Garnet sat with Dan’s mother and sister, Jenna, in a pew near the back of the church. Dan and his father were serving as ushers before the service, which was several minutes late in starting. The bells had already rung and the congregation was becoming restless. They looked down at their watches and began to speak in hushed tones with one another in the pews around them. Garnet stifled a yawn and glanced down at her purse that contained the jewels. She had barely been able to sleep last night, thinking about all of yesterday’s excitement and the anticipation of going to visit Elizabeth today.
The altar candles flickered when, at last, Pastor Peters appeared at the front of the church. Dan sat down next to Garnet and his father took a seat near the aisle, next to Dan’s mother. When the organist began to play the first hymn in the traditional style service, Garnet noticed that the mood was more solemn than the contemporary service had been and it reminded her a little of her grandmother’s funeral.
They followed the order of service in the hymnal. Pastor Peters read the scriptures for Ascension Day, then delivered a sermon about spreading the Gospel. What Garnet was not expecting, though, was the announcement he made before the prayers for the church.
Facing the congregation, Pastor Peters cleared his throat and in a sombre voice began, “As you all know, Mrs. Elizabeth Tate has been in hospital for the past couple of weeks. I was informed by the hospital this morning just before the service that she has suffered another heart attack. She has survived but is very weak. We will continue to pray for her and ask the Lord for his healing hand on his servant Elizabeth. Let’s also ask him to show her mercy and to grant her a peaceful departure, should it be his will to call her home to her eternal rest.”
He turned toward the altar and the congregation solemnly rose in prayer but Garnet could barely follow what Pastor Peters was saying. His will? His will? Was it the Lord’s will to let Elizabeth die? Surely if they all prayed for her, the Lord would have mercy and let her live, wouldn’t he? She hadn’t even had the chance to see the jewels that she had waited nearly her entire life to see. They existed and they were tucked safely inside the crucifix in Garnet’s purse. Garnet peered over at Dan. His hands were folded and his eyes were closed like everyone else’s as they prayed. But Garnet only wanted Elizabeth to live. She did not want her to go to her eternal rest. Not yet, anyway. Even if it was the Lord’s will.
The rest of the church service was a blur. Garnet stood up and sat down with everyone else but all she could think of was Elizabeth and the jewels inside her purse. What if Elizabeth never got to see them?
When the final hymn began, the organ sounded more depressing than ever. Garnet opened her mouth to sing, then closed it. Her throat was too tight.
“Can we go now?” she whispered.
Dan hesitated, then nodded before setting the hymnal in the rack on the pew in front of them. He signalled to his father that they were leaving and the next moment they were hurrying out the doors as the strains of the hymn continued.
“Elizabeth.” Garnet pulled up a chair as close as possible to the bed. An oxygen mask covered the lower portion of Elizabeth’s face, the IVs at the head of the bed measured life-giving drops into her veins, and the heart monitor counted every heartbeat, confirming life. “Elizabeth, it’s me, Garnet. Can you hear me?” Dan stood next to Garnet and rested a hand on her shoulder.
She waited for a sign, an indication that Elizabeth could hear her, but none came. Garnet tried again. “Elizabeth, please listen. You have to wake up. I have something to show you. I brought along the jewels. They were inside the crucifix. They exist, just as you believed.”
There was no response and no movement. Garnet looked up at Dan. He shrugged his shoulders helplessly. She felt a tightening in her chest as a feeling of despair overcame her. Elizabeth would die without ever seeing the jewels.
Garnet opened up her purse and pulled out the crucifix. “Look, Elizabeth,” she said, choking on her name and feeling tears prick in the back of her eyes. “If you press these nails and this drop of blood, the cross opens up. Watch!” She clumsily manipulated the buttons and Dan reached over to help her. Then Garnet pulled the necklace out, draped it over the crucifix and dangled it in front of Elizabeth’s closed eyes. The diamonds and blue sapphires flashed in the sunlight that streamed in through the window, as they had not done the evening before, in the dark, dingy library.
“Open your eyes, Elizabeth. The jewels are right here in front of you. See how beautiful they are.”
Garnet held them up, but Elizabeth did not open her eyes. She set the jewels on her lap. “There was a letter, too, from Reginald. I’ll read it.” The thin paper rustled as Garnet pulled it out from the crucifix and carefully unfolded it.
My dear son Albert,
Though these jewels are priceless, your mother and grandparents, who hid them in this very crucifix your grandfather made, suffered much for them. They could not sell them, nor could they openly enjoy their beauty for fear of being found. As you know, these jewels may not be bought or sold, but must be given away. They are said to bring divine favour to the wearer, but only to the rightful owner, the chosen one. Your grandparents believed in their power and did all they could to protect them for fear that they would be stolen and fall into the wrong hands.
They belong to you now. You will have to discover for yourself what powers they might hold. It is your duty to keep them safe and ensure that they are passed on to someone worthy of them.
I regret that I will not see you again on this earth, though I do not regret leaving it. I can scarcely bear the dreadful sounds in my head now that my hearing is almost completely gone. I am ill and will soon join your mother in glory. May the war end soon so that you may live your life in peace with your new wife.
Your Father
Garnet’s voice quavered as she read the last words. There would be no life together with Albert’s new wife. They did not live happily ever after. She folded the letter up and returned it to the crucifix. With tears streaming down her face, she picked up the necklace again and held it before Elizabeth, willing her to just open her eyes once and see the sapphire suspended like bait at the end of the line.
