The Valley of Dry Bones (16 page)

“Well, I appreciate that, and I felt the same way about you. But you have to know that's not enough, not for something like this. It's too hard. We're never going to see enough success, enough results. We didn't even at the waterworks! How could you think this would be any better? If we're not doing this for a higher purpose, if we're not doing it for God, because He wants us to, because He's called us to it, it's never going to work, right?”

“I guess.”

“You guess? What are you going to do about it, Mahir?”

He shook his head. “I don't know yet.”

Zeke sighed. “You'd better figure it out soon, don't you think? For the sake of everybody else here?”

Knowing what was coming, Zeke felt the better part of wisdom was to let Pastor Bob start the one o'clock elder meeting the usual way, leading it and opening in prayer. He thanked God for the time the team had spent with the Nuwuwu and prayed for Raoul and Danley's safety on their supply run. He also prayed for Doc as he cared for Jennie and Cristelle and asked the Lord to give the three of them wisdom as they sought his replacement as an elder.

When he finished, he pulled a crisply folded sheet from his pocket and spread it open before him. “Now then, Zeke,” he said, “I'd like you to account for everyone on this roster, which I have listed in alphabetical order—aren't you going to miss me when I'm gone? Then we can chat through the likely candidates for my replacement and see how the Lord leads.”

Zeke gave Doc a knowing look, and Doc cleared his throat.

“What?” Pastor Bob said.

“No, that's all right,” Zeke said. “I can do that. Let's see. Katashi Aki is on lookout duty outside. Rev. Robert Gill is present and accounted for. Genevieve Gill is resting in her quarters, and I did check in on her on my way here and I must say, Pastor, like Katashi, I was alarmed at the difference I saw in her even since yesterday at this time.”

“Yes, I mentioned that I attribute that to a difficult night's sleep. I think she's very anxious about leaving you all.”

Zeke and Doc locked eyes again, but Zeke carried on. “Weak as she was, she seemed quite taken with little Zaltana's gift.”

“Yes,” Pastor Bob said. “So precious.”

“Continuing, Raoul Gutierrez is on the road. Benita Gutierrez is teaching. Elaine Meeks, food prep. Danley Muscadin, on the road with Raoul. Cristelle Muscadin in the infirmary—”

“Update on her condition, Doc?” Pastor Bob said.

“I'm having trouble ameliorating her pain, to put it plainly. I've increased the dosage and more meds are coming.”

“Mahir Sy, aquaponics lab. Zeke Thorppe, yours truly. Alexis Thorppe is sitting with Jennie. Alexandra Thorppe, that's Sasha, she's in class.
Adam Xavier is right here. Gabrielle Xavier is monitoring Cristelle. Caleb and Kayla Xavier are in class.”

“Thank you, Zeke. Now from among that list, you'll notice that I have put check marks beside the names of four men who are of age and who would be eligible to serve as elder. They are—”

“Excuse me, Pastor,” Zeke said. “I'm sorry to interrupt, but I wonder if Doc and I may discuss an important matter with you. I wouldn't ask if we both didn't feel it was crucial.”

“Please,” Doc said. “Trust him on this.”

“Certainly,” Pastor Bob said. “I yield the floor.”

“Doc has something very important he needs to tell you,” Zeke said, putting a hand on the pastor's shoulder.

Doc put his hand on Bob's other shoulder, causing the pastor to say, “Oh, my.”

“Pastor,” the doctor began, “it's only because of my deep love for both you and Jennie that I waited until now to tell you this. But you need to know, and I need to be straightforward.”

Zeke felt Pastor Bob shudder.

“Jennie's cancer is much more advanced than I indicated, and I can't in good conscience recommend that she travel Wednesday ev—”

“I know it's terminal, Doc. You told us—”

Doc held up a hand. “If you'll recall, Jennie asked if she would have time to see the kids and grandchildren, and I asked her how soon she could do that.”

“You said six months.”

“I'm not trying to split hairs here, Pastor, but she asked if she had six months and I said she might not want to wait that long.”

