Beyond the Grave (19 page)

It was silent inside the car. Dad and Annalise sat in the back, lost in their thoughts and apprehensions. I tried not to think about what we would be told once we arrived at the care facility, focusing instead on getting us there as quickly as possible. I drove fifteen miles over the speed limit and wished for the first time that the police would pull us over. If they did, I would insist on an escort with flashing lights. It didn't happen.

The lobby was empty. We ignored the elevator and ran up the stairs. I almost didn't quite understand our collective rush. If Mom was gone, getting to her a minute sooner wouldn't mean anything.

The young nurse sitting behind the desk looked up at us with a smile. “Can I help you?”

I explained who we were.

“You'll need to wait here for the doctor,” she said. Her good-natured smile didn't waver.

“How long will that take?” There was no way I was going to take a seat and twiddle my thumbs while Mom's condition was so uncertain. The nurse seemed to notice our stricken faces for the first time.

“You haven't been told yet, have you?”

Behind me, Annalise sucked in her breath. My stomach clenched, and I felt seconds away from falling to the floor.

The nurse took pity on us. She got up from her chair and leaned across the desk. “It's against policy for me to tell you anything because that's the doctor's job,” she said, her voice low. I nodded, hoping it was enough to encourage her to break policy and give us the information we had raced here to get.

She glanced down the hall. “The doctor is in there with her now.”

“She's not dead?” I blurted out.

The nurse's smile returned. “Far from it. She's awake.”

“What?” I'd heard wrong. My hopeful imagination had twisted the nurse's words. I couldn't trust what she was saying. She had the wrong patient and it would turn out to be a horrible mix-up and our hearts would be smashed when the truth was revealed.

“She regained consciousness this morning.” The nurse put a finger to her lips. “But you didn't hear that from me.”

If she was right and this was real, I vowed to send the nurse a huge bouquet of flowers to keep on her desk.

I turned around to face Dad and Annalise. They looked as shocked as I felt, and just as wary. We weren't ready for this. All along, the doctors had told us that change would be gradual, the road to improvement slow. At no time did anyone suggest that she would simply wake up.

Annalise reached out and hugged both me and Dad. We squeezed her back. Still, we said nothing. The nurse suggested we sit down, but we were too wound up. Finally, a doctor emerged from the end of the hallway.

Dad practically pounced on him. “What's going on?”

I recognized the doctor as the same one who had explained
Mom's vegetative state without glancing at me. “Mr. Silver, we have good news.”

That was all we needed to hear. Dad charged down the hallway. Annalise and I were close behind.

“Wait!” the doctor shouted.

But we weren't waiting any longer. Dad pushed open the door to Mom's room. And for the first time in five months, she was sitting up in her hospital bed. I knew right away that she was not completely healed. She didn't turn her head when we came in, but she did begin blinking rapidly.

“We're here,” Dad said. He knelt by her bedside and hugged her carefully. Annalise and I did the same, lightly embracing her and then standing back to wait for her reaction.

“She has limited movement and hasn't regained her capacity to speak,” the doctor said. He was standing behind us. “If you'd allowed me a minute to explain before you came in here I could have prepared you better.”

“But she's out of the vegetative state,” Annalise said. “And she can see us and hear us, right?”

“Yes, but it's more complicated than that.”

Maybe it was complicated to the doctor, but it was simple to us: Mom was awake. And, we discovered, she could communicate with us. She could answer yes or no questions by blinking. One blink meant yes, two meant no. While the doctor droned on about the need for additional tests, we stood on one side of Mom so she could see all of us and we could talk to her.

There was so much to say and we had no idea how to begin. After telling her that we missed her and loved her, we wanted to give her only good news.

“Shane and Trisha are getting married next week,” Annalise said. “Isn't that great?”

One blink.

“And now you can be there!”

“No, she can't.” The doctor stepped forward. “I'm sorry, but your mother's condition is still delicate. She'll be here for a few more weeks, at least.”

“Then we'll bring the wedding to her,” Dad decided. “I'll set up a live feed and you can watch it from your room. How does that sound?” One blink.

Dad beamed. “And I'll be here with you. We can watch it together.”

Two blinks.

“I think she wants you to be at the wedding,” I said.

One blink.

“All right, but I'm coming here immediately afterwards. Is that okay?”

One blink.

Annalise clapped her hands together. “Shane and Trish are going to be so happy! We have to call them.”

A blink from Mom confirmed that yes, we should. The doctor left to complete his rounds but promised to return within an hour. Annalise went out into the hall to call Mills and Beth. Dad followed so he could call Shane. I stayed behind.

“We've missed you so much,” I said. “And I have so much to tell you.”

Her eyes were focused on mine. She was trying to squeeze my hand, but it was a very light pressure. There was something urgent about her gaze. “Are you trying to tell me something?”

One blink.

“Is something wrong?”

One blink.

“Are you okay?”