Then, to Garnet’s amazement, Elizabeth’s eyes fluttered open.
“She’s coming around,” Garnet said almost breathlessly. “Do you see the necklace?” She stood up and held it closer. Elizabeth’s eyes seemed to focus as she stared at the sparkling gems. She murmured something under the mask.
“What did she say?” Garnet whispered to Dan.
“I don’t know.”
Garnet turned back to Elizabeth. “I’m sorry. I couldn’t hear you.”
Then, with what seemed to be the last of her strength, Elizabeth pushed the mask aside. “Keep it, Garnet. Yours,” she said.
Garnet held her breath as Elizabeth raised the hand without the IV line, her wrinkled skin so transparent and pale that her blue veins seemed to almost jump out, and touched the sapphire. She held it for a moment, then grasped Garnet’s smooth hand, taking her fingers and squeezing them over the strand of sapphires and diamonds. The sapphire pendant twinkled.
“Yours,” Elizabeth said again before she dropped her hand over her heart. Her eyes suddenly widened and her lips curved into a faint smile. “Albert?” she whispered, almost in surprise, before closing her eyes.
“I think she’s going to be okay,” Garnet said, a wave of relief washing over her. “I wonder if I should call the nurse and let her know she’s come out of it.” She reached for the button to summon somebody when the alarm on the heart monitor unexpectedly sounded.
A nurse rushed into the room. She pushed the oxygen mask back over Elizabeth’s mouth and checked the monitors. She took her pulse before running to the doorway. “Code Blue,” she called urgently to someone in the hall.
The nurse returned to the bedside. “I’m sorry, but you’re going to have to leave.”
“What’s happening?” Garnet cried.
“Cardiac arrest. You must leave the room.”
A calm voice called over the P.A. system, “Code Blue in 5D-North. Room 34. Code Blue.”
“But she was waking up,” Garnet said. How had everything changed so quickly?
Another nurse arrived, then a doctor.
“Please leave the room,” the nurse repeated firmly as they tended to Elizabeth.
Dan took Garnet’s hand. “Come on. Let’s go to the waiting room. We’ll be right nearby.” Garnet grabbed her purse and clutched the crucifix and necklace to her chest as he pulled her out. She looked back at Elizabeth. What if they couldn’t save her?
Out in the hall, more of the medical team rushed past them. Dan and Garnet found the empty waiting room across from Elizabeth’s room and heard the doctor shout orders as they worked to keep her alive. Dan sat down in one of the chairs and took a deep breath. Garnet sat down next to him, her cold hands shaking as she clasped the crucifix and necklace, as though they were a lifeline. A feeling of complete helplessness had overcome her.
“Garnet, we need to pray,” Dan said. He placed his hand on hers, bowed his head, closed his eyes, and began, “Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven ... “
Garnet closed her eyes and prayed the Lord’s Prayer with him, soothed by the words even though she did not speak them. The truth was, she didn’t remember them all and even if she did, the words would have stuck in her throat. When Dan finished with the “Amen,” they sat in silence. They could do no more for Elizabeth. It was out of their hands.
It seemed like a long time, but Garnet knew it was really only a few minutes before the commotion across the hall came to a stop. She looked up through the doorway and saw the medical team leaving, their faces grim.
The doctor poked his head into the waiting room and entered. His identification badge said “Dr. William Chan.”
“Is she ...?” Garnet’s voice faltered. She couldn’t say it. She looked into his face, dreading his words.
Dr. Chan shook his head. “I’m sorry. We did all we could but we couldn’t save her. Are you a relative?”
Garnet hesitated, then nodded. “Yeah.” In a way, she supposed she was.
“We did all we could but she was too weak. Had she lived, she would have required twenty-four-hour care. Is there perhaps someone we can call for you?”
Garnet shook her head. “No, it’s okay.”
“I’ll call my grandfather. He was Elizabeth’s pastor,” Dan said.
The doctor nodded. “All right. And again, I’m sorry,” he said, then he left the room.
Garnet felt numb. But as she slowly absorbed the reality, she trembled and the tears began to fall. Dan put his arm around her and held her. They sat that way for some time.
After a while, Garnet looked down and realized she was still holding the necklace. It was dangling from her fingers like prayer beads. She carefully placed it back inside the crucifix and slid the cover over, the springs clicking into place. She set the cross on her lap and leaned forward, her head in her hands. “I suppose, in a way, it’s my fault.”
“Your fault?”
“That she died. I should’ve known better than to show her the necklace when her heart was so weak. And then she took the mask off. It was too much for her.”
Dan pulled Garnet straight up and turned her to face him. “Don’t you ever think that. It wasn’t your fault. And anyway, how would you have felt if she’d died and you hadn’t shown her the jewels? She died in peace. She saw them and knew they weren’t lost forever. Didn’t you see her smile?”
Garnet nodded. She had seen it.
Dan squeezed her hand. “Come on. I’ll take you home. I have to give Grandpa a call.”
Garnet picked up the crucifix and held it in front of her.
“It’s yours now,” Dan said. “She gave it to you.”
“The jewels of Sofia Tate,” Garnet mused. “Who would have ever imagined they’d be my inheritance.”