A Voice From The Heart

As usual, Christopher Maxwell went to work, worked from 9:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m., walked to the bus stop and waited for the bus. When it pulled up, he got on board and started looking for a seat, as usual. When the bus finally reached his stop, he got off and started to walk across the street. He was halfway when he heard a loud honking. He turned toward the sound and saw a blue truck headed right for him. He was frozen in fear. By the time he got the courage to move, it was too late. Christopher Maxwell was hit.

* * * * *

Christopher opened his eyes only to shut them again right away. There was a bright light directly above him. Very slowly, he tried opening his eyes again. This time it wasn’t so bad. He could actually see that the bright light above him was the fluorescent light of a hospital. He looked around him and saw that he had casts on both of his legs and arms, had some sort of collar on his neck and his ribs felt like they had been stomped on by someone wearing rocks for shoes. He also realized he was in a double room. The other bed was empty. Sleeping a chair by the window was a man Christopher had never once seen in his life. Or so he thought. The man seemed to feel eyes on him and awoke with a start. “Oh, thank goodness you’re awake!” he said.
Christopher was very confused. “Do I know you?”
“No, you don’t,” the man said.
“Then why are you here?” Christopher asked.
The man looked down at his feet. “I’m the man who hit you.”
At that moment, a nurse came in to check on him. “Well, well, I see our patient is finally awake,” she said.
“Yeah,” Christopher replied. “How long was I unconscious?”
“Almost a week. Five days to be exact,” answered the nurse. “You must be good friends with this man. He’s stayed with you the whole time you’ve been here.”
Christopher turned to the man. “Is that true? Have you been here for five days?”
“Yes, I have.”
“Why would you do that for someone you don’t even know?” The idea that someone would do that was a completely new concept to Christopher. He had no family except distant cousins. He was an only child whose mom had left when he was five and whose dad had died from a plane crash two years before.
“I feel really terrible about the whole thing,” the man said. “I hope that someday you’ll be able to forgive me.”
“I’m sorry,” Christopher replied. “I can’t. Not right now.”
“I understand.” Christopher could tell by the way the man’s voice shook that he was telling the truth. He really was sorry about what had happened and really did hope that someday Christopher would forgive him, but would understand if he didn’t.
Even after that, the man still stayed with Christopher. He got him anything he needed and though he started going home, the man still came back everyday to see how Christopher was doing.
One day, a nurse brought in a little girl. She was brought in sitting in a wheelchair. She looked about six, had casts on one arm and one leg and had cuts, scrapes and bruises all over her face.
Christopher called over the nurse and asked why the little girl was put in his room and not a room in the children’s wing of the hospital.
“The children’s wing is full,” replied the nurse. “The only rooms left are double rooms like yours.”
“Oh.”
The nurse left the room, promising that the little girl would be no trouble.
“Hi!” said the little girl, not ten seconds after the nurse had left. “My name’s Olivia. What’s yours?”
“Christopher. Christopher Maxwell.”
“So, Mr. Maxwell. I’m six. How old are you?”
“I’m thirty-three.”
“How come you’re in here, Mr. Maxwell?” Olivia asked.
“I was hit by a truck,” Christopher answered bitterly.
“Gosh, Mr. Maxwell, that sounds bad. All that happened to me was I fell from the top of a tree. An oak tree is what they told me it was called.”
“Is that how you got those cuts and scrapes?”
“Uh-huh,” Olivia said.
“Well, Olivia, you are one tough little girl. Not many people survive that kind of fall. And if they do they have injuries worse than what you’ve got.”
Olivia’s face was shining so bright when he said that, she could have lit the whole hospital. “Thanks, Mr. Maxwell!” she said. “No one’s ever called me tough before.”
Just then, Olivia’s mom walked in. “How you feeling, Sweetheart?” she said.
“I’m fine, Mom,” Olivia said, rolling her eyes. The gesture looked completely ridiculous on a six-year-old face and, as a result, Olivia’s mother burst out laughing.
“You have a wonderful little girl, ma’am,” Christopher said.
“Hey! I’m not little! I’m-” Olivia’s rant was cut off by her mom.
“Well, thank you,” she said, turning to him. “I’m Ashley Grant. And you are...?”
“That’s Mr. Maxwell,” Olivia said, before Christopher could answer.
“Does Mr. Maxwell have a first name?”
“Yeah,” Christopher replied, “it’s Christopher.”
“Well, Christopher,” Ashley said. “Or do you prefer Mr. Maxwell?”
“Christopher’s fine.”
