The Soul Takers

Anya wiped her face with a tissue as she listened to her boyfriend’s recall of the past four days. “Damian got out of surgery around midnight. We were already in this room with Skeeter when they wheeled him in. He hasn’t opened his eyes yet. I don’t know if they’re keeping him drugged or if he just won’t wake up. Skeeter wakes up screaming and they give him something to make him sleep without nightmares.” Dante sighed. “He is getting better. His screams aren’t as long and loud as they were yesterday.” “Do you suppose he’s reliving the wreck in his dreams?” Anya wondered. Dante shrugged his shoulders. “He’s not scared of anything. He loves for me to hide in his closet or under his bed and try to scare him. He laughs so hard he stops breathing.” “He was in a wreck and he never lost consciousness. He has a broken leg and a dislocated hip. He had to see everything until the paramedics cut him out of the truck. His dad was lying against the steering wheel and his brother was knocked out in the floorboard. For about twenty minutes, he was all alone in the cab and he’s too young to understand everything. That’s enough to make a grown-up have nightmares for years.” Dante nodded. “I guess the wreck was his door click.” “Huh?” “That one precise moment when you know life will never be the same as it was before that moment,” he explained. The couple’s thoughts were abruptly interrupted when a scream pierced the air and shot through their bodies like a poison dart. In response to the sudden halt to the quietness in the room, a small scream escaped Anya’s throat as Dante jumped to his feet and ran to his youngest brother’s bedside and pushed the table out of his way. Draydon’s skin-crawling scream reduced to a whimper. He raised both arms and welcomed his protector’s mighty embrace. He buried his frightened face in his brother’s chest and his tiny body quivered. “I’m right here, Skeeter.” Draydon squeezed Dante as tightly as his injured arms allowed and began to cry. Anya joined the two brothers and watched as Draydon cried real tears. Dante turned his head toward her. “He’s not a cry baby. He never has been.” She reached out and ruffled Draydon’s hair. “It’s okay now.” Slowly, his sobs subsided. “Do you want to talk about it?” she pressed. He shook his head as he continued to press hard into Dante’s chest. “Dante and I will listen if you want to talk, okay?” The boy did not respond. “When you’re ready,” she finished. The day shift nurse appeared in the room. She readied the syringe as she walked to the bed. “Sweetheart,” she said as she cleaned the IV port with an alcohol pad, “you’re scaring the other patients on this floor. The doctor is beginning to get concerned about your nightmares.” “It wasn’t a nightmare,” Anya said to both the nurse and Dante. “He wasn’t asleep. He was wide awake eating breakfast.” Dante pulled his brother away from him and looked into this face. “Were you awake, Skeeter?” Draydon tried to answer but his eyes rolled back in his head as the medicine took away his awareness of his surroundings. The nurse disappeared from the room without a word. Dante covered his brother with a sheet and turned to Anya. “What did he see to make him scream like that?” She shrugged. “Are you sure he was asleep all the others times he screamed?” Dante paused. “I thought so, until now.” A whisper, soft and low, in contrast to Draydon’s loud scream, startled the couple just the same. They turned to find Damian awake. “Hey, little brother,” Dante said as he crossed the room to the other bed. “What happened to me?” his raspy voice whispered. “You were in a wreck.” “It feels like it.” Dante turned to Anya. “Will you go tell the nurse that he’s awake?” He turned back to his brother. “I’m thirsty.” “I’ll get you something in a minute. Do you hurt anywhere?” “My stomach,” he said as he turned his head and checked out the room. “Draydon,” he whispered. “He’s asleep, will be for most of the day.” “Is he okay?” “Yeah,” Dante said. “Everything’s going to be fine.” “Where’s Dad? He was in the truck, too.” Dante felt the blood drain from his face and his mouth immediately went dry. The day shift nurse was Dante’s least favorite employee at the hospital, but he was thrilled to see her when she walked through the door. “Good morning, Sleepyhead,” she greeted. “I thought you were going to sleep all month.” “How long have I been asleep?” Damian asked. “Today is Friday,” she answered. “You were brought in Monday night. You do the math.” She busied herself with checking his IV site and his arms. “What’s wrong with me?” The nurse began to write in the chart. “If I could ask the young lady to step into the hall for a minute, I will show you.” Anya left the room. The nurse removed the covers and folded the hospital gown up to Damian’s neck and began her visual examination of the wound sites as she explained them to Damian. “You have a couple of butterfly strips here on your side where they inserted a chest tube to inflate your lung. You have two fractured ribs here.” She gently ran her warm fingers along the boy’s right side. “You were bleeding on the inside and the doctors made this incision,” she pointed out the twenty staples that ran in a straight line from his sternum down to his pubic region. “They found a tear in your liver and repaired it.” Dante looked over the nurse’s shoulder. “That’s going to leave a nice scar.” Damian stared at his mutilated stomach. “Anything else?” “There are twenty stitches over your right eye,” she continued as she lowered the gown and raised the sheet. Damian looked at the nurse. “What’s wrong with Draydon?” “He has a cast on his right leg.” “Is that all?” “Other than some cuts and bruises, that’s all.” Damian looked at his older brother. “Is she lying to me?” Dante shook his head. “That’s all.” “How does a broken leg get you four days in a hospital? The last time I had a broken leg, I didn’t even get to miss a day of school.” The nurse paused a minute before she answered. “He is having a hard time dealing with the accident.” “What kind of hard time?” “Nightmares. The doctor is keeping him here for observation.” The nurse finished her charting. “Now that you’re awake, the sheriff may want to ask you a few questions about the accident so she can finish her report.” “What kind of questions?” “I don’t know. She’ll probably want to know what caused the accident since there were no other vehicles involved.” “Why can’t she ask my dad?” The nurse looked at Dante before she answered. “Maybe she wants everyone’s opinion. Do you remember what happened?” As the scene of the accident entered his mind, Damian looked at Dante with a terrified look on his face and found that his brother had a strained expression of his own. He made a quick decision to keep the accident quiet for a while. “I don’t think I remember,” he lied. “Maybe your memory will come back in a day or two. I will be back in a little bit to get you out of bed. Now that you’re awake, it’s time to start walking.” She left the room. Dante looked directly at Damian. “You lied to her, didn’t you?” “I’m thirsty,” he said, avoiding the question. * * * * * A knock on the door brought everyone’s attention to the visitor who stood in the doorway. “May I come in?” “Sure,” Dante answered as he covered his brother with the sheet. “Hello, Damian,” the woman greeted as she neared the bed. “The nurse told me you were awake.” “Hey,” he returned. Sheriff Tierney glanced at the other bed before she turned back to Damian. “Do you mind if I ask you a few questions?” “No.” “Good. I have reports to file whenever there is an accident and I need to find out what happened from everyone that was there.” Damian waited for the first question. “I am sorry to hear about your father.” She looked over her shoulder at Draydon. “But I sure am glad to hear that you and your little brother are going to be okay.” “Have you already talked to everyon