The Search (18 page)

     Mark carried the bag Joel had brought with him, as well as the backpack Karen had handed him, and pushed Joel’s wheelchair toward the door.

     The others waved goodbye and stayed behind.

     Debbie told Hannah, “If Mark’s going to escort him all the way to the van, we need to send someone out to secure the gate behind them.”

     “Mark’s not taking him to the van.”

     Debbie was puzzled, but she didn’t have time to ponder Hannah’s words.

     Mark’s voice came over the radio and reported, “We’re at the gate. Are we clear?”

     Hannah studied the monitors and saw no one lurking outside the gate.

     “Yes. We’re clear. Go ahead and open it.”

     Hannah and Debbie watched Monitor 7 as Rachel rolled Joel through the gate and to the waiting van a hundred yards away. And as Mark closed the gate behind them.

     Hannah smiled. Debbie remained puzzled, but sensed that something was in the air.

     At the van, the driver opened the back door and lowered a powered wheelchair ramp. While they waited, Rachel leaned over and kissed Joel, for what seemed like an eternity.

     “Well, I’ll be darned,” Debbie said.

     Hannah chuckled and said, “I hope they come up for air soon, or he’s going to miss his ride.”

Chapter 35

     Hannah continued to watch the monitor as Joel’s van drove away and Rachel skipped like a school girl back to the gate.

     Hannah said to Debbie, “Please don’t tell anyone what you saw until after the meeting. We don’t want to sway the vote.”

     “What meeting? What vote?”

     Hannah ignored her, instead getting back on the radio.

     “Mark, this is Hannah. Rachel’s outside the gate and it’s all clear.”

     Mark let Rachel in, Hannah smiled and Debbie scratched her head.

     Mark and Rachel went immediately to the dining room, where most of the residents were finishing up their breakfasts and visiting.

     “Can I have everyone’s attention, please?”

     All heads turned to Mark.

     “I know that this is a little unusual, but since we’re all together I’d like to call a special meeting regarding a matter in which a decision has to be made fairly quickly.”

     That got everyone’s attention.

     “I know we’re all worried about Sarah and are working hard to find her. I know that’s on everyone’s mind, and ordinarily I’d let this other matter wait. But it has a short fuse and if we don’t discuss it quickly we might miss a great opportunity.”

     Sami said, “But Mark… Bryan and most of the other men are gone. Don’t they need to be here to vote?”

     “No. I’ve spoken with Bryan and Brad, and they’ve both given me proxy to vote for them in their absence. That gives us enough for a quorum, and we can proceed without them.”

     “Proceed with what, exactly?”

     “Hannah and I want to propose to the group that we invite Joel Hance to join us.”

     The group fell silent. Several people looked at one another. Some responded with shrugs. Some nodded in agreement. Mark scanned the room looking for any dissenters. Shakes of the head, angry faces, disgruntled mutterings… but he saw none.

     “I’d like to open it up for discussion.”

     Hannah could see Mark and the others from the security console. But she was too far away to make herself heard.

     “Debbie, honey, can you man my seat for five minutes?”

     “Sure. Go ahead.”

     Hannah walked over to the dining room. She was still weak and a bit unsteady on her feet. But Mark locked eyes with her as she rose, and the others turned their heads to see what Mark was looking at. They were patient and waited for her to cross through the lobby and into the dining room.

     “I’d like to speak if I may.”

     “You have the floor, honey.”

     Hannah looked around the room at the group before she started.

     “I wanted to bring Joel here because I felt I owed him something. Mark suggested that we honor him for his heroics, and I thought it was a great idea. You all did an amazing job in telling him you appreciated his bravery and his kindness. Honoring him so was the proper thing to do, and I love you all for helping me do so.

     “But I’d be lying if I didn’t admit there was another reason we brought him here. We wanted you to meet him, so you could get to know him and fall in love with him the way I have.

     “Mark didn’t understand my feelings at first. I told him that I loved Joel, and at first Mark misinterpreted my words. I had to explain to him that I don’t love him in the same way I love my husband. Mark is and always will be my one and only.

     “But we are allowed to love our friends. It’s part of what makes us human. I love each and every one of you. My life would not be complete without you, collectively and individually.

     “Now granted, we’ve all known each other now for a very long time. And my love for you has grown over time. And some of you may doubt that I can feel the same bond with Joel as I feel with you. After all, you might say, I’ve only known him for a couple of weeks.

     “But Joel and I went through something together that no one should ever endure. I saw the worst thing that could possibly happen to us as humans. I saw my whole world fall apart, and I saw one of the finest men I’ve ever known die right before me.

     “Then I saw one of the best things a human could ever experience. A man… a brave and valiant man, risked his life to save mine. He quite literally kept me alive until help could arrive. Even though he could very well have died himself by doing so.

     “The doctors said it was a miracle that we both survived. That God must have had bigger plans for each of us.

     “When I woke up in the hospital my first thoughts were of Joel. Even before Mark, even before Markie. I thought first of Joel, and desperately wanted to know if my hero had made it. I don’t know what I would have done if he hadn’t.

     “When I found out that he’d made it, that he was going to survive, I was relieved.

     “Then I was guilty, for deep down inside me I felt bad that my first thoughts were for Joel and not for my husband.

