Sam and Rhys from A GHOST OF A CHANCE
“All you have to do is say yes,”
Roger said.
We were the only two people sitting
in the waiting room. There were chairs draped in dust covers and some back
issues of Haunted Times and TAPS. I looked at the front desk. The
receptionist smiled at me and went back to her filing.
“You’re curious, right?” Roger
pressed. “This is the truth you’ve spent your life pursuing. You wouldn’t pass
up this opportunity.”
“No,” I said slowly. He was right. Sort
of. I was a history teacher by trade. The paranormal studies were mostly a
hobby. A hobby I was passionate about, but not exactly my life’s work.
“So say yes.”
“That’s it? I don’t have to sign
any paperwork? No…waivers?”
Roger laughed. “No. You just have to
want it.”
“I see.” I didn’t though. Not
completely. In fact…this was so weird. I couldn’t quite remember why I was
there. It must have been Roger’s idea. But then that was sort of strange too
because—
“You’ve been thinking about it a
lot since Sam died.”
My heart seemed to stop. “Wait.” I
could hardly form the word. I felt frozen, stiff. “Sam’s dead?”
Roger stared at me as though I were
insane. “Rhys, Sam has been dead a year.”
“No. That can’t be.” My heart began
to bang in slow, heavy beats. Cold sweat broke out over my body. “No. I would
know.”
“You do know.”
I shook my head.
“Rhys. What’s the matter with you? Sam died Christmas Eve. He was
driving down from San Francisco .
You were going to spend the holiday together. There was an accident. He never regained
consciousness.”
“No.” I jumped up. “No. That’s
wrong. I know that’s wrong.”
“Not this again,” Roger groaned.
“You’re in denial because you never told him how you felt. You were too afraid
to take a chance after C.K. You feel
guilty about it and so you’ve blocked it out.”
I began to pace around the
laboratory as though I could walk away from what he was telling me. “I was going to tell him. I was going to tell
him that weekend.”
Roger rose too. He held up a test
tube. Green liquid bubbled up. “Exactly! But don’t you see? You can tell him. You can tell him now.”
“But he must know. He has to know.
It was just the words. I tried to let him kn—” I had to stop. I was going to be
crying in front of Roger and his lab assistant in a minute. I pressed the heels
of my hands to my eyes.
“No. He doesn’t know. You have to
say the words,” Roger said. “Like now. You have to say the words.”
I lowered my hands and stared at
Roger’s kindly face. His watery, near-sighted blue eyes gazed earnestly back at
me. He smiled. I had never noticed how yellow his teeth were – or that he had
such sharp incisors. In fact…
I asked slowly, “Wait. Do I know
you?”
“Wake up. Wake up, Rhys. You have
to wake up now.” Sam’s voice was raspy with weariness. “Rhys, I’m talking to
you. You need to listen. Wake up.”
That insistent tone was starting to hurt my head. He could be such an asshole
sometimes.
“Please, Rhys. Come on. This isn’t
fair.”
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Yeah, but life wasn’t fair. It
wasn’t fair when he used that soft coaxing voice either. That voice that made
me want to give him whatever he was asking for even when I knew it was probably
a bad idea.
“Rhys, I’m telling you to WAKE THE
FUCK UP.”
My eyes snapped open.
Instantly there was a confusion of
bright light and noise. Chaos. What was happening? Something was really wrong.
I couldn’t swallow. No. Worse. I couldn’t seem to breathe. There was a tube in
my mouth, a tube filling up my throat and pushing air into my lungs while I was
trying to exhale. When I tried to free my head, it hurt like hell.
“No, Rhys.” Sam kept me from
clawing out the obstruction choking me. “Don’t fight it. Lie still. You’re
okay. They’re going to take it out.”
More noise, lights, commotion…
Someone was holding my hand. A
warm, hard grip. I squeezed back reassuringly. Took an experimental breath.
That was better. That was the way
it was supposed to work.
“Rhys?”
I opened my eyes.
