Renewed by Bethany Cannon

Renewed

Although to a guest there was much noise, all was silent to Haley. Her ears
had grown accustom to the beeping machines, the squeaky wheels, the moaning
patients, the rushing footsteps of nurses, her crying family, and the sounding alarms.

Day and night, she lay in bed beneath heavy fatigue that made her paper-thin sheets
feel more like a straight jacket. Haley’s memory or lack thereof, penetrated her
heart like a dagger. The pretty girl, only eighteen years of age, desperately desired
to be rid of that frail, porcelain sack that encased her spirit. She remained stuck, in
a shallow and suffocated state of mind. Her thoughts rendered useless to all but her
heart. Haley’s heart and mind buried one another in an excruciating pit of emotions.
Physical pain overwhelmed her skull. Petite Haley endured a severe beating.
Haley’s mother, Rebecca, and father, Thomas, sat hand-in-hand. Rebecca
sobbed as she stared at her baby, her only child, lying utterly paralyzed. Thomas
too cried as he thought of ways to fix his little girl. Rebecca and Thomas were
cookie-cutter parents. Haley was raised by parenting books. How could things
go so wrong? All was exhausted; the doctor investigated every option for the
child. Doctor Tido walked into the room, breath heavy, sweat on brow, and glasses
balanced on the very brim of his aged nose. “I’m sorry Mr. and Mrs. Martin, we’ve
done all we can do”, he began his rehearsed speech. Rebecca began screaming out
hysterically, “No!” as Thomas wrapped his arms around her as if she was his teddy
bear. “I don’t believe you!” yelled Thomas. Haley, in her mind, screamed right along
with her mother. Her screams were like those in a dream that are impossible to
push from the brain out of the mouth. The room resonated with chaos. The room
resonated with severed hope.
Haley’s mind raced through a lifetime of remorse. She regretted not treating
her father with more respect, she regretted losing her virginity at the age of fifteen,
she regretted spending too much time on the internet, she regretted driving drunk
with her car full of friends, she regretted, she regretted, she regretted, but more than
anything she regretted ever regretting. Haley’s head spun in a cycle of remorse.
Then in all of the chaos, as if struck by lightning, she became numb. Her thoughts
stopped; all in her head was a vacuum. Then out of the nothing of her thoughts
came a voice. Was the voice in the room with her? She couldn’t make it out. The
voice was faint, yet clear. It sounded like somebody was whispering in her ear. Yes,
she could feel the wind of the person’s lips. She felt the waves of the sound vibrating
throughout the chamber of her right ear. The lips, the tongue, the teeth, she could
hear all of it. The mouth that was speaking to her was unlike any mouth she ever
heard. Slowly the words penetrated. She heard a name and some numbers being
whispered in her ears. The whisper grew gradually until it was a firm statement as
clear as day: “Jeremiah twenty-nine, eleven”.

Rebecca and Thomas sat sobbing, tight in each other’s grasps in the hospital
room. Haley’s bed began to shake as she began to experience what looked like a
seizure. Dr. Tido was walking out of the room when he heard the rumble behind
him. He looked at Haley, and he looked at the Martin’s in horror. He had never seen
such a reaction out of a vegetative patient. The doctor yelled out for the nurses
as he hurried to Haley’s bedside. The seizing stopped. Haley’s eyelids flew open.
Her jaw dropped. She swallowed, and looked around the room. The doctor, the
nurse, and the parents were all stunned. “Jeremiah twenty-nine eleven, mom, dad.
Tell me what Jeremiah twenty-nine eleven means”. Everyone in the room became
overwhelmed with emotions because of the miracle they had all just witnessed.
Each person in the room began speaking out in train-of-thought. “Stop!” yelled
Haley, “I must know what Jeremiah twenty-nine eleven is!” Haley’s dad looked at
her with perplexity and began to gather his thoughts. He smiled, looked at Rebecca
who was overwhelmed with tears, and began to cry. Thomas reached out to grab
Haley’s hands, he looked in her eyes, and he grabbed a Bible that a Priest had
brought by. Before now it was a good luck charm. “Jeremiah 29:11, ‘For I know the
plans I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you,
plans to give you hope and a future’”.