Arriving at the hospital the next evening after teaching his classes for the day, Van felt the weakness enveloping his joints. Standing to give three lectures, walking prospective students around, and introducing them to the faculty, and taking part in a faculty golf tournament, appreciating the warm, rainy weather, in the evening had left him on his feet for most of the day. But, without a doubt, all that time, his mind had been on Summer. Every time she occurred to him, he had prayed for her.
The police officer assigned to protect her while they investigated the break-in had let him stay longer yesterday in her room, knowing he was the friend on file who’d called the cops for Summer.
Van was also grateful that they hadn’t insisted he leave since he wasn’t a close family member. He laid hands on her forehead and prayed for her every time she groaned like she was in pain. Then, as he sat by her side, his breath and hers punctuated by the beeping and humming of machines, he prayed some more.
Sometimes, he would turn on the TV to a low volume and listen in case he heard any news about the case. It had been reported that a man was found dead in her area. But it hadn’t seemed to have anything to do with Summer’s break-in case, and the cops were tight-lipped about it. A local waitress was said to be missing, but that was on the outskirts of town. Chances that it had something to do with Summer were slim.
He bent his head and prayed some more. Prayers that Summer would wake up soon. Prayers that she wouldn’t suffer permanent damages as a result of the attack. That she would retain her sound mind and not remember so much of the attack to lose her good nature. That she would be able to resume her life and experience complete healing.
His heart intertwined with hers the more he prayed. He almost felt like he was praying for his family. For his own.
Rising, he strolled to her bedside and swallowed. He could hardly keep his mind from reminding him that, the last time he went to the hospital with someone, they did not make it home. His wife and daughter had been pronounced dead, and he’d been left to mourn their losses and the death of their joint dreams. Then he’d buried himself in the task of preparing for their funerals, so overwhelmed with grief he didn’t even know how quickly time passed.
Just when he was getting himself back together, Dave Tisk, who’d gone back to their house to help him pack their belongings into storage, forwarded a number he’d missed repeated calls from that didn’t seem threatening. The number looked familiar so he’d called it back, thinking it might’ve been a friend.
“Hello, Officer and Mrs. Thompson?” a sweet and slightly familiar female voice had chimed, a sound which had become strange to a grieving man.
“Yes?” he’d cautiously replied.
“We are glad to inform you that we have found you a match for adoption. We could hardly wait to let you and your wife know,” she added, bursting with excitement.
Just then, it had felt like the fragile peace around his heart—that he had managed to coax together and exist under—had crashed.
He didn’t know when the phone fell.
Or when he touched the ground and wailed loudly.
Somehow, all the tears he had held inside for so long chose that as the best time to pour out of him. He wailed and wailed until he must’ve lost his voice.
Yes, he should’ve called the adoption agency and canceled. But, in the midst of his grief, he’d forgotten—and during the façade of his presumed death, he couldn’t exactly go calling people.
He woke up every morning, hoping for just enough strength to get through the day. Just enough not to scream at everyone going about their usual business as though all was well.
How could the world move on when his Katie was gone? She was his college sweetheart. She framed his world with her love, and her warmth was the delight he could hardly wait to get home to.
They’d planned their lives together.
But with the way God had blessed him, there had been no need for him to work till retirement age. He could retire today if his love of teaching hadn’t kept him nurturing young hearts with knowledge, and the joy of seeing them learn and grow was far more rewarding than what anyone could pay him.
But he and Katie had a problem. They couldn’t have any more children. He refused to go poking and prodding to find out who had a problem. If one of them had an issue with conception, they both had it.
So, they’d gone for adoption. She specifically asked for any child whom nobody wanted. Someone with bigger issues than others could handle. She’d wished for them to make a difference in someone’s life, to create a definite turnaround to improve society for good. She trusted adoption was a means to, not just give warmth and a good home, but also to transform a life.
He’d embraced her vision, and together, they had started working with a local center for troubled youth where they invested their weekends to help them while she, a nurse, treated them pro bono and referred the very sick youth to a hospital for better treatment.
They had covered many of those young people’s bills and prescriptions and watched them get better and become responsible citizens. With her gone, he couldn’t go back. Not with a target on his back. But love for them still reigned in his heart.
