ONE WEEK LATER
EILAT, ISRAEL—SEPTEMBER 1, 2021—14:45 / 2:45 P.M. IST
It is so stupid hot,” Nir said. According to the forecast, they were in a cooling trend, which for Eilat in September meant the high was still 38 degrees Celsius. In just the short walk from the car onto the beach, he’d already sweated through his shirt.
“If you’re going to bring me to the Red Sea,” said Nicole, “I won’t spend the whole day somewhere in air-conditioning. I’ll be here, stupid hot or not.” She was carrying both their beach chairs and a small cooler. Nir was on crutches.
“You know these things weren’t made for sand,” he said, trying to keep both balance and forward progress. The docs had said that it would only be another day or two before the swelling would be down enough for him to walk on his own.
“Want me to get some of those big hunky guys playing volleyball to carry you?” she asked with a wink.
He just growled.
She pointed to the left. “Look, there’s an open one.”
“Of course no one is using the umbrella. Everyone’s inside in air-conditioning.”
Nicole laughed and punched his arm. Then realizing what she’d just done, she said, “I’m sorry. You okay?”
“Oh, the abuse I endure.”
They reached the large, thatched umbrella, and Nicole set up the beach chairs. Nir settled into his with a sigh and laid his crutches in the sand. She knelt next to the cooler and lifted the lid.
“Ah, finally, the mystery is about to be revealed,” he said.
“Prepare to be amazed.” She removed two tall glasses and set them on the lid. Then she opened a container of blueberries and dropped a handful into each glass. Next came some peach slices. This was followed by a bottle of Torani vanilla syrup, which Nicole tipped briefly. After placing the bottle back into the cooler, she took out a muddler and began mushing the ingredients together.
“Wait a second. Are you making gazoz? Who taught you to do that?”
Nicole had a big smile on her face. “Liora and Dafna. They had a CARL gazoz party a few days ago with the Kidon team. I think it was just an excuse for Liora to see Imri. But look at this. They even gave me a muddler.”
Imri and Liora? That’s interesting, he thought as he watched Nicole work. Going to have to keep my eye on that.
“You never cease to surprise me,” he said.
Nicole beamed at the compliment.
Next came ice and sparkling water. Then she topped each glass with a sprig of mint and slid in a straw.
She passed both glasses to Nir, who held them as she stood, brushed sand off her knees, and took her seat. He passed one glass to her and said, “L’Chaim.”
They clinked their glasses, and he drank deeply of the classic Israeli soda. It was perfect for a hot day. A breeze came up off the water and passed over his face. Life couldn’t get much better than this, he thought. He reached out and took Nicole’s hand, then closing his eyes, he soaked in the moment.
He woke as the glass slipped from his hand. It landed softly, its contents pouring into the sand.
“Oh, Nicole, I’m so sorry! I don’t know what happened.”
She smiled, but he saw concern in her eyes. She passed her glass to him. “It’s okay. It’s a little sweet for me anyway. How are you doing?”
“I’m fine. Just dozed. Between the sun and the breeze, it was just too nice.”
“Good. Now, how are you really doing?”
Nir looked at that half-smile he loved. There was wisdom, affection, and strength behind it. It was also her Be honest with me look.
“Physically, I’m getting better. I still can’t believe it was two days before I woke up in Ichilov. Once I did, I had to get out of there—away from being hooked to all those wires and hoses. I hated that. Well, you saw me. Then they had me so drugged up. I was hearing voices and seeing shadows. I didn’t like what those pain pills were doing to my mind.”
“You were really out of it.”
“I remember bits and pieces of the next couple of days, though. Like the ramsad coming by. One look at me, and I think his whole plan to rip me a new one for disobeying his order went out the window.”
“No, he knew you weren’t going to listen right from the beginning. I was sitting next to him when he told you not to go.”
Nir laughed. “I didn’t know that. Anyway, as soon as I could think clearly, I told them to get me off the drugs. Two days later I was released. I’m still pretty sore, but it’s survivable. And now I’m here with you enjoying the beautiful scenery of the Red Sea. And speaking of beautiful scenery, how is Alicia?”
“That was the worst deflection ever, so don’t think I’m letting you get away with it. But Alicia is great. Just talked to her a couple of days ago. She bought a house for her parents. Of course, she’s still living in the same dive apartment, but that’s just her. Oh, she’s also building a school somewhere in Uganda west of Kampala. She’s going there in November. Invited me to come along. She said you’re invited, too, if you want to join us.”
“I’ll think about it. Glad she’s able to do something good with all that gun money.”
“I like to think it’s the oil money that paid for the paintings. Helps me to sleep a little better at night. I’m also going to talk with her about ending our little partnership. I think we’ve gotten her to a good place. She doesn’t need our help anymore.”
“Good call.”
She laid one hand on his arm. “Now, back to our pre-deflection conversation. How are you really doing?”
“Again, physically, I’m getting better. But the other stuff, the mental side, that’s been a little harder to get over.”
“What’s going on?”
Nir hesitated. He wasn’t big on being vulnerable with anyone. But if I hope this relationship will keep growing, I need to trust Nicole even with things like this.
“Honestly, I’m waking up two to three times a night. The dreams are so vivid, so clear. Sometimes I’m watching it take place, like I’m in an out-of-body situation. I can see on my face how the pain is breaking me down, but I can’t step in to stop it. Sometimes I’m back where I was, feeling everything they’re doing to me. Sometimes I’m even in both places, though I don’t know how that works.”
