Daniel's Gift (13 page)

"I do want it." Danny felt a sense of desperation. He didn't understand what was happening to him or to the world for that matter. Everything was crazy. He was invisible, maybe even dead. And Jacob wasn't helping at all.

"What kind of an angel are you anyway?"

Jacob laughed. "You ain't the first to ask that question."

"I don't like this. I want to talk to my dad, and I want to do it, now."

"Easy, kid," Jacob said.

"I don't want to take it easy. I want to be alive again." Danny shouted. "This isn't fair. Why can't you just let me go back?"

"Ain't up to me."

"Then who?"

Jacob grinned in a toothy, knowing way that made Danny even madder. "Why don't you try again? Only this time, start with the elevator switch." Jacob tipped his head toward the panels. "Give yourself some time. Better hurry. They're almost down now."

Danny looked over at the buttons and impulsively jabbed the one that said Stop. The elevator came to a lurching halt.

The older woman screamed as she braced her hand against the wall. The little girl buried her face in the woman's skirt and started to cry. Luke said, "Damn."

"Oh, my. Oh, my," the woman said, panting with fear. "I don't like this. I don't like this at all."

"It's okay," Luke said. "I'm sure they'll get us going again in just a second."

The woman licked her lips and began to take in quick short breaths. "We're going to die. I just know we're going to die." She gripped the railing that ran along the back of the elevator.

The little girl screamed louder.

"We'll be fine," Luke said reassuringly. He reached out to pat the child on the head, but his gesture made her jump, and she dropped her Tootsie Pop on the floor.

The little girl pointed an accusing finger at Luke, her mouth drooping even lower. "You made me drop my candy," she cried. "I want my candy."

"I'll get it for you." Luke picked up the sticky red blob that was now covered in fine carpet hairs from the floor of the elevator.

"It's dirty," the little girl wailed.

"I'm sorry," Luke said.

"I hate you," she said.

Luke stepped back at the angry look on her ferocious little face.

The older woman started pressing the walls with her hand. "I can't stand this. I have to get out of here. I can't breathe. The walls are closing in on me. I have to get out of here now." She put a hand to heart. "Oh my God, I'm having a heart attack."

"Just calm down," Luke said. "Take deep breaths."

The woman started to gasp for air.

"Are we going die, Grandma?" the little girl asked with a trembling lip.

"We're not going to die," Luke said loudly and firmly. "The elevator is stuck, that's all. Now, calm down, both of you."

Danny looked up at Jacob and rolled his eyes. "Great idea, dude."

Jacob laughed. "You wanted to talk to your dad. Here's your chance."

"Okay. Okay."

"Don't take all day now. The service people in this hospital are pretty quick about stuck elevators."

"I'm thinking."

"That's a good start."

* * *

Luke sighed as the little girl's wailing rose to a shrill peak. Any higher, and he'd bust an eardrum. He looked over at the box, hoping for an emergency phone. Sure enough, there was a panel just begging to be opened. He reached out his hand, but he couldn't touch the box. It was the strangest thing. His hand was blocked by something. He couldn't even straighten it out. He pushed harder.

"Stop, you're hurting my shoulder," a voice said.

"What?"

"Ouch. Ooh, that tickles."

Luke heard a giggle, then blinked as the shape in front of him became clear. A boy appeared before him, his mirror image -- Danny. Good Lord, he was seeing him again.

"I don't want you to call anyone yet," Danny said. "We have to talk."

"Talk?" Luke murmured as he put his hand on what looked like Danny's arm. But what he could see, he couldn't feel. The boy had no substance. He simply did not exist. "I'm not talking to you. You're not real. You're not here."

"You can see me, can't you?"

"Yes, but who are you? Danny?"

"Who else would I be?"

"Grandma, that man is talking to you," the little girl said, interrupting their conversation.

Danny ignored her. "You're supposed to be upstairs, Dad. You're supposed to be visiting me."

Luke stared at Danny's pleading blue eyes. He looked so damn real, and yet he couldn't be anything but a hallucination. "Your mother wouldn't let me."

"Excuse me?" the woman in the elevator said, drawing Luke's attention back to her.

"I wasn't talking to you."

"Then who were you talking to?"

"Him." Luke pointed at Danny.

"I don't see anyone."

"She can't see me, Dad. Only you can," Danny explained.

"Oh, my God. I'm trapped in this elevator with a lunatic," the woman said, putting both her arms around the little girl.

Luke sighed again, looking back at Danny. "I probably am crazy. Because I'm talking to you, and you don't exist."

"You have to talk to Mom again. It's important."

"Am I really your father?" Luke asked in bewilderment. He couldn't believe in this vision. He was a scientist, a man of logic, grounded in reality. Yet, here he was talking to an imaginary boy in an elevator stuck between the second and third floors.

"Of course, you're my dad."

"I never knew."

"She said you didn't want me."

"Want you? Of course, I want you," Luke said loudly.

The woman next to him gasped. "Well, I don't want you. I'm a happily married woman. My goodness. Whatever are you thinking?"

Luke licked his lips in desperation. He turned back to Danny, but the vision was fading. "Wait, don't go. I want to see you. I want to touch you. I want to feel that you're real."

"Don't you dare lay a hand on me," the woman said. "I'll scream."

"I'm not talking to you," Luke said with complete exasperation.

Danny touched his arm. "Talk to Mom again. Don't wait too long. I'm hurt pretty bad. I might not make it."

"Wait. How do you know that?"

"I just do."

* * *

Luke hit the wall as the air in front of him was suddenly clear. No Danny. No nothing. "Damn it all," he swore.

"Oh, my," the woman said. She started to breathe faster again. The little girl screamed.

