Margaret's Ark

heart beat frantically. How did I get here? When Jack tried to sit up, a man and a heavyset woman moved into the curtained area. The man whispered, “Need help, Nee?”

“I don’t think so,” the doctor said, never taking her eyes from Jack. The other two slowly retreated, leaving them alone again. “Try not to panic, sir. Being in the street one moment and the hospital the next can be a bit disconcerting.”

Jack followed most of her words. He nodded and said, “What happened to me?”

“I'd rather you tell me. Can you remember?”

“I fell, I think. On the road....” His voice trailed off.

The doctor nodded. “Good. Where were you when you fell?”

Jack knew this, and even as he spoke he was remembering more. Much more. How could he have forgotten? “I was going somewhere. I was hungry - what time is it? “

He tried to sit up, but Ramprakash touched his chest gently and said, “Shhh, hold on. I'll help you up.” But she didn’t. Instead, she pushed a button under the bed and Jack felt his head rise and the bed fold upward. It made him dizzy for a moment.

“Do you remember being struck while you were in the street?”

“Struck?” The policeman. “My money. I lost my money. I almost had it when something hit me. Someone hit me and stole my money. Officer Leary gave that to me - “

Scribble, scribble on the clipboard. “You were struck by a cab as you ran out into the road, Mister Lowry.”

“Jack,” he said defensively. This woman using his last name stirred up the dark thing inside him, but it needed to sleep. His right arm continued to throb. He fingered the bumpy plastic coating. “My arm broke.”

“I'm afraid so. But it's a miracle you weren't hurt more than that. Your face has suffered some lacerations.” She paused at his worried look. “That means you have some scratches and scrapes, but aside from a clean break in your arm, you're doing okay.”

“Then I can go?” Jack shifted in his bed, but felt no burning desire to get up. Every time he moved, he became dizzy.

“I'd rather keep you for an overnight. A concussion is very probable. I don’t suppose you have any insurance?”

Jack laughed and shook his head. “God is my insurance.” He suddenly realized he was naked, save for a single sheet covering him up to his belly. “Where are my clothes? What happened to my clothes?”

The doctor’s expression tightened. “Jack, your clothes were torn by the accident, not to mention being a health hazard. We had to dispose of them.”

This time Jack did stand. Oblivious to his nudity, his entire world had just been tossed into the trash. The woman doctor didn't seem to notice or care. “All my stuff was in them! All of it! You had no right!”

She raised a hand, whispered, “We saved all your stuff, I promise, and someone from the Salvation Army will be coming along to give you a whole new set of clothes. New shoes, too. Now, unless you want everyone in the emergency room to see you naked, I suggest you get back into bed.” She guided Jack under the sheet, tucking him in like a stern but loving mother.

“My money.... I think I got that bill before - “

“You'll be all set. We're going to have you transported to an overnight room, so we can keep an eye on you. I'll make sure someone comes by to speak with you before you leave, gets you some clothes and your stuff.” She smiled. It was a tired smile, and Jack didn’t feel any real compassion in her voice.

He remembered.

“Doctor!”

She turned slowly, reluctantly, back. “Yes?”

“I can leave tomorrow, right? I have to preach! I stopped, to get food, and God punished me for my sin! I have to leave.”

The Indian woman (that's what she was, Jack realized, India-Indian) looked down for a moment as if weighing her next question. “You’re a preacher?”

Jack smiled with what teeth he had remaining. “Yes, ma’am. Everything happened so fast, all this excitement, I'd forgotten. But I remember, now. God has commanded I spread His Word before it's too late!” He shouted these last words. The doctor raised a hand.

“Please, sir. Keep your voice down.”

“I must spread the new gospel! I've been chosen by the angel Michael to give testimony to all who will listen, and I have forsaken my cause. No longer! God's judgment is upon us! His vengeance is nigh! Fear all you who will not heed -”

Neha Ramprakash rolled her eyes and motioned for the nurse. She turned her back on the preacher’s words and pointed to her own arm, putting two fingers up. The nurse nodded, and began filling a syringe with two milligrams of Haldol. She then made one last attempt at quieting Jack down, but he would have no part of it.

When the nurse gave the injection, Jack's voice began to soften. His words lost their edge. Neha turned to leave and heard, “...the flood will fall upon every household. Every street will fill with God's wrath.  We will drown in our own sin...”

The voice trailed off, unable to maintain its train of thought. Neha waited a moment more, tried to keep the shock from her face.

Just a coincidence , she thought. That's all.

With that, she stepped past the curtain and wandered towards the entrance where a crying woman holding a bloody rag to her nose was hobbling in with the help of two friends. Neha moved in their direction. Work was important now. Work was the only thing she should be thinking about.

*     *     *

“I asked you not to talk about it to anyone!”

Robin stood beside the kitchen table, tears pouring down her face. Her older sister sat at the other end, glowering at having been yanked from school - again. Margaret didn't know whether Katie was truly angry or trying to mask her fear.

Ignoring the accusatory look of their teachers, Margaret had gathered both girls up and driven straight home. All along the drive she'd said nothing. Katie and Robin, perhaps worried whoever broke the silence was going to get punished, stayed quiet.

In truth, Margaret did not feel comfortable discussing their situation outside the house. No one could hear them now. No one could judge. She knew too well that when the load from the store arrived tomorrow morning, all of that would change.

“I'm sorry,” Robin wailed. “I want Crystal to come onto the boat with us! I don’t want my friends to die!” She collapsed, sobbing, into her mother’s arms.

“Shh,” Margaret whispered. “It's okay. It's okay. Go ahead and cry.”

Katie fought to retain the mask of irritation, but the corner of her eyes were twitching, fighting her own tears. She was afraid, and her little sister's words were hitting home. Their world might be centered here, with her, but there was also school. Homework, teachers, and friends. Friends who would die when the waters came. It just took Margaret longer to see the truth. As she held her daughter, rocking back and forth, she tried not to think of the people in her own life - her parents were gone, already safe in God's hands. But what about everyone else? Faces from college, neighbors, the other teachers, cousins scattered across the continent, mostly still living in Minnesota. Faces that in her mind's eye might soon be staring skyward and screaming.

The phone rang.

“Don't answer it,” she whispered, though Katie hadn't so much as glanced at it. The answering machine picked up on the fourth ring. Margaret heard the click of the machine, but no voice. The volume was turned down. She'd make it a point to leave it that way from now on.

*     *     *

“...as soon as you can. Please.”

Nick hung up. The call to check on the girls was genuine, but he had to admit it was more an excuse to touch base with Margaret. Her story sounded ludicrous, but Nick had heard other, more insane stories in the past, which the Church itself confirmed as true miracles.

This mustn’t be their last conversation. Too many things had been unsaid. He'd made enough mistakes in