Michael felt the blood drain from his face. The accident occurred around 7 PM. He would have been there, right in the middle of it. His hands were shaking so badly he nearly spilled his coffee.
When he returned to Denver on Wednesday, he walked into the house and went straight to the garden where Ethan was with Rachel. He knelt in front of Ethan.
“Thank you,” he said, his voice trembling. “Thank you.”
Ethan simply nodded as if he knew exactly what Michael was talking about.
That night, after Ethan had gone to bed, Michael and Rachel sat together on the couch in silence for a long time.
“I can’t pretend it’s a coincidence anymore,” Michael finally said. “Three times. Three situations where he knew things that saved lives.”
Rachel nodded. “But what do we do about it?”
“I don’t know. But I think… I think we just accept it and we listen when he speaks.”
June moved on. Summer came in full force to Denver, hot dry days. The rose bushes needed watering every day. Ethan continued his conversations in the garden, but now Rachel and Michael watched with a mix of reverence and gratitude.
It was during the last week of June that the fourth situation happened. Sarah, Rachel’s younger sister, lived in Boulder, about an hour away. She and Rachel had a complicated relationship; close as children, but something had changed during their teenage years. Competition, jealousy, harsh words spoken and never taken back. Over the past two years, they had barely spoken.
It was Saturday morning. Rachel was making pancakes when Ethan walked into the kitchen.
“Mom Rachel, Aunt Sarah is sick.”
Rachel turned quickly. “What?”
“The Lady in Blue told me. It’s very serious. She needs to go to the doctor right away.”
Rachel felt something tighten in her chest. “Ethan, you’ve never met Sarah. How do you know about her?”
“The Lady in Blue showed me. She said it’s urgent, that you need to call her now.”
Rachel looked at Michael, who had stopped reading the newspaper.
“Ethan, Sarah and I don’t…” Rachel began, then stopped. After the gas leak, the medicine, the accident Michael avoided because of a warning—how could she ignore this?
She picked up the phone with slightly trembling hands and dialed Sarah’s number. It rang four times. Rachel was about to hang up when she heard her sister’s voice.
“Hello?” The voice was tense, strained with barely hidden pain.
“Sarah, it’s Rachel.”
Stunned silence. “Rachel? Are you okay?”
“I… I know this will sound strange, but are you all right? Physically?”..
