CHAPTER 41
Devon
When he awoke he thought he was dreaming. Marla was there, and Miss Becca, gathered around his hospital bed. Rev, who wore a big smile and had tears in his eyes. He thought he saw Mama once, but then he blinked and she was gone, and in her place there was a woman he didn’t know, a nurse, bending over him and adjusting a tube in his arm. She smiled at him, and then Marla leaned in, soothed his brow.
“You’re okay,” someone whispered. “You’re safe.”
And so he let himself sleep again, cozy and warm, wondering if he’d ever felt so good in his whole entire life.
When he woke for real they pieced together the story—how he’d run from Uncle T, run to the only place he knew he could hide and not be found. JJ’s hiding spot. The tunnel. Miss Becca called it a storm drain, said he’d probably been there Friday, Saturday, and most of Sunday without a problem, but when the storm rolled in Sunday afternoon and into Monday, the rains began to fill the drain little by little.
He told them how he’d crawled in through the bottom, near the river, but then the rain started getting so badthat something made him slip on his backpack and leave his bike at the bottom, climb farther into the drain, thinking it would give him better protection if the water started to climb higher.
“That might’ve saved your life,” Rev said, closing his eyes briefly. “Thank you, Jesus.”
The rain had slowed for a while, but from what Miss Becca said, it came on hard and fast and he’d been startled out of sleep by a huge pounding wave of water, like someone had turned the drain into a ginormous water slide, like the one in CJ’s Lego set they’d built last year.
“So you grabbed a handrail?” Miss Becca asked, her eyebrows creased at the center.
“Yeah, only I didn’t know what it was at first, just held on and didn’t let go.” Devon swallowed, feeling like a big lump was in his throat. “A couple times I almost did. Almost let go, but in my head I kept hearing ‘hold on.’”
His voice sounded small and weak and babyish to his own ears, but he couldn’t help it. It didn’t matter, anyway. He didn’t know how he’d made it out.
He only had one explanation: God.
God at work through his friends.
Miss Becca took a shaky breath and squeezed his hand. “Thank God you didn’t, kiddo. I don’t know what we’d do if we lost you.”
He closed his eyes to keep the tears back, but they oozed out anyway. Marla stroked his brow again and he just lay there, let himself be soothed.
The drain had flooded three times, if he remembered right, and he’d held on tight through it all. After the first wave of water, his arm didn’t hurt as bad, though they told him it was broken. A clean break, but he’d need a cast for eight weeks. Marla said he’d be in the hospital a couple more days while doctors were rehydrating him, but other than getting out all the extra water in his lungs,he’d be okay. Memaw, too. They’d told him that, the very first day, though he still hadn’t been able to see her.
As for Uncle T, apparently he didn’t need to worry about him anymore. The police officer, the big heavyset one that looked like a football player, said his uncle was locked up and would be for a long time. T was facing at least five different drug charges, domestic abuse of a minor, crossing state lines with stolen goods, and a few other things he couldn’t remember. He wouldn’t be getting out anytime soon, if ever. Miss Becca said she’d heard Uncle T had snitched on a few of his friends, hoping to cut some sort of deal, but it hadn’t worked in his favor. And now Ray and a bunch of the other super-bad drug guys were locked up, too.
“One of the rescue workers told me, ‘That Devon Robinson had his very own guardian angel,’” Miss Becca said and grinned down at him, but behind the smile he could see the worry. “You’re one lucky kid.”
“Amen to that. Lucky and blessed,” Marla said.
“They even found your Mama’s Bible.” Rev shook his head. “Good thing you put it in the waterproof pocket of that backpack.”
A tap sounded, and they looked up to see Miss Becca’s granny peering in through the little window in the door.
“Be right back,” Miss Becca said and slipped out.
When she’d gone, Marla and Rev looked at each other. Rev nodded.
Devon watched them both, a tickle of concern sliding through his belly.
“There’s something else,” Devon looked from one to the other.
Marla pressed her lips together, then stood from the bedside chair, perched on the bed with him.
“Dev, honey, there’s something we were hoping to talk to you about.” She glanced at Rev again, then let out a nervous laugh. “Well, it’s just, we’ve been talking to your Memaw, and—well, we have some concerns.”
His heart started to pound. “Is Memaw gonna die?”
Marla’s brow creased. “Oh, honey, she’ll be okay, it’s …”
