‘I have another story for you today,’ Simon said and pulled a chair next to the bed. ‘It’s the story of a man that died and came back to life a little over two thousand years ago.’
Beep. Beep. Beep.
Simon smiled. ‘Not Jesus, no,’ he said. ‘I told you that one already, remember?’
Beep. Beep. Beep.
‘It’s about a man called Lazarus. Do you know about him?’
Beep. Beep. Beep.
‘Well, he actually knew Jesus. They were good friends, in fact.’ Simon sat back and made himself comfortable. ‘Anyway,’ he said. ‘When Lazarus died, Jesus waited a few days before going to his friend’s grave. The people weren’t happy that Jesus came so late, because they believed that He could have healed Lazarus.’
Simon stood up and walked to the basin where he poured some water into a glass. He then returned to the boy’s side. ‘Now this is where the good part comes in,’ Simon said after drinking some of the water. ‘Jesus had healed so many people already that he wanted them to experience the glory of God by doing something different this time. He wanted to show the people that God’s power wasn’t just limited to healing only, but that it was more powerful than even death itself. Not only did Jesus restore his friend to full health, but he raised him from the dead as well. Isn’t that just super?’
Beep. Beep. Beep.
‘Yeah,’ Simon said. ‘I think so too.’ He looked up at the monitor and then took the boy’s bandaged hands in his own. Simon then lowered his head and softly began to pray until late into the afternoon.
* - - - *
Justin’s focus slipped. After re-reading the same paragraph for the fourth time he slammed the novel shut. He sighed deeply and ran his hands through his hair. Rebecca’s strange behaviour occupied his mind as he lay on his back, staring blankly at the ceiling.
It goes on by itself. Justin chuckled at Rebecca’s words, although he realized that his wife losing her mind was no laughing matter. For a moment he considered sending her to an institution for a week or so to get some much needed sleep therapy, but decided against it due to financial reasons.
Maybe she needs space, he thought. Maybe I should move out for a while and give her a few days to sort herself out. Justin was still contemplating when he fell asleep.
* - - - *
Rebecca opened the shower taps and closed the door to allow some heat to build up first. Although Justin hadn’t been very supportive of her situation regarding the strange happenings, his presence in the apartment made her feel more secure. She knew that when he was home, the strange things didn’t happen as blatantly as when she was alone. Rebecca realized that she would have to speak to someone other than Justin about her experiences.
A Pastor? Rebecca wondered but shook her head. She figured that the only person she could trust enough to get an honest and un-biased opinion from was Tanya. Knowing her best friend, Rebecca knew that Tanya never had a qualm to speak her mind when it came to Justin. She didn’t like him at all and would not choose his side by saying that it was all in her head.
It’s that good-for-nothing husband of yours, she pictured Tanya saying. He’s secretly making you crazy so that he can feel better about leaving you for someone younger. She smiled. Tanya never was one for tact. She always spoke her mind before her brain could process any damage her words could cause. A slam on the door made Rebecca jump.
‘How long are you going to be?’ Justin’s muffled voice came from the other side of the door.
‘I’m just about to get in the shower,’ Rebecca said loud enough for him to hear her over the spray of water. She hated conversations from the bathroom. Too much echo.
‘Are you trying to make me angry?’ Justin shouted and slammed his fist against the door again. ‘What are you doing in there?’
‘I’m about to take a shower,’ she said, trying to hide the quiver in her voice, but failing miserably. What’s gotten into you?
‘You’re crazy!’ Justin shouted. Rebecca could hear tension building in his voice. ‘You’re crazy, and I hate you! I hate you!’
‘What are you talking about?’ Rebecca asked and chuckled to show that she took his “joke” in good spirit. She didn’t know what Justin was ranting about, but she felt a sudden relief that she had locked the door.
Justin now pounded the door with his fists. ‘Come out here so I can teach you a lesson!’
‘Stop it!’ Rebecca shouted, her voice bordering on a scream. ‘You’re scaring me, Justin.’
