LEN BIAS: CROSSOVER
A novel
By: Michael D. McClellan | September 19, 2010
chapter 7
Leonard...
Mom? Is that you?
Remember what you were taught in the Book of Proverbs. Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him and He will direct your paths.
~ ~ ~
That dream again.
I walk slowly across the sun-baked field and down the same narrow dirt path. The woman is still inside the farmhouse, sitting in that same wooden rocking chair with her back to me. She watches the fire crack and pop. She invites me to sit with her, and yet her words aren't words at all, but rather thoughts that enter my mind through some sort of telepathic connection between us. I nod and say I will, also without words.
I cross the uneven stone floor and join her at the fireplace, easing into a rocking chair so brittle that I expect it to explode beneath me. It groans under the strain of my weight but it feels much more sturdy than it appears. I look at the woman in the yellow dress and she stares back at me, smiling. Her green eyes look like emeralds.
I know you. I know this place. You helped me.
With your crossover, yes
Your name is Alyssa.
Yes, it is.
What are we doing here? What do you want with me?
I'm here to prepare you for what's coming next.
What do you mean?
Do you trust the Lord, Leonard?
Yes, I do trust Him.
Are you ready to do His will?
What do you mean?
God's plan and man's plan are rarely one in the same. To serve God you must put aside all earthly intentions and follow the path that He illuminates. You must have both strength and wisdom to do this.
And courage...
Very good, Leonard. You must be courageous. The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not be in want. He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, he restores my soul. He guides me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. Surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.
~ ~ ~
Monday. The Fourth of July. I awaken to a dull ache below my right knee, orderlies who make it worse by changing and bathing me, and doctors who continue to marvel at my recovery. Rain pounds down outside, driving against the window in sheets. I eat toast for breakfast, a fruit smoothie, oatmeal, a banana. I drink orange juice through a straw. I beg for a newspaper but strike out swinging; the doctors don't want my eyes focusing in that way just yet. Too hard on my bruised brain. Another couple of days, they promise. TV tomorrow.
Emily is allowed to play soft music. She brings in a portable CD player, drops in Johann Sebastian Bach and starts off with the Mass in B minor. She's a classical music fan. She tells me all about Bach - his musical style, his life as a composer, the works he left behind. She tells me that I'm a country music nut. Tim McGraw. Carrie Underwood. Kenny Chesney. Keith Urban. I laugh out loud at this, laugh so hard that my ribs scream with pain. Still, I laugh. Soon she's laughing with me, tears running down her cheeks and a smile on her face so large that it lights the gray sky outside and blows the clouds away.
~ ~ ~
The assessment starts promptly at 1PM. Dr. Alice Reynolds introduces herself again - Neuropsychologist. To me she's literally the woman of my dreams. She gives an overview of the session's format and then plunges right in. The first thirty minutes are consumed with word games, like the kind where you hunt for hidden words in a grid of scrambled letters. There are words like TRAIN, WOMAN, ARROW, STORE, BREAD, CUPID and BILLY. There are also two non-words to find, XCBMK and M3R9P. I love working word search puzzles because I'm good at them. I find and circle all 15 in less than five minutes.
"Very impressive," Alice says, smiling. "We're off to a very good start."
She slides another one in front of me. I complete it in less than four minutes. Another compliment. Emily smiles, proud of her husband. I think of our ridiculous musical tastes and almost start laughing all over again.
Next up is a page of scrambled words. Beside each is a blank line to write the unscrambled word. LUGY becomes UGLY, TSAF becomes FAST, DOAR becomes ROAD. I rip through all 15 on the list in less than five minutes and then look up like a proud student trying to impress his teacher.
We move from word games to working with money. Alice lays 10 coins on the mobile table and asks me to sort out all quarters, nickels, pennies and dimes, putting them into different bowls. Satisfied, she asks me to stack the coins. Then she issues commands like “pick up a quarter”, or "pick up a penny". From there she starts conducting imaginary transactions, asking me to calculate the correct amount of change. I fly through all of these exercises, much to Emily's delight, and then we move to cards. Alice shuffles the deck and asks me to sort the cards by the four suits. Piece of cake. We play a marathon game of War, then Gin, and then two variations of Poker. More success. Alice hands me a sheet of paper and a pen. She asks me to draw different shapes, and then asks me to print the alphabet and write a thank you note.
Next she hands me a book of mazes and asks me to solve the one on page 64. Then the one on page 76. Then page 98. We move to crossword puzzles, then number sequences, then maps and orientation. What started out as fun has suddenly turned into a grind. I'm beginning to tire. She keeps shoving things under my nose, asking me to do more when all I want are answers to what has happened to me. I complain. I refuse to continue. We take a break and start again.
~ ~ ~
