by Ryan Conway
"Yes ma'am," Spencer responded, getting up from the table. As he climbed the stairs, he noticed that the light in Uncle George's study at the end of the hall was on, the door was open a crack. He figured that was where his uncle must be, and made his way down the hall. As he approached the door, he could hear voices from the room getting louder and more distinct. Spencer was finally able to understand the discourse, and realized that one of the voices belonged to Pastor Meadows. He sounded angry.
"George," Meadows huffed, "I've been working with Drake for months now, and he came highly recommended by other missionaries and churches! This isn't something he would do. It's nothing like him. This is insane. You said you found Spencer downstairs walking back into the house in the middle of everything that happened. How much did you really question him about this?"
"A little," Uncle George admitted. "I didn't get a chance to…"
"I mean, what is he even into?" Pastor Meadows interrupted. "You know the kids today… They're into all sorts of garbage when they're not home. Is he into drugs? Even his friend… what's his name…. that guy Thomas. There's something off about him, and I can't really put my finger on it."
Spencer didn't want to walk in on this conversation; it sounded heated, like one of the political shows he avoided, and he was already starting to feel a headache coming on. The pastor wasn't being entirely honest—or his uncle wasn't. If he stuck around, he would end up with a massive migraine. He'd just turned around to head back downstairs when he heard a comment that struck a sensitive chord, and he felt obliged to interject.
"This could even have something to do with his father," Pastor Meadows snapped. "He led a pretty strange life, didn't he? If he was a member of a secret society, you know what they're really about, and it ain't Godly. I bet that necklace he got today, the one that was left by his father, has some kind a curse on it. It's demonic, I tell you—."
Suddenly, Spencer opened the door and abruptly interrupted Pastor Meadows. "Sir, I don't know what my father's work life was all about," he said firmly, "and neither do you. As far as I'm concerned, everyone else knows even less than I do—and until they prove any of those nasty stories to be true, it's best to assume they're false."
"Spencer!" Uncle George said in surprise.
"My father loved me," Spencer said as his eyes started welling up. "And both he and my mother wanted the best for me. I remember them teaching me how to act right, how to get along with others, how to learn to the best of my ability, and how to make the right decisions. They didn't teach me any of the perversions I just heard you mention. I don't know where that garbage comes from, and I'm tired of hearing it. I thought you were a Godly man, and Godly men don't spread rumors about things they know nothing about. At least they’re not supposed to!”
"Young man," Pastor Meadows said heatedly, "I'm sure he thought he was living a decent and wholesome life, but…"
But Spencer was already storming off down the hall. Pastor Meadows followed him down the hallway and stairs to the living room. As he walked into the kitchen, where Aunt Sandra and Michael were sitting at the table, Meadows followed him in. "Spencer, I'm sorry," the old man said. "But what I'm talking about has nothing to do with teaching someone how to behave. There's a lot more to life than just teaching good morals."
"I'm aware of that," Spencer responded coldly. "But why would you just assume the worst of my parents? You never even met them!"
"What's going on?" Aunt Sandra asked. "Why is everyone shouting?"
Pastor Meadows said to her, "I've offended Spencer, and for that I'm sorry—but I was explaining that his father was probably involved in some questionable activities with questionable people. Before Spencer overheard us, I was telling George how that all might be connected to what happened here tonight."
"My brother was not a bad man," Sandra said, as she stood to face the preacher. "I knew him all his life. You knew Drake for what, less than six months? Spencer said Drake was in his room, holding the necklace. That doesn't sound kosher to me."
"You see?" Pastor Meadows exclaimed. "The necklace does have something to do with this after all."
"We don't know that," Spencer replied. "All we know was that Drake invaded my privacy and looked like he was trying to steal a gift from my father—who, I remind you, has been dead for eight years. I saw Drake holding the necklace, and then there was all sorts of weird stuff happening. If there's something about the medallion that attracted him, I don't know what it is, but until we really understand what's happening, you should not make up stories about the necklace or my father. You're a pastor, for heaven's sake, not some sour old gossip." Spencer was already experiencing a massive headache from the heated discussion; it was starting to turn into a migraine, making him feel dizzy and sensitive to the noise.
