Page 64 of The Next Person You Meet in Heaven
She knew those hands had been there before.
“See you in a little bit,” Paulo whispered.
When her eyes opened, Annie was staring into a fluorescent ceiling light. She heard a soft mechanical humming and a woman’s voice say, “Doctor, look!”
Epilogue
News of the balloon crash spread quickly through the state and in time reached even the farthest corners of the world. People shared photos and made comments on the frailty of life.
The story told was of a newlywed couple, an inexperienced pilot, and a lucky ending for two of the three passengers. The pilot, who flew the balloon into an electrical line, escaped death by tumbling out of the basket. The bride was thrown to safety by her brave husband, who then jumped to earth and, despite massive injuries, survived for hours, including several minutes after receiving a lung from his wife. He expired in the operating room at the same moment she slipped into a coma due to complications from the transplant.
What few people knew was that the doctors, briefly, lostAnnie as well. She flatlined in her comatose state before being revived by a team that included her Uncle Dennis, who burst into tears when her heart began to beat again.
“You’re OK now, Annie. You’re gonna be OK.”
He forced a smile. “You gave us a scare.”
Annie blinked.
For the first time in a long time, she didn’t feel scared at all.
***
Time passed. Like flakes shaken in a snow globe, the lives of those involved in the tragedy settled slowly to the ground, not in the same spots but in new pockets of peace.
Teddy moved to another state, joined a church, and spent much of his time leading discussions about second chances. Tolbert closed his business and sold the property. He spent five months summoning the courage to write the widowed bride. A week later, he got a letter back.
At her request, Tolbert drove to Annie’s home and was stunned to see her answer the door, visibly pregnant. She was kinder than he expected and seemed remarkably calm in light of all that had happened. Tolbert told Annie repeatedly how sorry he was, how much he liked Paulo from their brief encounter in the rain. Before he left, he asked ifAnnie could ever forgive him for the events that led to her husband’s death, but she insisted that wasn’t necessary.
“Winds blew,” she said.
Tolbert left, never knowing another wind that had blown, one he had diverted, yanking Paulo to the side of the road on that rainy night, preventing a speeding car from striking him, a tragedy that a different version of the world had planned, a version that did not grant Annie and Paulo even one night of marriage, nor the child that would come from it. But there are so many times our lives are altered invisibly. The flip of a pencil, from written to erased.
***
Shortly after that visit, Annie got a map, packed a small bag, and made a journey in her car to an amusement park by a great gray ocean. Upon reaching the entrance, she stepped out and stared at the spires and minarets of Ruby Pier, the bejeweled front arch and a tower drop ride that hovered above it all.
She asked staff members if there was anyone who remembered a man named Eddie, who used to fix the rides. She was taken to a maintenance shop behind the bumper car ride, a shop with low ceilings and dim bulbs and porcelain clown heads and coffee cans full of screws andbolts. Annie was introduced to a middle-aged man named Dominguez, who wiped his hands on a rag and said yes, he used to work for Eddie, right up to his death. When Annie told him who she was, he dropped the rag and slumped back on a stool, nearly toppling over.
For a moment, he could only mumble, “Oh, man. Oh, man.”
Then he began to cry.
“I’m sorry. It’s just... Eddie would be so happy if he knew you were OK.”
Annie smiled.
Later, Dominguez took her to the back and showed her a chest of Eddie’s possessions, knickknacks and birthday cards and a pair of army boots. Annie asked if she could take a box of pipe cleaners. Dominguez said if she wanted, she could have the whole chest.
“Can I ask you something personal?” he said before they parted.
Annie nodded.
“How does it feel to have your life saved? I mean, I saw what happened that day at the park. If not for Eddie, you would have died.”
Annie touched her belly. She said it was hard to explain. She said she used to feel that she’d give anything to changewhat had happened, but now she felt differently. Mostly, she said, she felt grateful.
***
