Chapter 39: Miracles Do Happen

I jerked awake. I was in my bed snuggled up to Shannon. Allison lay just beyond her, still asleep and facing the wall. I turned to see the clock; it was just after midnight. Jumping out of bed I raced to the kitchen, flipped on the light, grabbed the phone, and quickly dialed the hotel number from the note on the counter. A woman's voice answered.

"Hello. My name is James Matthews. My parents are Richard and Cindy Matthews; they are guests in the hotel. I need to speak to them immediately."

"Mr. Matthews, it's late, perhaps in the morning would be better."

I yelled into the phone, "I need to speak to my parents now!"

"One moment please." Elevator music filled my ear, punctuated with encouraging advertisements for the hotel. The woman came back on the line. "I'm sorry, there is no answer in the room; they must not have returned yet. Would you like to leave a message?" <<Damn!>> I could argue with this idiot all night and get nowhere.

"No thank you." I hung up and redialed. I adopted a slightly British accent and re-pitched my voice. "Yes, good evening, hotel security please." More fake music.

"Hotel security, my name is Martin Sloan, how may I help you."

"Mr. Sloan, my name is James Matthews, my parents are staying in the hotel, I can't reach them. The woman at the desk tried the room but there was no answer. She said they hadn't come back in yet. Mr. Sloan, my parents aren't party people; they came down there to relax. I think something is wrong and I would like you to please go up and check their room."

"Slow down. You want me to go up and possibly wake up your parents in the middle of the night? What should I tell them?"

"Tell them their daughter had a bad dream and their son asked you to check on them when they didn't answer the phone. Ask them to call me right away. I'll apologize if necessary. Please, Mr. Sloan, I think something's wrong. Please! Just go check on my parents."

"Okay. Okay. I'll have your parents call you, but if you're wrong I expect you to do a lot of explaining."

The line went dead and I waited, and waited. I paced, and waited some more. Finally I couldn't wait any longer. I dialed the hotel again. This time a man answered the phone. "Martin Sloan, please."

"I'm sorry, Mr. Sloan is not available at this time. Can I take a message?"

"What do you mean he's not available?" I yelled. "I just spoke to him. He went to check on my parents."

"Are your parents Richard and Cindy Matthews?"

"Yes, sir."

"What's your name, son?"

"Jimmy."

"Jimmy, my name is Marcus Roberts. I am the night manager. How old are you, Jimmy?"

"Eighteen," I lied.

"Jimmy, we think your parents are going to be okay. We have them on oxygen and the paramedics are en route now. When Mr. Sloan didn't get an answer at your parents' door he used his passkey and entered the room. It was clear immediately that there was a problem with the air. He called for assistance and pulled your parents from the room. They will be taken to a nearby hospital shortly. I was just looking up your phone number from their check-in slip to call you but you beat me to it. I have to go make sure everything is okay, but I will call you again when I have more details. Jimmy? If you don't mind me asking, how did you know something was wrong?"

"My little sister had a bad dream and made me call."

"Well, Jimmy, most people would think that was strange. But then most people never met my Aunt Alice. Jimmy, if your little sister has any more bad dreams, you listen to her. Try to get some sleep son. I'll call you when I have more information."

I hung up the phone and turned to find Allison and Shannon standing behind me. They were both wearing robes. Shannon handed me mine. Allison simply said, "What happened?"

I hugged my sister close and I could feel the tears in my eyes, "I had a bad dream."

She stroked my neck and waited for me to recover. Then she drew me to the kitchen table and sat me down. She took one of the other chairs and said, "Tell me."

Shannon stepped behind my chair and began to lightly massage my shoulders. I told them everything. As usual Allison waited patiently while I repeated the story. Then she got up, walked around the table, sat down in my lap, and put her arms around my neck. Shannon leaned over and put her arms around both of us. We stayed that way for few minutes. We may have stayed that way all night but the phone rang.

Shannon handed me the cordless. "Hello."

"Jimmy? It's Marcus Roberts. I just got off the phone with the hospital. It looks like your parents are going to be okay. They are going to have to spend some time getting some special treatments to clear the toxic gases from their blood, but all indications are that they are going to be just fine." He went on to give me the name and address of the hospital. I wrote it down, thanked him for all of his help and said, "Mr. Roberts, I think you will agree with me when I say that it would be best if as few people as possible knew about this. I for one would not want the press to get a hold of it. Thank you for your assistance." Then I hung up and told the girls what he had said.

