God Gave Them a Gift
Kate entered into Megan's room one morning to find she wasn't in her bed. Megan was playing with some coloring books on the floor, but surprisingly wasn't getting any on the carpet. The Bakers had welcomed Megan in for almost a whole month now, and she had acted like none of the other children. Megan always did the right thing; she never screwed it up by drawing on the walls or barfing on the carpet.
Lorraine was still puzzled on the night that Dana died and had found more of the case. Another morning, after Lorraine and Charlie had dropped Megan off at pre-school; Lorraine heard an obnoxious cry in her ears. Lorraine told Charlie they had to go back to her, and so they did. When they reached the pre-school, Lorraine found Megan backed up against a wall crying in fear from a few older kids who looked like they were going to hurt her. Lorraine took school off that day and stayed home with Megan, knowing that Kate wouldn't let Megan stay at that pre-school.
Lorraine felt a special connection to Megan, like no one else in their family had. She always seemed to be coming to her rescue at the right moment, like when Nigel was just about to bean her with a dart. Lorraine scooped her up right at the moment Nigel released the dart and moved out of the just in time to hear the metal tip bang against the wall. She let out a huge breath and thanked God she survived.
A lot of times, Lorraine would save Megan right before Jake would run over her with a skateboard, or before Charlie would pull into the driveway, not seeing her. Lorraine kind of felt like she had a sixth sense and Megan was a part of it. So sometimes, she would try to test it. She would put Megan against a wall and have Mike pointing fake guns at her. Megan wouldn't cry. It was like she knew if she was in real danger or not.
So right now, Lorraine was about to take Gunner for a walk when she heard a small shriek from Megan.
"I wanna go too, Lauren!" Megan shouted.
Lorraine laughed, being used to being called Lauren, "Okay, Meggy, you can come too!"
So Lorraine helped Megan put on her shoes and jacket and they took off out the front door. When they came to a street corner, Megan started to cry. Lorraine looked at her, confused. They stepped into the street and a car whizzed past them, honking arrogantly. It had come several inches from where they stood, but harmed them in no way, and Lorraine could see that Megan started to cry as a distraction.
Lorraine thanked God for Megan, she was so helpful. Lorraine didn't know how many times she almost died, but didn't because Megan saved her. She began to cry, and the tears trickled down her cheeks.
"Why cry, Lauren?" Megan asked.
Lorraine wiped her tears away, "I'm not crying." So they walked back to the house, with no more distractions or annoyances, they just thought to themselves.
Nobody else in the Baker family noticed Megan and Lorraine's relationship, so Lorraine thought she would bring it up.
"Mom," she said to Kate one day, "Can I move in with Megan?"
"Our Megan, why do you want to move in with her?" Kate asked, confused.
"Because I'm with her in there all the time anyways, and our room is getting too crowded."
Kate sighed, "You do realize it's going to be a hard move?"
"I'll get some friends to help!" Lorraine promised.
Kate sighed once again, "Lorraine, if that's what you want…"
"I do, I do want to be with Megan!" Lorraine cried. She ran up the stairs and started measuring how things would fit in Megan's room.
Lorraine walked into her room and Nora looked up. "Why are you moving that dresser?" She watched as Lorraine desperately tried to pull the dresser into the hall.
"So you and Sarah can have the room to yourselves," Lorraine grinned.
"What are you talking about?" Nora asked.
Lorraine explained, "I'm moving in with Megan so I don't even have to get up to go to her room, and you'll be with Sarah."
"Why do you want to move in with Megan, this is your room, you can always kick Sarah out," Nora reasoned.
"I feel like I need to be closer to Megan," Lorraine answered. Nora shrugged and gave a huge push on the dresser and it ended up in the hall. She smiled and went back to looking at her magazine.
Lorraine took another look at Megan's room, when suddenly Megan came bursting up the stairs. "No leave Lorraine!" she shouted.
"I'm not leaving, I'm moving in with you," Lorraine replied, smiling.
Megan jumped up and down, "Lauren moving in!"
"Wait," Lorraine paused, "You called me Lorraine before."
"Lorraine?" Megan asked, puzzled. "Your name is Lauren."
"Meggy, my name is Lorraine," she said slowly.
"My name is Meg-an," Megan mimicked.
Lorraine let out a giggle, "Come on, and help me with this."
Megan grabbed onto the side that called for pulling, and Lorraine pushed. It took some strength, but Lorraine managed to push a little bit. The second time she pushed harder and Megan went flying against the far wall of the room. Lorraine's jaw dropped at the sight of the limp body flying through the air, and she ran to her as soon as she dropped.
"Meggy, are you okay?" Lorraine asked. Megan didn't answer. Lorraine's tears built up and she picked the small body up into her arms. "MOM, CHARLIE, DAD, SOMEBODY, HELP!"
