The Reincarnation

Dr. Persey jumped as the intercom buzzed.

“They’re here, sir. Should I send them in?”

“Send who in, Patty? I specifically told you I didn’t want to be disturbed.” Dr. Persey had actually lost count of how many patients he had revived. He knew he was over two hundred, but figured he could just count the occupied rooms once he felt he couldn’t go on any longer.

“The doctors from the Church, sir.”

“Doctors? From the Church?” Dr. Persey stopped what he was doing. That was just like the Church, he thought. Well, nobody was going to steal his thunder. He was the one responsible for these miracles, not some doctors from the Church who thought they could come in at the last minute.

“Yes, sir. They’ve sent a dozen of their best.”

“Send them in.” Dr. Persey’s mind raced with schemes to send the doctors away, to get rid of them. They weren’t going to get a slice of his pie, he thought.

“Dr. Persey?”

A man Dr. Persey thought he recognized came into the room. Of course, he thought, he had gone to University with him. He extended his hand.

“Kevin Torrence, well, I’ll be damned,” Dr. Persey said as he shook the man’s hand. “I haven’t seen you since our glory days at MCAU. Still playing the trumpet?”

“I can still get it to talk. You remember me, then. Good. It’s been a while. Say, I hear you’re performing miracles down here. We’ve come to help you out.”

Dr. Persey looked behind Dr. Torrence. Eleven men stood behind him in the hallway.

“Welcome, welcome. Let’s grab some dinner and I’ll tell you all about my work.” Dr. Persey was hungry. He had skipped lunch altogether, maddeningly involved with his patients.

As he led them to the cafeteria, Dr. Persey thought about finding a knife and stabbing the doctors to get them out of his life.

I’m so hungry I’m having delusions, he thought.

Rose Simpson drove straight home and prayed. She prayed like she had never prayed before. What’s happening? she asked Jesus.

This morning, Rose had seen a strange sight. A man driving with what she swore was an alien. It was green, just like she had read about, and its skin had an otherworldly sheen, like it was transparent.

If that wasn’t bad enough, she had seen a horrible creature running in the distance later in the day. It had six or seven heads, and its body was covered in spots.

Now, to top it all off, she had just seen a man in a car with a full beard and the sign of the devil written right across his forehead. He had a little boy with him. And as she drove by, she saw that he was laughing at that poor, lanky priest whose car had broken down.

She was used to strangers driving on the interstate that ran by the small town she called home, but not this strange. Aliens, beasts, the Anti-Christ? What’s happening, Jesus? she prayed.

Jesus didn’t answer.