I was suddenly exhausted, physically and emotionally. There was nothing more that could be done tonight so we decided that the best thing to do was to go back to bed and try and get some sleep. Allison must have turned off my alarm because it was almost 8:00 when I finally woke up. Considering I am normally up by 5:30 that's a long time to over sleep. Sometime during that time the girls had left. I didn't hear them so I figured they must be outside somewhere.

After a quick trip to the bathroom I made my way out to the living room. I could see Shannon sitting reading a book on the sofa. There was no sign of Allison, but it didn't take long to find her. Shannon must have heard me coming because she turned and put her finger to her lips indicating that I should be quiet. I soon discovered why. Allison was stretched out on the couch under a light blanket, her head pillowed in Shannon's lap. She looked very peaceful. You had to look close to see the tear tracks. I leaned over to kiss Shannon good morning. I saw an empty cup on the coffee table and guessed that she had long ago run out and didn't want to wake Allison. I got the pot from the kitchen, re-filled it and handed it to her. She mouthed a silent thank you as she took it. She looked really tired.

After she'd had a sip I mouthed "How long?" and pointed to Allison. She pulled me close and whispered in my ear. "She's been out for a couple hours, but I thought she would never go to sleep. We got up about an hour after you fell asleep. She just wanted me to hold her. She cried off and on most of the night. Could you hand me that pillow over there? I want to try and sneak out from under her before I wet myself."

I smiled and reached for the pillow. Between us we managed to get it in place. I gently held Allison's head while Shannon slid out from under her, and then wedged the pillow in place. Shannon headed immediately for the bathroom. I went to the kitchen for some juice, and then took it and her coffee cup, along with the pot, out to the back patio. She joined me a few minutes later.

"So how is she doing?" I asked.

"I think she'll be okay. The whole thing just scared her. I mean gosh, she almost lost her parents last night. They're not even my parents and I wanted to cry just as much as she did. And if that isn't bad enough then there is what might have happened to the two of you if it had happened. It shook her pretty bad but I think it was mostly the shock and I think she'll be okay. So what are we going to do?"

"Well I think the first thing we better do is call your parents. They have to know. Most likely we are going to spend the day in the car. I hate to do it but I really am going to need to talk to Allison about damage control. If the story gets out it's going to draw attention. What the papers would do with something like this. We'd be on the front page of every tabloid in the country, 'Girl's dream saves parents!' Every ESP nut in the world would be camped on our doorstep wanting an interview. Thank you but that is exactly the kind of publicity I don't want."

"Well at least you told them it was Allison's dream, not yours."

"Yeah, but that still puts the family on the front page. I don't want there to be something that someone may later think of when they are trying to put two and two together. But how do we stop that."

A voice came from the doorway. "We threaten to sue their asses off if word one shows up in the paper or anywhere else." A very bleary eyed Allison closed the door behind her and joined us in the warm sunlight. "Ugh! That's bright. Feels good though." She planted herself between Shannon's legs on the lounger and asked, "How much have I missed."

"Not much, we just got started. Sorry we woke you up. I thought we were careful enough."

She yawned. "You were. I missed this." She rubbed her hand on Shannon's leg. "After Shannon's lap, a pillow is like sleeping on a rock. It's soft enough, but there is just something missing." Shannon pulled her back for a quick 'thank you' hug as she continued, "Anyway, you're right, we need to get Shannon's parents involved, and the sooner the better, but they're really only the first step."

"Do you think threat of legal action is going to be enough? And how do we justify the need to hush it up? An attorney is going to want this on the front page for maximum effect."

"Not if you get the right attorney. The people we really need to justify this to are going to be Mom and Dad. They are never going to buy that it was my dream that triggered this. They'll know it was you. There are simply too many past incidents. They'll want to know everything, especially Mom. And I don't see how we can tell them less than that. Any part of the story we tell them just brings up questions and they won't stop until they have answers. Mom is going to flip when she hears about what you are doing with Rebecca. I think maybe we need to talk to Bob first, and then, depending on what he says, Rebecca. I'm sure she could slam a lid on this if we convinced her that it needed one. But the FBI showing up would generate exactly the kind of attention that we are trying to avoid. So I think we need to keep them out of it." She paused for a moment, it was obvious she was thinking about something. "I think Mom is going to want to meet Rebecca."

