JOAN'S FLASHFORWARD

Chapter 7 Counselor, Heal Thyself

It wasn't Lily's usual day to work at the church, but Father Ken had made her a rather frantic call: hundreds of people had come to the church desperately searching for spiritual guidance. It wasn't just the Catholic church, of course; similar scenes were happening at the Protestant churches, Rabbi Polanski's synagogue, and the local mosque.

Lily could not hear confessions, of course, but she had training as a religious counselor, and so she went to the church and did the best that she could. Some people had mild injuries, some had lost relatives and friends to accidents during the blackouts, and some were simply stunned. Everyone wanted to know WHAT DOES IT MEAN? Lily could give expert advice on some side issues, but to the main question, all she could do was tell the people to have faith and hope that the truth would be revealed in time.

One couple she particularly recognized: they were named the O'Brians. Three years ago they had come to Lily about their daughter Debbie, who seemed to fantasize having chats with Jesus. At the time Lily had interpreted it as an extreme case of the "invisible-friend" syndrome, and suggested that it would go away once Debbie acquired normal friends. Several months later, when Joan finally let her into the big secret, she also told Lily that Debbie O'Brian really was receiving divine visits, as a sort of Joan-in-training. Fortunately the parents never came back to her and so Lily didn't have to deal with it again – until now.

"Is Debbie all right?" Lily asked in concern. So many people had died in accidents---

"Yes. I mean, physically OK. But today – I need to catch you up on the background."

"Go ahead."

"You gave good advice, several years ago. Debbie made real friends in school, eventually got interested in boys – nice boys, fortunately. Gets involved in some odd hobbies, but that's not the problem now. She still rides horses occasionally. She hasn't talked lately about Jesus, except in the normal religious sense – until yesterday."

"What happened yesterday?" Lily had a feeling she knew what they were going to say.

"She said Jesus had come to her yesterday and warned her that a big crisis would happen today; that she had to make sure her family and friends were safe. She asked us to stay home from work to make sure we were out of danger. At first we refused; we didn't want to be humoring a teenage girl's weird fantasy. But Debbie got so frantic that we finally agreed to come home after the morning. And the crisis DID happen. How did she know--?"

Because God had told her, just as he warned Joan. Lily took a deep breath. "Mrs. O'Brian, I can't say anything for sure, but it's possible that Debbie did get a genuine vision of the immediate future. The church calls them charisms, gifts from God--"

Mrs. O'Brian did not look too surprised; they must have considered that. "But why Debbie?"

Mr. O'Brian suddenly spoke up. "It may not be Debbie in particular. I've been talking with friends over the internet this afternoon. They all had dreams, and many of the dreams seemed to deal with something happening in the future. So maybe somehow Debbie had a vision a day early."

"It's NOT just a day early," said his wife, looking annoyed. "Looking over the past few years, I think Debbie's continued to have these encounters with Jesus; it's just that she started hiding them after we created the fuss three years ago."

Like Joan hid her encounters for two years. Like I had to hide the secret from Kevin, like Helen still has to hide it from Will. The O'Brians shouldn't have to go through that. "Mrs. O'Brian, Mr. O'Brian, I think the best thing would be to talk with Debbie herself, encourage her to be honest, and not be judgmental at what she tells you." Lily knew it wasn't her place to tell. But she didn't see the harm in pushing the O'Brians in the right direction.

Mrs. O'Brian sighed. "Yes, that would be best. Sorry to bother you on a day where things are obviously so busy."

"Don't worry about it. And you're welcome."

After that talk, Lily asked the next visitors to wait a few minutes while she visited the ladies room. She really did need to pee, but more importantly she had to settle her nerves. It was scary to have a special line to God – and scarier when, in spite of the line, God refused to tell you what was going on.

She got her cell phone out and called her mother-in-law from the ladies room. It was obvious that consultations were going to continue into the evening, and Lily remembered that awful occasion where she had been out of contact on a nightlong suicide watch, and Helen had thought Lily was sleeping with Henry.