One blink. I wasn't sure how I could ask yes-or-no questions when I had no idea what my mom wanted me to know. Something popped in my head and I asked it before really thinking.

“Am I okay?”

Two blinks.

“Is it the Watcher?”

One blink.

“You don't have to worry about that,” I said. “He's gone.”

Two blinks.

She was still stuck in the memories of that night so many months ago. She had been attacked and had no idea what had happened afterward. Maybe to her it was still that same night and no time had passed. And even though now there was a new threat, she didn't need to know that.

“He's gone,” I said again. “You don't have to worry about it. The only thing you need to do is get better.” Two blinks.

I didn't have the words to reassure her, so I continued to hold her hand. Annalise came back in and announced that Beth would be visiting the next day and that Mills was thrilled with the good news. After Dad returned, I went outside to make my own calls.

Noah was the first person I dialed. “My mom just told me,” he said. “It's such great news, Charlotte. Everyone here is thrilled.”

There was no trace of the sick and exhausted guy I had discovered in my yard the night before. “You sound good,” I said. “How are you feeling?”

“Great.” He paused. “I'm sorry about last night. I don't know what happened.”

“Don't be sorry.” I wanted to ask him more, such as how he had gotten home and if he remembered following the
burgundy car to my house, but I needed to call Avery and get back to my mom. I was satisfied that Noah sounded better and was safe with his family. I told him we'd talk later when I had more time, then I called Avery.

She squealed with joy when I told her about Mom. “Charlotte, this is wonderful! Will we get to see her at the wedding?”

“You're coming to the wedding?” I hadn't been a part of the invitation mailing. All I knew was that the guest list hovered right around fifty.

“I'm holding the invitation in my hand right now,” Avery said. “Jared and I are both coming and we're so excited.”

My day was getting better by the minute. I missed my best friend, and knowing that I would be seeing her in a little over a week was an unexpected slice of good news.

The last person I called was Michael. He was with Bliss, and when he repeated my message, she cheered in the back ground. I laughed. It was an amazing feeling not only to receive good news, but to be able to share it with others.

With all of my calls made, I returned to Mom's room. The nice nurse was there, unfolding a cot. “I figured you would all want to spend the night,” she explained. “These aren't the most comfortable things, but they're better than sleeping in a chair.”

I learned that the nurse's name was Mary Ruth. She was officially my most favorite person in the world, and I told her that. She smiled. “I've been here six years,” she said. “And I can count on one hand the number of times we've had this kind of reunion. Anything I can do, you let me know.”

The doctor said we had to keep Mom awake for as long as possible. It wasn't a problem. We had five months' worth of stories to tell her. When I got tired, I curled up in my cot.
I closed my eyes and listened to Dad talking to Mom, and Annalise laughing softly.

It was the best sleep I'd had in months.

“Feel like finishing the DVD today?” Shane was looking at me in his rearview mirror. Annalise and I sat in the backseat of the Doubt van. Trisha was in the passenger seat.

“Absolutely,” I replied.

I had woken up hours earlier curled in the fetal position, with no idea where I was. Then I'd opened my eyes. Dad was awake and sitting next to Mom, holding her hand and speaking softly. Annalise was still asleep on her cot. Everything from the day before came rushing back to me, and I smiled.

Nurse Mary Ruth came in to check on Mom. She handed Dad a cup of coffee, then went about inspecting the IV and checking things off on Mom's chart. It was a surreal scene, but I didn't want it to end. I wanted all of us to remain in this room until Mom was completely healed and could walk out the doors on her own two feet. It wasn't realistic, though, and I reminded myself to be grateful for the miracle we had been given.

Shane and Trisha arrived. Shane hugged Mom for a long time, unwilling to let her go. Trisha placed a bouquet of purple irises on the table. “I know they're your favorite,” she said.

We spent a few hours chatting and asking Mom simple questions. Her eyes kept finding mine, and I smiled every time, trying to reassure her that I was fine.

A team of doctors had descended on the room before lunch. They had scheduled a day full of tests for Mom and suggested we go home. Dad wasn't going anywhere. While I'd wanted to stay, I knew there wasn't much I could do at the care facility except wait. Shane had offered to drive me and Annalise home.

“I can help with the DVD,” Annalise offered, sitting next to me in the van's backseat.

Trisha turned around in her seat. “I'd love some help with wedding plans today, if that's okay with you.”

“Sure. Whatever you guys need.”

“Thanks.” Trisha smiled. “We have to finalize songs for the reception.”

“That's my job!” Shane protested.

Trisha turned back to him. “That
was
your job. Then I saw your playlist.”

“What's wrong with my playlist?”

She sighed. “There is no way we're playing a song called ‘War Pigs' at the wedding reception!”

“It's Ozzy! It's a classic tune!”

“Fine. We'll take a vote.” She turned back to us. “Who thinks ‘War Pigs' is an appropriate song to play after a wedding?”

