Second Chance

Second Chance

By

Jamey O’Donnell

“We’ve been given the green light. They’re going to let us proceed, but it has to be someone already sentenced to at least 20 years to life.” said Dr. Phillips.

“We’ve got to get busy then. We have a lot of convicts in the Colorado Penal System that fit into that category.” said Dr. Milieu.

A new experimental drug had been invented to bring the dead back to life, under certain circumstances. The moral requirements to receive this drug were such: the deceased party would have to be under the age of 30 and considered a vital member of society on the verge of contributing to a breakthrough technology in the advancement of the human condition, whether it be physiological, psychological, or a technology critical to either of the first two, and he or she must have never been convicted of a sex crime.

The physiological requirements were more stringent.

The subject must not have died from a foreign substance in the body, must not have died in such a way that could not be corrected with surgery within 24 hours of death, and must not have any underlying diseases.

Dr. Phillips had been spearheading this research with Mindspeak Laboratories for the last 7 years, prompted by the Department of Defense and the National Security Agency, whereas Dr. Milieu had come into the picture later when it looked like advancements were going to be ready for clinical trials.

Dr. Milieu’s interest was from a biblical and spiritual aspect.

He wanted evidence of life after death in the spiritual sense. In other words, he wanted proof of heaven and hell.

Dr. Milieu was the Religious Studies professor at Denver University, and had written 2 controversial books on the existence of life after death, taking the position that there was no evidence supporting the life after death theory, dismissing near death experiences as dreams.

Their test patient must first agree to being executed, a tall order in and of itself.

His execution could not be done by lethal injection, nor could it be done by firing squad, guillotine, gas, or hanging.

The only way it could be done to fit into the physiological perimeters of the testing is by lack of oxygen, either by suffocation or drowning, both horrible ways to die.

They would begin their search within the Colorado Penal System, and if they could not find a volunteer, they would have to look outside of the state.

Whoever would choose to risk themselves an early death would have to be convinced they could not serve a full 20-year term in prison, let alone life, or any significant time in prison at all. The trade off for them would be a commutation of their sentence and release from prison, plus a $250,000.00 stake in starting a new life for themselves, paid for by Mindspeak Laboratories.

The search began, and after eliminating all the sex crime and homicide convicts, that left 15% of those serving life sentences in Colorado as eligible. Unfortunately, none were left in Colorado that would agree to the program, so their search went nationwide, and after months of interviewing thousands of inmates across America, they were finally able to find an inmate in Texas that would agree to not only be executed, but be drowned or suffocated as well, and his name was Gerald Bostwich.

Gerald Bostwich was convicted in 2020 for manslaughter for killing a family of 4 while driving intoxicated, his 3rd DUI in the state of Texas, and was serving 25 years to life at Huntsville State Prison in Huntsville, Texas.

Bostwich was 27 years old and had already served 13 months. He had been raped and beaten numerous times in general population and was seriously considering taking his own life until the opportunity presented itself to him by the warden of the prison.

After numerous interviews and physical and psychological testing, it was determined by both doctors that Gerald Bostwich fit their perimeters for their test subject, so legal papers and releases were signed, and a date was set to move forward for January 23, 2022.

Bostwich chose to be drowned instead of suffocated, for reasons unknown.

New ground was being broken in America, as this would be the first time a man would be legally killed by any Department of Corrections that was not sentenced to death for his crime, and the only way it was allowed to proceed was because of the new assisted suicide law that went into effect in Texas the year prior, even though this stretched the meaning of the law to its absolute outer edge.

One of the things that was never asked of any of the potential volunteers was their position on faith in a higher power. Had they asked Bostwich, he would have told them he was a devout and faithful follower in Christ, even though he was considering the ultimate and unforgiveable sin of suicide. He believed in heaven and hell, and that someday he would be in one or the other.

Dr. Phillips never considered it as germane to the results he was looking for, and Dr. Milieu did not want to influence any final outcome should the experiment succeed.

It was the morning of January 23rd and a glass tank of water had been assembled outside of the gas chamber at the prison. It was 10 feet tall and 6 feet wide in all directions.

Bostwich would have his hands cuffed from behind and would be shackled to a 100 pound weight on each ankle, preventing him from moving within the tank, and possibly breaking the glass.

