Chapter Nineteen
Jack returned to the truck and started in the direction of the hospital. Frazzled didn’t begin to describe his mind space. Anger sneaked in there also, and he had to talk himself down. Who could he be mad at?
The phone belonged to him. If it went missing, fault had to be his too.
Wanting this day to end, he drove along and the craziest sight he’d ever seen caught his attention in the passenger side mirror.
Perched on the top of the moving van in the lotus position sat Lucas, riding along just as happy as any kid would be if allowed in such a dangerous place.
The wind blew his short gray hair back, his navy sweatshirt glued to his chest, arms folded like a Buddha, the man made him laugh so hard, it was all he could do to control the truck and pull it over to the side of the empty road.
Rushing to the back of the truck in time to see Lucas, agile as a young man, drop to the ground, he greeted his friend with a question that just had to be asked. “Lucas, what in the world, man? Riding on top of a transport truck?”
Grinning like a kid who just had a treat he’d loved, Lucas handed Jack his cellphone and replied, “Someone had to stop the dang thing from falling off and getting run over. Not a good idea to leave it on the top of the truck when you’re working.”
Affected beyond belief, Jack took the phone and then reached to Lucas’s arm, not sure if he could touch an angel or not.
Glad to feel solid mass, he squeezed gently.
“You can’t know how much I appreciate this, Lucas.
My heart dropped when I thought it was gone for good.
Losing everything from this phone would mean big problems.”
“I know. I felt it. You missed it in your search. Look, maybe you need to keep more files on paper like we used to do in my day, rather than just on your toy.”
“You’re right. Of course. But these toys make our lives a heck of a lot simpler, trust me.”
“I beg to differ. It separates folks rather then bringing them together in person. But it’s not my world, nor my place to make an opinion.”
The noise of an approaching car signaled the end of their conversation as Jack found himself alone on the side of the road, clutching his… toy.