Miracles Read Free Page B

turned out she was picking up radio waves on her fillings. You don’t have any new fillings, do you?”
    â€œIt’s not the radio. It’s . . . real voices.” He was making no sense at all. This was madness. These voices obviously weren’t real, or he would see the mouths move. Maybe he was still dreaming. Maybe he just needed to wake up.
    But it didn’t feel like a dream.
    He got to his feet. “You know, come to think of it, maybe I do need a doctor.” He ran his shaking hands through his hair. “Uh . . . look, cover for me for a couple of hours, will you? I need to get out of here, get some fresh air.”
    â€œSure thing, Sam. Your first appointment isn’t until eleven, so don’t worry about it.”
    He practically ran up the hall to get away, but he changed his mind before he got to the elevator. He didn’t want to be on it with Jimmy again, so he took the stairwell and ran all thirteen floors down. He was perspiring and out of breath when he got to his car. He just needed some Tylenol, he thought. He needed to go to the closest store and get some medicine to help him.
    There was a supermarket a mile up the street, so he drove there as fast as he could, almost running over a pedestrian as he turned into the parking lot. He pulled into handicap parking and sat there for a moment, feeling as disabled as anyone who couldn’t walk. Finally, he got out and headed in.
    He had never been to this store before, so he didn’t know where the Tylenol would be. He headed up aisle one and passed a woman standing with a jar of peanut butter in her hand. “We’re gonna go hungry,” he heard her say. “I can’t provide.”
    He turned around and knew instantly she hadn’t said it aloud. She gave him a startled glance and put the peanut butter back. He shrugged out of his coat and almost ran into a teenaged couple standing in front of the school supplies. They were discussing the size of index cards they needed, but as he passed, he heard two other simultaneous voices.
    â€œThe pressure . . . it’s too much.”
    â€œI just want somebody to love me.”
    He bolted around the corner, and thankfully, came to the Tylenol. He grabbed at the first package he saw, knocking the rest off of the shelf. Trembling, he knelt down and began picking up the boxes. A woman who worked there came up and started helping him. “Are you all right, sir?”
    â€œYes . . . fine . . . just a little clumsy . . .” He got to his feet and tried to stack the boxes again.
    â€œI’m nobody. He won’t even look me in the eye,” a voice said.
    He told himself he wasn’t hearing what he was hearing and took off up the aisle to the cash register. Standing there, his heart pounding, he waited for the man in front of him to pay.
    â€œI miss my family. What have I done?” The man’s mouth was set in a grim line as he sorted through his wallet.
    Sam turned away and saw the woman with the peanut butter behind him. “They’ll go to bed hungry again. I can’t take care of myself, much less them.”
    He tried to open the Tylenol package, but his hand was shaking too badly. He heard the girl behind the cash register muttering, “This is as good as it gets.”
    Deciding that the Tylenol wasn’t going to help anyway, he dropped it onto the belt, pushed past the man, and ran back out to his car.
    He got in and locked the door and sat there for a moment, reveling in the silence. He didn’t want to get out again. He couldn’t take the chance of being around people, of hearing those voices.
    He needed help, he thought. Someone to talk to. Someone to tell him what was happening to him. He thought of John, his pastor. John had always listened to him, even before Sam gave his life to Christ. He was a good listener. Nothing had shocked John, not even Sam’s sinful past.
    He pulled out of the parking lot, and driving