Page 13 of Ghost of Christmas Future
“Hi, Daddy!” Wolf said, brightly. “We brought you pictures.” He held up the stack and reached into his pocket, pulling out scotch tape. With Aurora’s help, they started taping their pictures on the glass wall in front of Jude’s bed.
Everly moved the plastic chair Ronan had been sitting in and used it to climb onto the bed. “Hi, Uncle Jude.” She bent forward and kissed his cheek. “I’m gonna draw on your cast, so that when you wake up, it will be beautiful.” She dumped markers on the bed and started to draw. First a bright yellow sun, then a house, followed by a man and a girl, herself and Jude, Cope supposed. After she finished drawing, Everly signed her name. “There! Now you’ll see how much I missed you when you wake up.”
Aurora approached the chair. She handed Everly the Stanley cup and crawled up on the bed beside her. Taking the cup back, Aurora unscrewed it.
Cope was about to tell her not to get Jude wet, but Fitz gave him a quick shake of his head. Cope stepped back and watched Aurora.
“I know how much you love the snow, Uncle Jude, so I brought you some.” Aurora reached into the cup and came out with a small handful of snow. She threw it up in the air and watched with wonder as it floated back down. “’Member the time we got that huge snow storm and we made a snowman in the middle of the street! It was almost taller than my Daddy.”
“Then, we all clapped and cheered when the plow driver ran over Edward Blizzardhands?” Wolf added. “That was one of my bestest days ever.”
“Mine too,” Everly agreed, sounding thoughtful. “Running Eagle, do you think we can try to reach out to Uncle Jude together?”
“Yes, Whispering Wind. I was wondering when you would ask for my help.”
Everly beamed. “Thank you. Would everyone mind leaving the room? All, but you, Uncle Cope.”
Wolf and Aurora said goodbye to Jude and followed Fitzgibbon out of the room. Ronan pressed a kiss to Everly’s temple. “I believe in you. Jude does too.”
“Thanks, Daddy.” Everly turned her attention to Running Eagle when Ronan shut the door. “I tried to reach Uncle Jude yesterday, but it felt like there was a wall surrounding him. I couldn’t get through it or over it.”
“That was the blessing charm I had placed on Jude when he was born. It was invoked to protect my grandson from psychic attacks and other evils. However, your intentions are not evil. You are pure.”
Everly set a hand over her heart. “Uncle Jude is my special person. He’s been here for me since the day I was born, because he loved me. I want to give back everything he’s given to me. Every hug. Every word of encouragement. I believe Uncle Jude will get better, but I’m a little worried that he doesn’t believe the same thing. He’s a bit stubborn, you know?”
Eagle laughed. “Yes, little one. I do know. Do you remember the Blessing Way prayer we recited for Lizbet when she got her Navajo name two years ago?”
“I do. Are we gonna say that for Uncle Jude?”
“We are.” Eagle held his hands out to Everly, who took them. He began to hum. Everly hummed along with him. “Today I will walk out, today everything negative will leave me. I will be as I was before, I will have a cool breeze over my body. I will have a light body, I will be happy forever, nothing will hinder me. I walk with beauty before me. I walk with beauty behind me. I walk with beauty below me. I walk with beauty above me. I walk with beauty around me. My words will be beautiful.” Eaglepaused. “Hear us, Little Phoenix. Allow Everly to pass through the barrier between before and forever.”
Everly’s eyes slid shut. Cope watched in awe as her lips began to move. If anyone could contact Jude and give him a message of light and healing, it was Everly. He crossed his fingers and sent every bit of his positive energy her way.
9
Jude
Jude didn’t know how much time had passed since Bertha left him alone in his basement staring at his blood drying on the floor. He knew he was back in the hospital thanks to all the noise. Machines beeped around him and he’d spent the night listening to Ronan read a book. It was some kind of thriller about a child who’d been kidnapped and his parents’ desperate attempt to find him. He needed to find out how the book ended. Would the child come home to parents who loved him or were they the ones who made him disappear in the first place?
“Uncle Jude?” a familiar voice called out. “Can you hear me?”
“Everly?” Jude’s voice sounded rusty. Most likely a result of the damn tube down his throat. Or maybe the fact that he’d barely spoken at all since he’d fallen down the stairs.
“I’m reaching out to you. Grab my hand!” Everly sounded out of breath, as if she’d run up several flights of stairs.
Jude closed his eyes and pictured Everly. He reached out, not imagining he’d encounter his niece. She grabbed his hands and Jude yanked her forward. When he opened his eyes, Everly was standing in front of him. “Hi, honey.”
Everly wrapped her arms around Jude and hugged him tight. “I don’t have a lot of time. I can already feel myself getting weaker. Running Eagle is helping me get through to you.”
“I heard his voice earlier. Please tell him I’m glad he’s here. Same with your parents and Fitz. The kids too.”
“No way, Uncle Jude.” Everly stood with her hands on her hips. “Tell them yourself. You need to fight harder to come back to us.Woofie was so upset the other day when I couldn’t reach you. Lizbet is sad all the time. She doesn’t quite understand what’s happening, but she can feel that everyone’s energy is off.”
“So can you.” Jude smiled at his feisty niece.
“Mostly. I’m gonna tell it to you straight, just like my Daddy would; cut the bull and fight for your life. You know what it’s like to grow up without your parents. Don’t make Wolf and LizzyB go through the same thing again!”
Both of Wolf’s parents had been killed when he was only a few months old. Lizbet’s mother gave her up for adoption a mere hour after she was born. If anything happened to Jude, both of his kids would have lost three parents. Christ, he couldn’t imagine how hard that would be on both of them. Not to mention Cope. They were so happy together. Losing Jude would be a heartbreak Cope might never overcome.