But Helen had news of her own. Other people had discussed the same phenomenon that Mr. O'Brian had, and a government official in California had announced a theory that the dreams people had experienced during the Flash were actually visions of the future. Which meant-- Lily pushed the thought out of her mind. She had to help other people now, and deal with her own business later.

She talked with people for an hour, supped on a sandwich and Coke from the church's vending machines, and talked for another hour. It was about 7:30, when the last parishioner came in – and Lily, intent on making notes, didn't even raise her head for a few seconds. When she did –

"Henry! Oh, thank God, you're all right!"

She circled the desk, threw herself in his arms. They had never hugged and kissed like this before; thoughts of Kevin always lay at the back of Lily's mind, and had inhibited her. "I tried to call you."

"My cell phone got smashed. I was talking on it when I blacked out, and when I came to it was lying on the floor in pieces. Then I made my way to a shelter to volunteer, and it was such a madhouse that I didn't get a chance to use the landline. I was terrified that something might have happened to you, Lil."

"No, I – " Lily caught herself, wondering what to say. That she had been warned by her sister-in-law? And HADN'T passed the warning to Henry because she had underestimated the danger, and couldn't figure how to explain it? "I'm all right."

Finally they untangled, and Henry sat in the spare chair. He looked awkward. "Um, Lil, don't think this is forward of me, but I had a dream---"

Lily decided to cut to the point. "We were getting married."

"Yes. And there was a TV on at the shelter, and a story about everybody having visions of the future."

"Six months, they say. It looks like we're getting married in six months."

"Yes. I love you, Lil. I want to get much closer to you. But I've been terrifying of proposing because I know that you wanted to stay loyal to Kevin."

"Why haven't you asked me to sleep with you?" Lily blurted out. Yikes, did I actually say that in church?

"It isn't just wanting sex. And that seemed to be the cheap way out. Like getting the fun without paying for it."

"PAYING for it?!"

Henry raised his hands in defense. "By getting married, I mean. The pleasure without the responsibility."

Lily laughed out loud. Henry was so sweet and understanding, she thought. Yet while trying to be as nice as possible, he had inadvertently expressed the male attitude of marriage as a ball-and-chain, and somehow managed to compare her to a whore in the bargain. And she badly needed a laugh today. "Just be frank, Henry. What's the question?"

"You've seen that we may be getting married in the future. Would you like to be my wife?"

Lily sobered immediately. "I – I can't answer that right now, Henry. Too much going on. Yes, I saw the vision, and I felt how I was going to feel, and it was wonderful. But it's like thoughts being put into my head from outside; I don't know if it's ME."

"Fair enough. But you didn't mind my asking?"

"No, of course not. I love you, Henry, and I'll answer you when things are calmer." She gave him another hug and kiss. "And um, Henry—"

"Yes?"

"Let's get out of here. A Catholic church is NOT the place to make out."

It was almost eight o'clock when Lily got back to the Girardi residence. Even then, Will had not gotten home. He came at about a quarter to nine. Helen ran to hug him, then drew back suddenly. "Will, what's wrong?"

"Wrong? " Will repeated, in a quiet but intense voice that Lily had not heard before. "The entire human race got attacked this afternoon, and nobody knows why, and you want to know what's wrong?"

"Well, of course I know that, but everybody in the family is safe. Try leaving your problems at the office for a few hours," urged his wife, speaking softly, trying to calm him down.

"I'm afraid that's impossible, because part of the problem is here." Will took a deep breath. "Helen, you and Lily went to a lot of trouble to make sure I was safe here at home at 2:00 when the Flash hit. As if you two KNEW that something was going to happen, and at that moment. HOW DID YOU KNOW?"

TO BE CONTINUED

(Author's Note: Debbie O'Brian, a younger girl receiving visits from God, was introduced in an earlier story, ANOTHER JOAN)

(Author's Note: This chapter was inspired by a scene of the FLASHFORWARD series, during which a frazzled-looking minister says that he, and his opposite numbers in other religions, is being swamped by counseling cases)