Attached to both of his temples would be neural monitoring devices, recording and displaying EMF emissions from his brain and optic nerve.

Uncovered in U.S. Army Research and Development testing, a new, previously undetectable transmissible signal conjoined from the optic nerve to the temporal lobe of the brain had been discovered, almost by accident, that could be recorded, transferred, and replayed on video, actually displaying thoughts and visions previously not accessible from the human mind, thus would be able to prove the existence of life after death. Though the body would be physically dead, the brain in theory is still active, thus providing the proof.

Cameras were set up against the outside of the glass of the tank, along with 2 cameras inside the tank at each front corner.

Finally on Bostwich, heart and lung monitors would be attached to his body to determine absolute death and time.

Bostwich had been fully outfitted for his death and was moments away from being submerged in the tank.

After given his last rites and a moment to speak, Drs. Phillips and Milieu were positioned outside of the tank and ready. Over the video screen, they could see what Bostwich could see through his eyes, and then he was dropped in the tank. The screen immediately became clouded with bubbles, then the doctors could see themselves through the water and glass, just as Bostwich could see them.

This was extremely hard for them, as they were witnessing the death of a man right before their eyes, and they could almost feel his distress through the images they saw on the video monitor.

Bostwich held his breath for as long as he could, then finally acquiesced to his fate and took in his first breath of water, filling his lungs and choking the air out of them. As this was happening, the video monitor started to fade in light, but they could still see themselves through Bostwich’s eyes, until the screen went completely blank, which coincided with the heart screen flatlining.

Gerald Bostwich was now deceased, but the screen began to light up again, and what they saw next was the first time any of the questions that mankind had asked himself throughout his existence could begin to be answered.

Two of the most beautiful beings appeared on the monitor at a distance, but because their beauty was so pronounced, it was undeniable, even at a distance, and as they got closer to Bostwich, both doctors began to tear up, because neither had ever seen anything as beautiful in either of their lives.

Then appeared both of Bostwich’s hands, which now looked more like vapor than actual flesh and bone, and both beings embraced his hands and began to move forward at a tremendous speed through what could only be described as a tunnel of stars and galaxies, which scientists would call a wormhole.

Everything that Dr. Milieu had believed up until the experiment began was crumbling, because he was seeing the proof with his own eyes.

Suddenly, the travelers exited the wormhole and were now surrounded by white fluffy clouds, then descended on the most majestic cityscape ever seen, and it went on forever.

They were now on the ground and the spiritual beings had released Bostwich’s hands, and next they saw people of all ages come up to him and embrace him, and you could feel the joy of Bostwich through the video monitor, as if it was recording that as well.

The people that came to embrace Bostwich disappeared into him, as if they were absorbed by him, then appeared a glowing man that could only be Jesus, and he was absorbed as well. In the background of all of this was a bright orb of light, and suddenly Bostwich was thrust into the light, then the screen turned totally white.

The doctors and the prison staff, and anyone that could see the video monitor, all were in tears, as this was the most significant moment of their lives, because they now had proof of the existence of God.

This display had gone on for 2 hours, and it was now time to pull Bostwich’s lifeless body from the tank of water to administer life saving procedures before injecting the drug into his body for resuscitation.

He was laid on a table outside of the tank, and the water was extracted from his lungs.

He was then injected with the drug, and now they would have the results of their experiment. Almost simultaneously with the injection, the video monitor slowly started to lose its luminescence, and then suddenly became black.

Bostwich began to cough and started to move on the table, and then he opened his eyes as the video monitor now showed all the people around him standing next to the table he was on.

“Nooooo, no no no no. I want to go back. Please, please, I want to go back” screamed Bostwich, and then he began to cry like a child that had just been ripped from the arms of his mother.

The drug had worked and the experiment was a complete success.

“I saw my mother and my father. My little brother who died at childbirth. I saw Jesus, and I saw God. I want to go back” said Bostwich.

This was never anticipated, as the experiment gave a man heaven and brought him back to the hell he’d always known.

Both Doctor's Phillips and Milieu felt a tremendous sense of guilt at pulling a man out of heaven and bringing him back to this world, no matter how fine a life he may have. It felt to them as if they were playing God.