Shifting Sands by Kathi Oram Peterson

Author:Kathi Oram Peterson
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Covenant Communications, Inc.
Published: 2023-01-26T21:35:07+00:00

Chapter Fifteen

Jonathan read Frank’s name on the small sign by the door at the same time Gloryanna must have. But unlike her, he and Max floated over the people standing in the doorway and headed into his old partner’s apartment.

They passed the lavishly furnished living area adorned with golds and creams a camel-backed couch with two brocade wing chairs in front and between them an ornate coffee table. But Jonathan didn’t stop to admire the furniture. Voices were coming from down the hall and to the right. He headed toward them.

Two nurses stood on one side of the bed. A man in a lab coat, who was probably the resident doctor, and another nurse waited on the other side. The man held round pads the size of a bar of soap attached to tubing that connected to a machine.

Frank’s clothing had been torn from his chest, and red marks marred his white age-spotted skin. One close to the sternum and collar bone and the other on his left side just below his heart. A nurse pumped Frank’s chest while another nurse held some sort of breathing device over his nose, squeezing a large collapsible bulb that must shoot air into his nostrils.

A type of radar showed a straight line across the screen.

“Again!” the doctor yelled, holding the pads so the nurse near the monitor could squirt some goo on them. Once she was done, the doctor rubbed the flat surfaces together to smear the gunk evenly over the disks. “Press the dial to 360.”

The nurse near the machine tapped a button. A beeping sound seemed to be ticking off time or possibly gauging the current’s increase, and then a red light came on under the word shock.

“Stand back,” the doctor yelled as he placed the pads over the red marks on Frank’s chest. The nurse pressed the red light. The doctor pushed down the pads, and Frank’s entire body jolted.

All eyes turned to the radar as jagged lines replaced the straight one.

The medical staff gave a collective sigh of relief.

The doctor set the pads on the cart. The nurse near Frank’s head leaned over and said, “Mr. Becker, can you hear me?”

He moaned and blinked. Seeing the nurse, a slight smile came to his lips. He looked around at the others, but then he stopped as his gaze rested on Jonathan.

“No!” Terror seemed to seize him. “Why are you here? I had to do it!”

Surprised that his old friend could see him, Jonathan floated closer.

Frank then looked at Max. “It can’t be. Not both of you!” He struggled to get out of bed.

“Mr. Becker, lie still.” The doctor blocked his path. “You’ve just had a major heart attack.”

Frank pushed him away, and then he gasped, clutched his chest, and fell back on the bed unconscious.

His jagged beats on the radar collapsed and formed one straight line.

“What is going on?” The doctor grabbed the pads again. “We had him back. What happened?”

The team set to work.

Jonathan knew their fight was futile. He waited, expecting to see Frank’s spirit leave his body as he passed from his mortal form.

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