“That made us think—”

“I know, and I apologize if I left the impression she had more time than she did, but in my judgment you had both taken in as much as you could handle. You immediately decided that you would announce your resignation the following Sunday—yesterday—which I thought was wise. But Pastor, I need to tell you now, and you need to hear me, I double-checked
my analysis of the workups I did on her a week ago today. Not only does her deterioration just within the last twenty-four hours not surprise me, I'm a little surprised it didn't happen sooner.”

“So if she wants to see the kids and the gr—”

“Bob, she can't travel.”

“Oh! How much time does—”

“We need to make her comfortable.”

“You're saying it's a day-to-day situation.”

“That's what I'm saying. I'm sorry.”

Pastor Bob rested his head in his hands. When Doc inhaled as if to continue, Zeke signaled for him to wait. They just sat with their hands on his shoulders.

After several minutes, the pastor said quietly, “Would you gentlemen mind terribly if we moved the rest of this meeting to my place so I could be with Jennie?”

“Oh, Bob,” Zeke said, “this meeting can be over. There's nothing pressing here, nothing as important as your being with her.”

“No, really. She's sleeping, and I need to occupy myself. I'm serious. I feel strongly that I want to help you get this thing done, but of course I also want to be with her.”

“Are you sure?”

“Positive. Really.”

“Let me peek in on Gabi and my patient at the infirmary,” Doc said, “and I can pick up some meds for Jennie too.”

When they stopped, however, Zeke was surprised to hear Doc say, “What are you doing here? Where's my wife?”

“She came and got me,” Mahir said.

“She left the patient?” Doc said.

“Just for a minute. Asked me to trade places with her. Said she was getting light-headed from the alcohol smell or something. I don't mind. I was done in the lab anyway.”

“Mahir, listen,” Zeke said, “don't you have more important things you could be doing?”

“Always. The fuel conversion regul—”

“I don't need to know. I'll send Alexis to replace you in a few minutes so you can get back to that.”

“Whatever you want.”

When the men moved on, it was obvious Doc was simmering. “Alcohol smell?” he said. “Gabi's been in hospitals all our married life. Never heard her complain once. And she knows better than to leave Cristelle even for a second. She could have let me know. Give me a minute to find out what this is all about.”

He went off toward his quarters while Zeke and the pastor headed toward the Gills' room. When they tiptoed in, Alexis whispered, “She's finally asleep. She's so weak, but she wanted to show me what she got from Zaltana and tell me all about her last message and then the trip.”

Jennie lay on the couch on the far side of the room, the tiny toy still clutched in her hand, the IV drip running from a pole behind her.

“Message?” Zeke said, following Pastor Bob to the kitchen and settling in at the table.

Bob nodded. “You know how shy she is about speaking. Well, she asked if she could talk to everybody before we pulled out Wednesday night. I told her I was sure everyone would love that.”

“Of course we would,” Alexis said. “She might not want me telling you this, but she told me that if the trip was tonight, she wasn't sure she'd be up to going. She said she didn't even feel like sitting up. But I'm sure when the time comes and she starts looking forward to seeing the—”

“We're not going,” Pastor Bob whispered.

“What?” Alexis mouthed.

He beckoned her with a nod and she moved to the kitchen. Within seconds she was in tears.

Doc arrived with a small vial of meds, a bottle of water, and a bag of saline solution for Jennie's IV. “Rest is best,” he said quickly, but it was obvious he was distracted and more than exercised. Zeke noticed his eyes darted as he spoke and he treated Alexis like a lackie, dumping the stuff into her hands and speaking in a quick monotone. “Hydration is next, so if
she rouses, get some water in her too. Discomfort, here's pain meds—but that's it till the guys get back from Arizona. Zeke, we've got to go. Gabi says Mahir taking over for her wasn't her idea at all. It was his.”

Zeke shot up from his chair. “You're saying he lied?”

“She says he showed up and asked her if she liked the smell of the infirmary. She told him she was used to it. He said he was hoping she needed a break 'cause he was done in the lab and bored out of his mind. She said babysitting a sleeping patient wasn't exciting, and he said at least he could read without smelling fish.”

