My Sister's Keeper

Chapter 40

40

AS THE WHITE LIGHT FADED I could see the doctor and nurses working around me. I lay lifeless on my back with my arms at my sides, my pants and shirt gone. A doctor scrubbed two paddles together and placed them on either side of my bare chest. Everyone stepped back.

"Clear!"

A tone sounded and as the capacitors discharged, the lights dimmed and my body jolted off the gurney. I had the revolting sensation of being sucked through a tunnel and slammed into a concrete wall. Then it happened again.

"Clear!"

Again, the capacitors discharged. Lightning streaked through my brain and my heart vaulted. Faces and events streamed by. Mom, Dad, and me. My sister jumping in the surf at the beach. Sydney at thirteen, ducking away from me laughing and running. Martha in cap and gown crossing a stage. An ivy covered gravestone. Winston sitting in a car outside the fence at the Little League park watching my first time at bat. His face dark. His eyes peering out from under his hat giving me courage. I swung and barely hit the ball, but I got on first base and when I looked back, I could see Winston, his hands clutched together waving back and forth over his shoulders as he cheered for me.

"I've got a beat," said a distant woman's voice.

Pain flashed through my body and my eyes snapped open. White light burned into my brain. I coughed and gasped for air. A mask came down over my face and I felt the cold rush of dry oxygen burning my throat and chest. I sucked it in as deeply as I could and felt the tingle of deprived muscles coming back to life and the cold prickle of sweat breaking out on my skin.

Someone touched a hot hand to my forehead. "Welcome back, Richard."

Forty-five minutes later, I sat on the side of a gurney while a kid in a white coat shined a blinding light into my eyes and a police officer informed me that I was no longer in police custody.

The doctor, however, told me I'd have to stay until my blood pressure returned to normal. I could see Martha, Sydney, and Mom waiting anxiously in the hallway.

"Is there anything around here I could put on?" I asked him adjusting the sheet over my legs.

"I'll see what I can do."

"Thanks."

The women corralled the doctor as he left the room and I could see the relief on their faces as he brought them up to date on my condition. As she listened to what he had to say, Sydney dabbed a tissue at her cheeks, but never took her eyes off me. I winked and mouthed the words, "You look beautiful." She smiled for a second, but then her face tensed and the tears began to flow again. I blew her a kiss and she blew one back.

After the doctor left, Mom stepped into the room, wrapped her thick arms around me, and cried as Sydney wheeled Martha in behind her. "You need to stop all that snooping around and let the police take care of this."

"I'll try, Mom."

"I mean it!"

"I do, too."

Her tears smeared from her cheeks onto my bare shoulder as she hugged me again. "I love you, son."

"I love you, too, Mom."

She wiped her tears off my shoulder. "I've got to go check on your father now."

"Okay. I'll stop by later and tell you all about it."

After kissing my forehead again, she left and Martha rolled closer scrutinizing me intensely.

"You okay?"

"Still alive."

"Try and keep it that way, will you?"