“Lightning” by nathan_lounds is licensed under CC PDM 1.0
James Wilson had always felt trapped inside his own life, feeling as though there was nothing he could do to change his path. At twenty-eight years of age most people have their lives figured out and are starting to settle. From an outside perspective most people would think that James was one of these people. He grew up comfortably and graduated from a prestigious college, which led to him steadily working at an accounting firm for the last several years. His wife Maria was now pregnant with his first child, and it seemed like he should finally be happy with his life…. but he isn’t.
In fact, the only things that James truly loved about his life were his wife, and his future child. He hated being a simple accountant. He hated being so comfortable financially, as it seems he had nothing left to achieve. Every day had become routine, and just the thought of something different made him envy other people. James knew he had to stick with what he had to support his family, but the thought of working a nine-to-five for the rest of his life didn’t sit right with him. In the end James was aware that he had to put these thoughts aside. He loved his wife more than anything, and there was nothing he wouldn’t do for her.
On the morning of May 7th, James woke up and began to perform his daily routine all over again. Starting with a very reluctant walk to the bathroom, he turned on the sink and began to wash his face. Freckled cheeks covered with water, he looked up in the mirror and noticed that his disheveled brown hair may require a bit more work than usual in order to make it presentable. He sighed and put on a hat instead of fixing it.
Maria was still asleep, and he decided that he wasn’t going to wake her up this morning. The baby boy was expected to arrive in the next couple days and James figured that she could use the rest. After getting dressed he finally left a gentle kiss on Maria’s forehead so as not to wake her up and left.
As he did every day, James showed up at the accounting firm about ten minutes early and began to settle down into his cubicle. His desk was inconveniently placed in between dozens of other accountants, who were all doing the same job, in the same room. Was this all they could do? All they were good for?
He finally turned on his computer which always takes uncomfortably long to load. However, to his surprise, he wasn’t greeted with the usual desktop. The screen began flashing uncontrollably with all sorts of colors, and James began to hear a strange static sound increasingly get louder. His vision began to cloud. His heartbeat began to accelerate. What was happening? He had only been at work for several minutes and now he was locked in a staring contest with a stupid screen. James didn’t even know it yet, but his life was about to change forever in more ways than one.
Suddenly a huge charge of electricity shot into James’ fingertips, seemingly straight out of the keyboard. The charge was both exhilarating and terrifying, and the shock sent him to the floor. The entire accounting firm was then put-on pause as everyone watched this man have an intense seizure. James was foaming out of his mouth and violently shaking on the hard tile floor.
“Someone call an ambulance!” one of the other accountants finally yelled out.
. . .
It was several days before James opened his eyes again. What happened? The last thing he remembered was the strange screen that was displayed on his computer. He looked down in confusion to see several IV lines pumping nutrients into his arms, when suddenly an older nurse walked in.
“Oh my, he’s awake!” she exclaimed before running out to find a doctor. James was starting to get really uncomfortable. He felt fine physically, in fact he had never felt better. He started pulling out the needles so that he could leave, but the doctor walked in before he could finish.
“Good afternoon James how are you feeling?” the doctor said to him, genuinely curious.
“Why am I here?”
“Well, you had quite the intense seizure the other day. And it seems that it was caused by-”
“Wait a minute…. The other day?! How long have I been asleep?” James asked, suddenly panicking. Maria was due to give birth to their son any day, did he miss it?
“You have been asleep for four days and three nights. But there are some serious things that we must discuss before you do anything. It’s about your wife.”
“Is she okay?!” he asked desperately. The doctor paused for a moment before looking him in the eyes.
“Your wife has delivered your baby boy; however, she barely survived the birthing process. We are sad to say that she has slipped into a coma, and there’s no telling how long it could take for her to come out of it. The good news is that she is alive and still healing, so she definitely has a chance. On another note, I would like to congratulate you. You are now a father.”
James was speechless for a moment. He was so glad to hear that he had a son now, and he wanted more than anything to go meet him. However, his beloved wife was in a coma. He had to see her before anything else. It took him several minutes to even notice that the doctor had already left the room, but once he did, he immediately began pulling the IV’s out of his arm.
Once he was clear from the IV needle, he slowly got out of the bed and began changing back into his clothes. Luckily the hospital had done the courtesy of washing his shirt and pants for him.
Before James could leave to find his wife, something strange happened. An intense headache spiked out of nowhere and immediately brought him to his knees. A strange sensation soon followed, and James didn’t know how to process it. Without even thinking, he reached out to grab his cell phone, which happened to be placed on a small table on the other side of the room. However, he didn’t move his feet. For some reason he knew… he knew that he could move the phone without touching it.
