6 Miles With Courage (22 page)

Ryan was closing the door when behind it he noticed an old fishing pole. It was a child’s pole and next to it
was a small tackle box. To this day Ryan does not know what made him grab them both on his way out. He set them down on the dock and went in to wash his face and hands.

Judy was on the phone with Rob Jr. and they were talking about
him flying in for a week. He was ahead on his school work and under the circumstance he could take a leave. Judy had a better idea.

“Why don’t I send Ryan and Brent on a flight up there
? Ryan really needs to get away.”

“Mom that would be awesome we could do some hiking on the Appalachian Trail and
the college is having a fantastic Halloween event this weekend. Get him on a plane now!”

Brent and Ryan were thrilled with the idea. Brent was happy that Ryan was willing to get away.

“Only for a week and if dad wakes up you promise you will call me
immediately!
”

“I will,” Judy promised.

After they ate dinner Judy called her travel agent. She was able to pull some strings and get them a flight-out that evening.  Calming some last minute feelings of guilt on Ryan’s part Judy assured him that this was something they both needed. After stopping by the house to pack, Ryan and Brent headed off to the airport for an unexpected week of fun and adventure.

Within hours they were airborne and on the
ir way to Virginia. It was the first time Ryan had flown or spent the night away from his dad since the crash. It certainly was much needed and well deserved. Ryan quickly got over his feelings of guilt and was looking forward to a wonderful time.

That night Judy sat out on the dock sipping coffee watching the sunset. Her sister
in-law was still busy and would be for days to come working out the bugs with the handyman. Judy looked up at Ryan’s fishing pole and instantly knew where her bacon had been going. There was a dried-up piece hanging off the hook of Ryan’s pole. Judy setting her coffee down picked up the pole.

It looked complicated, nothing like the pushbutton one her father gave her to use when she was a little girl.
She thought that she was forgetting to ask Ryan something before he left earlier, but she just couldn’t put her finger on it. Now she knew. She wanted to know how to use Ryan’s pole and the pole holder, and basically how he was catching the fish. She set the pole back in the rod holder and sat back down to enjoy the sunset. She decided she would call the local bait shop in the morning for instructions on how to use Ryan’s pole. As embarrassing as it may sound it would be something she would have to do if she wanted to catch fish in Ryan’s absence.

It wasn’t until she got up to get another cup of coffee that she saw the
old fishing pole and tackle box on the dock where Ryan had left it. It was just like the one she had as a girl. It was a child’s pole, the pushbutton type.

“Well I certainly know how to use you little guy,” she said to the pole. She set it down and went inside to get a few strips of bacon. The pole had a hook and a bobber. It was ready for bait and a fisherman. That’s the way Rob’s grandfather liked to keep his poles for the children.

Judy came out to the dock and baited the hook with some bacon and just like the old days she cast the bait far out into the lake. Removing Ryan’s pole from the pole holder she put in the old child’s pole. She kept a sharp eye on the bobber.

She watched the little bobber until she could not see it anymore in the fading sunset. Back inside she put
on a fresh pot of coffee and sat down next to Rob to read from the book she had been reading all week. The moonlight began to glow across the water now as the evening breeze rustled up the curtains. The scent of the air was clean and crisp as the first of the evening crickets began their chirping. All was peaceful. Then “click-click” the first of sounds came off the little fishing pole in the holder.

Judy did not hear it the first or even the second time. Then suddenly a steady
“
zzzz
”
as the drag began to sing. Down in the depths of the lake a good size catfish was on Judy’s line. She put the book down and ran out into the moonlight. She grabbed the little pole and reeled it in just like her father had taught her to do. She could hear his voice in her head, “
don’t let the line get loose. Keep taking in the slack. Keep that rod up.”

She did it
just like he would have wanted her to do. Her daddy would have been proud. She pulled the fish up onto the dock where it flopped around wildly. Here is the part where her dad always took over. She didn’t know what to do. It flopped so much that it came off the hook and started for the edge of the dock.

“Hurry,” she
heard
, “don’t let it go back into the water, Grandpa will be disappointed!”

