold of you a second time, there will be no way to save you from it.”
“Doc, come on! This is the biggest load of bullshit.” Ben paced the room.
“Ben!” Marlene scolded.
“I want to believe in it. Who wouldn’t? But you can’t stop someone from dying without medical help,” he fumed.
“You can if you are a Deathtaker,” Krista told him.
“Oh. Her great and wonderful powers have a name!” Ben continued pacing.
“Ben, I’m dying. I can feel it,” Marlene told him.
“Shut up, Marlene!” Ben yelled. “You are not dying.”
“Benjamin Richardson,” Marlene gasped. “You did not just tell your dying wife to shut up!”
Ben turned around and faced her. Tears stung his eyes. He blinked fiercely, trying to make them disappear, but they spilled down his face. “You. Are. Not. Dying.”
Marlene stood up and grabbed him, hugging him tight. “Have a little faith. Please. I’m begging you.”
Krista spoke softly, not wanting to further upset the man. “There is nothing invasive about what I do. I don’t even have to touch her. We will just be in the same room, and you can be there too, to witness. I’ve already asked Doc if he will observe the whole thing.”
“Doc, I’m still shocked that you are going along with this.” Ben shook his head.
“I’m a little shocked, too. But I am going along with this, Ben.” Doctor Baker assured him. “I’m jumping in, feet first.”
“After it’s done, if you agree to do this, all I ask is that you move away from here. Go to Charleston, like you two were planning,” Krista told Marlene, no longer addressing Ben. It was obvious he needed time to absorb. “You’ll have to be ready to leave, either that night or the very next day. And if you want to come back to visit Cedar Creek while I am still living in here, I will be glad to take a little vacation of my own and give you time to visit your friends.”
Marlene gave a single nod of her head. “We want to go. That’s not a problem. Ben’s family will be happy to put us up until we can find a place of our own. Won’t they, pumpkin?”
“You know they would, Marlene.” Ben said. “Krista, Doc, just tell me what you want to try, and I’ll humor you all.”
“That’s fine, Ben. You don’t need to believe in it for it to work,” Krista told him. “Your wife and I will just have to be in the same room when it seems like she is near the end. She’ll fall asleep, and then she’ll wake up perfect… and then you guys need to leave. Cedar Creek is just too small of a town to risk staying afterward. We can’t be within a hundred feet of each other, ever again.”
“Where will it need to happen?” Ben asked.
Krista shrugged. “Anywhere, really.”
“We’ll do it at my house,” Doc said.
“You sure?” Krista asked.
Doc nodded. “Yes. I’d be able to observe the whole process: before, during, and after. So I think it’d be best.”
“I think I’ve heard enough for today. I’m going upstairs to be by myself,” Ben announced. “I need to think.” He walked up the stairs without another word.
Krista went over to Marlene and gave her a hug. “We’ll talk soon.”
“Just come over on Monday morning. That’ll give Ben a few days to absorb and process. We are trying this, whether he wants to or not. I’m all in.”
Krista felt the energy zap from her, Marlene’s determination had strengthened their bond. Krista brought her hand up to the middle of her chest.”
“If it doesn’t work, you lose nothing,” Doc told her.
“Can’t argue with that.” Marlene gave Doc a hopeful smile. “Krista… the lady on the phone, Linda, she told me that you started
to feel her daughter’s pain. Can you feel mine?”
“A little,” Krista told her the truth; in the beginning it was only a little.
Sadness darkened Marlene’s eyes. “I’m sorry for that.”
“Don’t be. It’s part of the process.”
“Doesn’t matter. It shouldn’t be. I can’t imagine all the different things you’ve taken on.” Marlene closed her eyes, pausing for a moment. “Linda also said that she won’t change her phone number, that she is there if you ever need her, and that she will be forever grateful for what you did for her daughter. She said to tell you that you can call her anytime, or anyone else for that matter, because she feels it is her duty to share you with whomever you choose to help.”
Chapter Thirteen
Krista and Doc had gone on to work after leaving Ben and Marlene. Krista pushed the dull ache, which came from her connection to Marlene, deep down inside her. She would continue to function, as she always did in these situations, and as her grandmother had as well. “Vita women are strong women,” her grandmother would always say. “It’s just pain. Pain will pass.”
But the nurse part of Pete noticed things that other people wouldn’t, which happened every time she made a close friend at work. Toward the end of the day he finally voiced his concern. “You feeling alright today?”
“Didn’t get a lot of sleep last night. Somebody came over,” she said with a wink. There, she thought. That will keep his thoughts occupied, and give her an excuse in the future. “Nothing happened, by the way. Well, nothing much happened.”
Pete gave her a sly smile. “It looks like you and me had similar nights. But, I seem to remember someone protesting that it was strictly a just friends situation!”
“Things changed.”
“That fast?”
Krista tried to act nonchalant. “He came over after closing up the diner with Jim, because you and Opal were off doing your own stuff.”
Pete raised an eyebrow. “We were. And?”
“And he said he wanted to kiss me… so I pretty much threw myself at him.”
“That’s enough. I don’t need to know any more.” Pete stopped her.
