I Control Life and Death

Chapter 006

"Dad, it's me!" Kevin perked up at the man's voice. He shouted down as loudly as he could.

Soon, a flurry of footsteps on the stairwell. Two middle-aged men were making their way up the stairs.

The one in front was the man who had taken us here, Soren Gleeson, my mother's brother. Mom had told me who he was during the drive.

The man behind him wore a pair of gold-rimmed glasses and carried what looked like a medical bag. Not a common sight, that's for sure, but he was probably a doctor.

"Dad… ah… my hand…" Kevin was absolutely bawling at this point.

My uncle Soren looked quite upset. The man behind him blinked, then made a diagnosis. "Mr. Gleeson, it looks like Kevin's fingers are broken. I'll give him a bit of first aid."

"I really can't thank you enough, Dr. Fullman."

Soren coughed politely, then looked at his wife. "What in the world happened to Kevin?"

"You're finally back, honey. If you'd come back any later, my darling son and I would have been bullied to death by that whore and her bastard son!" The woman immediately began to point fingers and pile up blame.

"Did you do this?" Soren glanced toward me. His tone was cold.

"Sure did," I snapped back.

My uncle's face darkened instantly. He glowered at me with displeasure.

I stared right back into his eyes. I was not going to let him push me around, even if he was supposed to be my uncle.

Sparks flew in the air between us. We were poised to start a fight on the spot!

"Someone! Anyone! The venerable Mr. Gleeson is not long for this world!" An unexpected cry cut through the gelid air. It successfully broke the stand-off.

"Dr. Fullman, please hurry! My father needs your attention."

Soren's face changed color yet again. He dashed down the hall with astonishing speed.

The doctor he addressed pulled his bag close and flew after him.

"Dad!" my mother wept aloud as she trailed behind them.

Not wanting to leave her side, I quickly followed suit.

When I came to my grandfather's bedroom door, I saw an old man in the doorway.

His hair was a little gray, with most of it already white. He wore grayish-beige pajamas and had a slight slouch. His face looked like it used to be full of warmth and compassion, but right now, it was completely blank.

In fact, his eyes looked empty and soulless. He kept pacing back and forth in front of the door.

"Careful, sir." Seeing as someone was about to run into him, I rushed forward to lend him a hand. The slightest fall could be seriously damaging to any senior's health.

The skin I touched was cold as ice. It felt like I was holding the arm of a frozen sculpture instead of a living, breathing person.

Rather than acknowledging anything I said or did, the old man kept staring into the direction of the bedroom.

"If you're not going inside, you better move out of the way. I would like to see my father-in-law one last time!" said the woman from earlier as she shoved me out of her way…

In the next second, she passed through the old man's body entirely as she went inside the room.

I stopped in my tracks.

Hold on a second. What on earth was happening here?

How had that woman passed through the old man on her way into the room?

Could she phase through solid objects?

"Who told so many of you to come in here? Out! The last thing my patient needs right now is a crowd." Dr. Fullman's voice sounded from inside the bedroom.

The people who had rushed in just now began to disperse outside again.

I snuck a peek into the room and saw an old man on the bed facing the door.

White hair?

Grayish-beige pajamas?

A kind-looking face…

Oh, dear.

I took a look at the old man I was helping along just to make sure… then back at the old man on the bed.

An icy tingle ran right down my spine.

The two old men were one and the same.

They were the same person! Unbelievable!

I felt the old man, whose arm I was holding, shiver up and down. His figure became indistinct and hazy, as if he was on the verge of disappearance.

The people backing out from the bedroom all passed through the old man's body.

Not a single one noticed that he was there!

Now, it seemed an invisible force in the ether was pulling on the old man's other arm. This got me nervous all of a sudden.

I kept as tight a grip on his wrist as I could. My intuition told me that if this shadow was somehow taken away, the real old man on the bed would definitely be beyond saving.

"I'm very sorry. I've done all that I could." Dr. Fullman said from inside the bedroom.

His voice was followed by my mother's heart-rending cry. "Dad! It's me, Helen. I'm right here! Your daughter Helen is right here! Just open your eyes!"

The doctor stood up and withdrew from the room, Soren close behind him. "Is there really nothing that can be done, Dr. Fullman? Money isn't an issue as long as my father can be saved. Name your price, and we will pay it."

"I promise you that I have not withheld anything from your father, Mr. Gleeson." Dr. Fullman looked a bit sad and exasperated. "I would recommend you to begin making arrangements for his funeral."

"If that's the case, then… I suppose there is nothing we can do." Sighing, Soren seemed to accept reality.

After the two of them left, I dragged the shadow on my arm into my grandfather's room.

My mother was still sobbing inconsolably. "Dad," she lamented in a hoarse voice, "this is your grandson… He's here to visit you! Please, dad, open your eyes!"