He gave a bitter chuckle. “But it’s not even feeling it over and over physically. It’s the helplessness. Knowing someone has complete power over me and there’s nothing I can do to stop it. That’s what wakes me in a panic.”
Nicole reached over and took hold of Nir’s hand again. “You told me Jesus showed you He was there, but you didn’t tell me how.”
This was the part of his ordeal most confusing to him. He’d called out to Jesus for help, and it seemed like he’d received an answer. He didn’t believe in coincidences, and the young Filipino man showing up when he did gave him exactly what he needed to push through until he was rescued. But was he Jesus? Obviously, he knew the man himself wasn’t Jesus. But was his appearance Jesus showing He was there? Nir just didn’t know. And for that reason, he’d decided to keep that encounter to himself. At least for now.
Still, he had thought a lot about Jesus in the hospital and been looking for the right time to tell Nicole about it. He was pretty excited to see her reaction.
“I can’t really tell you how He showed Himself,” he said. “It just seemed like He made it clear He was there with me.”
Nicole looked at him. She knew there was more, and he was grateful she didn’t press the point.
Instead, she asked, “So what are you doing with that?”
“With the fact that Jesus showed Himself somehow? I thought a lot about that. I think now Jesus and I have kind of an understanding.”
Nicole looked at him curiously. “What kind of understanding?”
“Well, first, I’m not denying He’s real anymore. I mean, there’s more to Him than just historical Jesus. So I figure that’s a big step forward. But also, it’s like He and I get each other now. He wants me to keep helping people, which I’m great with. And along the way, He’ll step in when I need Him.”
Nicole raised her eyebrows. “So this is what you’ve figured out? Jesus is like the Hutch to your Starsky? Did you talk to a chaplain or read some pamphlet?”
Nir was animated now. “No, it’s just what makes sense to me. You know, as I’ve worked the whole thing through in my head.”
“Got it. You know, I’ve got to give your logic process an A. Your conclusions? You better hope I grade on a curve. Who do you think Jesus really is?”
“I’m still figuring that out. You say He’s God Himself. I get that. But as a Jew, that sounds weird and maybe a little blasphemous. But who knows? You could be right. But maybe He’s an angel. Like the ultimate archangel. Or maybe some other sort of spiritual being more powerful than angels but not quite God. I mean, we don’t know all that’s in the spiritual world, do we?”
“We don’t.”
“Or maybe He’s like a Christian version of a bodhisattva.”
Nicole shook her head and chuckled. “A Christian bodhisattva?”
“Yeah, like in Buddhism. I was reading about it in an in-flight magazine a while back. They’re these guys who postpone nirvana so they can help people out.”
“And to you, that makes more sense than ‘In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God’?”
Nir began to deflate a little. She wasn’t taking this quite like he’d hoped. She wasn’t upset or anything, but she also wasn’t sharing the same excitement at his spiritual progress.
“I don’t know. You may be right. He probably is God. Again, I promised you I would listen, and what you said makes more sense than ever. And, yes, there may come a day when I will, as you say, ‘make Him my Lord and Savior.’”
“Please don’t ever air quote again,” Nicole said with mock seriousness.
Nir laughed. “My bad. But for now, that concept of Jesus as Savior still doesn’t fully make sense to me. I know it’s working for you. I see your peace and your hope and all the rest. But the free gift part still doesn’t make sense to me. I’d much rather make a bargain. I’m just happy to know Jesus really does exist, and He doesn’t seem to hate my guts even though according to all the people in the Crusades I was the one who nailed Him to the cross.”
Nicole squeezed his hand. “You’re right. He doesn’t hate you. I’ve told you before, it’s just the opposite.”
“Right. That verse you asked me to memorize. God loved the world, so He sent Jesus, and anyone who believes in Him will have eternal life.”
“Pretty close. I’m so glad you now realize Jesus is there for you in this life. But that verse also says He can be with you in your death, an event you’ve been flirting with a little too much lately.”
“Speaking of flirting, how about you scoot—Shh,” Nir said suddenly, putting a finger to his lips. “There they are.”
Nicole looked at him with surprise. He kept his finger to his lips until he could see she heard them too.
It was just a low rumble, but it was rapidly increasing in volume. Then Nir could see the source, and he pointed to the west. Two jets whooshed overhead, followed by another two, then another two. Squadron after squadron of F-35s and F-16s roared by.
“Is that…”
“It is,” Nir yelled so he could be heard. “The Lions of the South squadron. F-35s and F-16s out of Nevatim Air Base near Be’er Sheva. They’ve got to pass over us so they can skirt the southern tip of Jordan, then pass into Saudi Arabia and on to Iran.”
It was an awe-inspiring sight, and Nir could feel the thunder in his chest. He said, “In yeshiva, when I was a kid, we learned the Torah says when someone was to be put to death, their accusers had to throw the first stones. We can’t throw a stone, but I thought we needed to see this to bring closure.”
He watched jet after jet pass over until the last was gone. Then he turned to Nicole and saw tears slipping down her cheeks. She was right to cry. What was about to happen was necessary but tragic. Sadly, when evil goes down, it takes innocent victims with it.
He reached over and took hold of her forearm. “Let’s go.”
Nir pushed himself up on his crutches and balanced himself as Nicole folded up the chairs. When she was done, he leaned over and kissed the side of her head. Then he began his journey back to the car.