Better here too.
Quiet.
A soothing lack of light. Like
twilight only…
Sam was leaning over me. I could
make out that big, familiar blur. I was lying flat on my back in a room that
was not my own. Not Sam’s either. A hospital room. What the hell?
“Rhys?”
A rusty voice answered for me. “My…glasses.”
An electric silence followed this
request, and then Sam said in a shaky voice unlike his own, “Your--? Yeah. Of
course. They’re here somewhere. How the hell you didn’t break ‘em…”
My head hurt. My ribs hurt. My back
hurt. I was taking slow, painful inventory as my glasses settled on my nose and
Sam’s face and the room behind him drew into sharp focus.
Yes. A hospital. I was in a
hospital bed. Hooked up to a bunch of machines. There was fake garland around
the window and a miniature Christmas tree in a pot on top of a cabinet in the
corner. And there was Sam, grim and craggy and so important to me that I couldn’t
seem to hold all that feeling in my heart.
“I thought you…were dead,” I got
out in that creaky voice.
“Me?” Sam’s face was so gaunt. His
eyes glittered. He looked ill. No wonder I’d thought…but no. That didn’t make
sense. Sam was okay.
“What…happened?”
“You’re going to be fine now.”
Now.
“What happened?” It was tiring to
talk. “An accident?”
He nodded. “You were driving up
Friday night so we could spend the weekend together.”
I remembered. “I was staying. Through
Christmas.” Our first Christmas together. Important. A turning point. When you
started spending holidays together, that meant something.
“Right.” Sam’s voice was funny. So
husky. So gentle. But Sam was gentle.
People didn’t see that. He wasn’t in a gentle line of work. Being a cop didn’t
call for gentleness, and Sam was so big and so rough looking…but he was very
gentle. When he trusted you.
Had we reached the point of
trusting each other?
Sam was still talking slowly, still
watching my face “A trucker fell asleep
on the Grapevine. You were caught in a five car pileup.”
I swallowed. My throat felt scraped
and raw. My mouth tasted horrible. My ribs hurt. My right leg… Maybe I’d better save the inventory for
later. I was starting to scare myself.
“Everyone…okay?”
I could see by Sam’s face and the
way he made the decision not to tell me whatever it was that made him look like
that, that everyone was not okay.
“You’re okay,” Sam said. “That’s
all I care about.”
“Did I…miss it?”
He stroked my hair. “Did you miss
what?”
“Christmas?”
His smile was so broad, so bright,
it made my tired eyes blink. “No. No, this is Christmas Eve. You got back in
plenty of time.”
I couldn’t match that smile, but I
did my best. “Good.” My eyes were closing whether I wanted it or not. “I have
to…tell you about my dream.”
“Okay,” Sam said softly. His mouth
brushed mine. “And then I’ll tell you about mine.”
Sam and Rhys made me cry. In a good way, but still. On my way to work right now sniffing. No fair, Josh... but thank you.
ReplyDeleteWhat a beautiful story :')
ReplyDeleteI'm glad!
DeleteThat was scary. Good scary. A very suitable coda for A Ghost of a Chance! You left my heart pounding franticly though... so many different emotions wrapped inside today's package. :) Thank you.
ReplyDeleteThat was a weird one. Not even sure where it came from!
DeleteScared ME for a moment!
ReplyDelete:-D
DeleteOh, wow.
ReplyDeleteWell done. :)
Thank you! I like to keep mixing it up.
DeleteHoly cow, Lanyon! You sure can pack a lot of whoa and damn into a few words! Very nicely done! I think Rhys and Sam might be...well, ok, maybe my third favorites. :-)Thank you.
ReplyDeleteThat was a weird one, right? Still! You're third favorite isn't so bad. ;-D
DeleteNot bad at all! Do you realize how many couples you have? Oh, I suppose you do. You've been revisiting a lot of them. :-) I'm glad
DeleteBoy, I DO have a lot of couples! I'm learning that the hard way. :-D
DeleteWant. More.
