CHAPTER 18

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There was a bump, and muffled voices. It was dark, and something was covering me. I was picked up, lowered to the ground, then someone unzipped the thing covering my face. I squinted at the brightness of the sun floating in the sky overhead.

“Hey there,” said a young male voice.

The plastic covering fell away and I realized, to my disgust, that I was lying in a body bag. I struggled to get the hideous thing off. A strong pair of arms helped me with the task. “It’s all right. It’s all right. You’re with friends.” I squinted at the handsome face hovering before me.

“Hurry up! Get him in the car!” said a female voice. I turned my head to see a black sedan parked near us.

“I guess we’re going to have to wait for introductions,” he said. His strong hands gripped me under the arms and lifted me to my feet.

A large gray pickup started up and pulled away.

“Who was that?” I blinked, rubbing my eyes against the light.

“That was your ticket to freedom,” he said with a gleaming smile. “Quick, let’s get you into the car, we don’t want you being seen.” He helped me into the back seat and peeked in after me. “You want this?” He held out a cane.

“I'm all set for the moment.”

He put the cane in the front, stuffed the body bag under the seat, and he got in. “Let’s go, sis!” The tires squealed, and we took off down the road.

An uncomfortable quiet filled the interior of the car as I thought about the events that had just transpired. I was still alive, but now what? The woman driving kept glancing at me in the rearview mirror. The young man looked back at me with a broad smile. Over the hum of the engine, I heard the woman speak in a low voice. “This is crazy.”

The young man gave her a look, like a cat who had just caught a mouse.

“It’s really him,” she whispered.

He gave a happy nod and again turned to look at me-- and this time, as he did so, I found myself staring at his face. I was sure I had never met him before-- but he looked, so familiar. He leaned in close to the woman and whispered something in her ear. There was something about him, the shape of his cheek, the slant of his mouth... He reminded me of... He looked like... He stole another glance at me. Then it hit me like a hammer. He looked like me! Emotion welled up inside my chest. Was this my unborn son?

He turned to the front, and then back again with that big handsome smile fixed on his muscular features. He was a strapping young man, strong, and apparently very full of life.

I looked over at the lovely woman driving and immediately recognized her. How could I not have recognized her? Her curly blond hair moving in the wind, her soft pale skin fairly glowing. The delicate red lips, the high cheekbones. And those eyes! She certainly had changed, but it was her. I was sure of it. My little girl! I could barely keep my composure.

“I’m Samuel!” said the man, interrupting my thoughts. He offered his hand to me. I took it firmly. It was amazing to look at him. He looked so much like me. Except for his hair, which was blonde, like his mother’s. “You recognize me don’t you! I can see it in your eyes!”

“Yes. It took me a moment. But I recognize you.” I couldn’t pull my eyes from his face. There was so much I wanted to say, so many questions I needed to know the answers to.

“I have to tell you, this is crazy weird for Bec and me. It must be twice as weird for you.”

I pushed my emotion back and pressed my lips together. “I’m not going to lie, seeing you both grown up is-- difficult, to put it mildly.”

“You’ve been asleep my whole life,” said Sam. “And now you’re here, just like that.” He shook his head. “It’s gonna to take some getting use to.” He snapped his face back toward me. “But I’m glad!”

“I’m glad too, Samuel.” My smiled trembled. “I only wish it were under better circumstances.”

Rebecca looked at me in mirror. “What happened back there anyway?”

“You don’t know?”

Sam twisted in his seat. “Bec and I got this note a week ago.” He held out a crumpled piece of paper. “So we dropped what we were doing and headed here.” He handed me the note and I opened it. It read, “He is waking. Go to him.”

I folded it and handed it back. “Who was it from?”

Samuel shrugged. “We don’t know. I thought it was from Solomon or one of his people, but after the phone call I got this morning, I’m thinking it had to be someone else.”

“Why’s that?”

“Because they didn’t know you were awake ‘til this morning.”

I remembered back to how startled the men had been when I woke up. “I think you’re right,” I said. “They were definitely surprised by my waking.”

“The man on the phone told me to pick you up at exactly 10:00 a.m. at the mile marker back there. That’s all we know.”

“Where are you taking me now?”

“Mom’s house.”

My heart skipped a beat. “She lives nearby?”

“Both Gram and Mom do.”

“Your mom’s mother or mine?”

“Yours.”

My mother’s desperate face flashed in my mind. They made her believe I was dead. Why? Wait-- maybe she didn’t think I was dead. Maybe she was in on it to make it more believable. “Does your Gram know you came to get me?”

Sam looked at Rebecca with eyebrows raised.

“Not that we know of,” said Rebecca. “Why?”

“She was there when they poisoned me.”

Sam looked back in shock.

“They told her I came out of the coma, but that I wasn’t going to make it.” I looked out the window at the blur of the passing trees. “She thinks I died in her arms this morning.”

Sam and Rebecca were speechless.

I continued looking out the window, and came to a decision. “We have to assume that Solomon wanted her to believe that I’m dead, in order to protect her. Because no doubt, she will be questioned.” I looked at Samuel. “So we cannot tell her otherwise. It might put her life in danger.” The thought of her grieving over me made my chest constrict. She had waited so long, hoping that I would come out of the coma.

Sam’s face became stern. “We’ll do whatever you think is best.”

His willingness to trust a father he had never known moved my spirit. I was sure I would like the man he had become.

