Faithful

“Bang, bang, bang” woke me from my deep slumber. It wasn’t a polite knock. It was thunderous – like someone was trying to alert me of a fire. I looked at the clock. 3:16. I usually woke up around 6:00. No smoke. I rolled over, thinking I could get some more sleep, but the pounding resumed, this time even more incessant – louder and faster.

I groaned and rolled out of bed, glad that I was wearing my nicest flannel nightgown. I said a quick prayer for the person at the door, because if this wasn’t important, he or she wasn’t long for this world.

When I looked through the peephole, all I saw was a blazing light. I cracked the door a few inches, only to be blinded, like bright headlights were shining directly in my face.

“What do you want?” I croaked, squinting but failing to make anyone out.

“Peace be with you, Anna Bloom.”

At the man’s words, a calmness washed over me, like he had shouldered every worry and care I had ever experienced.

“Are you God?” I asked. I immediately thought, What a stupid question.

“Heavens, no. I am but a humble messenger, here with a story.”

“Um, could you turn off the light?”

“Yes, of course.”

I heard a dull whoosh, like curtains blowing on a clothesline. Before me stood a figure covered from head to toe in a dark cloak, shimmering with thousands of rays of light gleaming through the fabric.

I inquired, “What’s this about?”

“First, a question. Why do you think I awakened you at precisely 3:16?”

“How would I…” Sunday school from 20 years ago popped into my head. “Is it a reference to John 3:16?”

A nod.

I recited, “For God so loved the world… Wait! So, you are a messenger of God?”

Another nod. “And now for the story.”

My eyes widened.

He began, “During World War II, Nazis were searching for a group of Jews. Among them, a baby began to cry loudly and would surely give away their location. The father, with tears streaming down his face, smothered his only son. Did he do the right thing?”

I had heard of such moral dilemmas. The trolley problem came to mind. The controller had to decide if the runaway trolley should be left to kill a group of people or diverted to kill just one.

I said, “I believe he chose correctly. Although a tough decision, he more than likely saved everyone other than his son. It’s similar to the sacrifice of Jesus himself. Why do you bring this up?”

“Quoting Philippians, ‘Let each one look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.’ Now, I will let you sleep in peace.”

“But why me? Why now? What is the meaning of this?”

The next thing I knew, I woke up in my bed later that morning. I felt the best I had in a long time. I was still confused about my strange visitor, but I had to focus on my day. I did my morning workout, ate breakfast, showered, dressed, and got in my car.

On my commute, I turned my radio off so that I could concentrate on my thoughts. I decided after what I had witnessed, that I should go back to church, and that I was going to start volunteering at a homeless shelter.

Traffic was crazy, but I made it to the lab just in time. I was a microbiologist at The Center of Medical Studies. I had been on leave for a week, reading, binging Netflix, and resting at home.

I could tell right away that something big was happening. Everyone was wearing masks and scurrying around. Some were leaving before the workday even started, perhaps after pulling all-nighters. Taking my queue from everyone else, I took a mask, offered by the door since the COVID-19 outbreak.

I got to my floor and asked, Janine at the desk, “What’s going on?”

Her jaw dropped. “Haven’t you been watching the news? There’s a new virus. It’s worse than COVID. Get in there and see if you can help!”

I rushed to my colleague, Brady, and said, “Tell me what’s going on.”

He looked tired. He said, “I think I’ve got it isolated, but let me show you the problem.”

I peered into his microscope and gasped, “It’s mutating on the spot! I’ve never seen one this fast. Where did it originate?”

“That’s just it. I think we’re ground zero. I was working on that new drug I was telling you about. Everyone here started getting sick. It started with my project. We spread it, and it’s gone like wildfire, especially after Frank flew to China with his humanitarian aid project.” He looked me in the eyes. “Frank is dead, Anna. So are Susan and Christian.”

My eyes teared up. Brady knew I really liked Frank. We never did anything, but I was tempted to make a move. Now, it would never happen.

Brady went on, “I have Susan’s body. She requested that I experiment as needed. I’ve made some progress, but Anna, I’m sick. I don’t know how much time I have. Let me fill you in on what I’ve discovered so far. Maybe you can come up with a vaccine.”

We worked all morning. Brady began sweating and coughing up blood. Finally, he collapsed and stopped breathing. I tried CPR, but it was clear that I was on my own.

When I finally had an experimental vaccine, Janine volunteered to take it. She initially improved, but then she went into convulsions and threw up. She was gone within the hour.

That trial gave me valuable data. The vaccine needed clean, uninfected blood to stabilize it. I drew some of my own blood. Since I had been isolated while on leave, it was still clean. I tried the new vaccine on another coworker, Cindy, who was already showing symptoms. Almost immediately, she started improving. With the help of every able body, we tested everyone in the building. I was the only one clean.

It was clear to me that the messenger of God was sent to me for this moment. They needed more blood than I could safely give, but after they saved enough people, they could presumably use their own blood, or search for others outside the building.

I taught Cindy how to make the vaccine. She sensed what I was about to do. She said, “You can’t!”

I said, “Let each one look not only to her own interests, but also to the interests of others. I must do this.”

We started drawing my blood, continuing beyond a safe margin.

As I was fading away, the messenger appeared and said, “Well done, good and faithful servant.”

Then, all was light.