Trisha lay in a coma on life support, her parents crying near her hospital bed. Time was running out and the decision to discontinue the life support was being discussed. But unknown to her family and doctors she wasn't dead, but trapped inside, ins...
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Mike sat in the back seat of the brand-new bright yellow Hummer with Trisha laying up against him in her seat belt. She breathed shallow, just as if she were asleep. He gently ran his fingers along her forehead, brushing her long dark hair out of her face. Then he traced his fingers along her lips. He so wanted to kiss them. He so wanted her to wake up so she could kiss him back. His heart ached for her.
They were parked at the Yellowstone National Park visitor's center; the rain falling so hard, the wipers couldn't keep up on high. Mike had never been to Yellowstone and had always wanted to visit. Visiting as a juvenile runaway and kidnapper being chased by the police wasn't what he had in mind. He kept looking back at the long line of traffic entering the park, expecting to see cop lights flashing and wishing Crystal would hurry back so they could get going. The sooner they got into the woods and to the Church Camp the sooner he could relax a little.
Crystal finished her private conversation with her dad and ran back to the Hummer through the rain. She jumped in, drenched. Her clothing would have been sticking to her body if she wasn't already wearing a body hugging yoga shorts and a sports bra. But her long blond hair hung down in wet strands.
She pulled out of the parking lot, and got into the line of cars, thanks to a courteous tourist that let her in. They couldn't drive fast and it wasn't because of the 45 m.p.h. speed limit through the park, it was the traffic and the two-lane road. The traffic had gotten backed up by a buffalo and her calf, which had decided it was hungry and wanted to nurse in the middle of the road, according to an elderly couple at the visitor center.
"Dad took care of everything." She said, looking at Mike in the mirror. They are well equipped to take care of Trisha..
"What did you tell him?" Mike asked, holding Trisha's hand, rubbing his thumb up and down hers.
"I called the number on the Church Camp website and just got the cellphone of the camp headmaster from the lady that answered. She told me there wasn't any cell service up at camp, but I tried, anyway. I called it and got lucky, he answered. He was on the same trip as Nate into town to get supplies. I told him about my sister being in a coma and I'd heard about his daughter and was hoping to bring Trisha to camp, and we would make a large donation as well. He was very excited about both, and he would have cabin assignments for us when we arrived. Then I called my dad and told him I wanted to attend a Church Camp that teaches normal kids how to understand and help disabled youth that are encouraged to attend camp. I also put in I was interested in possibly pursuing it as a career. He was happy to send a large check to the camp to sponsor Trisha."
"Easy as that?" Mike couldn't believe how everything had fallen into place. If he was old enough, he'd have Crystal pull over at the next gas station so he could buy a lottery ticket.
After driving all the way through Yellowstone, they still had another two hours to get to the camp. The last hour was on gravel roads through thick forest, up and down mountains, and canyons. They lost cell service almost as soon as they left the asphalt, but at least the navigation system in the Hummer kept working and they arrived close to nine that night. The sun had gone down behind the large mountains an hour ago and it was dark in the canyon where the camp sat along a lake, the moon casting a silver streak across it. There were many cabins they could see, some with lights lit by lanterns. They didn't see any kids running around, just an adult man at the end of the drive in front of what must have been the rec hall, waving.
