Dragonfly Page #2

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No. I'll fly around

with you up there.

But you know what

I'm gonna be.

Yeah, but...

if I'm a bird and

you're an insect, Yeah?

how are we gonna-

You know.

You know.

We'll just have to do enough

of that in this lifetime...

to make up

for the next ten.

I'm going

because I have to,Joe.

Because it's who I am,

who we are...

what we dedicated

our lives to.

For God sakes, Emily, you're

pregnant. We addressed this, Joe...

when we first met...

that we'd pack our kids in

on our backs if we had to...

to show them what was important,

to teach them our values.

It was naive, Emily,

all right? It was naive.

Our values?

I'm needed there, Joe...

and I'm going.

Whether you choose to

or not.

So this thing was a paperweight? Yes.

It was a present I gave her

for Valentine's Day.

Got to weigh half a pound, and

it was squarely- I mean squarely-

on the bedside table

when I went to sleep.

So what are you saying?

I don't know.

Nothing, I guess.

Just that...

dragonflies were sort of her thing,

you know, like a personal totem.

How Indians have buffalo heads

or tiger heads or hawks...

hers was a dragonfly.

She even had this small birthmark on her

shoulder that kind of looked like one.

Said her grandfather

had one too...

on his-

on his butt, I think.

It's called

familial hemangioma.

I once skunked

an entire graduating class...

by putting it

on a final exam.

When she was alive, I had to

scour for anything I could find...

with a dragonfly on it

to buy her a present.

Now? Now I see 'em

everywhere.

There was one

- There was one bouncing against my office window yesterday.

A real one.

Last night a package arrived. She

had bought over the Internet...

a mobile to put on

the baby's crib...

of dragonflies.

And then this thing last night

with the paperweight.

You know what I think?

I think you are literally going

buggy living in that house.

Yeah, you should move. You're

rummaging around in an empty nursery.

You're living with a talking

parrot who won't even speak to you.

Never would.

Never liked me.

Would only talk

to Emily.

She even taught it to announce her

arrival when she came in the door.

"Honey.

Honey, I'm home. "

You ought to sell that

thing, Joe. Get rid of it.

Stuck with it.

I promised her I'd keep it forever,

and I'd put a provision in my will...

that if anything ever happened to me,

someone I trusted would take care of it.

Would you?

Oh, no. It's your promise,

buddy. It's not mine.

I need to live up to

my promises to her.

That's one thing I

need to do. Okay, fine.

Any other promises

that I should know about?

Just one, but I'm taking care

of that one myself, starting...

today.

Hi, Joe.

Hugh.

- I was kind of hoping you took our conversation seriously.

- I did.

I convinced Joe to take a couple of

months off, with all that's happened.

- Right,Joe?

- I promised Emily I'd look in on her kids...

on the oncology ward while she was gone

- I never did.

I thought this might be

a good day.

After six months?

On oncology?

I'm not sure how many are left,

but if it's for Emily, fine.

A**hole. You should get away, Joe.

Isn't there someplace

you can go?

Joe!

Joe!

Joe!

Joe!

Joe, can't you hear me?

Joe!

Joe!

- All right. Hold C.P.R.

- I'm getting nothing.

Continue it. Shock him

at 30. Let me in there.

Come on, Jeffrey. Hang in

there. Clear. Keep it going.

Still nothing.

Charging to 60.

Shock him.

Clear.

- Nothing. - Go again.

- He's not responding.

I said again.

There's no pulse at all.

- He's not coming back this time.

- Damn it, do it again!

Clear!

He's gone.

He's got a rhythm.

- He's back! Jump on it!

- He's coming back!

Yes, Jeffrey, yes!

Do you need to be here?

Put that O-2 mask on him. Clear

the room, please. Get me an E.K.G.

You'll have to leave. Don't let

him pull out that I.V. Jeffrey.

Jeffrey, can you hear me?

Ah, pupils reactive.

I just came on.

What happened?

They're stabilizing him.

He flat-lined,

and his heart started again.

That's our Jeffrey. His heart stopped more

times than anyone in the history of science.

He'll come out of there with all kinds of

stories about who he met in the tunnel...

and what they said.

Hi, I'm Dr. Darrow

from Emergency.

I know who you are.

The hospital administrator heard that

you got in the way in I.C.U. yesterday...

and asked to be notified

if you came back here again.

Did the boy who was being

resuscitated last night-

Jeffrey-

Reardon.

Right. Is he-

Is he still on the floor?

Mm-hmm. He was one of

your wife's favorites.

Actually,

that's why I'm here.

I promised I'd look in on her kids,

but there don't seem to be many left.

Be great if you could give

me a little help, maybe not...

put in that call to

the hospital administrator.

Between you and me, Doctor,

the hospital administrator is-

how do I put it-

I use the word "a**hole. "

That about captures it.

Three-one-five.

He's a real trip.

You'll love him.

Thanks.

- Hello.

- Hi.

How's he doing?

Great.

Nice.

What is it?

I couldn't say.

Guess.

All right.

Crucifix made of Jell-O?

Man, you're good.

He's good.

He hasn't stopped drawing them since

he got out of the I.C.U. yesterday.

So what is it?

I don't know.

That's why I'm asking.

Just woke up

thinking about it.

I happened to be in the

I.C.U. yesterday, Jeffrey.

I know.

I saw you in there.

You saw me in there?

Yeah. You came in through the back

of the room standing over my bed.

You saw me

come over to your bed?

Pretty sure it was you.

But the tie was different.

Jeffrey!

Could I ask-

We're not encouraged

to discuss these things.

There was a nun on the ward interviewing

kids who'd had near-death experiences.

Sister Madeline

from Chaplain Services.

Stirred up all kinds of trouble for

the hospital when some of it appeared...

on a TV tabloid show.

She never even

talked to me...

and I've got the best

near-death experiences of anyone.

I'm allowed a coffee break

if there's a doctor with him.

In spite of hospital policy, I

think they need to talk about it.

You're scheduled for a CAT scan,

Jeffrey. Don't go without me.

So what are we talking

about here, Jeffrey?

What we shouldn't.

In the I.C.U. yesterday,

when I approached your bed...

it seemed to me

you were pretty-

- I was flat-lined.

- Exactly.

So how could you look

up and see me? Couldn't.

- But you said-

- I looked down.

You looked down?

From the ceiling. That's

where I was when I saw you.

Okay.

Don't believe me?

Should I?

Ever see that little

bald spot on top of your head?

Bend down here.

Come on.

Bend down here.

Yeah, that was you.

Jeffrey,

do you know my name?

You look like a-

a William to me.

I'm a Joe.

Does it ring a bell?

Emily's Joe?

Joe Darrow.

I saw her yesterday too.

What do you mean,

Jeffrey, you saw her?

She was there.

Where?

All around me.

Inside the rainbow.

The mist.

I was falling...

falling through it...

until she caught me...

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