Melissa closed her eyes for just a moment, then she wanted to ask the agent a question, but as she looked around she noticed the room had changed in the blink of an eye. It was far more spacious, brighter, and filled with newer equipment. She thought how strange it was that the room could change in the blink of an eye so she said "Agent Hunt?"
"Yes Melissa?" Agent Hunt replied.
"I told you not to call me by my first name until we are back in Texas!" she chastised him.
Agent Hunt cleared his throat as he stood up from the chair beside her hospital bed, then he went over to the long white vertical blinds and he pulled them back. There lit up in neon, in the night sky, were the tall towering smoked glass high rises of Downtown Dallas, just south of the Medical Center. Melissa strained her neck trying to get a better view, but before rejoicing she began to think this was another game her morphine laced brain was playing tricks on her again, so she said to the agent. "How do I know this is real?"
Agent Hunt just smiled and walked back across the room to the door, and opening it he gestured for someone to enter the room. Now here Melissa thought if Charles walks in now then she was merely dreaming and not home safe in Texas after all. Then, to her sheer amazement, and absolute delight, she saw Oliver come in holding her little boy in his arms. Melissa let out an exhausted cry as tears of joy streamed down her face, like water off a mountain as she was so happy she had lived to witness this moment. "My Angel!" she cried reaching out her arms to her son. Oliver and little Charles smiled and they too had happy tears for their reunion.
"Mommy?" little Charles said perplexed, as the woman in the bed did not look like the mother he had known.
Here Melissa realized now her appearance must have been so unsightly. She even could see the look in her cousin Oliver's eyes as if to say 'You left looking like a Barbi Doll and returned looking like the Elephant Man.' Yet it was true, only her right eye and a small portion of her forehead was not cut, swollen, or contused."Don't you recognize me?" Melissa asked her bewildered son with a deep twinge of pain in her heart.
"What happened to you mommy?" he asked, curling up in the bed with his mother resting his head on her chest listening to the soft, quiet, beating of her heart as she said "Mommy was in a bit of a plane crash, but I'm okay now.., well, I need some time to heal, but I promise, my little Angel, Mommy will be pretty again."
"I love you mommy, no matter what you look like."
This wonderful sentiment out of the mouth of her only child made her weep a little. Agent Hunt was touched by the scene and, though he had many questions for Melissa about the kidnapping, he excused himself for the evening and let the matter be. Oliver was overjoyed to have his dearest cousin back in Texas, however, he was still very concerned about her safety. "What are we going to do Melissa, what if his family tries this again?"
"I want you to go tomorrow and speak to the Commanding Officer at the Joint Reserve Base and hire 4 of the biggest Marines you can find. Make sure they have their marksman certification." Melissa instructed finally realizing she did need a security team after all.
Oliver stayed for as long as he could with Melissa until one of the i.c.u. nurses came in announcing visitor hours were over and that he had to leave. Now, when the white haired nurse found the little three year old curled up next to his mother sleeping, she felt a little spot of warmth and joy in her old heart; and being this patient had been all over the news, surviving a kidnapping, and a plane crash, the old nurse changed her mind and let Oliver and the little boy stay, completely disregarding Hospital Rules and Regulations.
Melissa felt the spirit of love in the room and she felt safe, and warm, and loved. She could not say why the Lord had spared her life, but she knew something very powerful had urged him to protect her. This thought brought a passage she remembered reading as a child... 'Blessed is the Lord, my God, who has covered my head in battle and delivered me from the hands of mine enemy'.
"Yes Melissa?" Agent Hunt replied.
"I told you not to call me by my first name until we are back in Texas!" she chastised him.
Agent Hunt cleared his throat as he stood up from the chair beside her hospital bed, then he went over to the long white vertical blinds and he pulled them back. There lit up in neon, in the night sky, were the tall towering smoked glass high rises of Downtown Dallas, just south of the Medical Center. Melissa strained her neck trying to get a better view, but before rejoicing she began to think this was another game her morphine laced brain was playing tricks on her again, so she said to the agent. "How do I know this is real?"
Agent Hunt just smiled and walked back across the room to the door, and opening it he gestured for someone to enter the room. Now here Melissa thought if Charles walks in now then she was merely dreaming and not home safe in Texas after all. Then, to her sheer amazement, and absolute delight, she saw Oliver come in holding her little boy in his arms. Melissa let out an exhausted cry as tears of joy streamed down her face, like water off a mountain as she was so happy she had lived to witness this moment. "My Angel!" she cried reaching out her arms to her son. Oliver and little Charles smiled and they too had happy tears for their reunion.
"Mommy?" little Charles said perplexed, as the woman in the bed did not look like the mother he had known.
Here Melissa realized now her appearance must have been so unsightly. She even could see the look in her cousin Oliver's eyes as if to say 'You left looking like a Barbi Doll and returned looking like the Elephant Man.' Yet it was true, only her right eye and a small portion of her forehead was not cut, swollen, or contused."Don't you recognize me?" Melissa asked her bewildered son with a deep twinge of pain in her heart.
"What happened to you mommy?" he asked, curling up in the bed with his mother resting his head on her chest listening to the soft, quiet, beating of her heart as she said "Mommy was in a bit of a plane crash, but I'm okay now.., well, I need some time to heal, but I promise, my little Angel, Mommy will be pretty again."
"I love you mommy, no matter what you look like."
This wonderful sentiment out of the mouth of her only child made her weep a little. Agent Hunt was touched by the scene and, though he had many questions for Melissa about the kidnapping, he excused himself for the evening and let the matter be. Oliver was overjoyed to have his dearest cousin back in Texas, however, he was still very concerned about her safety. "What are we going to do Melissa, what if his family tries this again?"
"I want you to go tomorrow and speak to the Commanding Officer at the Joint Reserve Base and hire 4 of the biggest Marines you can find. Make sure they have their marksman certification." Melissa instructed finally realizing she did need a security team after all.
Oliver stayed for as long as he could with Melissa until one of the i.c.u. nurses came in announcing visitor hours were over and that he had to leave. Now, when the white haired nurse found the little three year old curled up next to his mother sleeping, she felt a little spot of warmth and joy in her old heart; and being this patient had been all over the news, surviving a kidnapping, and a plane crash, the old nurse changed her mind and let Oliver and the little boy stay, completely disregarding Hospital Rules and Regulations.
Melissa felt the spirit of love in the room and she felt safe, and warm, and loved. She could not say why the Lord had spared her life, but she knew something very powerful had urged him to protect her. This thought brought a passage she remembered reading as a child... 'Blessed is the Lord, my God, who has covered my head in battle and delivered me from the hands of mine enemy'.
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