The Rainwalker

"The deed is done." Henry whispered to himself. His face was wet, but he was not sure if it was because of the tears welling in his eyes or because of the rain falling from the sky. "God is crying because of what I have done, there is no coming back from this. I should just end it all right now, I could take away all of the hurt that I have caused people."

One hand held the umbrella that was keeping his head dry, while the other patted his pocket. The gun bounced against his leg, giving him a sense of security. It also made him think about ending his life, a thought that often crossed his mind. In a small town, like Coopersville, there were good guys and bad guys. Somehow he had ended up being one of the bad guys, though he never did anything to hurt the people he cared about. Instead he always tried to do right by those that were closest to him. "I've really outdone myself this time though. My sin is too much for anyone to forgive."

Raindrops fell in front of him, hitting the ground and exploding into tiny spots on the cement. Though he knew it was absurd, he was positive that he could hear his daughters caterwauling from the hospital. He pulled his phone out of his pocket and glanced at it. There should be a call from his daughter, she should be giving him the tragic news that he already knew. "I did what I had to do. There was no way she could have fulfilled her potential if I did not take care of business."

He was rationalizing what he had done, trying to absolve himself of the guilt that he felt. Lives would be destroyed once someone found out what he had done, a sob escaped from his mouth so he stopped and allowed the tears to fall from his eyes. A vibration from his pocket, made him choke back the rest of his agony. It was Dawn, his daughter. "Hey honey. How are you?"

"Daddy, he died. Brendan died. I can't believe it!" The sound of her voice was like a knife being forced into his heart. Her torment was evident, her breathing was labored. Henry squeezed his eyes shut. "I can't believe that my baby is dead."

"Me either, honey. Do you want me to come back to the hospital and sit with you? It sounds like you need me right now." He turned around and was confronted by the hospital. It was miles away from him but it could have been just a few feet. Dawn needed him and there was nothing that would stop him from helping his baby girl. "I'm on my way back. Give me about ten minutes. Do you need anything?"

"My baby back! I need my son back!!" The line was disconnected before he could respond to her last statement. He once again patted the pocket with his gun in it and contemplated taking it out. He knew that he could end everything with one simple pull of a trigger.

"I love you too, honey." He sighed to himself. The trek back to the hospital was even wetter than when he was trying to get away from the damned place. How could he tell his daughter what he had done? Would she understand that he made the decision so that she wasn't tied down to this town, to the father of her child forever? "I wish I could tell you everything, I wish you could understand everything."

Asking Dawn to understand everything was a bit of a stretch, especially since he didn't understand what he did. He sucked in a breath and flicked through the contacts in his phone, and picked the one that he had been looking for. When the other person answered, he shouted without preamble, "Are you happy, you lunatic? Our daughter now thinks that her son is dead! You better hold up your end of the deal?"

"Have no fear; I am going to make sure that Dawn gets the money to go to college and away from here. I don't understand why you didn't just give her the money but whatever. As far as the little boyfriend, he will be taken care of as well." Ellen was as cold as she was rich. Her father had forced her to marry Henry when they were young and the divorce had been brutal. "I can't believe you actually killed our grandson. I always knew you were heartless son of a bitch; I didn't know that you were also a psycho."

"You were the one who wanted this. I don't know why, and I didn't ask questions. I did what you asked and now you better hold up your end of the bargain or else there will be hell to pay." Henry hung up the phone before Ellen could upset him anymore. More raindrops hit his face as the tears fell again. "What have I done?"

Scenarios floated through his head, each one worse than the last. If Dawn ever found out about what he did, she would be out of his life. Forgiveness would be replaced by other words, words like vengeance or worse. The entrance to the hospital appeared before he knew that he had walked the distance. A nurse was smoking a cigarette, and she waved at him. "Hi, Doctor Johnson."

"Hello." He nodded to her, annoyed when she motioned for him to come closer to her, Doctors and nurses should not interact socially, in his view. "Yes? I do need to hurry and see my daughter. There has been a terrible tragedy."

"Yes I have heard about it. Funny thing though, I reviewed the nursery security tapes and I noticed that you moved your grandson to another crib. Why would you do that I wondered?."

"I did what I had to do. I switched my grandson with a dead baby for my daughter."