Soldier from Heaven (9781629021911) Read Online Free PDF

lived close by. She was with my children. They had no idea what was going on. They shouldn’t have even had to endure what had happened or what would happen next. The doctor came into the room and spoke to Linda after he had called my parents.
    “Your friend’s tests came back normal. There was no trauma at all from the fall, no concussion. There is no reason for her to be unconscious. Sometimes a shock like what she has experienced puts a person into a sort of voluntary sleep. It’s sort of a defense mechanism to escape or deal with a traumatic situation. I believe that is what is happening here. She will probably wake soon and will need your support to help her deal with what happened. It may seem like a dream to her. Is there anyone I can call for you?”
    “No, thank you, doctor. I’ll call the family. I’ll take care of everything,” she said weeping. And the doctor left the room.
    The next morning, Linda was ready to go back to the hospital. She stayed the night at my house with the children and my parents. My mother and father had a hard time talking to Jacob and Ben about what happened. Jacob got angry and had not come out of his room since the night before, and Ben just couldn’t stop crying and calling for me. Mary was acting like her own sweet self, showing off her new talent for walking. Linda and my mother were holding it together the best they could. My mother loved Linda as well, and she was so thankful for her support.
    “Thank you for spending the night, Linda. We are so lucky to have you, and Catherine is truly blessed to have you as a friend.”
    “Marion, I will do whatever needs to be done. Are you sure you don’t mind watching Jesse while I run to the hospital? I won’t take long, and then you can go to see her.”
    “It’s fine. I’m going to watch mass on TV and hopefully calm Ben down. I’m worried about Jacob though.”
    “Me too. Hopefully Jesse can help. Sometimes friends can reach a person better than family. That’s what I’m hoping to go do right now. Catherine has to snap out of this.”
    “Go on, we’ll manage,” Marion said as she embraced Linda, and they both allowed tears to fall.

Chapter 5
    Harsh Reality
    When Linda arrived at the hospital, she was half expecting me to be awake. I don’t think she quite knew the magnitude of my emotional breakdown. Over the years, I had completely convinced myself that I could not live without Pete. It wasn’t just a figure of speech to me. I truly believed that I could not exist in this world without him. I felt that everything I was and did was because of his love and support for me. Yes, I was an amazing mother. But I guess, in a way, I even attributed that to him. The stability he brought to our family allowed me to give all of my attention to taking care of the emotional and physical needs of my children. He handled all of the finances and problems that arose. And during the times he was away, Pete had his brother taking care of the business and other affairs so that no additional burden would be placed on me. So at the moment I realized that Pete was truly gone, I seized to exist and mentally broke down. Only Pete would be able to bring me back to life, and that didn’t seem to be possible.
    Linda walked into my room, sat down beside me, and began speaking gently to me.
    “Catherine, Catherine. How are you today? Come on girl, it’s time to wake up.”
    Her tone quickly got sharper.
    “ Catherine , your kids need you. Wake up .”
    Now weeping, “I don’t know what to do. Please, Catherine. The funeral? This is crazy, Catherine, snap out of it.”
    Very frustrated at that point, Linda left the room.
    Two weeks had passed since I slipped into my so-called coma. I can’t remember any thoughts going through my head during that time. No dreams, no emotions, no knowledge of the world around me. I don’t know anything about how the funeral went or how my parents and Linda dealt with the children. I suppose they didn’t