Meanwhile, I pushed the shadow in my hands as hard as I could onto the bed.

There had to be a way to put him back into his bedridden body!

"Come on, grandpa! You've got to go back!" I murmured nervously.

Alas, each time I tried to push the shadow into the old man's side, an invisible force bounced me—and him—right back to where we were before.

What was I supposed to do?

Perhaps I needed to cast Sacred Halo first to heal the sickness in his body.

There was no time to waste. Gripping the withered hand of the old man on the bed, I chanted to myself, 'Sacred Halo!'

As if on cue, the telltale ring of light associated with the spell appeared. However, after solidifying to a certain point, it swiftly split itself into two copies.

One continued to charge atop the bed while the other floated over the shadow's head!

Under the halo's radiance, the shadow clarified and became more vivid. After a while, it looked almost like a real person!

Is… is my grandfather's soul being repaired?

This was a rather shocking discovery, even for me.

The Sacred Halo Spell could heal not only people's physical bodies but their souls as well.

What an amazing feat!

It was nearly too good to be true.

After about three minutes, both rings of light disappeared at the same time.

Unfortunately, the old man on the bed did not wake up. The shadow I gripped in my hands remained where he was.

"Grandpa, you need to get back into your body over there," I whispered softly again, this time, at the shadowy old man's ear.

He seemed to understand what I was saying and laid down on the bed himself.

Watching grandpa's spirit reunite with his body gave me an indescribable sensation of joy.

But wait!

His soul-head kept being forced away by the same force from before. For some unknown reason, he could not return just yet.

What am I supposed to do about that?

I pondered the question for a few moments, then shrugged for lack of a good solution.

Forget it!

I would try the most obvious course of action first.

Good old elbow grease!

I stepped right up into grandpa's vicinity and pressed down hard on the shadow's head.

Every time it tried to rebound up, I slapped it right back down.

"What are you doing, Will? This is your grandfather in front of you! Stop that right this instance!" My mother was the first to notice my strange behaviour.

"What the hell? How could that bastard hit Mr. Gleeson like that?"

"You son of a gun! If you touch the old man again, I'll tear you to pieces!"

"How dare you lay your hands on Mr. Gleeson, you little bitch! Have you lost your mind?"

The others began to curse and threaten me in turn.

I had no time for them. The old man was my first priority, even if my position was rather compromising.

"Don't touch my father!" Soren screeched from outside the door.

That man was going to hurt his throat.

Suddenly, I felt the presence under my palm lighten. The old man's whole body violently quivered a final time.

"Ack… ack-hem!" he coughed feebly twice before opening his eyes.

The shadow was soundly back where he belonged!

I was overcome with happiness. "Quick," I shouted, "call the doctor! Get him to see how my grandfather is doing."

"Dad! Are you finally awake? Dr. Fullman, please come here right away! My dad is awake!" My mom raised her voice as well.

"Dr. Fullman! Somebody, go after him and get him back here!"

Having instructed the servants to fetch the doctor, Soren approached the bed. "How are you doing, dad?"

The white-haired Mr. Gleeson touched his temples. "I feel a bit dizzy. Other than that, not much else, really."

Soren burned with indignant rage. "If something happens to my father, you will be the first to blame!"

"I saw him hit Mr. Gleeson just now. If anything bad happens to the old man, he must be held responsible!"

"How could that bastard raise his hand against an elderly man? What incredible evil! And at such a young age, too."

"Yes! He must pay for his crimes!"

Pretty much every visitor followed suit in accusing me.

"Don't you think you should think a little before you speak?" I turned my head toward the crowd. "Look at what condition my grandpa was in before. Do you think he would've woken up without me here?"

"Make way, make way! Dr. Fullman is finally back. Make way!"

The re-entering doctor looked like he was in a hurry himself.

He opened his bag and reached for the stethoscope as quickly as he could, then began to check for all the usual suspects and indicators - pulse, heart rate, pupil dilation, the works.

After all was said and done, the doctor was amazed and incredulous. "How can this be?"

"What is it, Dr. Fullman?" Soren asked. "Is my father not doing too well?"

Dr. Fullman did not answer. "His pulse is normal… his heartbeat is normal… his breathing has never been better… this doesn't make any sense. Am I hallucinating?"

"Please, doctor. Can you give me a simple answer? Just a yes or no would be enough." Soren was distressed by the puzzlement.

"I… I don't know." Dr. Fullman shook his head.

"You… you don't know?" Soren was astonished by the unexpected reply.

"Mr. Gleeson appears completely normal and healthy, but I would like to verify this using more sophisticated medical equipment…"

"Well? What are we waiting for, then? I'll get a car ready and take my dad to the hospital right away!"