The banging intensified. ‘Come out!’ Justin shouted. ‘Come out and let me show you what I do to crazy people!’
‘Justin,’ Rebecca pleaded. A sob escaped her lips. ‘Stop it! You’re...’
The banging stopped.
‘...scaring me…’
Rebecca moved closer to the door. ‘Justin?’
No one answered.
Rebecca closed the taps. She pressed her ear against the door. ‘Justin...?’
Still no answer.
Reluctantly she unlocked the door and opened it a crack. She peered out, but no one was there. ‘Justin?’ she asked, but yet again there was no reply. She opened the door completely and stepped out into the hallway. The apartment was empty and quiet. She moved to the bedroom where she found Justin on the bed, pretending to be asleep with a novel on his chest.
‘That wasn’t funny,’ she scolded. Tears welled in her eyes and she had to fight them back. ‘You really scared me!’
Justin slowly opened his eyes and rubbed his face with the palm of his hand. He used his elbows to push himself into an upright position. ‘Huh?’ he asked as he tried to focus his eyes. ‘You finished your shower already?’
Rebecca clenched down on her teeth and balled her fists. ‘Why did you do that?’ she shrieked.
Justin sat up all the way. He looked around the room. ‘What are you talking about, Becky?’
‘Don’t pretend that you don’t know what I’m talking about, Justin Greene! Just tell me why you did it!’
‘Becky,’ Justin said and rubbed his face again. ‘What the hell is going on?’
Rebecca stared at Justin for what felt like an eternity. She finally couldn’t keep it in anymore and broke down and cried.
‘What’s going on?’ Justin asked and moved toward her. ‘What happened?’
‘Nothing!’ Rebecca snapped. ‘Just leave me alone, okay?’ With that she got up and ran back to the bathroom where she slammed the door closed and locked it again, leaving a dumb-struck Justin standing in the room, wondering what on earth he had done wrong.
* - - - *
In her dream, Rebecca was in a hospital ward. She saw screaming babies everywhere she looked; babies on the counters, on the chairs, and even lying on the floor. All of them screaming.
‘Poor babies,’ Rebecca said and picked one up from the cold tiles. The baby continued screaming. She tried to sing to the little girl, but still the baby kept crying. So did the others.
‘What’s wrong?’ Rebecca asked.
The babies kept crying.
Rebecca put the girl down on a chair and left her to get some of the other babies that had to lie on the cold floor. ‘I’ll be right back for you,’ she said over her shoulder.
The screaming of the babies intensified.
‘Why are you all crying?’ she asked. ‘Where are all your mommies?’ She looked around, trying to see if she could spot anyone that could help her. All that she saw were more screaming babies. ‘Stop,’ she tried to shout, but her voice sounded faint and far. ‘Stop screaming.’
The crying continued.
‘Stop it!’ Rebecca shouted even louder, but again yielded no results.
‘Stop!??
?
She sat upright in bed. Justin moaned and rolled onto his side with his back turned against her. The cries of the screaming babies still echoed in her ears. It took her a moment to realize that the cries of the baby she heard was real, and coming from the study.
‘Justin,’ she whispered, but he didn’t respond. ‘Love,’ she said and touched his shoulder lightly. He turned a bit more and let out a soft snore. She slid out the bed and slowly walked to the door. It sounded indeed as if the cries were coming from within their own apartment. She looked back at Justin through the darkness, but could see his silhouette in the same position it had been in when she tried to wake him. She then walked through the hallway toward the study, softly trailing her fingers along the wall as she went. A moment later she stood in front of the open study door.
She listened.
Yes!
There was a baby crying, and it was in the study. Rebecca instinctively flipped the light switch. The crying stopped as fast as light lit up the room.
There was nothing.
‘Hello?’ she asked and walked deeper into the study. ‘Is anyone here?’
No answer.
A cold chill swept over her and she switched off the light and closed the door before hurrying back to the room. She turned on the bed lamp and shook Justin gently. ‘Honey,’ she said and shook him some more.
