Chapter 4: The Calm Before the Storm
In my defense, there were not many choices across the street. I saw a Holiday Inn, Super 8, and a Comfort Inn and Suites. Fine, maybe there were a couple of choices. I settled on Holiday Inn because it was close to a pancake house. Faith would support that choice.
The prices were not great, but I was paying with the credit card. Mom taught me the correct way to use cash. "If you have a bill that is over one hundred dollars, use the credit card," she told me. We shared the credit card, but she let me hold on to it.
The woman at the desk checked us into a suite on the third floor. She made sure to give me an extra key. That irritated me somewhat. Not everyone lost the key. She also gave me a look that I did not appreciate. It was one of those I'll be watching you looks, like I would do anything wrong.
I did not bring extra clothes. I did not have time. Faith always had an extra outfit with her. She carried around what she called an "emergency bag" which had things in it especially for times like this. During road trips, she kept paper, pencils, clothes, and everything else you could think of in her bag. I was too impatient to do something like that. I told myself that I would go to a Wal-Mart or somewhere if I needed something to wear.
"Stairs or elevator?" I asked Faith as we left the desk.
"Stairs would be better for you, but I don't feel like climbing a flight of stairs right now," she replied.
Better for me? "Smarty pants," I mumbled under my breath. "Elevator it is."
Great. The elevator was filled with the sound of traditional rat pack music. I appreciated the pioneers of the music industry and all, but I could not have tolerated this for very long.
I looked at the room key. The room number was 108. The elevator opened, and I scouted the hall for our lucky number. I noticed a laundry room about half-way down the hall. See, I told myself, who needs an extra set of clothes?
"At least you can wash your clothes if we end up staying longer than one night," Faith teased me. I should have seen that coming.
"Sorry if I don't bring the entire house with me every time that I go somewhere," I teased her back. It was not much of a comeback, but I was not as good as she was at trash talking. I did not expect to beat her at it.
Our room was at the end of the hall. Big surprise there. At least we had a good view of the highway. If we got bored, we would just watch vehicles drive by all day. I slipped the room key into the lock and opened the door.
Exactly as I thought it would be, it was a typical hotel room. Two beds, a shower, and a small kitchen appeared to be the definition of "suite." I was not impressed.
"Looks basic enough to me," I said.
"Only you would complain about a hotel room, Christian. If you wanted a palace, you could have paid for the deluxe," Faith gave me a grin as she spoke.
"In case you haven't noticed, I'm not made of money."
"Trust me; I noticed."
We dropped our things on the beds. I chose the one closest to the door. Faith always wanted the one closest to the window, and she always got what she wanted. I did not really care; I let her have it. I grabbed the phone and dialed the hospital.
"May I speak to Madeline Sharp?"
They transferred me to the Patient Building.
"Christian?" mom sounded a bit better.
"Hi, Mom. We are settled in."
"Good. You two are only allowed to visit once every hour together, but I talked them in to letting you stay as long as you want one at a time."
"Do you want us to come over there now?"
"If you don't mind. I would like to speak to you about something important."
Something important? I could not think of anything too drastic, but I took her word for it.
"We will be there in a few minutes. See you, Mom." I hung up the phone.
"Leaving already?" Faith asked.
"That's the idea," I answered.
"And I was just getting comfortable."
I decided to skip the hospital and drive straight to the Patient Building. There would be no point in wasting time arguing with people at the hospital.
The Patient Building was no pushover in size. I supposed that it would be that way for all of the patients in recovery. I preferred the red and green paint job on it as opposed to the plain white that I had been staring at in the other building.
This building had sliding glass doors like the hospital, but that was the only thing that they had in common. The inside of it was more comforting. Everyone had a smile on their face. It made sense. Most of them had just been through grueling surgery. Soft colors like yellow, light blue, and pink decorated the walls. Even the seats in the waiting room had colored pads on them. They matched the walls.
I walked up to the front desk. Seriously, how many front desks would I be walking up to today?