"You think so?" I asked. She gave me her, 'oh please' look and ignored me.

"Well, now that I'm up I'm hungry. Those omelets you almost had last night sound like a good idea so why don't you call Karen and get them headed this way and I'll start breakfast. Shannon, would you be a love and just touch things up and make sure we haven't left any big red 'kids having sex' signs anywhere?"

"Sure, I think I'll start changing the sheets on Jimmy's bed. Maybe yours too."

Allison giggled at that. "Couldn't hurt. Let's get to it, kids; it's going to be a long day."

Tom answered the phone but as soon as I started talking he had Karen on the extension. I gave them the basics, leaving out the part about dreams and just saying that the hotel had called us. Karen immediately went on the attack.

"Jimmy, you should have called us immediately!" she began.

Thankfully, Tom intercepted her. "And that would have accomplished what, honey? Instead of being rested we could have rushed down at 2:00 in the morning and spent the night in a hospital waiting room wondering what was going on? I understand where you are coming from, honey, but I think Jimmy did the right thing. How is Allison?"

"She's okay now. The little brat waited until I went back to sleep then had a meltdown. Shannon held her and let her cry it out, and then got stuck playing pillow for her while she slept. I think she just needed to get it out. I think poor Shannon was about to burst a kidney before I finally got up and helped her slip away."

"Well, I'm glad Shannon could be there for her," Karen said. "We'll be over in a little while. I assume everyone wants to go see them."

Tom jumped back in, "Actually, honey, I think we should wait until we hear something more. If it was carbon monoxide then they are going to be sitting in a hyperbaric chamber and we won't be able to see them anyway. Jimmy? I assume you have the number of the hospital. Why don't you get that for me and we'll call first and see how they are doing. No sense driving two hours for nothing. We'll call you back in a few minutes. You did well, my boy. Give the girls a hug for us."

I gave them the number and went to update the girls. Allison was just taking the first omelet out of the oven where she used the broiler to melt the cheese on top. Did I mention she makes great omelets? Maybe she could give Angela some cooking lessons. I called Bob while I ate.

"Bob? It's Jimmy. Are you busy?"

"Jimmy? Hold on a second." I heard some background noise for a few seconds and then there was a click and he came back on the line. The beep that followed told me that he was changing phones. "Okay, I'm on a regular phone. Obviously something happened or you wouldn't have called. What's up?"

I gave him the short version and my concerns about publicity and the probable reaction of my parents.

"Shit! Oh, sorry. Okay, I know just the guy to handle the hotel. He's not an ambulance chaser so he'll do what we ask him to without trying to talk us into anything we don't want to do. I wish I could talk to your parents first but I think we need to try and put a lid on the hotel first. Unfortunately that is going to be just one more reason that we need to tell your parents everything. The biggest question mark is Rebecca. I don't see how we can keep her out of this. Allison is correct; your mother is most likely going to want to see her. She'll probably want you to just drop the whole thing and let Rebecca and the Bureau handle it on their own."

"No! Not going to happen," I said.

"Whoa, down boy! I understand your feelings on this. I'm just pointing out that you better be prepared for it because it's a natural parental response. How much does Rebecca know?"

"Well, she knows Allison's name and my face. A few other scattered facts and whatever deductions she's made on her own."

"Not a lot but maybe enough. I guess the real question is do you trust her? Specifically do you trust her enough to tell her everything? On the one hand it would make it a lot easier for you two to work together."

"Yes. I trust her. She understands the need for secrecy and was already working on a way for me to contact her without being traced. It sounds weird to say it, but I don't know how to reach her when I'm awake. Not without getting caught anyway."

"Leave that to me. Give me her boss's cell phone number. What was his name again?"

I gave him the name and phone number and he said he would call me back in a little while. I finished my omelet and contemplated the next move. All I could come up with was to wait.

I didn't have to wait long. Tom called back first. "Jimmy, it's Tom. Okay, I talked to the doctor handling your parents. They are doing great. They'll be in isolation for the rest of the day and they want to keep them another night for observation, so there is really no point in going down unless you want to have dinner with them at the hospital or something. Karen and I are going to take tomorrow off and drive down to pick them up. That way one of us can drive each car on the way back and they don't have to. If you kids want, we'll call you out of school and you can come along. Think about it and let us know. Hold on, Karen wants to talk to you."