Justin moaned and finally opened his eyes. ‘What?’ he asked. ‘What’s going on?’
‘Did you hear the baby crying?’
‘What time is it?’
Rebecca glanced at the digital clock. ‘It’s three o’ clock.’
Justin moaned again. ‘Why aren’t you sleeping?’ he asked irritated. ‘We both have to get up early for work.’
‘Didn’t you hear the baby?’
Justin sighed and sat up. ‘What baby, Becky?’
‘There was a baby crying in the study.’
He tilted his head to listen. After a moment he looked at his wife and asked, ‘Can you still…hear…the baby crying?’
‘Of course I can’t,’ Rebecca snapped. ‘I’m not talking about now. There was a baby crying in the study. When I went to go and check, it stopped.’
‘And…? Did you find a baby?’ Justin asked. He couldn’t hide the condescending bite in his voice.
‘No,’ she said. ‘There wasn’t anything...’
‘That’s it,’ Justin said and got out of bed. ‘I’ve just about had enough of this.’ With that, he took his pillows. He walked to the closet where he pulled out a spare blanket.
‘What are you doing?’ Rebecca asked.
‘I’m going to sleep on the couch,’ he said. ‘I don’t know about you, but I have a rough day ahead of me.’
‘Justin, don’t—’
‘No Rebecca, I will! This has gone on for long enough now. Either you sort out your issues, or I leave. Got it?’ With that, he walked from the room and slammed the door shut behind him.
* - - - *
‘My wife said my name,’ Justin said.
Simon looked up. ‘Excuse me?’
‘That day in the coffee shop. You knew my name because my wife said it out loud.’
Simon shook his head and laughed. ‘She didn’t say your name out loud,’ he said. ‘Not once.’
Justin thought back to that day but couldn’t remember whether she did or not. ‘If it wasn’t her,’ he asked. ‘How did you know?’
‘It was given to me,’ Simon answered.
‘Given to you? By whom?’
‘By God, of course,’ Simon said. His smile transformed into a sly grin. ‘But since you don’t believe in God, I’m sure that you’ll be able to find a way to scientifically justify it.’
‘You really believe that, don’t you?’ Justin asked. ‘You really believe that you got my name from God?’
‘That’s right.’
‘Was it a booming voice from heaven, or did He meet you for coffee beforehand?’
‘You mock,’ Simon said. ‘But deep inside you know that I’m speaking the truth.’
‘All right,’ Justin said and cleared his throat to sound more serious about the topic. ‘How does He talk to you?’
‘It’s not audible,’ Simon said. ‘It’s more an inner knowledge that just occurs to me.’
‘An inner knowledge?’
‘Yes,’ Simon said. ‘I would know what the Lord wants me to know about a certain person or event. But outside of that I know you no better than you know me.’
A smile formed on Justin’s face. ‘Okay,’ he said, ‘what am I thinking right now?’
Simon chuckled. ‘It doesn’t work like that.’
‘Come on,’ Justin goaded. ‘I’ll make it easy for you. It’s a colour.’
‘I don’t know the colour that you’re thinking of,’ Simon said and stood up. ‘But I do know this.’ He held up his index finger. ‘One,’ he said. ‘It’s not a good idea to move out. Rebecca needs you now more than ever.’
Justin’s face dropped. ‘How did you...?’
Simon held up a second finger. ‘Two,’ he said. ‘Nothing is impossible for God to forgive. Not even an abortion. All you need to do is ask.’ With that, Simon turned and left.
* - - - *
Something bothered Simon. On his way to the hospital he wondered if it might be something about Justin or his wife. As he neared the hospital, the feeling intensified. Something was wrong with little Timmy. Simon could sense it.
‘Lord,’ he prayed as he parked his car in the visitor’s lot. ‘Please don’t let anything happen to Timmy.’ He got out and locked the door. ‘Please let him be all right.’
The feeling intensified even more.
Simon headed for the reception desk. ‘What’s wrong with the boy?’ he asked the nurse without greeting her.
