Page 73 of A Night To Remember

The man smiled. “That’s more like it. Give me your hand.

“No!” Charlie screamed. The nurse rushed out of the room, returning immediately with a doctor and another nurse.

“Ma’am, you’re going to have to leave while we attempt to resuscitate the patient,” the nurse said as she gently guided Charlie out of the room. When Charlie was outside the door, it shut firmly in her face with a decisive click.

Charlie watched helplessly through the glass in the door as the team tried valiantly to save Jake’s life. She couldn’t move. She felt her world had crumbled. She watched for several seconds before her legs decided to cooperate. She didn’t want to be the one to tell the family, but she had to. This was obviously her punishment for not telling Jake how she felt.

She walked numbly back to the lobby. She caught the anxious look on Moira’s pale face, and her heart sunk further. “Charlie what’s wrong? Has something happened to Jake?” An alarmed look crossed Moira’s face. The family immediately surrounded her.

“They are trying to resuscitate him right now as we speak, but he flatlined,” Charlie reported numbly.

“No! Not my baby. Not my baby!” Moira collapsed against Bill, who looked as if he needed someone to catch him. The room broke out in cries of anguish. Steve sat in the corner of the room with a stunned expression on his face. The children were huddled together with tears in their eyes.

The only dry eyes in the room belonged to Kristy, who seemed to be in her own little world. Charlie stood in the center of the room wishing this were all a nightmare. How in the world was she going to explain to her child her daddy was dead?

Charlie looked at her daughter, who was looking around at everyone as though she were trying to make sense of everything. She couldn’t help but wonder why Kristy was strangely calm. She hadn’t even complained after being woken up so abruptly. Her daughter climbed down from her chair, holding her cherished doll “Baby” Jake had given her. Kristy walked over to Charlie and tugged on her pant leg. “Mommy, don’t cry. The man said Daddy is okay. He said he would hold Daddy’s hand,” Kristy said.

Charlie looked dazedly down at her daughter. What the heck was Kristy talking about? Charlie leaned over and scooped her daughter up and clutched her to her chest. Charlie’s body shuddered with sobs as she held and rocked Kristy.

“Mommy, the man says it makes him sad to see you cry. He says don’t cry ‘cause Daddy is okay.” Kristy looked at her with tears forming in her eyes.

“What man?” Charlie demanded, raising her voice. Kristy cringed at Charlie’s raised voice and began to cry herself. Charlie felt lower than low. She hadn’t meant to yell, besides, Kristy was all she had left in the world. She walked over to the nearest chair and sat down with Kristy on her lap. “I’m sorry for yelling, honey, but what man do you keep talking about?”

“The man with the blue shirt. It has footprints on it,” Kristy sniffed.

“Where is he?” Charlie looked around her, but saw nothing.

“He’s with Daddy, holding his hand. He was sitting in the car with us Mommy.”

Charlie froze. Was this her daughter’s way of dealing with grief—making up imaginary friends? “Kristy, there wasn’t anyone in the car with us.”

“Uh-huh. He sat next to you,” Kristy argued stubbornly.

“Kristy—”

Just then, the doctor who had been in Jake’s room walked out into the waiting area. Charlie held her breath, waiting for fateful words she knew the doctor would say. The room fell silent and she knew the rest of the occupants were just as anxious as she was. She braced herself for the official words.

Dr. Reynolds cleared his throat officiously. “We were able to resuscitate him,” he began. Loud sighs of relief broke throughout the lobby. “As I stated before, we didn’t expect him to make it through the night, but his vitals are reading much stronger now than they originally were when he was brought in. That in itself is a miracle but he’s not out of the woods yet, ladies and gentlemen. He took a pretty hard hit on the head so even if he awakes there could be some brain damage. The next twenty-four hours are going to be the most critical, but I think if he makes it past that point, he’ll pull through.”

“Oh thank God,” Moira said with tears streaming down her face. Charlie stood up with Kristy in her arms and went over to hug Moira. As a mother, Charlie knew exactly how Moira was feeling. Had it been Kristy in the same predicament, she didn’t know what she would do with herself.

“See, Mommy. I told you,” Kristy gloated.

“You sure did, honey. I guess we have your friend to thank,” Charlie said, playing along, still not believing some mysterious man was talking to her daughter.

“What’s she talking about?” Bill asked curiously.

“She says there’s a man in a blue shirt who has been telling her Jake would be okay. She’s been saying it since we got here,” Charlie explained.

Bill looked at his granddaughter curiously. “May I?” he asked Charlie for permission to take Kristy. Charlie nodded. Bill lifted Kristy into his arms but the rest of the family who had heard snippets of the conversation gathered around them curiously. “Can you tell Grandpa about this man?” Bill asked Kristy.

“He was in the car with Mommy and me. He gave me a hug. He said Daddy is okay, and to tell Mommy not to cry.” The room was silent.

“What else did he say?” Bill prompted.

“He said don’t worry. He will hold Daddy’s hand to make sure he won’t go away,” Kristy said. Where was she getting all this from, Charlie wondered?

“Where is this man now?” Moira asked.

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