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Forty-three minutes without a heartbeat—a little longer than a
sitcom. About the time it takes for first period at Theodore High. It’d been
five years since I’d seen Grams. She looked amazingly happy, considering she
was dead.
After waking up from heart surgery, the
first words I uttered in the recovery room were “Did my team win?”
“Miracle, miracle,” a nurse whispered. I
guess she thought I’d have brain damage.
Another nurse cried. A male nurse asked me
if I’d experienced anything strange. He said some patients have what they call
a “Near-Death-Experience”—NDE for short. After all, I’d been officially
pronounced dead before the doctors brought me back to life.
I told him, “No, nothing worth mentioning.”
Lying was easier than telling the truth. There’s no way I’ll ever talk to
anyone about those forty-three minutes—especially not Mom or her boyfriend,
Hank. What would I tell them? “Hey, remember when I was dead? Well, I hung out
with Grams on a bright day at Uncle Pete’s pond.”
Not a chance. I’d get tagged a wacko and
locked up at Willowgate, just like the crazy kid from school.
The nurses told me it’d been a miracle that
I had survived with only chest compressions until I arrived at the ER. I
agreed, of course, but I knew different. Grams had said, “It’s your choice, dear. Stay here or return.”
Being a track star and honor student, I
wanted to return.
And so I did.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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