"Okay, that's it." Aunt Sandra said firmly as she leaned over the table, staring at the pastor. "My brother was not involved with the Freemasons or the Illuminati or Satan worshippers, or any other secret societies. He was a government agent at worst. I know that even my own husband has his own ideas about Jason's life, ideas to which he's entitled, but now the accusations are getting out of hand!"
"That's what I was saying," Spencer added faintly, holding his forehead. "I have no idea what's going on, and we can't start throwing around outrageous stories."
"You are a guest in this house, sir," Aunt Sandra said to Meadows, scowling. "As I remind you your friend was, until my house was destroyed and he disappeared mysteriously into the night. I'm beginning to regret allowing either of you to stay."
"I'm not trying to insult or offend anyone," Pastor Meadows insisted, mopping his forehead with a handkerchief. "But there are a lot of questions that need answering here, and what about Drake? What happened to him, and where is he? I've been working with him for half a year, and he's a highly respected member of the missionary community. Now he's not even here to give us his side of the story."
"Wait," Spencer interrupted, holding his head in agony. "I'm getting a migraine."
"What's happened to Drake?" Pastor Meadows continued. "You scold me for hypothesizing about your father, but what about the accusations I'm hearing about Drake? Why would he be interested in that necklace? If you did see him holding it, then maybe he had some divine intuition that something wasn't right and was going to get rid of it."
"It wasn't his to get rid of... Wait…" Spencer moaned as his knees buckled. He grabbed a nearby chair for stability, but pulled it down to the floor with him, hitting the tile with a massive thud and clatter that immediately brought everyone to his side. By then, he was unconscious. Michael tried shaking him awake, calling his name, but to no avail. When they couldn't bring him around, Aunt Sandra dialed 911 and spoke with a dispatcher, who informed her that an ambulance was on the way. Pastor Meadows tried helping on the other side, apparently feeling some regret about the turn of events, but still clearly upset about Drake's disappearance.
A scratching sound came from the front door. Given the recent events, the noise startled everyone, and they were hesitant at first to even investigate it. George crept over to the door and slowly pulled it ajar. When he cautiously peeked around the door, he saw Tripper and Cookie pawing at the screen door, whimpering. It was a pleasant surprise, because looking for the dogs was one less task the family had to accomplish for the night.
He opened the door and let the dogs back into the house. Even though it was almost pitch black outside, he stood for a moment on the porch by himself, looking around outside, wondering what was really going on. Finally, he retreated back into the house to see if there was any change with Spencer's condition.
Everyone was huddled around the boy, who was still lying motionless on the floor in the kitchen. Michael had straightened him out and had put his pajama top under Spencer's head; now he was trying to bring Spencer around again. The good news was that there was a pulse, and extremely faint breathing—the bad news was the "faint" part. How had a simple migraine resulted in this? Sighing, Pastor Mea
dows got up, walked over, and stood at the threshold of the kitchen, trying to make sense of everything that had happened. He glanced down and discovered Drake's marble necklace on the floor. He walked over and picked it up, putting it in his pocket, then rejoined the group in the kitchen.
Soon the house was bathed in the blinking red light emanating from the ambulance parked outside.