She turned around to see someone in the moonlight open the tackle box
, grab a glove, and stop the fish before it went into the lake. The person turned and stood full-face into the moonlight holding the fish with a smile.

It was
Rob
in his pajamas!

Judy screamed
and dropping the pole looked into the window. The bed was
empty!

Rob was back!

“Judy?” Rob said, “What are you doing here?” Judy dropped to her knees, covered her face with her hands, and started crying uncontrollably.

“Judy, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to take your fish,” Rob said.

Judy could not speak. She could not catch her breath between the sobs of joy. The saltiness of her tears had never tasted so good.

“Don’t
cry I was only trying to keep it from going back into the lake.”

“No, no
it’s ok,” Judy managed to get out, “go ahead Rob throw the fish back, its ok.”

“No
pe, can’t do that, Grandpa will be upset,” Rob said as he headed for the tackle box. He grabbed a fish stringer and tied the fish to the dock.

J
udy was dumb-struck watching Rob move about with the mannerisms of a child. He bent down to her face and placed his finger against her lips.

“Quiet! Don’t let grandpa hear you or he’ll get mad.” Rob said as he reached for another piece of bacon
that Judy had on the dock.

“
What I usually do Judy,” he said as he baited the hook, “is tie the fish I catch at night to the dock and I don’t show them to Grandpa until the morning.” He said casting the line far out into the lake. Then he set the drag and locked the pole into the deck railing as he had done many times before. Then he turned and looked at Judy.

“How do I know your name?” he said with puzzled look on his face.

Judy wiping the tears from her face and walking slowly towards Rob said, “I’m your wife.”

Rob reached out and put his hands on her shoulders
. And seeing the hair on his arms said, “I’m a man!”

“Yes, you are. You’re my man.”

“We’re married aren’t we?”

“Yes we are.”

“And we have children, do we not?”

“Yes we do.”

“
Ryan!
How is Ryan? Did he make it back?”

“
Yes!
And he needs
so desperately
to talk to you!”

Just when it seemed Rob was coming around he slipped back into the past. “Who are
you? Does Grandpa know you’re here?”

“Rob honey, please come inside and let’s talk, ok,” Judy said.

“Ok, but help me listen for the fishing pole.”

They went inside the cabin and talked for
a while. Judy was able to get Rob to remember some recent events. He remembered the crash and sending Ryan for help. He remembered seeing faces while in a coma. Judy called out for his sister to come quickly to the cabin. When she stepped in the door he recognized her, they had a good cry and hugged each other for a very long time. But his bouncing in and out with current events worried them both.

No sooner would she have him in the present only to have him slip back to a
childlike state, wanting to play games with his sister and asking about his Grandpa. During a calm spell, as he sat quietly, Judy called the doctor.

“Judy that’s marvelous
news!” the doctor said, “this going in and out of reality is perfectly normal at this stage. We need to build on this progress. Do
not
take him away from there until he perfectly understands his current condition, a move to soon could possibly leave him stuck in the past.”

Judy hung up the phone
. It was getting late in the evening and she was growing tired. She was ready for a good night’s sleep. The doctor assured her that her fears were unfounded but even still she was worried that if Rob was to go to sleep, he would not wake up again. Be that as it may, within a few hours they fell fast asleep.

The morning came in the form of a
glorious
sunrise. A cool breeze fluttered the curtains into the room. Judy
through sleepy eyes watched the sunlight dancing on the cabin ceiling. She looked over at Rob on the hospital bed. He was sleeping soundly. She resisted the temptation to wake him. She put some coffee on and quietly stepped outside to call Ryan and Rob Jr. with the news.

“Hello,” Ryan answered half annoyed.

“Ryan, it’s mom I have wonderful news.” Ryan sat up and rubbed his eyes.

“What is it?” he said through a yawn.

“Your father has woken up!”

“What?” he said, “
Say that again?”

“Your father has woken up!”

“Are you sure?” Ryan said making sure it wasn’t a dream.

“Yes
, of course I’m sure. He heard the drag go off on the little fishing pole last night and just walked out onto the dock, like he did when he was a kid.”