Immediately, 11 kids and the parents came into the room and stared at the three-year-old. Charlie rushed to the child and immediately checked the pulse. Then guess what brave Charlie did next? He brought his lips to Megan's and gave her CPR. Lorraine didn't giggle as she did in health class, but she allowed every breath of hers to be sucked into her lungs. The small eyes started to blink, but they closed again. Charlie grabbed Megan and gave her to Kimmy and Jessica. "Do something," he said. Kimmy ran out into the hall and returned with a doctor bag. Jessica was already doing something of the procedure. Kimmy joined in with a stethoscope and pronounced she wasn't breathing. Nora grabbed her cell phone out of her pocket and called 9-1-1, and an ambulance arrived right away.
Kate, Lorraine, and Tom went with Megan in the bright red ambulance. They bent over the pale body and cried. Then, Lorraine started to pray out loud. "Dear God," she said, "Let her be okay, she's just a kid, and it's my fault. Take me instead; I don't want her to die!"
Kate looked to Lorraine and cried even harder. When she came to a break, she said, "Lorraine, He's not taking anybody, she's going to be okay."
The paramedic looked at the trio in disbelief, "You crack-heads think God's going to leave someone to Earth just because 'they were innocent'? God doesn't have mercy, why do you think I go home every night to a cold house and an empty bed and wake up the next morning to the same thing?"
"Because you call people names, that's why. I bet you could get any woman you wanted, but you're not nice, so you repel them you ignorant piece of…" Lorraine started. Kate slugged her in the arm. "I was going to say CRAP!" Lorraine shouted at the paramedic.
"You know what, little girl, I might just leave your little baby here to die!" the paramedic shouted.
"AND THEN I'LL SUE YOU!" Lorraine shouted. They reached the hospital at that point, just before Lorraine got into real trouble. They rushed Megan in and brought her to the emergency room.
An hour later, Lorraine sat in the waiting room, waiting to hear from a nurse. Suddenly one entered, and Lorraine hopped up. "Good news," the nurse said, "Megan has only a bruise on the back of her head and we're running tests to see if there is any brain damage." Lorraine nodded. "Will you come in and tell us what is normal for her?" the nurse asked Lorraine. Lorraine grinned and walked with the nurse down the white hallway.
She walked into an even whiter room, where Megan sat behind closed glass. Three men in white suits stood on the other side of the glass, which Lorraine was on, observing Megan's every move. Lorraine watched as the toddler walked up to the glass. She stuck her hand on it and yelped for Lorraine. Lorraine gave her a 'shush' and Megan went back to sitting in the middle of the room. "She still knows who I am," Lorraine told the men in the suits. They nodded their heads and wrote something on their notepads. Lorraine glanced into Megan's eyes. She knew Megan knew she had something special, and the bump against the wall didn't affect that. Lorraine let out a huge sigh and the doctors turned to her. "She still knows," Lorraine explained.
"Knows what?" One doctor asked.
"She knows that, well, she has a 'talent'," Lorraine said.
"What does this 'talent' assist her to do?" another doctor asked.
"She can kind of tell things before they happen," Lorraine grabbed for words.
"So she's psychic?" the third doctor implied.
"I guess you can say that, but she doesn't tell people what she sees, she just cries, and I think she can only tell when bad things happen," Lorraine answered.
The three doctors let out an "mm-hmm, I see," and went back to writing on their notepads. Lorraine let out a breath and tried to "send a message" to Megan. "Meggy, show them what you can do," she said in her brain.
As if receiving the message, Megan stood up and looked into the corner of the room and starting crying. There appeared a demon, and Lorraine let out a scream. She looked at Megan and suddenly Megan burst into more tears. Lorraine opened the door that lead to the room and grabbed Megan. She burst back into the small room where the doctors stood taking notes on the whole thing.
"You ruined the experiment!" shouted one doctor.
"Well I didn't want my sister to be sucked into HELL!" Lorraine screamed. She hugged Megan close to her and they exited the small doctor's room.
Kate looked at Lorraine as she walked into the hall with Megan. "Well, does she have brain damage?"
"Um, I can't really tell you that, Mom," Lorraine stammered.
"What do you mean?" Kate asked.
Lorraine grabbed for more words and finally came out with, "Let's just go home, and forget anything ever happened."
"That isn't going to work on me, Lorraine," Kate scolded. "I want to know if Megan has damaged brain cells!"
"She didn't, now let's go!" Lorraine desperately tried.
"Nope, what happened with the experiment?" Kate inquired.
"Alright, I'll tell you," Lorraine gave up. "So Megan has this talent thing, right? So she looks into this corner and starts crying, and then this freaky demon thing appeared. So she starts bawling and I jump in and save her. And then the creepy doctors yell at me for ruining the experiment! They don't have any respect for nothing!"
"Demon thing?" Kate gasped.
"Um, yeah," Lorraine said, "Tell her Megan."
"It was scary, Mommy, it was mean and red, and it was laffin' at me," Megan obeyed.
"Oh thank God you're safe," was all Kate said. They rode home in silence and didn't say anything to the family except there was no damage.