A Grave Turn of Events

Sam woke to the sound of water running through the pipes next to his room. At first, he thought he was drowning in his dream, stuck in a well filling with rainwater. He breathed a sigh, knowing the dream wasn't real.

He strained his neck to see a sliver of light from the hallway. He'd forgotten to close and lock the door. He tried to pull himself up but was too weak from the long day. He caved back into his bed and plunged into a deep sleep.


Morning light bore into Sam's eyes until it gave him a headache, and he woke. His bad leg was still asleep. He stretched until the back of his hand touched someone beside him. He jolted from bed falling backward on the hardwood!

Sam scrambled to his feet. "What are you doing in here?"

Taylor stirred. She rubbed her eyes and refused to look his way. She hugged her pillow.

He climbed over the bed and shook her shoulders. "Hey, wake up! You're not supposed to be in here."

"You're hurting me! Stop."

"Get up!"

Taylor sat up on the edge of the bed. His wife's pajamas were large enough to slip over her pregnant stomach. "I did nothing wrong. You were sound asleep. I was afraid. The baby room creeped me out. There's graveyard in your backyard for cripe sake."

Heat rushed to Sam's face. "It came with the old house. Why am I explaining this to you? You don't understand, do you? I could be in all kinds of trouble just having you in the house, not to mention my wife."

Taylor stood, cradling the pillow in her arms. "I'll just show myself out then."

"You can't just walk miles down these roads. You won't even make it to the city."

"Yea, and it's you that took me way out here in the middle of nowhere, genius."

Sam put his hands up. "That's not what I want. I'm going to take you to Doctor Reed at the clinic. And you could have slept on the couch if you didn't like the view."

"It's Saturday," she said. "My boyfriend can take me when he gets back from New York. I called his cell last night. He's coming back soon."

"Please listen to me. This can't wait another week. Let me help you. And yes, they are open. He runs the clinic as a nonprofit. They even have a baby doctor that he can set you up with. You're endangering your life and the life of this baby."

Taylor threw the pillow down. "I'll go, but this better not be a trick to lock me away. My boyfriend will know where to find me. I'm hungry, and so is my baby."


"Ok then. Go change, and I will see you downstairs in the kitchen."

The phone on the nightstand rang as Taylor retreated toward the door. She stopped and turned, as if she needed to be curious.

Sam looked at the caller ID. It was the hospital! Sam's heart hammered inside. He looked back at Taylor and waved her on. She left the room in a huff.

Sam picked up the receiver. His thoughts in a blender. "Hello, Sarah, is that you?"

"Yes, Sam. I'm checking out of the hospital very soon. Are you okay? You sound as if you didn't get much sleep."

Sam took a deep breath. "I had a late night. I had to go to the shelter. We had an overflow situation because of the storm. There were some at risk people that needed help." He wasn't about to tell her everything that happened. He told himself his intentions were good.

"I know this isn't easy for you, Sam."

"Just come home?"

"Mother has me. I'm checking out of the hospital now. She's going to drive me over to the house to pick up some clothes."

"Your mother can stay here. We have the extra room." Once Sam said it, he wished the words could go back in his mouth. Mentioning the vacant baby room was bad timing.

A heavy silence followed.

"I don't think that's such a good idea." Said Ruth. "Doctor said, "'no more trying to have a baby."'

"I agree totally. One hundred percent." Sam watched Taylor turn the corner for the stairs, looking like her stomach could rupture from the baby inside her frail body.

"Are you going to be home?" Ruth asked.

"I...I'm meeting Dr. Reed at the clinic. It's related to someone from the shelter who needs to be seen. It's...it's a case were working on."

"I understand. You know I love you, Sam, don't you? You're the only man for me. Not having a child this way won't change how I feel. Don't beat yourself up over this. Don't put this all on you."

"You either. I will call you later. I love you beyond words."

Sam hung up the phone and listened to Taylor make her way down the stairs toward the kitchen.

Taylor shouted from the kitchen. "I'm going to scramble some eggs with bacon! Is that okay?"

As Sam ambled to the bathroom, he answered. "Yes!" He was just glad she hadn't shouted while he was on the phone with his wife. He welcomed her appetite. He knew enough about drug addiction that food can help replace the urge to get high. He just wished she hadn't called her drug dealing boyfriend.

After Sam peeled off his clothes, he could only look in the mirror and wondered who it was that stared back at him. Looking down at his deformed leg, he quickly realized his twisted body was the same. He turned on the shower, and wished he could go back to bed, maybe back in time too. "So much for going the extra mile," he said to himself under the noise of the shower. He just wanted to get Taylor out of his house and get her where she belongs.

After the shower and change of clothes, he carefully grabbed the railing of the stairs and limped his way toward the kitchen. A strong aroma of coffee lifted his nose. He breathed it in. He stood in the doorway. His stomach growled. Taylor looked content when she should be afraid of what happens next. A sonogram could reveal a baby inside her as deformed, ravaged by drugs.

Sam made his way to the coffee and poured it into his favorite mug, the one that said, "Liberty University," where he graduated, where his father was dean of the college. School on the mountain and in Virginia held some of his best memories. It was where he met Ruth, a Godly woman with blue eyes and amber hair. She could have gone out with tall men, the ones with thick, wavy hair, and that Elvis smile.

Sam couldn't believe it when Ruth accepted the first date, seemingly unphased by his handicap. College had been the first place where everyone treated him like a human, an equal.

Bacon sizzled in the frying pan and caught Sam's nose. Taylor appeared to be a good cook, but she wasn't much for putting things away and cleaning up after herself. She waited on Sam, which was a better vibe than last night when he wrestled the butcher knife from her hands.

Taylor sat on a stool across from Sam. He wanted to put her mind at ease. "You know I'm pretty sure the doctor can get you in the hospital for a few days. If you just do what's needed. Then someone at the shelter can work on paperwork to get you into a home somewhere."

Taylor swallowed a mouthful of scrambled eggs. "Okay. Where are you in all this?"

"I've got to get my wife home, maybe take some time off. It doesn't look good, if I'm with you every step of the way."

Taylor shrugged her shoulders and chomped on a piece of toast. Sam bowed his head and prayed over breakfast. Then it dawned on him how he rushed through his actions last night without any prayer. Maybe he feared an answer.

He devoured his plate of eggs and bacon. He hadn't wanted to eat since last night. He wouldn't tell Taylor how relieved he was to be putting her somewhere else, especially before his wife and mother-in-law stopped by for clothes.