Deer Park
Chapter 9
About a week later; Mike woke up to loud cries and glass breaking. Somehow, Christine was still sound asleep; so he got up and checked on Hannah first, simply because her bedroom was closer to Mike and Christine's. She was sound asleep too, so Mike moved to Katie's bedroom door. He could hear her crying, so he knocked and then let himself in. She was sitting on the edge of the bed with tears streaming down her cheeks.
"Katie; you're bleeding! What happened?" Mike asked. He ran across to the girl's bathroom and got a towel and then walked back in.
"I was having a bad dream. I must have knocked the water glass off. When I woke up, I must have been disorientated and cut my hand." Katie explained as Christine came to the door.
"Does she need stitches?" Christine asked.
"I don't think so, but I do need to get some bandages." Mike answered.
"I'll get the First Aide Kit." Christine said before heading into the kitchen.
"Honey, what was the dream about?" Mike asked gently.
"Lucas. But, I don't want to talk about it around Mom. Please?" Katie begged.
"But you will talk about it with me?" Mike asked and Katie nodded.
"Alright. We'll talk later." Mike agreed. He checked Katie's hand, glad that the bleeding was slowing down.
"Mike, I grabbed the broom, dustpan and another towel to clean up the water. If you will sit up on the bed and bandage her, I'll clean up." Christine said.
"Deal." Mike agreed. He took the first aide kit and fished through it to get what he needed.
Five minutes later, Katie's hand was bandaged, the floor was cleaned up, she was settled back into bed and Mike and Christine were in their own bed. Christine went right back to sleep but Mike tossed and turned for hours.
He knew Katie needed to talk. She probably never would talk to Christine, Hannah or her grandparents, but because Mike had been gone for so many years, there was a distance. He hated the distance, but it made it to where Katie would talk. He would take advantage of it, for the time being.
Christine had work and Hannah had gone to Christine's mom to work on school work. Katie didn't have to work until later in the afternoon, giving Mike and Katie an opportunity to talk. Mike fixed breakfast and put the plate in front of Katie.
"You should eat and when you're ready, talk." Mike said.
"I'm just scared of what you'll think." Katie remarked.
"I think that you will be fine. The nightmares are only going to get worse, I can promise you that." Mike said.
"Everything was going fine. The kids were playing and all was fine. Midway through…there was a new group of counselors that came to help. I would guess one of them was sick. Suddenly, everyone was sick. Everyone but me." Katie started.
"Okay." Mike encouraged.
"I…called 9-1-1. Suddenly, people showed up wearing these suits. Weird suits. Kind of like a firefighter, but not." Katie said.
"It's a haz-mat suit." Mike explained.
"They put everyone in tents and Lucas…was still alive but…they wouldn't let me near him. I begged, pleaded, but they wouldn't. They thought I would catch it, but I hadn't. I heard him begging for me. I would have happily caught it. Why didn't I get it?" Katie sobbed. Mike went around the kitchen island and pulled her into a hug.
"Just let it out. Just cry, honey." Mike said. And she did for several minutes. "As much as I hate to say this—you were probably immune. You didn't do anything wrong. Its just an anomaly in your DNA." Mike said.
"That doesn't help…I can hear…still hear the cries from all the tents. I don't know if any of them were Lucas but I think they could have been. One of the cops was going to take me to Mom and tell her about Lucas. I didn't want to go. To leave him, but I did. Before we got back to the house, they radioed him and told him Lucas had died. I can still hear the dispatcher's voice. She was so…no emotion at all. None. How can someone be like that?" Katie asked.
"I don't know. I never could." Mike answered.
"I should have been there." Katie said.
"Katie; even if you were immune, they wouldn't have known that then. You would have had to leave." Mike told her.
"What happened to his…" Katie paused.
"Body? He was cremated. That's what they did." Mike asked.
"So…there won't ever be a grave, I guess." Katie said as she wiped tears away.
"There can be a grave and headstone. Purely symbolic." Mike answered.
"How does that work?" Katie asked.
"We would get a burial plot in a cemetery and place a headstone with his name and the dates on it. Could have a pastor or someone say a few words." Mike explained.
"There's no pastor here." Katie said.
"Honey, is this something that would help you?" Mike asked.
"I…think. I really don't know. But Mom probably won't want to." Katie said.
"Let me talk to your mom. And I know a guy." Mike answered; hoping he could get Russ to come to Deer Park.
"Alright." Katie said. Mike pulled away.
"Now…do you have someone who would trade you at work?" Mike asked.
"I can try." Katie said.
"I think you need some proper rest. See if they can cover you." Mike answered.
"I'll try." Katie answered. Mike kissed her forehead.
"Alright." Mike said. He really didn't want to plan a memorial service for his only son, but if it helped his daughter, then it was worth it.