A Taste of Heaven

"Man, cancer sucks."

Chase Hendrix murmured to himself under his breath as he looked at himself in the mirror. He rubbed his white bald head with his right hand from back to front and slowly down his face. He studied himself closely as his left hand shakenly balanced his frail body on the walker.

He could tell how much the chemotherapy had changed his appearance. He rubbed the top of his eye-sockets where his blonde eyebrows used to be. After a few more seconds of wallowing in his harsh reality, he turned and slowly made his way back to his hospital bed; placing the walker out in front of him every two steps. His white hospital gown with blue dots hung just past his knees. At 12 years of age, he had already endured so much.

His room was empty. He figured his family must have stepped out after he involuntarily drifted into a deep sleep. That seemed to be happening more often over the past two weeks. He thought about the new word he had learned that day- inoperable.

As he thought on the word, he sighed a deep breath, trying to wrap his mind around the inevitability of his coming fate. Chase often thought about death when he was younger but didn't think he would experience it until he was old. As he reached for his water bottle on the table next to his bed, he noticed a plate wrapped in aluminum foil with a sticky note attached to it.

He knew it was from his mom. He always teased her about how she would leave instructions on sticky notes and place them around the house where she knew Chase couldn't miss them. He removed the sticky note and read it.

Chase,

My sweet boy, I sliced a big piece of my chocolate cake and wrapped it for you. I know it's your favorite. I figured you could have it when you wake up. I ran home to get a change of clothes. I'll be back in an instant. Love you, son

Momma Bear

Chase smiled as he substituted his mom's soft, southern-twang raspy voice in his thoughts as he read her note. He unwrapped the foil and removed it from around the plate. There was his mom's delicious, double-layered chocolate cake cut in a perfectly shaped triangle. He removed three toothpicks that she had stuck in the cake and picked up a white plastic fork that she placed on the paper plate.

The tumorous disease had taken a lot from Chase, but his appetite for "Momma Bear's" chocolate cake was not one of them. He began to inhale the dessert the same way he did when he was little. The sweet brown icing coupled with the chocolate sponge brought back a nostalgic joy that was quickly overturned by sobriety.

Chase put the cake down on the table and hung his head with a few bites left to go. His thoughts about death were more prevalent now. He thought about the things he wouldn't be able to do anymore. He would no longer be able to hang with his friends nor be able to taste his favorite dessert made by his mom. His desire to play basketball in college was now a faded ambition.

Curiosities about his own mortality turned into rhetorical questions. Was death just another form of unconsciousness from which he would never wake? Were the stories he learned about God in Sunday school really true? If Heaven was real, what is it like?

Chase found himself angry with the idea of God. "If God exists, why would he do this to me?" he thought to himself. Yet, he remembered a strategy his mother taught him when a negative thought entered his mind.

With his head still low, Chase closed his eyes and mumbled silently.

"Lord, I don't know why you chose me to carry this burden, but it's heavy. If it's your desire to take me, then do so quickly. I don't want to suffer through this pain any longer, nor do I want to think adversely towards you due to a lack of faith. When you do take me, let my mom know I love her. In your name, I pray. Amen."

At the end of his prayer, Chase kept his eyes closed and drifted into what felt like a five-minute nap. He was awakened by the faint sound of several taps at his hospital door. As he opened his eyes, a tall, young-looking Caucasian doctor with brown curly hair and glasses entered the room. He donned a white lab coat with his name 'Dr. Gabriel Michaels, MD' etched in blue stitching across the right side. His I.D. badge read the same.

Hi," said the doctor. "You must be Chase."

"Hi," said Chase looking somewhat confused as he wiped his eyes.

"I know I'm not Dr. Evans, but I just wanted to step in and introduce myself. I'm Dr. Michaels, but you can call me Gabe. I've heard so much about you."

"Nice to meet you, Gabe," Chase said, mustering a slight smile. "How come I've never seen you around here?"

"Well, I have other duties outside of this hospital, but I make my rounds," said Gabe. "I wanted to commend you myself and just let you know that we are all proud of your strength and your courage. I understand how it must sometimes feel when you're battling a physical ailment."

Gabe walked over to the side of Chase's bed and stood next to him.

"Thank you," said Chase. "I just want the pain and fatigue to go away. No matter what the doctors do or the treatment they give me, I still feel the same. Then today I learned…."

