Soulshine (8 page)

Hugo Chan picked up the phone behind the nurses" station. “This is Dr. Chan.”
The voice on the other end was familiar. “Hello, Dr. Chan. This is Brother Hawkings.”
“Ah, yes… from the cloister. You inquired a couple of days ago about Evan Troy.”
“Yes, yes. We were wondering how he is doing. We have done much praying on his behalf ever sincehearing about him.”
Dr. Chan guarded his words. Evan had not mentioned any friends in a monastery. “I am not at liberty to divulge a patient"s condition with just anybody. Mr. Hawkings, are you a friend or relative of Mr. Troy?”
“Well… no, I am neither. At least not in the secular sense of what the outside world calls a friend. Word traveled to our cloister that there is a young man in your care who is exhibiting a rare and dreadful condition of living decomposition, the process of decaying while yet alive. We have come across this phenomenon before and have managed to successfully treat such a catastrophic case to the point where we actually reversed the process. That is why I have called you a second time. We are curious as to your success up to this point. From what we have seen in two or three similar cases, time is of the utmost essence.”
“
You
can successfully reverse… or cure… this condition?”
“Most assuredly, but time is valuable despite our constant prayers. Prayer withoutaction is babbling, doctor.”
“Mr. Hawkings, there is an ambulatory service scheduled to transport Mr. Troy to a university hospital with state-of-the-art equipment.”
Brother Hawkings sounded frantic. “What? When?”
“Tomorrow sometime… probably in the afternoon.”
“That would be a huge mistake. Let us take care of him. I am confident that we…”
“I"m sorry, Mr. Hawkings. As an accredited institution, we cannot simply hand over a patient still in need of medical treatment to someone or someplace that is not accredited… despite your claims.”
“You don"t know what you are saying. This university hospital, I assure you, will not save Evan.
We
at least have a
chance
.”
“Look, I"m very busy and must get back to…”
“Believe me, Dr. Chan. A life hangs in the balance. May I personally come and visit with Mr. Troy? Perhaps I can convince him to come with me to our cloister for care.”
“Mr. Hawkings, even if Mr. Troy agreed to go with you, we simply cannot release him to you because we would be liable if anything happened to him.”
“With all due respect, he has the right to check out anytime he wishes… and leave with whomever he wishes.”
“Well, he will not be given that option because you will not be seeing him.”
“Surely you will not prevent me from visiting.”
“Sorry, Mr. Hawkings. Only immediate family is allowed at this point.”
“He has family?”
“Yes, a pretty young… er… common law wife.”
“Does he really?”
“Yes, now if you"ll excuse me, I need to go.”
“Yes… yes, I suppose you do. Good day, Dr. Chan.” Brother Hawkings turned to the other brothers. “We have our work cut out for us. Luckily for us, we are not far away.”

Michelle"s graduation in June went off as smoothly as could be expected. There was no taunting from the other girls because Evan"s presence made them too envious to pick on Michelle. Each of them wished that she had someone like Evan by her side at the ceremony. And Michelle no longer cared about her young appearance or anything else after her eighteenth birthday, the day she and Evan took their love to the ultimate stage. Even the thoughts she would have concerning her long life to be with Evan quickly dissipated in the joyous moments she was experiencing. Evan was a perfect gentleman, something the other girls never knew. Yet they did not dislike Michelle. They instead purposed how they might be like her because she must be doing something right.

A few weeks after graduation, Evan and Michelle went down to the rocky East Bay shoreline. Evan loved the way the wind would have its way with Michelle"s hair. They nestled between two rocks where the waves would occasionally refresh them with a spray. While the water sprinkled them in a mist, they only looked in each other"s eyes. Either one of them had the other"s undivided attention. After a long period of gazing, Evan was the first to break the trance.