     “I apologized to Mark, and then together we tried to figure out why that was the case.

     “With Mark’s help I realized that Joel and I had been through such a horrific ordeal, in which we relied on each other to pull one another through, that we were permanently bonded in a way no one else can understand.

     “The second day after I came out of my coma, a doctor walked into my room. He said he was a psychiatrist, and he was there to help me deal with John’s loss, the trauma of the crash, and anything else that was bothering me.

     “One of the things we discussed was my feelings for Joel. He explained that what Joel and I had gone through wasn’t unlike what soldiers go through on a battlefield. It was intense, and deadly, and we were unsure whether we were going to make it. But we fought together to survive.

     “He said that the love Joel and I felt for one another wasn’t unlike the love soldiers feel for one another after they’ve been through a fierce battle together. That they are no longer just comrades and friends. That they are now more like brothers. They are linked together with bonds that can never be broken.

     “I asked him if it was a betrayal for me to feel love for my husband and for Joel at the same time.

     “He said no. He said it was like comparing apples and oranges. That it was okay because I loved them in two different ways. Then he went to talk to Mark. Alone, without me. And he came back and told me that Mark understood. And Mark wouldn’t hold my feelings against me.

     “Once I was past that, I turned my thoughts toward the reason I made it. The doctors told me that I must have a higher purpose. That God spared me for a reason.

     “I think that reason is to help Joel.

     “I know he was only here for a short time. And I know that several of you didn’t get a chance to talk to him one on one. So you may not be aware of his story.

     “He lost everyone. He lost some of them in the freeze, and some of them in the plague that followed. But all of his family members… his mom and dad, his fiancé, his brothers and sisters and aunts and uncles and cousins and friends… they all perished.

     “He found a new family in his helicopter crew. They, like him, were drawn together out of mutual heartache. Each of his aircrew members was also all alone.

     “And now they’re gone as well.

     “Twice now, he’s lost everyone. He has decided to return to Atlanta, Georgia not because he has people who love him there. But because he has a job waiting.”

     She let that sink in for just a moment before continuing.

     “A damn
job
. That’s all he has left in the world.

     “I want to give him more than that. I wanted him to come here so you could meet him and get to know him the way Mark and I have. Because I wanted to ask you all to give him something else. I want you to give him a new family.

     “A job can’t hold him when he’s feeling depressed or lonely. A job can’t nurse him when he’s sick or injured. A job can’t bring him happiness.

     “But we can do all of that. And now that you’ve met him, I hope you’ll agree that he deserves to have all those things. He’s a good man. A very good man. I owe him my life, and I can’t think of anyone who deserves happiness more than Joel.

     “Now that you know him, I hope you’ll agree. Mark will soon ask you to vote whether to invite him to live here permanently. To become one of us. To join our family. I hope you’ll all open your hearts to him and allow him to do that.”

     Hannah looked at the clock and suddenly realized she’d talked for several minutes.

     “Oops. Sorry. I guess I got a little long winded. I’ll shut up now.”

     With that she turned and walked slowly back toward the security desk.

     Sami stood up, wanting to be the next to speak.

     “I won’t be as long-winded as blabbermouth. But I agree with everything she said. I want to add one more thing to the mix.

     “I had the chance to talk to Joel for half an hour yesterday. He told me about the helicopter ride, and the last few minutes just before the crash. He said that as he strapped my father into his seat, Dad told him he was a former Marine.

     “Joel said that he and Dad bonded immediately. That for much of the flight they carried on a long conversation, through their headsets, about the military in general and comparisons with the Army and Marine Corps. He said after that, Dad told him about me. How proud he was of me for rebounding after I was shot. About how I was a strong woman who took no guff from any man. About one day when he was no longer around, that he knew I was strong enough to make it. That I was one tough cookie.

     “I knew that Joel was telling me the truth. Because that phrase, ‘one tough cookie,’ was what dad used to call me all the time.

     “Yes. Joel saved Hannah’s life and he deserves to join us for that alone.

     “But I have my own special reason for wanting Joel to stay.

     “He was the last person my Daddy ever spoke to. And the last words he heard from my Daddy were about me. That’s something I can’t say about anyone else on earth other than Joel. So yes, I feel a certain bond with him too. And I’d like to have him around so that when I want to hear about my Daddy’s last minutes I can go to him and ask him… Was he smiling? Was he happy? Was he content? What was he like just before he died? What was he…”

     She couldn’t go on. It was more emotion than she’d put forth at one time since John was killed. And she was overwhelmed.

     She simply turned and walked away.

     She walked down the hallway to her apartment, lay down on her bed, and cried.

     Ten minutes later there was a knock on Sami’s door.

     “Yes?”

     It was Debbie.

     Debbie sat on the bed beside Sami and took her hand.    

     “The vote was unanimous. He’s going to be one of us. The only voice of dissent was actually just a question: How is he going to get his physical therapy if he moves here? Mark said that he and Hannah had already talked to the therapists. They will notify him by ham radio whenever he has an appointment and will send a van to pick him up.”

     Sami smiled, and Debbie wiped away her tears.

     Sami asked, “But how do we tell him? Mark and Hannah didn’t even tell him they were trying to get him in.”