He started to concentrate; eyes focused on the cell phone. In his mind, James simply willed to phone to levitate toward him. To his astonishment, he began to feel the weight of the phone get lighter and lighter from the opposite side of the room, and the phone finally moved. It wasn’t much, but it was enough to knock the phone off of the table. As amazed as he was by this strange new ability, any positive thoughts were immediately shut away as his headache returned, even more intensely than before. It seemed as though this ability would take a toll on him as he used it, but not until after he made an attempt at performing it. What else could he do? Why was this happening to him in the first place? It had to have something to do with whatever happened with his work computer at the office.
As insane as it was that he suddenly was able to use psychic abilities, his focus quickly changed back to his wife. She is in a coma, and he wasn’t there for her when she gave birth to their child. He may never be able to forgive himself for this, but he had to do something about it now.
After figuring out where his wife was being kept, he started sprinting towards her. Maria was the only thing that kept him happy in this cruel world, and James was beginning to panic because of the possibility that she wouldn’t make it.
What he saw when he finally stepped into her room brought tears to his eyes. He had never seen her so pale and had surely never seen her look so weak. He grabbed her hand… which had never felt so cold.
“Hey baby I’m here, okay? I’m so sorry about what happened, and I’m even more sorry that I couldn’t be there to get you through this.” He whispered into her ear. He waited for her to respond, even though he knew she couldn’t. Could she hear him though?
“I don’t know if you can hear me Maria, but if you can I want you to know that I’m going to find a way to wake you up. Thank you so much for delivering our boy… I am going to go meet him right after this. I promise that I will wait for you to wake up before deciding on a name. I love you. I’ll see you soon.”
He could have sworn that Maria’s eye twitched, and he truly hoped that it meant she could hear what he was saying. With those words, he gave her a gentle kiss on the forehead, just as his did every morning. It was time to meet his baby boy.
The nurses made James wait what felt like an eternity before they finally allowed him to meet his son. This was only because they were currently performing basic tests that all newborn children typically take. During that time, the headaches returned, although not as strong as before. He had to push through it though, nothing was more important to him now.
A nurse finally laid his baby on his lap, all wrapped up in a soft blue blanket. James was so grateful, yet so sad that Maria couldn’t be here with him. The first thing he noticed was how the baby had her beautiful green eyes. The fact that he was a father now was finally starting to set in, but one thing kept burning in his mind. He had to save Maria, he had to find a way to bring her back. Maybe this strange ability could help him somehow. What if he could figure out how to communicate with her even though she is in a coma?
After spending a bit more time with the baby, he finally returned him to the nurse. Luckily the hospital had agreed to take care of the baby for a few more days, because otherwise James would have no idea how to handle the situation. Now it was time for James to learn more about this strange power and maybe even its origin. Going back to work to examine his computer was a good place to start.
On a Sunday, the accounting firm would always be closed, but luckily James had a spare key to the building. His boss had given him the key just in case there was ever a reason to go into the office outside of work hours. Without even changing his clothes, James got into his vehicle and headed back to the place where the accident first occurred.
It was about 8:30 p.m., and the building was nearly empty. When James finally sat down in his cubicle, he was surprised to find that his computer and monitor had been replaced with a completely new set. Maybe coming here wasn’t going to bring him answers after all. There just had to be some way that James could get through to his wife Maria. How could he wake her up?
As most people nowadays typically do, James resorted to asking the internet if it could help. Starting with Google, he began to fully invest himself into articles about psychic abilities. He learned that his ability to move objects with his mind was called telekinesis. The more he read, the more he began to realize how truly rare it was to be able to do what he could. There were hundreds of fictional stories about telekinesis, but it seemed that none of them were credible sources. Was there anyone who could actually help him with this?
After what was likely hours, James finally stumbled across something that could possibly help him get in contact with his wife. Similar to telekinesis, telepathy is known as the direct transference of thought from one person to another without using the usual sensory channels of communication. Basically, telepathy is like speaking with someone using only your mind.
James realized that there was only one thing he could do. He already knew that he could move objects with his mind, however he also knew that that would do nothing to help him or his wife. If he could somehow unlock telepathy within his brain, he would then be able to talk with Maria.
Some time had passed before James visited his wife again. A lot of things changed in the last year, but now it was finally time for James to talk to Maria and wake her up. Their baby boy was coming up on his first birthday, and it was crazy to think that he still didn’t have a name. James simply refused to name him without the input of his wife, but now he felt he could finally get through this coma.
James spent the last year reaching out to other “known” psychics in his area and learning anything he could about his powers. Moving objects even greater than his own weight was no problem anymore, and he decided to become a magician so that he could quit his old job. Throughout the time spent looking for other people like him, somewhere along the way he learned to communicate telepathically. Now it was finally time to bring Maria back.
“Hey bud, you ready to meet your mama?” James squeezed his baby’s hand before closing his eyes and grabbing Maria’s.
“Hey Maria, can you hear me?” he thought, projecting his thoughts into hers.
Hey baby
All James could do was smile. He finally had his family.
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