Lorenzo"s thoughts were muddled, but his heart could still feel the heavy weight of his pain, the burden that had first come to visit him shortly after the incident happened when he was eleven years old.
Although he"d been too young to give it a name, he knew it had left him with an unpleasant feeling, one that he could not clearly communicate to anyone. The pain had left him for a while but later returned, and then made regular visits throughout his teen years. When he became an adult, the pain took up permanent residency in his soul.
"Do you believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of G.o.d" the woman asked, "and that He died on the cross for your sins?" She pointed her finger at the camera, and through his blurred vision, Lorenzo thought she was pointing directly at him.
"We"re all sinners in need of forgiveness and change," she continued. "Can you admit that you"re a sinner? Are you in need of change?" Her voice got stronger. "Do you want to be forgiven?
"Accept the Lord Jesus Christ as your savior." She was almost yelling. "Surrender yourself to Him," she said. "Ask Jesus to come into your life and take control of your heart. Ask Him," she pleaded, and her voice became soft again. "He will if you ask Him to."
Soft music began playing in the background, and Lorenzo thought it was the sweetest sound he had ever heard.
The woman lowered her voice. "Ask Jesus to come into your heart," she whispered. "Let Him take over and give you the rest and the peace you can"t find anywhere else. It doesn"t matter what you"ve been through. It doesn"t matter what your pain is. He can heal you. Surrender to Him and be healed. Surrender to Jesus and be set free!"
Lorenzo"s level of consciousness was fading. "Help me, Jesus!" he cried out.
"And remember," the elderly lady added with optimism, "John 8:36 says, "So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed." Amen!"
"Amen," Lorenzo mumbled.
"This is G.o.d"s promise to you personally," she said, "and G.o.d cannot lie. But," she stared directly into the camera, "Satan can."
She encouraged everyone who had been watching or listening to the program to pick up the phone and dial the 1-800 phone number that she gave. She also pointed out that the number was visible on the bottom of the television screen.
She said volunteers were waiting to talk and pray with people who were hurting, lost, and confused-people just like Lorenzo. In fact, Lorenzo thought he heard her say his name specifically, and he smiled.
He opened his eyes to look at the television screen. He tried to read the phone number, but all he saw was one short, blurry line. He reached for his phone and accidentally knocked it to the floor.
"Call now," he heard her saying. "Jesus is waiting." She read off the phone number again. Her voice sounded closer, louder, as it rose above the music playing in the background. He thought he heard a phone ringing. "Call now," she said, "before it"s too late."
He bent down to pick up his phone.
"Jesus is the answer," she continued. "The only cure. He can do for you what that alcohol won"t do, that needle can"t do, and those pills you take will never do."
Lorenzo stood up quickly. How did she know he had taken all those pills? The room began spinning as he tried to focus on the numbers still showing on the television screen. He reached for the back of the couch in an effort to balance himself but fell sideways instead. His head bounced like an underinflated basketball as it made impact with the hardwood floor. Then he was still.
Chapter Thirty-three.
It wasn"t until Serenity had made it around the corner that she slowed down. Disappointed that she hadn"t met Saucer, she wondered why Cookie"s next-door neighbor had been sitting in his car across the street from the empty parking lot.
Now, she walked slowly home from the bus stop. She kept her head down as she carefully maneuvered her steps between the intermittent patches of ice on the sidewalk. Why was she such a failure? She couldn"t even walk down a simple path without tripping over her own feet.
And no one seemed to care-not just about the failed audition but about her. She stepped over the cracks in the sidewalk. Her mother was too busy, and her father was too high. She thought Saucer had cared but even he hadn"t shown up.
She reached in her pocket and pulled out her key as she walked up the pathway to her house. As soon as she opened the door, Catch came running up to her, but this time he didn"t wait for her to rub and pat his back. He paced around in a circle, then ran back and forth from the hallway to the living room.
"Hey, Catch," Serenity said taking off her h.e.l.lo Kitty hat. "What"s wrong?" She followed him into the living room and immediately saw Lorenzo lying sideways on the floor.
She bent down and gently shook his shoulder. "Daddy?"
He didn"t answer.
"Daddy!" She pushed his shoulder harder, causing his entire body to shake.
There was still no answer.
Her eyes searched quickly for the house phone sitting on the corner table in the hallway. She picked it up and called the hospital where her mother worked. When the operator answered, she asked to be connected the fifth floor.
"Victory Memorial, 5 West subacute unit. This is Stephanie. How can I help you?"
"I need to speak to my mom," Serenity blurted out.
"And who is your mom?"
"Tia Sparks!"
Moments later Tia was on the phone.
"Ma!" Serenity screamed. "There"s something wrong with Daddy. He"s lying on the floor, and I can"t wake him up!"
"Wait," Tia spoke firmly. "Serenity, calm down. What do you mean you can"t wake him up?"
"He"s on the floor, and he won"t wake up!"
