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Pills from Heaven

The Gift

By Teri SayaPublished 7 years ago 8 min read
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My despair was deeper than the pit of hell. I watched through blurred vision, the angelic face of my son. His hairless eyebrow twitched. He seemed to be sleeping peacefully. Peace brought on by chemicals to dull the pain that wracked his little body.

Listening to him breath, sitting in the darkness close to his hospital bed, once again I asked God, the angels, the universe; Why? Why my child? I waited with eyes closed, my weary head leaning against the bed rail….No answer, nothing but the beep, beep, beep of the monitor, telling me he was still alive….for now.

“Kathy.” A voice whispering my name, it seemed so far away. I struggled to open my eyes. Someone was standing there in the room. I lifted my head and focused. “Kathy,” she said again. A woman wearing a nurse’s uniform stepped into the muted light. I could see her face clearly now. She was unusually beautiful with wide set green eyes, coco brown skin, and soft, golden curly hair pulled back under a small white nurse’s hat. I did not recognize her, but so many nurses had come and gone in the past couple of weeks, they were all a blur to me.

She moved gracefully to my side and pulled something from her pocket. “Give him one of these,” she said, holding up a bottle of, what looked like, small round bubbles. “One now, one at 8:00, and then one each day until the bottle is empty.” I took the bottle and looked closer at the bubbles. They seemed to have a glow of their own. I turned the bottle, there was no label. “What’s in them?” I asked.

“No chemicals, purely organic.” She answered. “He should be feeling better within two hours of taking the first one.”

Anger ran up my spine. “Better? How is that possible?! The doctor told me he has only a few days to live!” I could feel the panic returning with my words.

She held my hand in both of hers and looked into my eyes. “Trust me, just give him the pills as I have instructed.” With a knot in my throat and tears stinging my eyes, I nodded. The nurse nodded back, smiled, and quietly left the room.

I opened the bottle and took a whiff. It reminded me of oranges and fresh spring air. I carefully rolled one out onto my shaking palm and quickly closed the bottle, lest I spill out the rest of the contents.

I held the pill up to the light. It was perfectly round and clear, yet had a light blue glow. The surface yielded slightly, as if the contents were liquid. My son’s lips were open and I gently pushed the pill between his tongue and cheek. Without waking, he closed his mouth, sucked twice, and then swallowed.

Propping my chin on my hand, I watched his beautiful face. I reached out and laid my fingers on his chest, feeling his shallow breathing. I stayed that way for a long time. My eyes became heavy.

***

“Mommy?” I was shocked awake. I hadn’t heard my son’s voice in so long. He had stopped talking after the disease had overwhelmed him.

His eyes were open and he was reaching out to me. “Mommy?” He said again. I gathered him into my arms and held him close. He clutched my hair and I breathed in the scent of him. The tears streamed down my face. My boy was back! He was back from the brink of death!

The doctor came into the room with a clipboard. Seeing my little one sitting up and pink-cheeked, all he could say was, “What the…..!?”

He laid the clipboard on the table and stepped closer. My son whimpered and turned his head into my breast. He had been poked with needles enough times to not trust anyone wearing a white medical uniform.

“It’s ok Jimmy, I just want to take a look.” The doctor assured him. Jimmy timidly looked up and then allowed the doctor to examine his eyes and mouth. He took his temperature and pulse then checked the glands in his neck.

“I’m hungry,” said Jimmy. Startled, the doctor looked up at me. I smiled and shrugged. “We’ll get you something to eat soon,” said the doctor. He rolled his chair over to the counter and scribbled some notes, then turned to me. “I’ll need a blood sample to be sure, but it appears your son has spontaneously gone into full remission.”

I reached into my pocket and wrapped my fingers around the small bottle. “Well, the nurse last night said he would be feeling better after taking his first pill and I’ll be giving him another one later this morning. What are they called?” I asked.

“What pill?” Alarmed, the doctor picked up the clipboard and flipped the pages. “I didn’t order any other medications. After everything we’ve tried, at this point nothing that we have would have helped.”

“Yes, I know doctor. I’ve been watching him slip away.” I held up the bottle of pills. “But the nurse gave me these last night and told me to give him one per day until the bottle is empty.”

The doctor took the bottle and examined it in the light, turning it this way and that. “Which nurse was it?” He asked.

“I didn’t get her name, but she was real pretty….green eyes, brown skin, blonde hair. I don’t want to get anyone into trouble, but as you can see, those pills seem to work – thank God.” I said.

“The only person on my staff that comes close to that description is Lorraine. She should be clocking out of the graveyard shift right about now.” Holding up the bottle again, the doctor murmured, “I’ve never seen anything like these.”

Pocketing the bottle, he headed for the door. My heart leapt to my throat and I jumped up to stop him. “Please don’t take the pills away, he needs them,” I pleaded.

The doctor handed me the bottle. “I’ll be back with nurse Lorraine and we’ll get to the bottom of this.” He said as he left the room.

With a sigh of relief, I slipped the bottle back into my pocket and looked at my watch. It wasn’t quite time to give Jimmy his second pill, and I wanted to be sure to administer them exactly as the nurse had said.

The doctor returned with nurse Lorraine and I recognized her as one of the regular nurses. I had been so preoccupied with grief, that I had not remembered her name. She had blonde hair and blue eyes, and most definitely was not the nurse who had been here in the night.

“Hello Kathy,” said Lorraine, and then she stared at Jimmy who was sitting up in bed holding his teddy bear. “It’s a miracle!” she whispered while crossing herself in the typical Catholic fashion.

“It’s not a miracle, there has to be a medical explanation,” said the doctor. “Kathy, can I see those pills again?” I handed the bottle over and he held it up to Lorraine. “Do you recognize these?” He asked.

“No, what are they?” asked Lorraine.

Ignoring her question the doctor asked, “Did you see anyone come into this room during your shift?”

“No sir, I came in to check on Jimmy around 2 am and again at 4. It was very quiet last night.”

“Alright Lorraine, your shift is over. Go home and get some rest,” Said the doctor. Lorraine left and the doctor opened the bottle of pills. He rolled one out into his palm. “I’m going to borrow this one, don’t worry, I’ll return it.” He handed me the bottle and I dropped it back into my pocket, and then unconsciously patted the outside of it, just to make sure the precious bottle was still there.

After the doctor left, a cafeteria assistant came in to take the breakfast order. Jimmy wanted pancakes with blueberries and I ordered an egg with toast and a large coffee. I looked at my watch again. It was 8:05 am. “Here sweetie, open your mouth wide, I have a special treat for you.” I didn’t dare call it a pill or his mouth would have clamped shut like a clam. Jimmy opened his mouth and I dropped in the glowing pill. “Mmm! It’s yummy!” He said.

***

I took Jimmy home the next day, and after two weeks, my son had made a full recovery. The doctor returned the pill explaining he had taken just enough from it for the lab to analyze. The report came back saying it contained all natural ingredients as the nurse had said. However, there was one enzyme that was untraceable. The lab techs wanted more samples, but Jimmy had taken all of the pills. They still wanted the empty bottle. I gave it to them.

As for the beautiful nurse who had given me the pills, I never saw her again. The security cameras in the hospital recorded only the regular night shift activity of nurse Lorraine and the other staff members, none of which was the angel in the nurse’s outfit that had visited our room that night.

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About the Creator

Teri Saya

At the moment, my home is in Mexico. I am a US citizen, born in California in 1957. I read, write, and dream.

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