“How have you come to know my daughter?”
“Just after she was brought in, she asked me what my name is, how old I am and how I ended up here.”
“Olivia!” her mom scolded. “You know you aren’t supposed to talk to strangers.”
“I could tell he wasn’t going to hurt me, Mom.”
“Even so, you shouldn’t have grilled him for his life story.” She turned back to Christopher. “I’m sorry Olivia bothered you like that.”
“She wasn’t bothering me. It was actually kind of nice to have someone to talk to,” Christopher replied.
Once again the door opened. This time it was the man who hit Christopher with his car. “Hello!” he said brightly. Then he realized there were other people in the room. “Am I interrupting?”
“Not really,” Christopher answered. “This is Olivia Grant and her mom, Ashley Grant. Ashley, Olivia, this is... You know I’ve seen you everyday since I woke up and I don’t even know your name.” If it sounded to anyone like Christopher was only asking so he could introduce the man to Olivia and her mom, then they were right. He didn’t care. He had gone days without knowing the man’s name. Also, if Christopher wasn’t ever going to talk to the man again after he was out of the hospital, why ask for his name?
“It’s James. James Austen.”
“Well, then, this is James.”
“Pleased to meet you, James,” said Ashley brightly. “Are you Christopher’s brother?”
The expression on James’s face was one of complete and utter misery. “No. I’m the reason he’s in the hospital.”
“What do you mean? How could you possibly be the reason he’s in the hospital?” Confusion was etched on the face of Ashley Grant.
“I hit him with my car,” James said. “That’s how I could be the reason he’s here.”
Ashley was speechless. Olivia, however, was not. “Whoa! Not cool!” she said.
This statement seemed to snap Ashley out of her shock. “Olivia Lindsey Grant! That is very rude. You need to apologize. Now.”
“That’s not necessary, Mrs. Grant,” James said. “Olivia is absolutely right.”
“You can call me Ashley. And Olivia is not right. The only way she would be right is if you hit Christopher on purpose.”
“Whether it was on purpose or not, I still hit him. I still hurt him. Look at him! He has two broken legs, two broken arms, a broken collarbone and four broken ribs and it’s all my fault! I did that to him!” James was in tears by this point and put his head in his hands so no one would see. It was a failed attempt.
Throughout the whole conversation, Christopher had been silent. He didn’t know what to think. On one hand, he thought James was right. On the other, well, he wasn’t sure at all whether he thought Ashley was right. He didn’t know why but he just couldn’t bring himself to forgive James. Maybe James had an air of deception about him. No, that wasn’t it. James was completely sincere.
“Christopher, tell this man it wasn’t his fault,” said Ashley.
“I...I can’t,” Christopher replied.
The look on Ashley’s face was a mixture of confusion, anger and pity. Confusion at why Christopher wouldn’t tell the poor, regretful man in tears that it wasn’t his fault, anger that he wouldn’t and pity for both men. She wondered how Christopher could sit there and be so unforgiving while a man was sobbing at his feet. A man who wasn’t sobbing for himself. It was Christopher he was in tears over.
By this time, James had recovered enough to speak. “If you don’t need anything, I’ll be going,” he said to Christopher.
“Go,” Christopher replied coldly. “Just leave me be.”
After the man had left, Ashley shot Christopher an angry glare then left to go get her daughter something to eat.
“You should forgive James, Mr. Maxwell,” Olivia said. “He needs to be forgived.”
“Now you’re an expert on forgiveness, huh?” Christopher said, jokingly.
“No, but my mom told me the Bible says to love your enemies.”
Christopher was shocked at that statement. No one had ever quoted the Bible to him before. Especially a six-year-old. Christopher didn’t know whether he believed in God and the Bible and all that stuff, but he did know he didn’t like people telling him how to live. “Thanks for tip, but I’ll forgive James if and when I want to.”
“Mr. Maxwell? Can I ask you a question?”
“Sure.”
“If I did something to you you’d forgive me, right?”
“Of course.” Christopher had no idea where Olivia was going with this, but he wasn’t sure he liked it.
“Well, then, why won’t you forgive James?”
Christopher had been right. He didn’t like where this had gone. “Well, it’s different.”
“How?” Olivia challenged.
“It just is.”
“Okay, Mr. Maxwell. I believe you.”
Ashley came back into the room with some food for Olivia. It was obvious she was still mad at Christopher for not telling James the whole accident wasn’t his fault. She didn’t so much as glance at him the rest of the night.
Christopher didn’t mind it. He was lost in his own thoughts. He couldn’t stop thinking about what Olivia had said. He realized if it had been almost anyone else, he would have forgiven them without a second thought. How could a six-year-old who had been dumb enough climb to the top of an oak tree be so right about this?
