Chapter 21
Elisabeth~
Even though I’d only gotten a few hours of sleep last night, I’d still been able to do my job effectively well, which I should probably thank med school for.
I had chosen a profession that didn’t favor sleep or rest, so while there was a good chance that I’d be crashing early and hard this evening, right now, I was good.
I had also managed to get a lot done, refusing to neglect my patients and responsibilities, even when you considered that I probably had a good enough excuse to do so.
Nevertheless, I needed to keep my feet planted firmly on the ground, and even if this might all come to an end, these people needed my help now, and that’s what they were going to get.
It had also helped when a food delivery had reached me at noon, and it’d been my first honest laugh in days.
Admittedly, Lazarus and his need to take care of me had come out of nowhere, but I was okay with the man wanting to take on the responsibility.
There was just too much going on, and there was also no glory in fighting something alone.
At any rate, it was close to four, and with the rest of my day nothing but paperwork, I was back at Luther Daxton’s door, both eager and afraid of what he had to tell me.
Now that I knew the truth, I had a feeling that Luther would know it, too.
I had a feeling that he was going to be able to see the change as soon as he saw me, and maybe that was a good thing.
I knocked twice before opening the door, and the second that Luther saw who it was walking into the room, he smiled in a way that sent shivers down my spine. However, he didn’t feel dangerous to me, just...aware.
“Dr. Batya,” he greeted as he went to go sit on his bed, leaving me the chair like last time.
“Luther,” I greeted back. “It’s good to see you well.”
“God came to me again last night,” he announced. “He said that it’s time.”
Biting the bullet, I asked, “Are you sure that it was God and not Gabriel? Ramiel, perhaps?”
His brows immediately furrowed in thought. “Well, I suppose that it could be.”
“Were you awake or asleep, Luther?”
“Asleep,” he answered like a small child, proud that he was right.
“Then that’s Ramiel,” I told him, careful not to send him into a fit. “Archangel Ramiel is the one who visits us in our dreams.”
“That sounds more reasonable,” he replied evenly, almost making me smile at how innocent he sounded. “After all, God is very busy.”
Ignoring that, I asked, “What did Ramiel tell you, Luther?”
“He said that I needn’t worry anymore. He said that you’ve connected, and that you finally believe,” he replied happily. “He said that all will be well as long as we all do our part.”
“And is your part still to protect me?” I asked carefully, treading on new territory.
“Yes,” he answered seriously. “We’re your soldiers, and we will protect you.”
“Did he explain who we will be fighting?”
“Ourselves.”
What?
“I’m sorry...what? What does that mean?”
“We are the demons, Dr. Batya,” he announced. “After all, no animal on earth is more destructive than a human. I mean, animals fight for survival and to preserve their species. Humans fight from a place of greed, and money has become the god of all gods to most.”
“Then how will we know who the good guys are, Luther?”
“We won’t,” he said, that eerie smile back. “But you will. You will, and so we’ll follow your lead.”
He was speaking in riddles, and that wasn’t helping me any.
I needed facts and definitive direction to even begin to get a handle on all of this.
Never mind that it was still all crazy as hell, but I needed more than just cryptic ramblings.
I needed to know what was expected of me, and I especially needed to know Lazarus’ part in all this.
He was still a sacrifice that I wasn’t ready to make yet, if ever.
I also didn’t care that we were talking about the fall of humanity.
I didn’t exist without Lazarus, and I suspected that it was the same for him.
“Do you know if we’re going to win or not?” I asked. “Or are you just hoping that we do.”
His brows furrowed again. “Are you doubting yourself, Dr. Batya?”
I immediately shook my head, refusing to cause him any concerns of doubt. “No, Luther,” I answered firmly. “I do not doubt myself. I’m just wondering if you can see anything that I can’t.”
Luther shook his head. “No, I can’t. But I do know that Michael is watching.”
That made my heart skip a beat. “How do you know that?”
He shrugged like we were talking about the weather or something. “Ramiel told me last night when he explained everything.”
“Is...is Michael watching me?”
Luther shook his head again. “No, Gabriel, Uriel, and Orion are watching you.”
I could feel my heart begin to beat rapidly in my chest. “Then who is Michael watching?”
“God’s helper,” he grinned, and I could feel my lungs begin to struggle a bit.
“And...and why has Ramiel chosen you to tell this to, Luther?” I asked. “Why did he tell you this?”
Those brows of his furrowed again, and he was looking at me like I was stupid. “He told us all.”
“All?”
Luther nodded. “He had to tell all your soldiers to prepare us.”
I sat there, trying to process everything that Luther was saying, and if it was true that Michael was watching Lazarus, then that could only mean one thing.
Since Archangel Michael was the ultimate warrior and had actually led the charge in the fight between Heaven and Hell, then that meant that Lazarus was not going to be left in the background for this fight.
Like Michael was the ultimate shield from harm, Lazarus was also going to be the same for me.
Looking at the man that everyone had pegged as crazy, I said, “Well, I’m going to do my best not to let you down, Luther.”
“Not just me, Dr. Batya,” he replied, those brows furrowed again. “All of us.”
His words got me to thinking about something that probably should have occurred to me sooner. “Luther, is there anyone else at St. Dymphna’s that’s...that’s a part of this?”
Instead of the eerie smile that he’d given me earlier, this smile was filled with a brightness that I’d never seen on anyone before. “We’re all here for you, Dr. Batya. We’ve all always been here for you.”
Tears immediately formed behind my eyes, the very thought was overwhelming in a way that made me feel like I couldn’t breathe.
Despite what all the textbooks said, every patient in this hospital believed.
They believed in something bigger than themselves, and they’d been labeled crazy for it.
Now, while some of these patients could actually be suffering from some kind of mental psychosis, Luther had just confirmed that a lot of them weren’t.
Instead, they’d all been waiting for this moment.
“Can I ask you something, Luther?”
“Of course.”
“Are you scared?”
“No,” he answered, and he’d said the word with such conviction that I had no choice but to believe him.
“Why not?”
“Why would I be?” he countered. “After all, God knows what He’s doing, so He knew what He was doing when He chose you.”
So simple.
He made it sound so simple.
Since Luther seemed to know more than I did, I asked, “Do you know when we’ll be called to fight?”
“When God’s helper commands it,” he replied easily.
There was only one reason that Lazarus would ever begin a war. “They’re going to come for me, aren’t they?”
Luther nodded. “Yes, Dr. Batya. So, you need to be prepared.”
Though Luther was doing his best to tell me what he knew, only Ramiel could tell me what I needed to know, and it was finally time to find out. It was time to face this thing head on, and I knew that I needed to commit to this like I did everything else in my life, or else we’d fail.
“Thank you for talking with me, Luther,” I told him. “I hope that we can talk some more later.”
“You’re welcome,” he grinned.
Leaving him to it, I left his room, then headed back to my office to finish up some stuff before meeting Lazarus at The Knights Group.
I was also going to have to make time to go visit my parents this week.
While I seriously doubted that they knew anything about any of this, I still had some questions that I needed answers to, and maybe their answers could help me in some way.
If nothing else, it was still time for a visit.