Final Call Read Online Free PDF Page B

turned and walked down Walnut Street
towards Stephenson.
    Probably
going back to the hospital , Mary thought. Well, perhaps he’ll be able to sort things out there.
    Mary closed the door and once again
shifted into first gear. This time she was able to pull out of the parking spot
and drive down Walnut without further interruption.
    She started to turn towards Rosie’s
house and thought of the ghost making his way back to the hospital. He had been
sent to her for a reason, even if he didn’t understand the reason. He might
need her. She shook her head. Well, she had wanted to be busy.
    She pulled out her cell phone. “Hi,
Rosie, it’s Mary. How are you doing?”

Chapter Six

 
    She slowly followed Reverend Hezekiah
Johnson down Stephenson Street to the hospital. She hadn’t realized how tall he
was when he was sitting next to her in the car. He must have been over six feet
tall and, although his body was carrying some excess weight, she could tell he
had been an athlete by the way he carried himself as he strode down the street.
    He was wearing a long dark overcoat
that flapped open as he walked, but he wouldn’t notice the cold, Mary thought.
And, she added to herself, he wouldn’t notice that he wasn’t noticing the cold.
    He wasn’t floating yet, she noticed as
he made his way around a group of people walking to their cars. He was still
earth-bound, either by his own determination or his lack of acceptance of his
current state. He walked with purpose, not looking to the right or the left,
but simply marching forward.
    She thought he might have looked a
little angry, not used to having things detain him from his usual routine. She
thought back to Mike’s statement about how ghosts didn’t really worry about
time anymore, she wondered if this ghost would be able to adjust.
    As he entered the lobby, she found a
parking space close to the door and settled down to wait for him. Rosie had
understood when she told her she wasn’t sure how late she would be. But with
Stanley and Bradley there, Rosie had plenty of people looking out for her for
the time being.
    Reverend Hezekiah Johnson entered the
lobby and looked around. Where the he…? He stopped. What’s wrong with me? I can’t
believe I nearly swore , he thought. That young woman had shaken him more
than he cared to admit. Imagine, suggesting he was dead and, even worse, not
admitted through the Pearly Gates to his eventual reward. Why, for all the time
and effort he’d put into his ministry, he was sure he would eventually be
welcomed home with jubilation and celebration. A ghost. No, sir! That was certainly not part of his future.
    Pushing through the doors to the triage
area of the Emergency Room, he noticed the duty nurse didn’t even look up from
her computer to ask his name. Really, things were getting lax at the hospital,
he decided. Well, at least he wasn’t going to have to waste his time with
explanations, especially since he didn’t have one.
    He peeked around curtains to try to
locate his family. It was just like Lucinda, his wife, to get turned around in
a place like this. She was probably
roaming the halls somewhere , he thought with a wry shake of his head. That
woman couldn’t do anything without his guiding hand.
    The sound of weeping stopped him in his
tracks. It sounded just like Lucinda. He turned and followed the sound down a
long corridor and found himself in front of a room with a door that was
slightly ajar.
    “I’m so sorry, Mrs. Johnson.”
    He recognized that voice; it was Dr. Polley . What had he missed? Was it one of their children?
    He rushed into the room and his heart
filled with relief as he realized his entire family was there, standing around
a hospital bed. They all looked fine.
    Moving closer, he craned his neck to
see who was sick. Probably one of the beloved parishioners. Elle Jones had been sick for quite a while now.
    Standing behind his wife, he peered
over her shoulder and his jaw dropped. It was his body in