ReplyDeleteYou scared me a little, Josh. But the coda is perfect, I love it the most by far.
ReplyDeleteAdriana
Why thank you!
DeleteBreathtaking, Josh...you sure know how to wake your readers up!
ReplyDeleteA little shock to go with the caffeine!
DeleteNo kidding! Almost swallowed the wrong way. )
DeleteThat was very succesful. I hadn't read the book - missed it, maybe because it came out in an anthology - and this sent me straight off to buy it!
ReplyDeleteAll the better! ;-)
DeleteWow, Josh. This one was dark! Definitely a morning eye-opener. I haven't visited Rhys and Sam in years. Will have to reread the story. Thank you, as always, for being such a talented writer.
ReplyDeleteIt was interesting going back and reading their story.
DeleteA couple of really scary moments there (◎_◎;) So much going on in such a small coda! Glad Sam and Rhys were both okay (or near enough) in the end!
ReplyDeleteYes, indeed! A very close call for those two!
DeleteThanks again for all these wonderful codas! This one did scare me. Love how it turned out.
ReplyDeleteAlways fighting that little streak of darkness in myself...
Delete;-)
A rollercoaster ride in a concise package. Had me saying, "No, no, no!" then "Oh, thank God." And I loved it--had faith you wouldn't deliver death and destruction for Christmas.
ReplyDeleteYou've got to assemble these into a short anthology for us aficionados.
--Please?
Kelly
I would like to second this suggestion. Anthology. Please.
DeleteI hadn't thought about it until a bunch of you suggested it, so...well, maybe!
DeletePuh-LEEEASSE!! With sugar and a cherry on top.
DeleteThird on that suggestion. It would make such a beautiful little printed book.
DeleteI hate to ask, but have wondered all day. Just like Rhys, do we know Roger? (should I post as anonymous for this question? ;p)
ReplyDeleteNo we don't. In fact, I kept trying to change his name to something more ominous, but for some reason Roger stuck. ;-)
DeleteYou may have me looking at every Roger I meet from now on with a wary eye. :p :-D
DeleteI did exactly the same thing as Kelly - "Oh, NO" and "Whew! It wasn't real". Great little snippet - but Rhys still hasn't said it!
ReplyDeleteWhaaaa!!! NO!!! Oh...!! Sigh....
ReplyDeleteI'll bet Sam's dream is better than Rhys' was ;-)
Seriously!
DeleteKeeping the suspenseful spirit of the original story? I remember Sam fondly, the vulnerable giant who thought people who look like Rhys wouldn't go for someone like him.
ReplyDeleteYes, Sam's such an interesting character, I think. Even more interesting than Rhy, really. Although Rhys has his intriguing obsessions. Dangerous obsessions, perhaps?
DeleteYAY! ...does a Happy Dance...
ReplyDeleteBut you naughty boy, I almost had a heart attack and didn't finish reading it, but then I thought...would Josh be that cruel this close to Christmas?????!!
Thank goodness I knew you wouldn't and kept reading :)
This definitely requires another chapter (or 50)
Thanks so much!
Rdafan7
I couldn't be that cruel. Not on Christmas. Thank heavens the story wasn't set at New Year's! :-D
DeleteI got a bit of a shock reading this one, but I persevered and what a great ending. The last couple of lines packed as much of an emotional wallop as the rest of the story. :)
ReplyDeleteThank you very much, Pender!
DeleteHeart-stopping! But thank goodness for dreams! (I think?) :-)
ReplyDeleteOr at least for waking up! :-D
DeleteMuch better said...you must be good with words. *wink*
DeleteYou scared me too. Sam and Rhys are my equal favorites.
ReplyDeleteGives relieved sigh.
Thanks
Hu, that was eerie, for a moment, when I started to read it for the first time, I thought I've got the wrong story.
ReplyDeleteFor some reason I want to hug Rhys when he asks if he missed Christmas. :) He's going to tell Sam, right?