As the car cruised past open fields of grain, I attempted to piece together what I knew. It was hard to tell who knew what, since I didn’t know all the players. And what I did know didn’t make much sense. Solomon and his team found out I was awake this morning. They contacted Sam, but he and Rebecca had already known for a week. The people who wanted me dead couldn’t have known. Could they? So-- who sent the notes to Sam and Rebecca? Who could possibly have known that I was going to come out of the coma? And how?

My mind locked onto another question. This one found its way directly to my lips. “Does your mother know?”

“Yes,” said Sam. “She was there when I got the call.”

“Does she know about the notes?”

“No,” said Rebecca. “We didn’t tell her. We didn’t want her to know, you know, in case it was some kind of prank.” She shook her head. “She’s been through enough...” Her words trailed off, as if she wanted to say more, but decided against it.

What had she been through? Was Rebecca referring to the years I’d spent in a coma taking its toll on her? That was unlikely. Certainly it wouldn’t have taken her twenty-one years to come to grips with the situation. Again my mind shifted gears, and another unexpected question emerged. This one not so easily vocalized. “Is she... Did your mother ever…”

Samuel turned to me. His face was solemn “Yes. But no. Not anymore.”

“What happened?”

“He died two years ago. It was pretty rough on her.”

That must have been what Rebecca had eluded to. And though my heart went out to Annie, I could barely conceal my own selfish relief. She was single! There was a chance I might win her back! Certainly the years were unrecoverable, but if I could have Annie and my kids... I sucked in a deep breath, and leaned back on the seat, soaking up the peace brought by this newfound hope.

Again we sat with our own thoughts as the car veered off the highway and followed a dirt road. Slowly the car turned and the tires crunched down a gravel driveway to a log cabin overlooking a quiet lake. A figure stood in the doorway. I immediately recognized her. From the distance, she appeared the same as I remembered her, as if no time had passed.

The car rolled to a stop. Samuel jumped out and opened my door. I looked nervously over the seat at Rebecca.

“Go ahead,” she said encouragingly.

“I don’t know what to say,” I whispered.

“Just take one step at a time.” Her genuine smile brought me comfort. In spite of all the years that had passed, she welcomed my return, and seemed excited at the prospect of my reconnecting with her mother.

I swung my legs out of the car and Samuel helped me up with a firm grasp. “Do you have my cane, Sam?”

“Right here.” He grabbed it from the front seat.

I gripped the handle and rested my weight on it. Annie had come down to the bottom of the cobblestone path. Her eyes spoke volumes. She was happy to see me, but the many years stood between us like a gulf. For me it was only one day, but for her-- it was a lifetime.

She hadn’t changed much. She looked considerably older, but age had done nothing to deface her beauty. Her eyes were the same brilliant sapphire, her blond hair twisted in curls to her shoulders. Pensively she stood with her arms folded over her midsection. I could tell she wanted to speak-- and yet, she remained silent.

Everything took on a new sense of realism as I stood looking at her face. It was the same feeling I’d had when I’d seen my reflection in the mirror earlier. Only this was worse. To see my beautiful bride looking so much older... How she must have suffered. And yet, in her eyes-- I actually saw a look of apology.

“Are you okay?” I said sheepishly.

“I had given up hope,” she said quietly.

“It was a long time to wait. I wouldn’t expect you to...”

“I waited,” she said abruptly. “It hurt terribly, but I waited.”

“I’m so sorry, Annie. I’m sorry you had to go through this. It must have been horrible.”

“It’s not your fault. It’s just that-- seeing you is...” She squeezed herself a little tighter. “It’s just not what I expected.”

I studied her expression. “Is that good, or bad?”

“Good,” she blurted. “It’s just that, it’s been so long. I didn’t think I would feel anything, and, I didn’t. ‘Til just now.”

Was it true? Could she possibly still have feelings for me after all these years? It was more than I dared to hope.

“You-- recovered so quickly. It’s remarkable,” she said, superficially.

“It’s a miracle.”

“Yes.” She corrected herself. “A miracle.” She stepped in toward me and her eyes flickered up. “Do you remember us? Our life together? For me it was so long ago.”

I shook my head. “For me it was just last week I was dancing with you, my very pregnant wife, on our balcony overlooking the bay.”

She became contemplative.

“It was the night you told me we were going to have a son, and that you had never been so happy in all your life.”

Her eyes filled with tears.

“It was just yesterday for me. I had everything a man could desire, and more.”

She looked up at me and a tear trickled down her cheek. “It was so perfect I thought I had dreamed it.” Her voice became a whisper. “Were we that happy once?”

“If you could find it in yourself to give me a second chance, we could be happy again.” I immediately regretted the words. Talking about the past was one thing. But this was way too fast-- for someone who had lived twenty-one years since yesterday.

I started to mouth an apology. But she stopped me. “You don’t need a second chance, Thomas. You never failed me the first time.” She slid her arms under mine and hugged my chest. The smell of her hair had changed, but I was immediately satisfied by the new scent. This was not the wife of my memory, but she was still my Annie.

I looked up to see Rebecca standing by the back of the car, struggling to keep her emotions from overtaking her, and it was more than I could bear. My own tears began to flow. My baby girl... To me it was just yesterday she was strutting around the backyard in a paper crown, pretending to be a queen and giving orders to the dog. Now she was a grown woman! But she had not forgotten me. She had not stopped loving her daddy.

I held my hand out to her. “Come here, sweetheart.”

She ran over and threw her arms around us. “I love you, Daddy,” she whispered.

“I love you too, honey.”

I felt Samuel’s hand on my back. “Welcome home, Dad,” he said, his voice cracking. “Welcome home.”