Two Spies Reach Out From the Grave by Chad Huskins

Author:Chad Huskins [Huskins, Chad]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Nine Dusks Entertainment LLC
Published: 2018-08-30T22:00:00+00:00

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One day when I was six years old, I woke up to someone screaming down the hallway. I jumped out of bed and ran to my brother’s room, where my parents had already convened around my brother, who was lying on the floor, terrified, tears streaming down his cheeks. He kept shouting over and over again, “I can’t feel my legs!” My father was scared. So scared he kept yelling at Derek that he needed to quit fooling around, that this wasn’t funny anymore. My mother already had the phone in her ear, dialing 911. Derek just kept screaming that his legs wouldn’t work.

Dad ended up carrying my brother into the family van and driving us all down to the hospital, where they gave my brother a full physical. Derek was nine years old, my big brother, and I saw him shaking and crying like I’d never seen anyone do before. Mom was praying. Dad was leaning intently towards the doctors, arms crossed, eyes wide with fear.

Derek was diagnosed with Guillain-Barré syndrome, a rapid-onset muscle weakness than happens when one’s own immune system attacks the peripheral nervous system. It can come out of nowhere. Back then, no one knew what caused it. These days, there are theories that it can be triggered by certain strains of flu virus. GBS is not as deadly as it used to be, thanks to some advances in medicine, but back then it was close to a death sentence, and even if Derek lived he was not expected to ever walk properly again. They said he’d never run and play like normal kids.

I remember sitting next to Derek’s bed. Day and night. I watched my big brother cry and look angry and be scared. I saw him getting skinnier and skinnier. I went back to school, life went on for me, but Derek had to do homeschooling. He missed all of his friends, while I got to run around and play with mine.

One night, I’ll never forget, I woke up in the hospital room. Mom was asleep on a couch next to me. Dad had gone out to get something to eat from the hospital’s kitchen, I think. I saw Derek’s eyes were open. I stood and walked over to him. I touched his arm, and smiled at my big brother. “You want me to get you anything, Bubber?” I asked. Bubber was what I called him, a leftover from when I was very small and couldn’t say brother.

That’s when my brother looked at me. No one else heard what he said, and I never told Mom or Dad. “This should be you,” he said. I stared at him, not understanding. “This shouldn’t be me. This should be you!” It was the coldest thing anyone ever said to me.

Dad came back to the room before I could say anything back, and we never talked about it again. I don’t even know if Derek remembers saying it. Maybe it was some kind of medication they had

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