Finally the elevator began to move.

When the doors opened on the first floor, the woman and child rushed out. Luke followed more slowly, not sure what to do. He had half a mind to go back and talk to Jenny. But what could he say? That he had seen Danny in his dreams and just now in the elevator? She would think he was crazy, too.

And she would be right. He didn't believe in ghosts or visions. This was ridiculous, probably the result of too little sleep and too much anger over Denise's tubal ligation. He had kids on the brain, and his fatherly hormones were kicking into high gear.

Just because Jenny had a twelve-year-old son didn't mean the boy was his. There could have been other men.

But would she have gotten pregnant again so quickly?

The answer was disturbingly clear. Of course not. Jenny had taken his money to get an abortion, then bailed out. She had had his son and never told him. He supposed he could understand why. He had made his position very clear at the time.

Only now, things were different. He wanted this boy who was made up of everything good that was Jenny and everything good that was him. Because what he had with Jenny had been great, splendid, the best time of his life. Unfortunately, staying with Jenny would have gotten in the way of everything he had wanted and everything his parents had wanted for him, medical school, prestige, money, and power.

Now he had all those things, but he didn't have Jenny. And he didn't have his son. His shoulders stooped under the weight of his thoughts.

Luke tried to walk away from the elevators, but his feet were heavy. When he moved, it felt like someone was hanging on to his neck, two thin arms -- a boy hitching a piggyback ride.

Danny. Luke smiled to himself. The kid was persistent.

Making a sudden decision, Luke turned toward the elevator and pushed the Up button. Maybe he couldn't get past Jenny to see Danny, but at the very least he could see Danny's doctors. One way or another he would get some answers.

* * *

Jenny looked up as Merrilee walked into Danny's hospital room. "Is Luke gone?"

"Yes." Merrilee stopped a couple of feet from Jenny, looking uncomfortable and out of place. But then Merrilee had never been very good when people were sick. "He's so -- pale," Merrilee said. "I didn't realize."

Jenny met Merrilee's eyes and saw fear and uncertainty in them. "He's going to make it," Jenny said fiercely.

"Of course, he is." Merrilee thrust her chin in the air. "No doubt about it."

"Right. No doubt."

Silence fell between them, broken only by the beeps on the monitor and the sound of the ventilator pushing air in and out of her son's chest. So much equipment for one small boy. But it was giving him life, and that's all that mattered.

"Jenny, maybe you should take a break," Merrilee said. "You've been here for hours. You need food and rest."

"I'm not hungry."

"When did you last eat? You spent half the evening looking for Danny and the rest of the night here in his room. You can't let yourself get sick."

"Please, don't fuss." Jenny stroked Danny's hand. "I want to be here when he wakes up."

Merrilee shifted her feet, still keeping a few feet of distance between herself and the bed. "Richard said he'd come by later. He had to meet with clients this morning." Merrilee fidgeted, running her hand under the collar of her blouse. "They're from out of town."

Jenny sent her a curious glance. "Is everything okay with you two?"

"Of course, why wouldn't it be? Richard's just busy. So am I for that matter."

"You don't have to stay -- "

"I didn't mean it that way."

"I know. Still, it could be a while before -- before Danny wakes up. William and Constance need you."

"They're both upset about Danny. I told them he'd be fine, and soon. After all, Thanksgiving is next week. We can't have it without Danny."

Jenny's heart caught at the simple words, without Danny. She turned to her sister in desperation. "Oh, God, Merrilee, what if he isn't there?"

Merrilee put a hand on her arm. "He'll be there. He knows I never take no for an answer."

Jenny took in a deep breath and let it out. She couldn't let the doubts take hold. She had to keep them at bay, otherwise, she would break down completely. "You're right."

"I usually am," Merrilee said with a bright smile.

Jenny gave her a reluctant grin. "That you are. Did you talk to Matt?"

Merrilee's smile faded. "I left him a dozen messages. Maybe he went away for the weekend."

"I saw him last night. He's probably at Brenda's."

"I wish he'd get his life straightened out."

"So do I."

"Jenny," Merrilee said, "I have to ask. What did you tell Luke?"

Jenny looked at Danny, avoiding Merrilee's probing gaze. "I didn't tell him anything."

"Good. There's nothing to be gained by telling him that he's Danny's father. He'll only complicate things."

"I know," Jenny said, but deep down she felt a twinge of longing for the man who had fathered her son, the man Danny wanted so desperately to meet. How ironic that Luke should come now, a day late. Their timing had never been good.

Jenny stroked Danny's cheek. "The nurse said I should talk to Danny, that maybe he can hear me. Can you hear me, buddy? I love you, you know." Her voice faltered. "You have to fight to wake up. Push hard, baby. The sandman put an extra dose of sand in your eyes, but you can brush it out. You can do it. You're strong. You're a fighter."

"Jenny -- "

Jenny glanced back at her sister. "He's my courage, my strength, Merrilee. One night when we came home late from the movies, the back door was ajar. I was scared to death. I wanted to run next door and call the cops, but Danny, my twelve-year-old kid, gets his baseball bat and goes with me to check things out. And I let him, Merrilee. I actually let him." Her voice rose with anguish. "God, I'm a terrible mother. He could have been hurt that night, too. Just like yesterday, when I should have been home, when I should have guessed what he had in mind."

"Jenny, stop. You're not a terrible mother."

"How can you say that? You're the first one to criticize me."

"Only for the little things. I've certainly never thought you put Danny's life in jeopardy."

"Well, now you know. I've done it -- lots of times." Jenny sat down in the chair next to Danny's bed. "I wish I could go back and do everything differently."