Here I am. Send me.--Chapter Five

After the shocking meeting with Leyla and her family, Evelyn regroups to help Josey.

CHAPTER FIVE

Cal threw his arms around his daughter as she bucked, cried, and pushed away from him. Cal held on even as his daughter bit into his forearm and blood dribbled down her cheek.

"Get out! Both of you!" Rachel screamed. "You caused this! This is your fault!"

With no authority to do otherwise, Evelyn hurriedly led Chris out the front door and to the car which was parked along the street. The chaos continued inside.

Chris turned back toward the house and then noticed that Evelyn was shaking, "Are you all right?"

"I'm fine." She was trying to force herself not to hyperventilate. "This is two traumatic events for me at this house in two days. My adrenaline is running on overdrive. I'll settle down in a minute."

He shook his head, "It might take me a little longer." He leaned over, put his hands on his knees, and began taking deep pulls of air.

They stood in the middle of the front yard, waiting for their heart rates to lessen.

Chris was finally able to stand straight. "What just happened?"

"Leyla needs a therapist. And possibly a psychiatrist."

"Why? What did you see?"

"Shakiness and chills are potential symptoms of traumatic shock. Listlessness can be a potential symptom of PTSD. Bedwetting could be indicative of night terrors, which could also be PTSD. Given what she went through yesterday, the possibility of one of those is pretty high. She needs a diagnosis from a doctor or psychologist so she can get proper treatment."

"Should we go back in and try to speak with them more?"

They stopped and listened while the screaming from the house showed no signs of abating. "No. We would just be additional stimuli right now. Hopefully, Cal will contact me tomorrow, and I'll see if I can get him in contact with a non-profit."

Chris was pensive. "Leyla started screaming the moment I began to pray."

"True enough. There might be some association to her."

"Josey said that they attended Stoners Creek Independent Church in Hermitage. Have you ever heard of it?"

Evelyn shook her head. "No, but you can't swing a cat in this town without hitting a church."

Evelyn's phone rang, and she pulled it out of her pocket. "It's Amanda." She accepted the call. "Hi Amanda. You're on speaker with me and Chris."

Amanda's voice came from the phone. "The court has agreed to a diversion for Josey Marshall."

"Really? I didn't expect it on this one."

"The DA fought, but the judge says the jails are full. Her arraignment is at three o'clock this afternoon in Courtroom 4C. Be there to talk her through the process. We probably won't be able to pick her up until tomorrow, so she'll have one more night in jail.

"No problem." And the phone call was over. Evelyn looked over at Chris. "Are you up for a glance at our criminal justice system in action?"

"I'll have to take a rain check. I have things I need to get done at the church before I try to get some sleep before my security shift tonight."

She turned and headed to the car. "I'll drop you back at the CTC and then head down to the courthouse. Can you drive? I need to make a call?"

He took the keys, and they made their way to Old Hickory Boulevard and then to the interstate heading downtown. Evelyn called John Toland, her assigned police officer.

"Hi Evelyn. Miss me already?"

She smiled. "As soon as you're out of the room. Are you going to Josey Marshall's arraignment today?"

"An arraignment? Nah. I'm not needed for that."

"I'll be there. She's getting a diversion."

"No kidding? I didn't see that one coming."

"That shows you how crowded the jails are. You police types need to quit doing such a good job."

"We can't help ourselves. Are you back tomorrow?"

"As far as I know. I'll see you in the morning."

"Okey-doke." He signed off.

Evelyn looked up to see the nearly motionless lines of traffic that regularly populated the interstates through downtown. Chris brought the car to a stop behind a silver pick-up--one of seven he could see in the lanes ahead.

Chris chewed on his upper lip as he stared at the unmoving bumper ahead. "I can't get over how she screamed as soon as I started to pray."

"She was exhibiting signs of shock."

"I know. But she seemed stable and almost emotionless until I said, "Heavenly Father", then she exploded.

"And, as I said before, it could be associative--like a trigger--or it could have been pure coincidence. Trauma sufferers have sudden and explosive outbursts. They can occur at any time and without warning. From a clinical perspective, that is what we saw today. We must be careful that our biases don't impact our observations."

He crept the car forward another ten feet. "Our biases? Do you consider my faith to be a bias?"

"Of course I do, because it is. That doesn't make it any less real to you."

"Any less real to me... So, you're not a believer."

"Nor am I a non-believer. I'm cautiously optimistic."

"A skydiver can be cautiously optimistic about their parachute, but at some point, they pull the ripcord or slam into the ground."

"Is that from a sermon?"

"No. I just thought it up, but it will probably be in a sermon soon."

"And just to think. I was here to see it happen." She tried a small laugh.

"Do you consider your scientific training to be a bias?"

"By definition, the scientific method trains us to be unbiased."

"You think my theological training makes me biased, while your scientific training makes you unbiased. Isn't that, in itself, a bias?"

"Your theological background has trained you to assume that God exists. My scientific background has trained me to make no firm decision until there is a preponderance of scientific evidence."

"And you're waiting for this scientific evidence before you decide on God?"

"Basically, yes."

Chris had been in similar conversations many times and had botched more than a few. He had yet to figure out the magic words to sway someone toward a relationship with Christ. He wasn't even sure that he knew the words to avoid pushing her further away.

He settled on, "I believe in God and all the wonders and blessings of a relationship with Him. If I care about you at all, and I do, then I must want to share that with you. Trying to do that is who I am."

She smiled again. "I guess it's in the job description."

This time, he smiled back. "It is. Hold on, I see a break in traffic." He jerked the car into a small space in the left lane and moved past the I-40/I-24 junction. Another line of traffic awaited before they cleared the I-40/I-65 southbound junction which put them in a final queue of cars waiting for the I-40/I-65 northbound junction. It took thirty minutes to go the last four miles. Welcome to Nashville.