The God Experiment

Chapter No.2 New Life

Chapter No.2 New Life

After a week of vigorous therapy, Robert Steris was ceremoniously wheeled out through the lobby of Barkley House to the cheers of the nursing staff. He was their ultimate achievement, a lucky comatose patient that actually lived to be discharged alive. Most ended up in a funeral home.

Janet Steris was there to help him into her car after thanking the Barkley House staff for their amazing work. She had no idea what to expect now. It was as if she had a stranger to deal with.

"I could use a good meal," Robert said, licking his lips. "Nursing home food is rather drab."

Janet glanced at him before turning back to her driving. "I would think that you would be happy to just be alive."

"Actually, I knew I would be."

That made her turn back to him with a confused expression. She had no idea why he would say something like that. Was he aware of his situation the entire ten years?

She helped him out of the car, a late model Ford sedan, and into their modest ranch style three-bedroom, two-bath home in a quiet suburb. James, his son, was there to witness the arrival.

Robert sat down on an easy chair in the living room. An aged cocker spaniel limped over to him and looked up with cataract eyes. He reached down and petted the dog, rubbing his hand over its head, flopping it ears.

James was the first to notice that the dog suddenly became excited and more attentive.

Janet's eyes grew larger. "What the hell got into Sparky? I haven't seen him jump around like that in years."

James pointed to his father. "He did something to him!"

She squinted at him and then at her husband.

Robert smiled sheepishly. "Ah, he had a small tumor on his brain stem, and a lot of arthritis. I also cleared his cataracts."

"You cured him?" James asked, his eyes wide with wonder.

"Yeah, I couldn't help myself."

"If that's the case, why didn't you cure yourself?"

"That's the one thing I can't do."

"What the hell are you talking about?" Janet spurted. "How could you cure the dog with just a touch?"

Robert sighed. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to upset you. I . . . I had an interesting experience while I was in the coma."  He waited while they stared at him with wide eyes. "I don't expect you to believe this, but I had an encounter with someone who I assume was connected to God."

"An angel?" James asked, excitement oozing from his eyes.

"I don't know. Maybe. He didn't have wings and was dressed in an old, faded jersey and worn jeans."

"What did he say?"

"He told me that I would be revived and that I had a job to do."

Janet squinted. "A job?"

"Yeah. Evidently, some evil person is going to plunge the world into Armageddon."

"You've got to be kidding!" she blurted.

"Yeah, I realize it sounds as if I'm nuts, but that's what happened."

"What did he tell you to do?" James asked.

"He told me that I would have to discover who he was and stop him."

"And just how are you supposed to do this?" his wife asked, propping her fists into her hips.

"He said I have the ability to do just about anything."

"Can you make money appear?" James asked with an anticipatory grin.

Robert held his hand out. "Yeah, how much do you need?"

James eyes grew larger. "I don't know."

A stack of twenties suddenly appeared in his hand. James took some of them and looked them over. "Looks real to me," he said.

His wife sighed. "I don't believe I'm seeing this. I think I'll go make dinner." She blew out a disgusted breath before she stomped off to the kitchen.

Robert and James exchanged glances. "She's been on edge ever since she found out that you woke up," James said.

"I can understand that. I'm surprised she didn't divorce me. It would have made it easier for her to carry on with her life."

James grimaced. "She's not like that, Dad."

Robert shook his head. "Yeah, I know."

The dinner proceeded silently until James said something. "How are you going to locate this evil person?"

"I don't know. I suppose I'll just see if he'll find me. Maybe it's inevitable."

"How is this person going to cause Armageddon?"

"Good question. I wasn't told much about it."

"That's ridiculous," Janet said. "This person you saw that was connected to God should have known about how it would happen."

"You could be right, but I wasn't told. I guess I'll have to figure it out myself."

"Maybe it was just a dream," she retorted.

"Remember what he did for the dog, Mother," James said.

Sparky offered a punctuating bark.

She turned to the dog with a wagging tail briefly before she looked at her husband. "I don't know what to think anymore. This is beyond me."

Robert sighed. "Look, I don't want to put you through any more stress than you've already endured. I'm just glad to be here with you."

She winced and her eyes misted. "I understand. I'm just having trouble comprehending all of this."

"I fully understand. I'm having trouble with it myself. Don't worry about me. I'll be okay."

Janet wasn't sure if she was okay, but she decided to just go for the ride and see where it took her.