"Is he breathing?"
It was silent.
"Serenity!"
She was crying now. "I can"t tell!"
"Call 9-1-1. No, wait. I"ll call them. You call Tony and Shari and tell them what happened!"
"Okay."
Tia hung up the phone and dialed 9-1-1.
"9-1-1," the operator answered. "What is your emergency?"
"I"m calling from Victory Memorial Hospital. My daughter just called and told me my husband is unconscious on the floor at our home. The address is . . ."
"What is your name, ma"am?"
"Tia Sparks."
"And your husband"s name?"
"Lorenzo."
"What"s the address?"
"5325 Cooper Circle."
"I"m sending someone now, ma"am."
"Can you have them bring him to Victory Memorial?"
"Yes, ma"am."
"Thank you." Tia"s hands were shaking as she hung up the phone.
"What"s going on?" her colleague asked. She"d been standing close by and had heard Tia on the telephone.
"My husband is hurt. They"re bringing him here. Can you cover for me? I"m gonna have to leave when he gets here."
"Sure."
Tia quickly went over her patients with the other nurse. She was thankful that everyone was stable and that there were no elaborate procedures needing to be done on any of them.
"Thank you so much," Tia said as she swiped her badge through the time clock and ran to the elevator.
"No problem," the nurse said. "You go and check on your husband."
Tia"s cell phone rang while she stood waiting for the metal elevator doors to open. It was Shari. "Hi, Shari. I"m on my way down to the ER now."
"The ER?" Shari repeated. "For what?"
"Didn"t Serenity tell you?"
Shari hesitated. "I haven"t talked to Serenity. We"re not at home. But I"ve been trying to call you for about twenty minutes. What happened?"
"Lorenzo fell. Let me call you back," Tia said and quickly disconnected the call.
She dialed the number to her house. It rang five times before going to voice mail. "Serenity, where are you?" she yelled. "Pick up the phone!"
Chapter Thirty-four.
Serenity ran to Tony and Shari"s house almost falling several times on the patches of ice spread across the sidewalk. No one answered when she rang the doorbell so she made a beeline back to her house. The ambulance hadn"t gotten there yet, and she decided to turn around and run to the house next to Tony and Shari-Homer"s house. In a panic, she began pounding on his door.
Homer opened the door slowly. "Hi, Serenity," he said calmly. "Come in."
"No, Mr. Woodard," she said breathing rapidly. Thick cylinders of smoke escaped from her mouth as she talked. "I was looking for the Wiles but they"re not home. My dad"s hurt and the ambulance is coming."
He looked down toward her house, and then scanned the cul-de-sac. "Come in and calm down," he said feigning concern. "It"s freezing out here." He touched her shoulder and stepped to the side. "I can take you to the hospital."
Serenity looked into his hazel eyes, then past the halfway open door. The foyer behind him was dark and uninviting, and something about the way he touched her shoulder made her feel uncomfortable.
"I have to get back to the house," she said backing down the steps.
"Wait," he reached out and grabbed her arm and pulled her into the foyer just as the shrill sound of the ambulance neared the cul-de-sac.
Serenity struggled to get away, but Homer"s grip was too tight. He pulled her farther into the foyer, and then slammed the front door closed.
Tony saw the concerned look on Shari"s face as she ended her call with Tia. "What"s going on?" he asked.
"Lorenzo fell."
"Is he hurt?"
Shari sighed. "Apparently so. Tia called the ambulance."
"How did she know he fell?"
"I"m not sure. She must have talked to Serenity because she thought Serenity was with us."
Tony looked at her silently.
Shari gave him a knowing look. After hearing about Lorenzo"s fall and the ambulance being called, Shari couldn"t bring herself to tell Tia about Serenity. She didn"t have the heart to tell her that the reason they weren"t at home was because they were out looking for her daughter who had made plans to meet a total stranger. Shari decided she would tell her once things settled down.
Now, having been unsuccessful in their search for Serenity, Tony and Shari were just turning into the cul-de-sac when they saw the ambulance in front of Tia"s house. Tony pulled up next to the ambulance.
"What happened?" he asked.
"Looks like a fall," one of the paramedics said as his partner helped him load Lorenzo into the back of the ambulance.
"Is his daughter here?" Shari asked.
"No one was home when we got here," the paramedic said. He headed for the driver"s side of the vehicle. "The door was open when we arrived."
"Where is she?" Shari said looking at Tony.
Tony rubbed his chin. "We"ll find her," he said as the ambulance left the cul-de-sac with its siren blaring. "I"m sure she"s okay." He tried to sound optimistic. He turned to look at Cookie in the backseat. "Where did they say they were going after they met?"
Cookie"s eyes grew big as Tony looked at her. "I don"t know," she said. Her posture remained rigid. "He just said something about a pizza restaurant that closed."
"And why didn"t you say something, Cookie?" Shari admonished her again. "You know better than that!"