The next day when Ashley was gone doing something for Olivia, Christopher asked her if her mom had told her to tell him what she did.
“No,” Olivia said.
“Did you think it up on you own?” Christopher asked.
Olivia thought. “Uh...kinda?”
“Kinda? What do you mean?”
“I thought of the words, but I heard a voice that told me to help you forgive James.”
“What do you mean, you ‘heard a voice’?”
“I think it was God.”
“You think it was God?” Christopher thought that explanation was completely ludicrous. Why would God care if he forgave James or not? And why would he use a little girl to make it happen?
“Uh-huh.”
“Olivia, why do you think it was God?”
“’Cause, Mr. Maxwell, I heard the voice in my heart, not my head. Who else could do that?”
“You mean you just had feeling you should help me?”
“No,” Olivia said. It was obviously getting on her nerves that Christopher didn’t get what she was saying. “I meaned what I said. I heard the voice in my heart. Get it?”
“Not at all.”
Olivia sighed. “I think it was God because only God can talk to you in your heart. Plus, also, why else would I have ended up in the same exact room with you?”
“Olivia, God isn’t the reason you’re in the same room as me. You’re here because there’s no more room in the kid’s wing.”
“Prove it!” Olivia said, sticking out her tongue.
Christopher sighed. It was no use. How was he supposed to tell Olivia that it wasn’t God talking to her?
“Plus, also, another thing is my mom told me that God can use anybody, Mr. Maxwell,” Olivia said.
Before Christopher could reply to that statement, a doctor walked into the room. “Christopher Maxwell?” he said.
“Yes?” answered Christopher.
“I hate to tell you this, but I have some bad news.”
“Okay, tell me.”
The doctor swallowed. “You’re left hand is paralyzed. We didn’t notice it until just this morning when we were going over your X-rays.”
“What?! How could you miss that? I won’t ever have use of my left hand again, and you didn’t notice it?!”
“I’m sorry. I can’t see how it got missed, either.”
“Fine. Is that all or did lose the use of my legs, too?” Christopher said angrily.
“Okay, I can see you’re upset. I’ll leave you alone.” And with that, the doctor left.
Christopher laid his head back on his pillow. He hadn’t realized he couldn’t move his hand, either. Since it had been in a cast the whole time, how could he have? He hadn’t even thought of trying to move his hand. Or even his fingers, for that matter.
“Mr. Maxwell?” Olivia said, interrupting his thoughts.
“What?” Christopher snapped.
“What does ‘paralyzed’ mean?”
“It means I won’t ever be able to use my left hand again.”
“Oh.” Olivia thought. “Maybe you should pray, Mr. Maxwell. God can help you. I know he can.”
The door opened. What now? thought Christopher.
It was Ashley. As she was walking to her daughter’s bed, she seemed to sense the tension in the room. “What’s wrong?” she asked.
“Oh, nothing. I won’t ever be able to use my left hand again. But besides that, nothing at all,” Christopher replied, faking cheerfulness.
“Oh, Christopher,” Ashley said, all her anger from the previous night apparently forgotten. “I’m so sorry.”
“Don’t be. It wasn’t you who did this.”
“What do you mean?”
“It was James. He did this. It’s his fault.”
“No, it most certainly is not! How can you blame that poor man for this? He didn’t try to hit you. He couldn’t stop.”
“How would you know that?”
“Because I talked to him. He tried to stop, but couldn’t. His brakes were broken. The only reason he didn’t hit anyone else was because he found a field where he could just coast to a stop.”
Christopher hadn’t thought of that. It had never once occurred to him that James hadn’t been able to stop his car.
“You didn’t think of that, did you?” Ashley said.
Olivia decided that was a good time to speak. “You’ll forgive James, right Mr. Maxwell?”
“I don’t know,” Christopher answered. “Maybe after awhile.”
James didn’t come that day. Or the next, or the next. After three days, he walked into the room. “I truly am sorry,” he said to Christopher. “But I can’t sit here waiting for you to forgive me. I wish that I could, I really do. But I realize me being here is just a constant reminder of the accident. A reminder of what you were before. I won’t do that to you anymore.”
“James-” Christopher began.
“No,” James interrupted. “Listen to me. I hope maybe you’ll forgive me someday, but I can’t make you do that and it feels like that’s what I’m trying to do. I come here everyday hoping you’ve forgiven me, but I won’t keep waiting. Good-bye.”
Christopher couldn’t say anything. There was nothing to say. James was right. Christopher hadn’t realized it until it had been put into words, but that’s what it felt like. A reminder of what his life had been, a reminder that it would never be like that again.