‘Oh hi, Simon,’ the nurse at the desk greeted him. ‘Nothing that I’m aware of. Why?’
Simon ignored her and ran down the hallway to Timmy’s room. He hesitated a moment before entering the room and when he finally did, it took him a moment to register that everything was fine.
‘Why, Lord? Why would you allow anything bad to happen to him?’ Simon asked out loud as he knelt down next to the bed.
Beep! Beep! Beep!
‘Everything to the glory of God,’ Simon said softly and took the boy’s hand in his own. ‘Everything to the glory of God...’
Through his prayers, Simon couldn’t shake the feeling that something bad was about to happen to Timmy.
* - - - *
‘He’s going to leave me, Tanya.’
‘He’s not going to leave you, Becks,’ Tanya said. ‘And if he does...good for you!’
Rebecca smiled. Tanya meant well, but she didn’t always realize what she was saying. ‘I can’t afford to lose him,’ Rebecca said after a moment. ‘I can’t begin to imagine my life without him.’
Tanya sighed louder than she intended to. It was clear to Rebecca that she saw them splitting up as a good thing. ‘Why would he want to leave you? Because you’re a bad wife, or because you claim that weird things are happening at your apartment?’
‘I don’t know,’ Rebecca said. ‘Perhaps I am a bad wife? He’s been sleeping on the couch for almost a week now...’
‘That doesn’t make you a bad wife,’ Tanya spat in her usual tactless manner. ‘It makes him a crummy husband.’
Rebecca merely looked down without saying anything.
‘In fact, I think he’s having an affair.’
‘What?’ Rebecca asked and almost choked.
‘Yes,’ Tanya said and nodded as if to confirm her resolve. ‘I think that Justin is having an affair.’
Rebecca thought about the prospect for
a moment. ‘No,’ she said when she finally spoke again. ‘I don’t think so.’
Tanya brought the car to a stand-still at a traffic light and shifted it into neutral. ‘Think about it, Becks. The long hours at work. Sleeping on the couch. The eagerness to go to what he calls ‘sites,’ and then the sudden urge to leave you as soon as you tell him that you’re not having a good week?’
‘That’s not entirely accurate,’ Rebecca said, although Tanya’s observations did have a sad ring of truth to it.
Tanya ignored her. ‘The evidence is there,’ she said. ‘And it’s all pointing to one thing.’ The traffic light turned green and as Tanya pulled away, she took Rebecca’s hand. ‘Denial is a terrible thing.’
Rebecca pulled her hand away. ‘I’m not in denial,’ she said. ‘And Justin is not having an affair. Something is bothering him, but it’s not that.’
‘I just call ‘em as I see ‘em,’ Tanya said and for a moment let go of the steering wheel as she held her hands up. ‘You wanted my opinion and I gave it to you.’
‘You don’t know Justin the way I do,’ Rebecca said. ‘He won’t do that. Ever.’
‘I do know how people work. The symptoms are there. That’s all I’m saying.’
Rebecca forced a smile. She figured it best to make light of the situation before the conversation turned into a heated debate. ‘How do they say? If you want loyalty, get a dog.’
Both burst out laughing, instantly killing any tension that had been there mere seconds ago.
‘Here we are,’ Tanya said and looked at the grey building that was their office block. ‘Another day of pushing pencil.’
* - - - *
‘He’s dead, isn’t he?’ Simon asked the nurse at the hospital’s reception. He based his assumption on a feeling that he started having two days earlier. The feeling only intensified and somehow Simon instinctively knew what had happened. She did not answer but merely looked apologetically at Simon. ‘Are his parents here?’
She nodded.
Without saying another word, Simon headed for Little Timmy’s room. As he opened the door, Simon saw a woman hunched over Timmy. She cried as a man next to her held his arms around her shoulders.
Timmy’s parents.
The father looked up as Simon approached the bed, but he didn’t say anything. The usual blip on the cardio monitor was gone, replaced only by a blank screen.
‘Is he...?’