The Dharma Revelation

Chapter 52

Daniel opened his eyes.

The first thing he thought of was Jason Heller.

He looked on the nightstand, next to the clock radio. His cell phone was plugged in, recharging.

No messages.

He breathed a sigh of relief and collapsed back onto the bed.

He immediately sat back up, eyes wide open.

He was in Petra's room. He was in Petra's bed.

As he oriented himself, he could hear the muffled sound of the running shower coming from the bathroom.

The memories of last night came crashing back to him. He could still smell her scent on him. He could still feel the form of her body lying next to him as they slept.

A multitude of emotions surged through Daniel as he tried to sort out his feelings.

He quickly jumped out of bed and pulled his clothes back on. As quickly as he could, he ran down the hall back to his room.

He dug through his pockets for the room key and entered.

Vincent was already up, dressed and showered. He looked like he was packing his things.

"Good morning," he said to Daniel, with a lilt in his voice.

"Hi," Daniel replied, closing the door behind him.

"Any word from Heller?"

"No," Daniel said.

Vincent nodded.

Daniel headed right to the bathroom and quickly washed up.

When he came out, he threw on a new shirt and ran a hand through his wet hair.

He moved over to his still-made bed and began throwing his belongings into his duffle bag.

Vincent coughed, and said, "So, I couldn't help but notice that you didn't come home last night."

Daniel glanced at him and went back to packing.

"Are you okay?" Vincent asked.

"Yeah," Daniel said, continuing to pack.

Vincent let it go, trying to respect his brevity.

Daniel stopped and stared at his duffle bag. Without looking up, he said, "Vincent, what have I done?"

"Hey," Vincent said. He walked toward Daniel and sat down on the bed so he that could look him in the eye. "Near as I can tell, you've proved you're human, after all."

Daniel shook his head, "What am I going to do?"

Vincent looked at him, "What you do is some serious thinking. You have to make a choice. Life is full of them you know, and not all choices are easy."

Daniel shook his head and looked at the floor, "I'm in love with her."

"I know."

"It's not just a matter of making a simple choice," Daniel explained. "What if I give up everything for her and it doesn't work out?"

"What if you give up everything and it does work out?"

Daniel nodded thoughtfully, but then frowned, "It's not just me that will suffer," he explained. "People are counting on me—people need me. And more importantly, that is the life I want. I hadn't intended on becoming a priest until I found the right woman, I had intended on becoming a priest for life."

Vincent sighed, and then said, "Well, think of this logically. You really have two options. You can try to think of a way to serve and minister to people, while maintaining a relationship with Petra, or you can walk back to Petra's room and tell her goodbye."

Daniel didn't respond.

"Either way," Vincent continued. "You owe it to her to explain your choice. She's probably feeling even guiltier than you are."

Daniel nodded, but before he could respond, his cell phone began buzzing in his pocket.

He quickly pulled it out and looked.

"It's from Heller," Daniel said.

The message said "9am. Busse woods park."

Daniel showed the message to Vincent.

"I know where that is," Daniel said. "I saw it on the map. It's not even 30 minutes from here."

He sent the letter "k" back to Heller.

"It's only seven," Vincent said. "We have two hours."

"I don't want to wait," Daniel told him. "I'm going now. There's no need to risk the timing. If I hit traffic or something, I could be delayed. I know exactly where that park is, but I'm not sure how bad traffic is around here."

Vincent frowned, "What do you mean—you?"

"I'm going alone," he said.

"What?"

"Vincent," Daniel said patiently. "It doesn't make sense for all of us to go. Why risk it? I'll go, pick up Dharma, and meet you and Petra here. Then together we'll drive to the airport and go home."

"What if you run into trouble?" Vincent asked. "We should all go."

Daniel didn't want to think about running into trouble, but if trouble were to find him, better if he were alone.

"You should know, I spoke with Aaron this morning," Vincent said. "I told him what we're doing. He said he's praying for us, they all are. He doesn't trust Heller, but he is cautiously optimistic that this will work. He pleaded for us to be careful. He would like to see his daughter again."

Daniel sighed.

Vincent squeezed his shoulder, "We'll all go—together."

Daniel didn't answer.

Vincent interpreted his silence as agreement, "Petra hasn't stopped by yet. As soon as she does, we'll go."

"She was in the shower when I left," Daniel said. "She'll probably be another few minutes getting ready."

Vincent nodded, heading to the bathroom. "If she is much longer, we'll stop by and hurry her along."

As the door closed behind Vincent, Daniel felt increasingly uncomfortable. He trusted Heller, but it seemed as if they were missing something—as if this were too easy. If danger awaited them, however, it was unclear what form it would take.

He shook his head. The thought of all three going made no sense. This was something Daniel felt he could do himself. There was no need to endanger Petra, or Vincent.

Daniel grabbed the pad of paper from the nightstand and scribbled a small note.

He took Vincent's car keysand left the hotel.