"Hi, Jimmy, I'm sorry about before. Tom was right; you did the right thing. God, I hate to say that where he can hear me; I'll never hear the end of it. Anyway, I thought maybe Shannon could spend the night again in case Allison has any more problems. We don't have to tell her that's why but I think it would be a good idea. We'll bring her school stuff over later and she can just catch the bus there in the morning, okay? Unless of course you change your minds and decide to come with us."

I had to laugh to myself over that. Allison was about the most level and stable of the three of us. Now that she had worked it out of her system I wasn't worried about a relapse. No need to tell Karen that though, especially if it meant that Shannon could stay with us for another night. "That sounds fine, Karen. Why don't you guys come over for an early dinner, say around 4:30 or so? By then we'll probably know more and be able to make better plans."

"Oh, that's a delightful idea. We'll bring some steaks and corn on the cob. Maybe the girls can whip up a salad or something. We'll see you later, honey."

I could do her one better on the salad. We had Angela's left over potato salad. I brought the girls up to date.

"Cool," Allison exclaimed, "we get to wake up with Shannon again tomorrow. The reason sucks but I sure like the result!" She reached over and pinched the object of her affection on the butt as she passed by on the way to the laundry with the sheets from Allison's bed.

"Hey! Watch that, shorty, or you'll be sleeping on that couch alone."

"How about if I kiss it and make it better?" Allison crooned and pressed herself against the older girl.

"Well, in that case I'll let you do the other side too." Shannon dropped the sheets and the two of them began an interesting dance composed mainly of tongue and hand movements.

"Okay you two," I interrupted when things looked like they may be on the verge of escalating right there in the kitchen, "work now, play later. Don't make me separate you."

Allison slid her hand up under Shannon's top and pinched a nipple, "Think you're man enough?" she said with a gleam in her eye.

"Allison," I said warningly.

"Spoil sport," she muttered, but she did take her hand back out of Shannon's shirt. Shannon just kissed her on the nose, picked up the dropped load of laundry and continued on her way.

"Meany," Allison said, and headed into the kitchen to clean up the breakfast dishes. The phone rang and she answered it. "Hello? Hi, Bob. Yes, he's right here. Talk to him will you, he's being a stinker. He won't let Shannon and me play until we do our chores first!"

I slapped her on the butt. "Give me that. Back to work, wench. Hey, Bob. I tell you it's so hard to find good help these days. I'd fire these two in a second if I wasn't so desperately in love with them." Allison blew me a kiss from the sink for that one. "So what's up?"

"Well, we're pretty well committed at this point. I called the attorney I mentioned. He is going to call the hotel. He said not to worry, that they will already have someone standing by to handle anything that comes up. He is going to tell them they have one shot to get this right. Their instructions are to draw up a settlement agreement, which must include a gag order for all involved parties. With significant penalties if either side violates it, up to and including a complete lack of responsibility for the other side if it's violated. Essentially, if either side says anything, it costs them a fortune and the other side is then free to say whatever they want with no penalty or fear of repercussion. The agreement must be binding on all their employees as well. Then they get one shot at a settlement offer to your parents. No negotiation, get it right the first time or we go straight to court, the gag order is contingent on acceptance of the settlement offer. Should be a slam-dunk. You could get more by going to court but then there would be no way to keep this quiet. He said not to worry, if their attorney doesn't know just how much this is going to save them and jump at it, he will personally call their CEO and explain it. I hope your parents don't pop a gasket over the way we are handling this."

"Don't worry about it, Bob. My parents are not the least bit interested in suing anybody. Neither of them have a litigious bone in their bodies."

"Ooh, big word, I'm impressed. Okay, then on to part two. I called Rebecca's boss from a pay phone at the school. I'm sure they will trace the call and considering she knows your age I figured that should be a hint she couldn't miss. I told him to tell her that 'Jimmy' needs to talk and to have her call back to that number. I gave him a three-minute time limit. She called. Once she assured me that the line was safe to talk on I told her that I was your therapist and that something had come up that you may need to talk to her about on short notice. She gave me her cell phone number and said not to call back from the same pay phone, as her boss would probably have it watched. I then dropped the hint that you may actually want to talk to her in person. At first I thought the line had gone dead. Then she asked if I was serious? I told her nothing had been decided but that you felt you could trust her and that it looked very much like that may become necessary. She said to call back any time. She stressed the 'any' twice. So from here it's up to you. I'll help any way I can."