“Oh mom that is such
good
news. Is he normal? Can I speak to him?”

“He is not normal.”

“What do you mean? Is he brain damaged?”

“
Oh no, nothing like that, he is fine in that respect, why he even asked for you and he wanted to know if you made it back safe!”

“He did? Then he remembers talking to me! And he remembers sending me for help?”

“Well yes, that’s what I got out of it anyway,” Judy seemed a little puzzled.

“So how is he not normal?” Ryan asked.

“He goes in and out of the past. He realizes certain things about the present but at times he is still here at the lake in his childhood.”

“Should I come home right away?”

“No. Stay up there and enjoy the week with your brother and your friend. This is going to take some time. The doctors do not want him to be removed from here until he is fully aware of his situation. Coming home now may only confuse him.”

“Ok mom I’ll tell Brent and Jr. the good news
. See you in a week, love you!”

“I love you too
, honey,” Judy said as she hung up the phone. For the first time in a long time she felt as though she had
both
her son
and
her husband back and on the road to recovery.

She wrote a letter to the missionary in South America to get word to Jenny that her father had been in an accident and that all is well and that he was expected to make a full recovery. She sent the letter knowing it would take weeks to make the trip but Judy felt that it was time to share some news with Jenny.

The week went well as Rob progressed nicely. He was pretty much caught up with the present. He had a slight setback upon learning that his grandpa had passed away some time ago. Judy did not remember him crying that hard when it happened, either he was just now finding closure, or he handled it like he would have had he learned of the death as a child. Judy wasn’t sure, but she sure was glad when he got over it. It darn near set him back a whole day.

The week was drawing to a close. Rob was like a new man. He kept asking when Ryan would be coming home.

“He’ll be home this afternoon,” she said with excitement. The thought of the father-and-son reunion that was coming in just a few hours found her with butterflies in her stomach.

Rob still had his moments but she had prepared Ryan for his off-the-wall comments. Out of the blue Rob would ask for a childhood food or toy. Judy was accustomed to it. Ryan would have to get used to it also. They thought his progress was phenomenal but he needed to stay in touch with his past. Mulling around the cabin seemed like the best way to do it as far as the doctors were concerned.

Late in the afternoon, Rob had wandered into the storage shed by the dock. Ryan and Brent had pretty much rearranged the contents of the entire shed but Rob had a specific item in mind as he opened the creaking door and headed for the work bench. The chest had been on his mind ever since he overheard Judy talking to the doctors about getting in touch with his past. He remembered what his grandpa told him about the old trunk. His hands were shaking as he slid it from alongside the work bench and slowly opened the lid. There was a layer of cloth covering the contents. Rob peeled it away.

There were many artifacts inside the trunk. There were newspaper articles, knick-knacks, and trophies of various types. Most of them were of the modern age. As he got down near the bottom however he saw the sketches and the photos that his grandpa had on the bench that day he had asked him to fix his fishing pole.

Rob laid them out one-by-one on the bench in the same order that he best remembered them being on that day so long ago. There were four pictures in all, one sketch, one photo on glass, one photo on tin, and one on paper. Tied to each one with a ribbon were papers that explained something about the sketch or the photograph. The brittle papers were from Great- Grandpa Benjamin himself. The later papers were from Rob’s grandpa.

Rob gazed curiously into the four faces that lie before him. They were faces from the past. He remembered them from the time when his grandpa lifted him high upon the stool, but there was something else about them.

Rob gently untied the ribbon freeing the old parchment from the sketch and getting a full look at the face beneath it, dropped the parchment. A
chill
ran over his entire body.

He flashed back to his coma.

He saw the electrical storms passing with their faces.

These were the faces!

It was them
!

He shuddered for a moment and covering the lot of them with the cloth, backed away from the bench.

OK, so what? So what if it was them?

He began to lift the cloth for another look but dropped it when he heard Judy.

“Rob? Honey where are you?
Ryan is here!”

“
Ryan!”
Rob said.

Rob
bolted for the shed door.