“Michelle, we need to talk about our future.”
“That sounds like a great topic of conversation.” “I love you so much. As far as I"m concerned, you are my

lovely bride. We don"t need a ceremony to prove that, do we?” “I guess not… but I
am
looking forward to our wedding
day anyway. Showing everyone how much in love we are…
exchanging rings… dancing with Dad…”
“Michelle, I… we can"t do that, remember? I have no
identification. Why… as far as the world is concerned, I don"t
exist. What would happen when the pastor or priest goes to get the
marriage license? The government is involved, Michelle. What
would I do?Fake amnesia? Then they"d give me an identity… a
number… a date of birth so they can track my age. Then what
happens when I set the longevity record? And
you
may have
identification for now, but what happens when you keep living and
everyone knows there is something different about you?” “Can"t we justtell the truth?”
“That would include telling your parents.”
Michelle thought about the implications. “They wouldn"t
like the part where you gave me that elixir.” She started to over-
analyze. “Then again… they may like knowing their daughter will
never get old. Maybe if we tell them that it was my idea to drink
it… I mean, once I realized that was the only way we could ever be
together forever, I
was
glad I drank it.”
“Michelle, even if your parents prove to be open-minded
and understanding, which is a long shot at best, we will become
celebrities. I don"t want that. Do you? And what if someone, for
any strange reason, has it in for one of us because we have this…
gift… that we cannot share with them? Others may think we are
holding out on them. We may even be targets for kidnapping, just
so our bodies can be examined for the secret to long life. Do you
want to be someone"s science experiment? I suppose that if one of
us were to be cut open, the ingredients of the elixir could be
discovered. I"m not willing to sacrifice either one of us in the
name of science. That is why I have kept moving all my life… and
why
we
must always do the same.”
Michelle wavered. “Oh, boy. I don"t know, Evan. I never
traveled even overnight anywhere in my life. I don"t think I want
to keep moving. I was hoping we would buy a house and…” “Michelle, I can"t buy a house… not in
my
name.
You
can… and you know… I would love to settle in one area with
you… but… it is so much easier for us if we just change location a
lot. If you don"t want to travel the world, we can stay in the United States. It"s a big country. We can even return to a previous place after a hundred years or so. Before I came to Riverside, I lived in New York City for quite a few years. Sixty years before, I also lived there. As long as people who knew us are no longer alive, we can return. In the meantime, pick your favorite climates.
We"ll hit them all.”
“I… I don"t think I mind the traveling, Evan, as long as it is
with you… but I want my parents to know where we are. Can we
just confide in them before we leave?”
“We can"t take that chance. They could have me arrested
for giving you what they would perceive to be a drug when you
were a minor, and then the world will know about us. Of course,
I"d then be in jail so we wouldn"t have each other.”
“Okay. Okay. How much longer can we stay… before…
leaving?” asked Michelle as tears streamed down her cheeks. “We need to leavesoon. I"m sorry, Michelle. We both
must be under a lot of suspicion.I"ve been in the same town for
ten years now. You"ve looked the same for five years. Michelle,
tell me where you want to go. We"ll go to any peaceful area on the
globe. I will pay cash and we"ll be there for the next five to ten
years.”
“Where do you get all the money?”
“I save. The secret is to spend less than I earn. Over
hundreds of years, the savings pile up. Every time I change
countries, I convert my cash at the exchange. Wherever I go, I
seek out an employer who will pay me under the table.” “Under the table?”
“That means it is not recorded forthe government. It"s
illegal in most civilized nations, but if I can convince an employer
to do it, it works out for both of us. The employer doesn"t have to
pay for any of my health benefits or contribute to taxes, so I can
earn higher wages. The employer pays out less, I get to keep more,
and the government is the loser.These aren"t the highest paying
jobs, butas I said, since I can save for many years, I don"t really
need high paying jobs.” Evan smiled at Michelle as she tried to
absorb everything, and he wiped the trace of a tear from her eye. “And aren"t you glad one of those jobs was at the sundry shop in Riverside?”

“So I"m supposed to believe that our daughter still looks like a thirteen year old girl, and Evan is the oldest man on the face of the Earth?” John Fleming knew his wife well enough not to question her credibility, but he still had to wonder if perhaps Mary could be mistaken.

Mary was weary of explaining everything she knew to John, especially after catching an early flight to Ottawa, receiving the biggest shock of her life, and not getting much sleep. She held the phone receiver to her chest and let out a sigh before raising it back to her ear. “John, if I didn"t see Michelle with my own eyes, I wouldn"t believe it either. Believe me. She has the body and exact appearance she had the last time we saw her back in 1972. And get this… so does Evan… except for missing part of his leg. And don"t you remember how she stopped growing and was ridiculed by the other girls during her last year at high school?”