* * * * *

Months had passed. Christopher had gotten out of the hospital. He still saw Olivia and her mom. (Olivia had made sure of that.) He learned to do things with only his right hand. It was hard, but he gotten the hang of it. His life as close to normal as it could be.
One day, Christopher was sitting in his living room watching TV when the show he was watching was interrupted by a newscaster with “breaking news.”
“There’s a man standing on the top of a building on the corner of Third street and Main. He says he going to jump. Let’s go to Melissa Saunders at the scene. What’s going on there, Melissa?”
“Well, Bill, a man climbed to the roof of the building behind me claiming he’s going to jump. Police were called and are on their way, but I don’t know, they may get here too late.” The camera moved to show a view of the man on the building.
It was James.
Christopher grabbed his coat and headed outside. Once there, he took off running at full speed. Luckily, he lived close to where James was about to commit suicide.
He got to the building, found the stairs and ran up them three at a time. Fortunately, James was still on the roof when he got there. Unfortunately, he was about to jump.
“JAMES!” Christopher shouted.
James paused. That pause was all it took to give Christopher the words to say. “I forgive you,” he said. And he really meant it. He had put James on the edge of that building and he knew it. He was done being bitter about the past.
James turned around. “What?”
“I forgive you.”
“No, you don’t. I don’t deserve your forgiveness.”
“Yes, you do,” Christopher said. “What you don’t deserve is death. I was wrong. I see that now. You didn’t mean for things to happen the way they did. That was fate. I should’ve realized that a long time ago. Instead I sat alone and bitter, thinking and complaining about my paralyzed hand. But you know what? I’m sick of that. I’m done being cold, and it feels so good to have that burden off my shoulders. And now that I’ve forgiven you, James, it’s time for you to forgive yourself.”
“I don’t think I can.”
“Just come down from the ledge. It’s over and done with. We can’t reverse what has been done, but we can let it go. We can let bygones be bygones and finally be friends.”
James left the ledge in tears. “You’re right. I can’t tear myself up about something that was just fate,” he said.
Before Christopher knew what had happened he and James were hugging each other and crying. “Thank you,” said James.
When they got to the ground, they found a large crowd cheering for them. Cheering the loudest was Olivia Grant. Ashley put Olivia on her shoulders and walked up to the two men.
“I knew you were gonna make up with each other!” Olivia exclaimed.
“Yeah, we did,” Christopher said. “And we have you to thank for it, Olivia. If I hadn’t met you, I would never have learned that forgiveness is a powerful thing. It can even save lives.”

What a beautiful story. :')

Nice =)

Thanks!!