Later, when his emotions were better under control, he had called the adoption agency back, letting them know his wife had passed away. The director, who had accepted his phone call, offered her sincere apologies, almost crying while explaining she hadn’t known his wife had passed away. She apologized for any pain their phone call might’ve caused him and pledged to send flowers to his address on file to show their sympathies. She had also said their selected child had gone to another family when they didn’t hear back from him in time. Of everything she had said, somehow, that had hurt the most. It seemed as though life mocked all of his plans. He’d lost his Katie and Isabella, then lost a chance to adopt the child he and Katie had chosen together.
Then they had to make him disappear to save his life. He floated through life without much wish to live until God turned things around.
But, even now, in his heart he still wanted to be a dad. He wanted to raise a child as his own. But he didn’t want to do it alone. Van lowered his head and said the prayer he knew was coming. “Lord Jesus, please, send me a wife. I’ve mourned for so long…I don’t know how to be happy. Please give me joy again. Give me a home and a family. I want to love again. The right person, and at Your right time in the right way.”
The prayer came from the depth of his heart, and he was sure it touched the heart of God. Peace settled on his heart, inexplicable joy like a river flooded his soul, and he released his innermost desire to the One Who alone could perform it without the help of any human being. Then he bowed his head and prayed again.
The following day, Prof. Van Thompson had lowered his head between his knees when he heard his cellphone ring. Rising from the seat in the hospital room where he watched Summer Heart, he stepped out of the room to take the call. After a glance at the caller ID, he pressed back a frown. A call he’d hoped not to see was coming through.
Dave Tisk.
Meaning, another alias had likely been compromised.
Holding back a sigh, he took the call. “Dave? Don’t tell me something else is wrong, man. It’s barely been any time at all.”
“Sorry, buddy. But I promised not to deceive you, so whether I’ve got good news or bad news, I won’t hide it from you,” Dave replied with a croaked voice that sounded like he hadn’t slept since they last talked. If there was trouble, he most likely wouldn’t sleep, considering how his work ethic had always been. He wasn’t a man who slept in the face of danger. “Another ID got compromised. Number 4.”
“It’s still a ways off from nine. Please buy me time.” He glanced through the slightly parted hospital room doors. “I’m in the hospital with…someone, and they’re unconscious.”
Silence trailed his words. “Who? What happened? You’d said you’d lie low. Did you get involved in something, Van?” A mild scold laced his voice.
Van sighed audibly this time, wondering how much to reveal to his former boss and friend. “I picked her up on a taxi run. “
“What? You’re now a taxi driver?”
“No, it was a project for my students. Long story. Anyway, a fake cop stopped us and questioned me and her. While I thought his demeanor was odd, I didn’t imagine her place would be invaded. I went to check on her last night, and she was covered in blood, her assailant’s blood. Police are still processing the crime scene. They’ve already come here twice for my statement. And they left one behind to watch her room.”
“The attacker is dead?”
“Yes. He had a stick run through him. She was brave to have fought back, considering her gentle frame.” He returned a few steps into the room and saw her soft features relaxed against the light. “Thanks to God, she escaped alive moments before I arrived.”
Dave was quiet for a while. “Do you have feelings for her?”
Van swallowed. He couldn’t exactly say he didn’t, and he wasn’t sure admitting that he did would help with Dave. “Feelings are complicated things to unravel.”
Dave was quiet again. “Van?”
“Yes?”
“Your security is our priority. Consider shelving your feelings for this woman for safety’s sake.” Silence trailed his words. Van wasn’t sure he was willing to do that, and that surprised him. “I need you to keep your head clear of any emotional attachment. You may leave that place sooner than we expect. It’s better you don’t start anything with her—I mean, if you leave, she might not forgive you. A broken heart is worse than someone who never got attached in the first place. And you can never tell her who you really are, if you want to live.”
“I can’t lie to her. She hates that. Her last boyfriend said things that weren’t true.”
“And you want to be her next boyfriend? Your lies, just for you to stay alive, will be enough for her to send you packing even if you married her tonight.”
“I’ll think about it. Thanks for calling.”
Dave must’ve known it was his cue. Van wasn’t willing to talk about it any further. “Fine. I’ll let you know if anything else happens. Think seriously about what I said. No revelation of your real identity to anyone.”
“Understood. Bye.” Van hung up and reentered the room just as he heard her rousing. He stepped out again and shouted for a nurse, then dashed back inside.
Catching her small blink, he leaned over and watched her eyes peep open. Hazel-brown eyes bored into his and reached his soul, extracting a smile before he could help it. “Hey.” Van knew at this point that he loved this beautiful woman, and he also knew his life just got a lot more complicated…Because he’d have to lie to her—a whole lot—to keep them both safe.
***