“Yes, she didn"t do much physical growing after getting involved with Evan, but we sort of hoped it was just a lull in her development.” John paused. “Hmm… after getting involved with
Evan
.”

“Bingo. I believe it, John. Impossible as it seems, it does explain why
both
of thekids are… well, still kids.”
“Kids?! Evan is
not
a kid! He had no right to take advantage of our daughter like he did.”
“John, I already railed into him. I let him have it with both barrels and all it did was bring Michelle to tears. Am I happy about what he did? No. Am I convinced he did it because he loves Michelle? Yes. Believe me, John. I wanted to tear him apart, but I felt differently after hearingthe whole story.”
“Maybe I should catch the next flight to Ottawa and do the job myself then.”
“John, I…” Mary suddenly heard Michelle"s soft voice behind her.
“Are you talking to Dad, Mom?”
“Excuse me, John. Michelle is here.” She turned to Michelle. “Yes, dear. I explained everything to your father.”
“Is he upset?” Michelle asked nervously.
“Yes, dear, but I"m doing my best to soften the blow.” John"s impatience could be heard blaring from the phone receiver.
“Mary?!Mary! Are you there?”
“Yes!” replied Mary before realizing that she was no longer speaking into the receiver. Flustered, she repeated herself into the phone. “Yes, John.”
Michelle hastily interrupted.“Mom, you heard right. They
are
planning to move Evan to another hospital. It"s… it"s getting worse.” Michelle broke down. “I don"t think he"s going to live.”
Mary put her free hand on Michelle"s shoulder and continued her conversation with John. “I don"t know if you heard that, John. Michelle just told me that it looks very bad for Evan. He may be finally dying.”
“Really,” replied John. “Maybe when I get there, I should do the honors of making sure his death is successful.”
Mary hoped that Michelle didn"t hear John"s comment and concealed her reaction. “John, would you like to talk to Michelle?” Then she whispered into the phone, “And please don"t say anything to make her feel worse.”
“Does she really want to talk to her old man? She never tried to contact me since running off with her new
old
man.”
Mary tried to give Michelle the illusion thatJohn"s conversation waslight. “Oh, John. You know the reason why Michelle couldn"t feel like she could contact us. Of course I"m sure she would love to talk to you. She could really use her father"s love right now.”
“Mary, don"t try to soften it. I"m mad as hell.”
“Sure, honey. I think you"ll know just the words to say to her.” Mary held her breath as she smiled and handed the receiver to Michelle.
Michelle dreaded the moment. “Hello… Daddy.”
John paused. “Hello, sweetheart. I miss you terribly. I wish you could have confided in us and kept us in your life.”
“I know, Daddy. Maybe if I had to do it all over again…”
“If you had to it
all
over again, I"m sure you would have never gotten involved with Evan, darling.”
Michelle choked up. “That"s not what I meant. I meant that I might have told you and Mom about
us.
” She fought to hold back her tears. “Goodbye, Daddy. It was nice hearing your voice again. I"m giving the phone back to Mom now. Bye.” She handed the receiver back to Mary, put her hand over her mouth and ran awaysobbing, “I wish he understood that I love Evan!”
“John, you
could
be more sensitive,” said Mary.
“Mary, he ruined all our lives. He can"t leave this Earth fast enough for me.”
“Well… I
was
going to head back home to you.
Now
I have a wounded child to attend to. Thank you, John.”
“I"ll come to
you
, Mary. I"ll call the airlines now and purchase a ticket on the next flight.”
“You"d only make it worse, John. You"re better off staying home.”
“
I’m
better off staying away? Or do you mean that
Evan
is better off if I stay away? Who are you protecting, Mary?”
“I"m protecting our daughter, John.”
“I only want to make sure Evan never hurts her again, Mary. Then Michelle, you and I will be a happyfamily again.”

Vicar Michael Westbrook sat behind his desk as he waited for his young associate-in-training to arrive. As was his habit, Eustace Tewksbury was punctual.