"Miss Sharp is in room 508," the guy told me.
Another building with over one hundred rooms. Sounded about right to me. Luckily, I enjoyed exploring large buildings for hours in vain only to get lost in them. Did I mention how much I enjoyed sarcasm?
"Stairs or elevator?" I asked Faith again laughing this time.
"You have got to be kidding me," she replied, "don't test my patience, Christian." She tried to sound intimidating, but she failed by smiling at herself.
I liked the elevator better here. It played modern pop music - a step in the right direction for elevator music. Still, I could have done without Justin Timberlake. Faith seemed to be enjoying it. Her head was nodding to the beat. I rolled my eyes.
We got off on the seventh floor. Finding room 508 should have been easy enough. We could have just marched all the way to the end of the hall to the last room. It would have broken tradition for mom's room to be easy to find.
To my surprise, it was only the second to the last room. Maybe my luck was changing for the better. I did not get my hopes up.
Mom was propped up in bed eating an apple. She looked better, but I was sure that Doctor Alan had pills in her.
"They told me that citrus fruit would make me feel better," she said cheerfully.
"It's full of vitamins. It can't hurt you for sure," Miss Smarty Pants had to put in her two cents. Mom gave me an interesting look. Did I say that out loud?
A small clipboard hung on the end of mom's bed. It caught my attention. I was curious to know what mom's condition was, but I decided to leave it alone. She seemed fine, and that was all that mattered to me.
"Stop worrying about me," Mom spoke, "we have things to talk about."
"We will have to talk one at a time," I replied. I looked over to Faith.
"It's alright, Faith can wait outside. I won't keep you long."
"No fair," Faith complained, " why don't I get to hear the important conversation?"
"I will have a talk with us as well," Mom turned her attention to her. I knew that their conversation would not be nearly as exciting as the one she was going to have with me.
Doctor Alan walked in dressed in his white doctor's outfit. He had one of those stethoscope things in his hand.
"Ready for your checkup, Madeline? - Oh, we have guests," he said looking at Faith and me.
"How is she, doctor?" I asked.
"You tell me," he answered.
I gave mom another look. She looked decent, better than this morning for sure.
"Better?" I guessed.
"That would be correct. I gave her a shot for the pain so she could rest. She appears to be fine at the moment, but I could not tell you for sure." He scratched his chin as if he was puzzled by something.
Mom was a complicated person. Her expressions made it near impossible to tell what was going on in her head. Unfortunately, Faith got that quality from her. They were able to confuse someone without even trying. Mom would answer me straight if I asked her what she was thinking about, but Faith would tell me whatever she wanted to.
"Oh, you doctor types worry too much," Mom said.
"I certainly hope that you are right, Madeline. Now it is time for your checkup. I will tell you two when I am done," Doctor Alan said as he politely motioned for us to leave the room.
We left them alone and waited around in the hallway. Faith was quiet. She usually complained when something bothered her. Maybe this was too tender a subject. Although she was fine at the time, we could have lost mom at any second. I wanted to distract her from whatever was on her mind.
"What do you want for dinner?" That was perfect. Faith loved nothing more than a good meal. As much as she ate though, she was a skinny girl. All of the work around the house probably kept her from gaining any weight.
"I'm not very hungry, but you should get something for yourself."
"What's wrong, Faith? Talk to me."
"I'm just worried about her." I could tell that she was fighting tears.
I walked over to her and put my arm over her shoulder. I was not about to let her get upset.
"Hey, you are my sister. You know that I am going to take care of you no matter what happens. Mom is going to be fine." I hoped that I was not lying to her.
She did not answer. Maybe she did not trust me because I had not been there for her lately. Maybe she was just tired.
The door opened, and Doctor Alan came out with a smile. "She said to send you in, Christian. I will be in the other building until morning. I will check on your mother again then." He gave us a cheerful wave and left.
"Stay here for a minute," I told Faith, "I'll be right back."