“Lexi, come with us,” Zeke said. “I'll need you to sit with Cristelle. Bob will stay here with Jennie.”

“What in the world is going on with Mahir?” Alexis said, as the three of them hurried off.

“We'll know soon enough.”

“Listen,” she said, “if Jennie's as bad as Bob says, you're gonna let her speak to everyone soon, right?”

“'Course, but right now we've got a bigger problem.”

When they drew within sight of the infirmary, Zeke was surprised to see the door closed. Finding it locked, Doc rapped on it.

“Busy!” Mahir called out.

“What do you mean, ‘busy'? This is Dr. Xavier! Open this door!”

The door swept open to reveal Mahir with a paperback book tucked under his arm. “Glad you're here!” he said over the high-pitched ring of one of the machines. “I was just about to hit the call button.”

Doc elbowed him out of the way and rushed to Cristelle. “What's going on? What have you done?”

“I just noticed she looked funny, so I—”

“Looked funny!” Doc said, ripping the cannula tube from her nose, grabbing an oxygen bottle, covering her face with the mask, and slipping an elastic band around her head. “She's not breathing, man!” He spun the flow control valve on the tank while pressing the thumb and forefinger of his free hand on her carotid arteries. “She's got a pulse but zero respiration. How long has this machine been off?”

Mahir shrugged.

“C'mon! When did it start ringing?”

“I was reading.”

“You can't read through that racket! How long?”

“It just started, I guess.”

“You guess! Minutes count! We're talking potential brain damage, Mahir.”

“I don't think it's been long. As soon as I heard it, I checked on her and was about to call you when you knocked.”

Doc turned the oxygen machine back on. “I'm going to switch her back to the tube as soon as her color returns,” he said. “How'd that machine get turned off?”

“Don't ask me.”

“Who'm I supposed to ask, Mahir? You see anyone else in here? I've got her so sedated she's not even dreaming, let alone moving, and you think she turned off her own air?”

“Well, your wife was in here before I was.”

“Will you stop? She knows better than to turn off a person's oxygen. Anyway, the alarm immediately comes on.”

“She sure looks better now,” Mahir said.

“No thanks to you.”

“Can I get to the lab?”

“You're not going anywhere,” Zeke said.

Mahir shrugged again, sat, and opened his book.

Doc pulled the mask away, used his stethoscope to check Cristelle's pulse and respiration, shined a flashlight into her eyes, cupped her face in his hands—Zeke assumed to feel the warmth of her face—and put the cannula tube back in her nose. He told Alexis he thought Cristelle would be all right but to call him if anything seemed amiss.

“Mahir,” Zeke said, “you need to come with us.”

“To?”

“Your quarters.”

They walked in silence until Mahir said lightly, “So, what's up, guys?”

“What are you, serious?” Doc said.

“Let's hold off till we're inside,” Zeke said.

Mahir unlocked his door and, no surprise to Zeke, the place was immaculate. Since the day they'd met when Mahir was hired on as Zeke's summer intern at the California Department of Water Resources more than two decades before—and soon became his assistant—the young man of French descent had been nothing if not shipshape. From day one, everything had a place and everything was in its place. Zeke had never been a slouch, but Mahir had even tidied him up—and his office.

His quarters could have passed muster with any drill sergeant.

Mahir pointed to the couch and began, “May I offer you gentlemen—” but Zeke cut him off as they sat.

“Give me your weapon, Mahir.”

“Seriously?”

“Just hand it over and give me your backups too.”

Mahir pulled a Colt .45 from a shoulder holster inside his shirt. “Have I done something—”

“You've never known me to do anything but lay my cards on the table,” Zeke said, “and I'm not going to start doing anything other than that now. You've got two snubnoses, too, right? A .22 and a .38?”

“In the bedroom.”

“Doc will go with you.”

When Doc rose, Mahir said, “You're afraid I'll come out shooting?”

“How do we know?” Zeke said. “What you did today makes me wish we had a jail here, somewhere I could lock you till we figure out if we can ever trust you again.”

“I'm finding this hard to bel—”

“Just go get the guns. And are there any more?”

“No!”