The leather bed felt cold under my palms. I waited for Dr. Evans. I was sure Mom and Dad were waiting outside the hall.
Wearing the hospital clothes again made me queasy. I was always reminded of Liam, and then I would feel sad again. I hadn't moved on, I realized. And it had been more than five months since the accident. I knew I was getting nowhere with my situation.
Dr. Evans returned. He looked at me through his thick-rimmed glasses. His salt-and-pepper hair was neatly slicked back. His skin was as fair as his lab coat.
"We'll start by cutting the bandage out, Charlie," he said. He held the scissors up so I could see. As he did I felt the cold metal against my side. I had some wounds on my back and side from the accident. Now the doctor said I was all ready to remove them.
When the bandage was out, the cold air condition air breezed against my back. I shivered. I quickly put my T-shirt back on.
"And I can move without my crutches?" I asked him.
Dr. Evans smiled. "Oh, certainly. Just be careful next time, alright, kid? You have your whole life ahead of you."
I nodded.
"Come on, let's see you stand and walk without the crutches," Dr. Evans said.
Slowly I lifted my leg from the high leather bed and touched the tiled floor. And then I slowly did with the other.
No pain. So far, so good, I thought.
"Walk a few more feet, Charlie," Dr. Evans instructed.
Taking a deep breath, I breathed a silent prayer and began to walk one foot in front of the other. And then another. And another.
I turned to Dr. Evans and smiled in infinite relief. "I'm... okay."
He laughed and patted my shoulder. "Of course you are!"
As soon as I got out of the doctor's office, Mom tackled me in a hug yet again. Dad ruffled my hair.
"My big boy's so strong!" She said, tweaking both my cheeks.
"Mom!" I whined.
"Yeah, Charlie is all grown up," Dad said with a grunt, his hands on his hips. "So, when are you going to introduce a girl to us, huh?"
Mom shoved him. "Not that grown up!" Then she put an arm around me. "Charlie, you're free to be as young as you want. I'm so okay with you not getting a girlfriend or wife, all right?"
"Of course not! What about the grand-kids we've always aspired?" Dad said.
I made a disgusted face. "Ugh, Mom, Dad. I'm sixteen."
They laughed.
My phone beeped. It was from Meredith.
"I need to leave," I told Mom and Dad.
"But we're supposed to have dinner in Helen's," Mom said.
"I'll be there." I said. "Dad, can I borrow your car?"
Mom gave Dad a knowing look. Dad looked at her hesitantly, but he turned to me and said, "We'll meet you at Helen's."
"Dad!" Mom whined.
"What?" Dad said, chuckling. "The kid just got out of his bandage weeks. He deserves to be free."
"Thanks!" I said, sprinting into the elevator doors.
----------
Meredith: I got a vision. Come over quick!
"You too?" I said, watching Samuel trot up the curb to Meredith's front porch. I slammed my car door shut and caught up to him.
"What do you think is it?" He asked.
"When it comes to Meredith, who could ever know?"
"Hello, hello, hello!" Meredith said as soon as we got into the living room. Grandpa Chuck, Trey, Aubrey Wade, and Lily Hill were there. Samuel and I sat beside them.
"Thank you for coming!" Meredith said, applauding. We applauded with her. I shook my head, smiling in her eccentricity.
"You had a vision?" Trey asked, holding up his phone with Meredith's text message in it.
"Indeed I did, Mr. Mullins," she said. She clasped her hands together as if she was going to preach. "Today, as I did my devotional at four AM, I got a wonderful Rhema from the Lord."
"What's a devotional?" Lily raised a hand in question.
"A devotional is your private time with the Lord everyday. You'll understand more of it when you have a divine appointment with Him after your open cells," she explained.
"And what's a Rhema?" Samuel asked.
"God's Word for me for the day."
"So, what's the Rhema?" I asked.
"I know this is a very serious subject, but... after Liam's... passing, I was struck with a deep pain that I know was from the Holy Spirit. We need to get moving as Christians. Time is of the essence. I hope you're all aware about the end of days predicted in the book of Revelation that was previously preached by Pastor James at our last Sunday service," she said. "I was overcome with a serious need to ask the Lord what more I could do for Him. I was praying fervently and seeking Him. And this is the verse He gave me."
She got her Bible from a nearby table and leafed through it. "Ephesians 5:16: Make the most of every opportunity in these evil days. These are dire times we're living in, saints. And we have to do our part to fulfill the Great Commission God has called us to fulfill.
"And the Holy Spirit imposed on me--gospel tracts."
"Gospel tracts?" Grandpa Chuck raised his eyebrows. He grinned. "That's an amazing idea!"
"Of course, it's from the Holy Spirit," Meredith said. She put her hands behind her and smiled proudly at us.
"What's a tract?" I asked this time, raising a hand.
"It's like a pamphlet, but for Christians," she said. "Charles Spurgeon once said, 'Let each one of us, if we have done nothing for Christ, begin to do something now. The distribution of tracts is the first thing... When preaching and private talk are not available, you need to have a tract ready. Get good striking tracts, or none at all. But a touching gospel tract may be the seed of eternal life. Therefore, do not go without your tracts.'"
"We're going to be bringing gospel tracts wherever we go so that if we don't have the opportunity to personally evangelize a person, we can give them these tracts," she continued.
"I think it's a great idea." Trey commented.
"That's the only thing you said ever since we got here," I told him.
"This is the only opportunity I had to talk," he said.
"But... I feel like it'd be unfair, you know," Samuel said, tapping his finger on the couch's arm. "I mean, we don't even know how to evangelize personally yet. I feel like I'd be cheating God if I give out tracts without the knowledge of how to personally evangelize. I feel like I'd become too dependent on tracts, you know, and then I'd be disappointing God for not spreading His Word well."
"I already got that covered with Steven," Grandpa Chuck said. "I scolded him for not teaching you to evangelize a long time ago. You should be able to share your faith as soon as you repent and trust in Jesus. Hard times are ahead. It always is for us believers."
"Yeah, Jesus never promised an easy life," Lily agreed. "But He does promise He's going to go through it with us."
"And this is the best part!" Meredith exclaimed, her arms held high in glee. "Because of the vision I caught from the Holy Spirit, I realized He also wants us to move like the body of Christ. United."
"And?" Steven asked.
"This is our first task," Meredith said. "We have to ask the principal to let us borrow a photocopy machine exclusively for our club. We need it to duplicate copies of our tracts so we'll never run out."
I cringed. "That's a hard one. The principal is a strict atheist."
"And that's why we need to pray. Pray hard." Meredith said. "Pray hard tonight. Tomorrow we're going to start our mission for a spiritual awakening."