Date: Wed, 8 Jul 2015 05:05:35 +0000 (UTC) From: Tom Sims Subject: Fighting Demons Chapter 5 final chapter The characters and events in this story are fictional and any resemblance to real people is purely co-incidental. The following story may contain sexual or reference to sexual situations. If this is illegal in your area, you are underage or you find it objectionable or offensive, do not read any farther! Exit now! tomsims563@yahoo.com Have you made a donation to Nifty? If you have thank you! http://donate.nifty.org/donate.html Fighting Demons Chapter 5 Summer vacation would come to an end in two weeks. The boys had another week before football practice would start. Both Joel and Gavin were going out for football. One night we had just completed the evening meal and were just sitting around talking football. Both boys were very excited. The phone rang and I went into the kitchen to use the extension in there. Lucky it was on speaker phone. The boys and Gary could hear everything . "Hello, I am Mike Jenson with the San Jose, California City Police department. I need to talk with David Long, please." "I am David Long. Go ahead." "Mr. Long, I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but I must inform you that Mr. John Hardin has suffered a severe heart attack and is on life support at the Good Samaritan Hospital in San Jose. The hospital is going to keep him on life support until you and his son arrive. Do you have an fax number?. I can give you all the detail and won't have to do it over the phone. I have it all ready to send." I gave him my fax number. "Mr. Jenson, I really appreciate all that you are doing. Joel and I will be on the next flight. Would you give this information to the hospital. Thank You!" "Mr. Hardin is out of a coma at the present time but he can slip back in at any time. I must warn you what the hospital has told me, they hope to keep him alive until you arrive. They won't guarantee that this possible. I just hit the send button. I will let you go and again I am very sorry, for the bad news. Goodbye!" "Goodbye!" I just hung up and Joel had me in a death hold and crying uncontrollably. "Joel, I would like to just hold you but I can't. Would you let Gary and Gavin do that for me. I have a lot to do and I think time is of the essence right now and I don't want to delay and be too late." "That is ok for me." "Good, I will turn the fax machine on and see what Mr. Jenson sent me and then I will make plane reservations. So why don't all of you come into the den!" "Love you, Joel!" "God, I know you are with us. Please give Joel and his dad some comfort and take them in your arms. Tell John to hang on and that we will be on our way shortly. Thank you.! Amen!"*****The fax machine beeped and started turning out pages of material., I just stood there and watched it spit out volumes of papers. John had a cover letter that was to be sent last because he wanted it on top. I slowly read it through my tears and handed it to Joel. Joel could not finish reading it and handed to Gary, who read it out loud. "Dave and Joel, I want you both to know that I love you very much. I know that you have forgiven me for the terrible mistakes that I made. Your letters served as a wake up call for me. I was able to turn my life around. I joined a church and became very active in it and at the same time enrolled myself in a intensive counseling program. I was able to get rid of that hateful person and demons, I had inside me. I had a new beginning and started loving life again. I now can face each new day with a smile on my face and joy in my heart.Everything is very good for me now. Three months ago, I had a heart attack. I put my life in God's hands and survived. I knew this was only temporary and I would have another attack and this time it would probably be fatal. I spent those months getting all my personal affair in order. You now have everything in your hands. Everything has been witnessed and notarized and is nice and legal. My lawyer has copies on file in his office. You will find my last will and testament. Everything is to go to both of you . You are to divide everything 50-50. Joel will receive his share now and won't have to wait to enjoy his share. What you don't know but is that I also received a large part of the estate from Joel's grandparents. I invested all of this in a high yield interest account. I have never touched any of the money. You will be surprise when you see the total amount. I also received a substantial inheritance from my parents and grandparents plus a big insurance payment from my wife's policy. I have placed both of your names as co-owners with me on all of my financial holdings. You probably won't have to pay inheritance/estate taxes. Dave, I have given you power of attorney so you can take care of all my personal affairs and I have given special privileges so you can make any medical decisions for me, including taking me off life support if by chance I am placed on it. I have a living will on file and you have a copy. I have it set up that I want life support until you take me off. I hope that I have covered all the bases. However, if I have missed something, Dave, you have the power to corrected it.I screwed up big time but that is all changed now. Just remember that I love you both! Hugs and Kisses!John HardinP.S. I want to be cremated and my ashes scattered with my wife's. You know the place. The three of us didn't say a work. We just stood there hold each other and crying. After about 15 minutes, I said that I had to make plane reservations.*****I got tickets for a flight that was scheduled to leave at 9:00 the next morning nothing was available sooner. I was lucky because I took the last two seats and they were in first class. Now all we had to do was wait. It was very doubtful that any of us would get any sleep. Gary was going to stay and run the farm until we returned. I invited him to go along with Joel and me but he said that we needed some private time and he would see us when we returned. I called Mike Jenson and had him book a motel room close to the hospital and rent a car with a good GPS for us and have it delivered to the airport. Now we could come and go as we pleased. We arrived at the airport and went directly to the hospital and none too soon. Joel's dad had taken a turn for the worse. He was still alive but that is all. The doctor gave him 2 hours at the most. The doctor wanted to leave John on life supports and let him die naturally. He was heavily sedated and could feel no pain. The doctor assure us that it would all be over in less that two hours. Joel and I agreed to wait two hours and if John was still alive , we would remove life support then. Joel wanted some time alone with his dad and I agreed to let him go into the room first. I was surprised when Joel reached into his bag and took out a Dr. Seuss's book "The Cat in the Hat" and went into his Dad's room. He stayed about 20 minutes and came rushing out. "The doctor said to come and get you. Dad has only a few minutes left." I rushed in and the Minister was right behind me. I went to his bed, took his hand and said. "John all is forgiven, Go in Peace." John squeezed my hand and was gone. "David, Dad squeezed my hand just before he died." "He did mine as well. I think that this was his way of telling us good-by and all was forgiven." The Minister administered the final rights and led us in prayer. Joel and I just stood there holding each other and crying. We left the room and went to the chapel. After a few minutes of silence, We left. "Joel, I have a question and you don't have to answer if you don't want to. Why did you take the "Cat in the Hat" into your Dad's room when you went in?" "Mom and Dad always read it to me when I was sick and didn't feel good. It always made me feel better. Dad smiled when I started reading it." "Joel, that was probably the best thing that you could have done for you dad. You were telling him that you loved him and it was ok to go and meet your mother. I know they are both looking down and smiling! Let's make arrangements for your Dad's cremation. After that we can head home." "Dave, I have a real good feeling inside me. I really feel it my heart that Dad did apologize and was very sincere." "I am sure that he did also. Joel, I want you to promise me that you will carry both you father and mother in your heart. Don't ever forget that your dad was a good man and loved both of us to the end. Sure he had some bad moments, and he wasn't his loving self. He must had some awful demons that he had to fight and in the long run, he was triumphant and turned his life around. Joel, I think that both of us need to go to counseling and get help with a new beginning." Thanks for staying with me!