I left her there by herself in the hallway. Mom did not have the same look on her face when I went into her room the second time. She was no longer smiling, but her expression was still comfortable.
"Come sit beside me," she spoke.
I walked to the side of her bed and found a chair to sit in. It must have been the one that Doctor Alan was using because it was still warm.
"What's wrong?" I asked her.
"Listen, there are some things that you need to know in case something happens," she spoke slowly to make sure that I heard every word.
"Do you think that you are going to make it?"
"You know that I can not go on any longer like this. I am dying, but do not be worried. I will be better off without having to deal with the pain."
It was hard to swallow, but I wanted her to be happy.
"Our family has many secrets, Christian - secrets that could be dangerous to you."
"Dangerous?"
"Yes. Your sister is one of them."
Faith? How was she dangerous?
"What about Faith? What makes her -"
"She is special. Remember years ago when you found her in the forest?"
Finally, I was ready to hear this story. But how did mom know what was going on with Faith, and I did not? She was not even there with us that night.
"Yes, I remember."
"She was playing with spirits. She can see them and commune with them. Not many people can."
"Spirits, like the ones in movies and books? Like dead ones?"
"Yes, exactly like those." Mom let out a cough.
This was getting weird. I started to think that mom's medicine was messing with her brain.
"The medicine is fine," she made me jump a little when she said this. "If you have not figured this out yet, I can read minds. I wasn't sure if you already knew.
"There is plenty for me to tell you but not enough time to tell it all. It is true that Faith and I have abilities that are beyond that of the average person. This may sound strange to you but-
Strange was not the word.
"everyone in our family can do something special, including you."
Me? I had never done anything strange like talking to invisible people or reading minds.
"You see, Christian, we are all very different people individually. We are spiritualistic. Go home with Faith tomorrow and find my diary. I can not explain all of this to you here and now, but the diary has everything you need to know in it. It is under my pillow where I usually keep my Bible.
"Go to Carol and Chuck. They will help make things clear to you. The closer that I come to death, the stronger your powers will be. Try not to be surprised by whatever happens tonight. Your sister developed her abilities more quickly than you did, but you will begin to experience things soon."
I felt my jaw drop open. I always knew that something was different about us, but not something of this level. Then, I asked the smartest question that I could possibly have asked.
"Mom, what is my ability?" I know, genius.
"I'm not sure. You will not know until you begin using it. We are all different. I am not even sure what all Faith can do. I just know that she is special."
"Are you about to tell her all of this?"
"No, I am just going to comfort her. She is very depressed right now. The honor of telling her this is yours."
I got up and walked toward the door still in shock. My mind was wrapping around everything that my mom told me.
"Hey," she called back to me. I looked over my shoulder in her direction. "Come give me a hug."
I hugged her, and she gave me a kiss on the forehead.
"Sorry to spring all of this on you all of a sudden. It will be easier to understand after you talk to Carol and Chuck."
Of course it would be easier. I would just understand how my sister was able to talk to spirits. I still had not figured out what my ability was.
"I heard that," Mom laughed. "Do not let this scare you, Christian. You and Faith are both very intelligent. You will be able to handle your powers like experts. And never forget how much I love you two."
"We love you too, Mom." I smiled at her. "Do you want Faith now?"
"Yes, if you do not mind."
I told Faith that it was her turn and sat down on the bench outside of the room. I heard thunder in the distance. I was not interested in the weather, however, until I heard the rain fall.
We left the Patient Building to go back to the hotel. I had a strange feeling, but I convinced myself that it was just my nerves.
"About dinner," Faith started. Her stomach growled. We both laughed.
The rain was falling hard at this point, but I was pretty good at driving in the conditions. It helped that the hotel was right around the corner.
I let Faith take a shower first. I sat and listened to the rain. It was really pouring. It was not until I got bored with the rain that I noticed the television. I needed a distraction so I turned it on. Of course I movie perfectly suitable to the situation was on. "Ghostbusters." Of course.