Annalise and I kept our hands down. Shane shook his head. “Don't vote until you've heard my rationale,” he said.

“It better be good,” I muttered.

“I picked that song because it was playing in this van when we met,” he said to Trisha. “Do you remember that?”

I remembered their first meeting. My family had been signing books and Silver Spirits DVDs outside of Giuseppe's. Noah
had arrived with Trisha, and she'd immediately gone over to the van for autographs. She and Shane hit it off right away. They'd been together ever since.

“That is kind of romantic,” I admitted, “even if the song isn't.”

Trisha softened. “Okay, we can play it. Toward the end, though.”

Shane nodded. “Deal.”

Once we got home, I ran upstairs to take a much-needed shower. Then I tried calling Noah, but it went straight to voice mail. I was about to go downstairs and help Shane with the DVD when there was a knock at my bedroom door. It was Ryan.

“Just wanted to check on your window,” he said. “And tell you how glad I am that your mom's doing better.”

“Thanks, Ryan. And the window looks great.”

I let him in to inspect the work while I sat at my desk. “Have you seen Noah today?” I asked. “I tried calling him, but there was no answer.”

Ryan bumped the sides of the window frame with his closed fist. “He was up really early this morning. Said he had to run some errands.” Satisfied that the window had been installed correctly, he looked at me. “We had a great day yesterday, once he finally woke up and I convinced him to take a shower.”

I wondered what errands Noah needed to get done. But I was optimistic that he was turning around. From our brief conversation the day before, I could tell that spending time with his family had a positive effect on him.

“I wanted to ask you something,” I said.

“Sure.”

“It's about your dad.”

“Oh.” Ryan crossed his arms over his chest. “What about him?”

I didn't want to reveal that I had overheard his conversation in the laundry room. “Noah mentioned seeing him last week.”

“He did? He didn't say anything to me.”

“It's not like they talked or anything,” I rushed to add. “Noah thought he saw him across the street one morning.”

“Dad's in town,” Ryan said. “Jeff and I aren't happy about it. We're worried he might try to ruin the wedding, so we've been giving him false information.”

“Good. That's good.”

“I love my dad, but my mom is the one who's been there for us. She deserves a perfect wedding day.”

“Yeah, she does.”

“I'll let you know if anything comes up, though, okay?”

“Thanks, Ryan.”

He began to leave my room, but stopped when he reached the door. “Shane's a good guy, isn't he?”

“He's the best. Your mom couldn't ask for a better husband.”

“Yeah, that's what I thought. I mean, just because his taste in football is questionable doesn't mean that he's a jerk.” He winked at me.

Downstairs, Shane was already at a computer working on the DVD. Everyone else had left to complete the day's wedding errands. Trisha and Annalise were picking up the dresses and Ryan was going with Jeff to get the tuxes. Soon, Shane and Trisha would be married.

“Not much left to do,” Shane said as I pulled up a chair next to him. “I think we can get this done in an hour.”

“Let's do it.”

I turned off my phone so I could focus on the project in
front of me. We worked fast but thoroughly. When we were done, Shane high-fived me. “I want to make a copy and get this mailed today.” He glanced at his watch. “I still have time to overnight it, which would be perfect.”

After the copy was made and Shane had left for the post office, I checked my phone. Five messages were waiting, all from Michael. Instead of listening to every voice mail, I called him back. “What's up?”

“I've been trying to reach you!”

I shut down one of the computers. “I've been busy. What's wrong?”

“Bliss figured out the name. We need you over here.”

“Sure. Give me a couple minutes.”

“No. Charlotte, please. Get here
now.
”

I didn't like the urgency in his voice. “I'm on my way.”

I left a note for Shane explaining that I would be back later, then grabbed my purse. My phone rang while I was searching for my car keys.

“I'm leaving right now!” I said.

“Charlotte?”

“Hi, Beth. Sorry. I'm kind of in a rush. Michael needs me for something.”

“I'm here with your mom,” Beth said.

I stopped rummaging in my purse. “How is she?”

“She's good. She just got back from a CAT scan. Charlotte, she has a message for you.”

“A message?”

“Yes. This may sound strange, but I brought a Ouija board with me today.” Beth knew about Mom's ability to blink yes or no, but figured she would want to communicate with words, as well. She had brought the board because the alphabet was printed on it. Beth pointed to each letter, and if the
letter was part of the message, Mom blinked once. “It took a while,” Beth said, “but she needed to tell you this.”

“Okay,” I said slowly. “What's the message?”

“One second.” Beth's voice got softer. She was asking Mom a question. It sounded like, “Are you sure about this?”

“Charlotte, your mom wants me to tell you one thing. It's very important.”

“Tell me.” It came out as a whisper. I knew that whatever Beth was about to say was not going to be something I wanted to hear, and when she finally spoke, I felt my heart drop.

“Close the gate.”