Chase couldn't finish the sentence. He knew the reality and the endgame of his disease. Still, he was not able to articulate it without the sensation of tears welling up in his eyes.

"It's okay, Chase. I understand what you're going through, but I have some good news."

"What's that," asked Chase.

"I tell you what. Go ahead and finish your mother's cake. She'll love knowing that you enjoyed every bite."

Chase feebly reached over and grabbed the remaining small chunk of cake that was left. He finished the last few left bites, leaving nothing but crumbs, and placed the plate back on the table. The dejected look on Chase's face let Gabe know that the young boy was still troubled.

"What's worrying you, Chase?"

A lump formed in Chase's throat as he tried to form the words. His eyes filled up with tears.

"I'm afraid to die, Gabe." The words shook out of his mouth in broken syllables as his lips trembled.

"Chase, death is nothing to fear. The paradise that awaits us on the other side is too wonderful to be described with words. However, the emotional and physical suffering that we endure when we are closing the chapter in this life often exacts a heavy toll on the loved ones and the person transitioning. You are carrying a heavy cross indeed. However, crossing over is a beautiful sensation, an eternity with no pain and sweeter than Momma Bear's cake," Gabe said with a wide smile.

Chase managed a slight grin. "How do you know so much about death and heaven?"

"You can say I'm one of the doctors who was placed here to help patients with that part of their journey."

"Really?" Chase asked curiously. "How so?"

"Well, first I ease their minds by letting them know that I've been to the other side before," said Gabe. "Then, as a good doctor should, I heal them."

Gabe stretched out his hand and opened his palm, signaling for Chase to take hold of his hand.

Skeptically, Chase reached for Gabe's hand with a look of apprehension on his face. Then something marvelous happened. A renewed sensation of restoration permeated through Chase's body, and his strength returned to him.

"Whoah! How did you do that?" Chase asked with astonishment.

He turned his arms over, rotating them back and forth while looking at his wrist and forearms. His previous pale skin now had a bronzish glow. He touched his head to find that all of his hair had grown back. He rubbed his eyebrows and felt ecstatic when he felt the bushy layer just below his forehead.

"Yes!" Chase yelled victoriously. "Does this mean… it's gone?"

Gabe nodded in silence as he smiled and watched Chase rejoice.

"Gabe, are you some kind of magician doctor or something?" Chase asked joyfully. "How can anyone just make someone instantly feel better just by touching them?"

"By faith," Gabe answered. "Now, I'm going to need you to have faith for this next part because it's bitter-sweet."

Gabe reached out his hand one more time. "Come with me, Chase. You can leave your bed now."

Without hesitation, Chase swung his legs up and over the crossbars of the hospital bed and spryly jumped to his feet.

"Oh wow! My strength is back, Gabe. I can walk without using the walker," he exclaimed while jumping up and down, testing the limits of his strength. "This is awesome!"

"Do you want to see something else cool?" Gabe asked

"Sure!"

"Okay. Close your eyes."

Chase closed his eyes. He could feel Gabe tugging on his hospital gown for a few seconds and then stop.

"Now, open your eyes."

When Chase opened his eyes, he was donning a new piece of apparel. His hospital gown was now a long white robe that yielded a radiant glow. In awe, he began to rub the sleeves of his new vestment. He looked over at Gabe and noticed his white doctor's coat and scrubs had transformed into a platinum mantle with a silver stole that laid evenly over his shoulders.

Chase studied his new garment, trying to make sense of how such a miraculous alteration could occur without him even taking off his gown.

"Wait," Chase said with a doubtful pause. "Am I…"

Gabe solemnly nodded towards the bed. When Chase turned around he was astonished to see a dormant version of his earthly shell lying still. He looked upon his former body in awe. He had questions, but it was as if Gabe could read his thoughts.

"The earthly vessels that humans occupy are only for a short time, Chase. Some expire earlier than others without reason or justifiable cause sometimes," Gabe said. "Though, a far better destiny awaits you now. You'll never have to worry about sickness again. Come. I have much to show you."

"But…I didn't get a chance to tell her goodbye," Chase muttered sorrowfully.

"Yes, you did. Your empty plate says it all, Chase," said Gabe as he pointed to the chocolate crumbs. "Besides, you will see your mom again. But as for you- rejoice, young man. For today you will see a paradise like no other, and it will be yours forever.

Gabe put his arm around Chase's shoulder. Together, they strolled out of the hospital room and into an eternal bliss of serenity.