Chapter Four
Hospital Visit
T he ambulance raced up to the emergency drop-off zone, blaring its emergency lights and sirens, and two paramedics darted over to the edge of the curb the instant the vehicle came to a complete stop. The back doors swung open, and both men grabbed the gurney, one on either side. As they withdrew it from the ambulance with a practiced tug, wheeled legs dropped down from the bottom of the gurney, and the paramedics dashed off with Spencer strapped to the top. By the time Sandra Beck stepped out the back of the ambulance, the paramedics already had Spencer through the emergency room doors, rushing him down the hallway. The doors were starting to close again as she ran up to the entrance; she never slowed down, and the doors almost retracted too slowly for her to pass through without brushing her shoulders against them. The only reassurance Sandra felt was the fact that Spencer was in the hands of professionals now. This was the worst reaction that Spencer had ever experienced, and she was still furious at that superstitious little fat man. The nerve of him, when she'd invited him into her own home—
After stopping at the front desk to provide her insurance information, Sandra immediately hurried to the room into which the nurses had transported Spencer, arriving just after three nurses ran into the room and slammed the door behind them. She peeked through the window in the door to see Spencer surrounded by a doctor, who was calmly trying to resuscitate him, and the three nurses, who were quickly preparing medical supplies. The piercing, uninterrupted beep of the EKG machine made the hospital staff's work seem even more suspenseful; had Spencer really flatlined? How was that possible? Sandra's heart sank into her chest; the threat of him actually dying was just as imminent as it was surprising. She began praying, pleading with God to bring Spencer back to her.
***
"Clear," the doctor yelled as he placed defibrillator paddles on Spencer's bare chest for the sixth time. The EKG had been flatlined for several minutes already. The doctor's latest attempt yielded no different result, and the bustle of the hospital room fell silent except for monotone resonating from the EKG. Sandra's eyes opened wide as she begged God to bring her nephew back from the brink of death… but it looked like it wasn't going to happen.
She stepped back with her mouth gaping wide as she gasped for breath. The doctor who had tried so valiantly to resuscitate Spencer glanced over at her with a solemn look on his face. He'd been at this too long for the tears to come, but his melancholy expression couldn't have been more telling. The nurses hung their heads in a consoling silence, as he muttered to the head nurse, "Call it."
"Time of death: 1:47 AM," she said in a small voice. The doctor lifted his head and proceeded out the door to approach Sandra, who had collapsed on a small bench in the hallway with her face in her hands.
"Mrs. Beck," the doctor said wearily. "I'm so sorry. We did all we could…"
Back in the room where Spencer had died, the nurses began cleaning up and packing away the unused medical supplies, preparing for the removal of Spencer's body. One nurse reached out, about to shut off the EKG, which was still flatlining. When her fingers were a hair's-breadth away from the switch, the line was suddenly interrupted by a blip; there was a long pause, and then the steady sinus rhythm of a healthy heart returned. She was stunned, and gawked at the EKG like she'd just witnessed an apparition. "Doctor!" the nurse shouted. "Dr. Cassidy! He's back. We've got a heartbeat!"
Cassidy rushed back into the room and immediately began checking Spencer's vital signs. The miraculous recovery filled him with a newfound hope, and immediately put a spring back into his step. Sandra, meanwhile, slowly lifted her face out of her hands and looked up with tearful eyes as her sniffling died down. She rose from the bench and crossed the hallway toward the room. When she heard the EKG's steady beep, she glanced skyward. "Thank you, God." she gasped, with a teary smile of relief.
"His pulse is back to normal, and he's breathing steadily," announced one of the nurses, releasing his wrist, a mystified expression on her face.
Sandra rushed into the room, placing her hands on both sides of Spencer's face and rejoicing while she kissed him on the forehead. "I thought you were gone," she whispered. "But the Lord gave you back to me."
Doctor Cassidy and the nurses watched in amazement, with grins the size of cantaloupe slices, tears rolling down their cheeks. "This is a bona-fide miracle," one of the nurses said quietly; the others just nodded.
As Spencer's vitals normalized, his complexion shifted from pale white to his normal healthy tone; but still he lay in a deep slumber, a healthy, healing sleep. The nurses grabbed the sides of the bed and began wheeling him slowly out the door. Doctor Cassidy explained to Sandra that they were taking him to a recovery room on the second floor, and that visitors would be permitted shortly.
