Chapter 20

  SIZZLE

  He was at her side. She was still asleep in bed. She had rolled to the very edge of her side of the bed, the crook of her elbow over the bridge of her nose, trying to keep out the morning light. She was starting to stir.

  Deke lay down on his side of the bed. “Good morning, Rani!” He whispered. “You don’t need to worry about me. I’m ok, but I need your help.” He knew he needed to share ideas with her that would awaken her memories of the cabin. “I have been thinking about the good times you and I had at your parent's cabin at Heaven Lake. We just had each other there. No phones, no TV. We were just able to give each other our full attention. Sharing our dreams while we walked along the shore in the twilight is one of my most precious memories. The smells of the laurel and pine trees and the sounds of the waterbirds were so clear as they glided over the still water. I added such new depths to my feelings for you that day, and I love you even more today.” Deke was overcome by his feelings for Gillian. Reminding her of their experiences together reawakened his own memories. He remembered every detail, every sight, sound, and smell. For a few minutes, he was there. He tried to share every detail with Gillian.

  She began to stir. Tears formed on the eyelashes of her mostly closed eyes. She curled into a fetal position. “Oh, Deke! Where are you?” she turned over on her back and slowly opened her eyes. She stared at the ceiling. Deke repeated his message over and over while she lay there.

  Without warning, Gillian rolled out of bed, looked at her phone, sighed, threw her robe over her pajamas, and walked to the kitchen. Her mother was there laying out a breakfast of cucumber slices, toast, and yogurt. “Maa! I just checked my messages. Still no message! Nothing since Saturday. Has something happened to him? Has he had an accident somewhere? Is he unconscious in the hospital?”

  “That’s what you said yesterday. Maybe it’s time to call the police,” her mother said quietly.

  Gillian nodded. She took the phone from the pocket in her robe and dialed. She asked for the missing persons dept. She repeated Deke's description, the description of his car, and details about his habits to three different officers. After 45 minutes on the phone, she sighed and hung up.

  Gillian turned to her mother. “They didn’t seem to be too concerned. There are no accidents reported and no John Doe reports. They said I should come into the station if he doesn’t show up in the next few days. I am still worried. I need to see him. I guess I will show up for the hearing this afternoon. He should show up for that, right?”

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  Deke, following closely behind Gillian, said, “Rani. I won’t be at the hearing. I don’t care about that. You know I hate all that academic posturing and preening. Remember the cabin. Remember how happy we were there. That would be the place to look for me. That’s exactly where you should expect to find me. Come find me there.”

  Gillian got dressed and packed her suitcase. She told her mother goodbye and got back in the car for the long drive home. Deke sat beside her in the passenger seat. Deke shared every thought and memory he had of the two of them at the cabin. He reminded her of stories that she had told him about happy childhood memories at Heaven Lake.

  Gillian turned on the radio and listened to Morning Edition on NPR.

  “Not now, Rani! I’m trying to talk with you,” Deke pleaded.

  Gillian drove on. She switched the channel to an oldies station. She hummed along with the tunes she knew. Deke continued to try to nudge her memories. They were just a few miles from the turnoff to Heaven Lake now.

  Deke became more frantic. He had said everything he could think of. “Please, Rani! Come find me at the cabin. You must know that’s where I would go.”

  Gillian started crying again. She slowed the car and pulled off to the side. She turned the radio off. She threw her hands up. “Deke, where are you? I can’t take this anymore!”

  “I’m at the cabin in Heaven Lake. Come get me. Pull the plug on the box. We’ll be together again.” Deke whispered gently in her ear. “Look, there’s the sign for the Heaven Lake turnoff. Turn in there. We will be so happy to see each other!”

  Gillian’s phone rang. “Oh, Hi, Beta!” Gillian sniffed back her tears. “No. I still haven’t heard from him … You haven’t heard from him either? …Deke’s a big boy; he can take care of himself…. Yes, I am worried… well, I talked to the police. There are no reported accidents involving a Nova and no John Doe reports… oh you mean the hearing? I am hoping he’ll be there. I am going to be there just in case he shows… I don’t know… either that or punch him in the face.” Deke was relieved to hear Gillian laugh a little when she mentioned the punch. He gave Beta a mental thank you. “…If he’s not at the hearing, I’m going to go check in on my parent’s cabin. He might have gone there to get away for a while. But I just can’t imagine that he would let anything stop him from being at the hearing. Ok, Beta, see you in a few hours.”

  Gillian dropped her phone on the passenger seat and pulled back onto the highway.

  “Turn, Turn, Turn!” shouted Deke as they drove past the turnoff. Gillian continued straight ahead. She was headed home. She turned the radio back on and listened to the traffic report. Deke could tell she was expecting to hear the accident report that never came.

  Gillian continued straight ahead. She was headed home. She turned the radio back on to listen to the traffic report. “No accidents! No accidents!” She pleaded in a whisper to the universe.

  “Ok.” Deke sighed. “On to Plan B. Whatever that is.” As the miles went by, Deke formulated and discarded plan after plan. He still needed to get a message through. He thought about his first experience in the box. It took many hours before he recalled any of his experiences. He wondered if having been in the box, being exposed to the eternities, would make Beta or Alex more receptive to a message. “Let’s see what I can do with Alex and Beta,” he concluded.