***
Later, as he was flipping through Spencer's charts, Dr. Cassidy said, "I see that your nephew has already had an MRI done to see if we could find out what's causing the migraines." With Aunt Sandra's nod, he continued, "I'd like to bring the head neurologist, Dr. Simmons, in on this as well."
"Dr. Simmons has seen Spencer before," Aunt Sandra informed him, "so that would be great. He's familiar with Spencer's problems."
"So, this has happened before?" Dr. Cassidy inquired, lifting an eyebrow.
"Only the migraines. It happens when he hears or gets involved in a heated conversation," Sandra responded. "He says he only gets headaches when someone's seriously lying or otherwise misrepresenting the truth. Calls it his 'bias detector.'" She shook her head. "But this is the first time he's actually passed out." Her voice began to quiver as her eyes welled up again. "It's definitely the first time we've ever come this close to losing him."
"Mrs. Beck, I have no explanation for why a migraine would cause him to shut down like that. But the fact that he came back after our failure to resuscitate him is nothing short of miraculous, if you ask me."
Only Sandra had accompanied Spencer in the ambulance, because his Uncle George and Pastor Meadows had to contact the West Augusta Police Department about the disturbance and file a police report. While waiting for the police to arrive, George had told Pastor Meadows about Spencer's unusual condition with migraines, and they had both apologized for the words that had been exchanged. When the policeman finally showed up, George led him through both floors of the house, showing him the damage. Neither he nor the pastor had seen the damage done to Spencer's room until that point, and it shocked them. During the officer's questioning, it became evident that both men were seriously confused, and knew very little about the incident.
George informed the officer that Spencer had been taken to the hospital after passing out, and Pastor Meadows provided him with information about Drake for a missing person's report. George informed the officer of what Spencer had told them about Drake's attack, without mentioning the bizarre details of Spencer's account; he also told the officer that there had probably been two other assailants involved, based on Spencer's strange tale. He also handed over the blue bottle that he'd found in the room the parson had shared with Drake.
After the police officer finished collecting enough details for his report and left the house, George called his wife to ask about Spencer and to update her on the police investigation. Sandra sounded excited on the phone, but she didn't really elaborate on what had taken place at the hospital. She just requested that they show up at the hospital; and as soon as George hung up with her, he and Meadows departed the house, leaving Michael to watch over his younger siblings.
***
Spencer had been moved upstairs from intensive care after all his vitals had normaliz
ed, but he hadn't been conscious at any point during the trip. The lights in his hospital room were currently off, but the hall lights lit the open doorway, casting a threshold of pale light across the foot of his bed. Sandra had fallen asleep at Spencer's bedside, slouching in the visitor's chair with her head tilted to the right, loosely holding her purse on her lap. Her head rolled slowly to the left, her eyes halfway opened. As she came fully awake, she sat up straight and quickly looked over at Spencer. He was as peacefully asleep as a newborn after a long day. She exhaled a sigh of relief as the corners of her lips curled up into a gracious smile, thankful that the ordeal had come to an end, as if she had just woken up out of a horrible nightmare. Knowing that Spencer was only sleeping, she could put her mind at ease.
Moving shadows blocked the hallway light; Sandra turned to see her husband and Pastor Meadows standing in the doorway. George was thanking a nurse for guiding them to the room, and Meadows was apparently making attempts to contact Drake on his cell phone, but all he was getting was voicemail. This was the first time either man had seen Spencer since the paramedics transported him from the kitchen to the ambulance, and they both looked concerned. Their worry eased, however, when they saw how much better he looked than he had previously, and that he was obviously breathing on his own.
"Honey, you all right?" George asked.
"I am now," she replied quietly.
"I'm glad he's doing so much better," Pastor Meadows said hesitantly.
Sandra looked at him sourly, thinking, No thanks to you. Aloud, she said, "He really gave me a scare a while ago."
