“You don't want to go in there,” the lady said. “Why don't you sit right down—” She gestured toward the empty chair at the other desk, but Seth blew right past her and shoved the next door open.
“Damn it, kid!” the lady shouted after him.
The next room was large and freezing cold, like a big cave, with a stainless steel autopsy table right in front of him. Rows of metal cabinets stood against the back wall. One of these cabinets was open, the drawer inside fully extended, and it held a body covered in a white sheet.
A morgue attendant in scrubs stood on one side of it, holding up a corner of the sheet. A suntanned man with a mustache and tie was beside the morgue attendant, gauging Seth's parents, who stood on the other side of the drawer, looking down at what the attendant had unveiled from under the sheet.
Both of Seth's parents were as pale as ghosts, and Seth's father seemed to slump, as if life and strength were draining from him. Seth's mother stared without moving.
“That's him.” Seth's dad nodded.
The morgue attendant tried to cover the body again, but Seth's mom stopped him with her hand. She didn't say anything, just kept staring.
Seth ran toward them, and as he passed the mustached man in the coat and tie, he finally saw his brother laid out on the cold drawer. His eyes were shut, and a crust of blood had dried in his nostrils and at the corner of his mouth. His left side seemed shrunken, as if it had collapsed.
“Carter!” Seth said, making his parents jump. He grabbed Carter's cold, stiff hand in both of his, squeezed his eyes closed, and concentrated. He felt the strange heat build in his palms.
“Seth, what are you doing here?” his mother gasped. Seth's father just gave him an odd look, as if deeply worried about something. It would be years before Seth knew enough about his great-grandfather to understand what might have passed through his father's mind at that moment.
“Come on, Carter...” Seth whispered. He imagined the bird with the healed wing springing from his hand. He felt the heat grow more and more intense in his hands—but it didn't flow anywhere.
“Seth, you shouldn't be here,” his mother whispered. His father put his hand on Seth's shoulder to nudge him away from Carter's body, but Seth gripped Carter's hand even tighter.
“I can fix him,” Seth said. “You don't understand. If I just try...if I just...” Seth opened his eyes and looked at Carter's face. One of Carter's eyelids slowly pulled open, revealing a slice of green iris. Seth felt some hope and pushed harder, trying to imagine the healing heat rolling out of him, deep into Carter, repairing everything that was broken...
But nothing happened. The heat didn't move into Carter's frigid body. Seth's hands felt like they were on fire, but Carter was beyond his ability to heal.
“Seth!” his father snapped. “That's enough.” And he pulled Seth away from Carter.
“No!” Seth screamed. “Just give me another chance, I know I can fix him, I know it...”
Seth's father led him away while he screamed and struggled. Seth's mother followed, tears streaming down her face, rubbing her forehead as if the situation were just too much to process.
“Please,” Seth whispered to his dad. “I can bring him back to life.”
His dad cut him a sharp look. “Why do you say that, Seth?”
“Because I can...” Seth's voice trailed off. His father's dark blue eyes scrutinized him, looking at Seth like he was some strange alien who had replaced his son.
“Have you ever brought the dead back to life before?” Seth's dad asked.
“No, but...” Seth wasn't sure how to begin to explain about the bird with the broken wing. All his thoughts were jumbled, and he felt pain at Carter's death and a sense of failure that he couldn't save his brother. How could he put all of that into words?”
“Jonathan,” Seth's mother whispered. “Why on Earth would you ask him such a thing?”
Seth's father's jaw worked, tensing and relaxing under his cheek as if his teeth were grinding together.
“We have to take care of this paperwork,” Seth's dad finally said as they left the morgue. “Then find a place to sleep.”
“I don't think I'll ever sleep again,” Seth's mother said.
Seth looked back as the door to the morgue swung closed behind them. Carter hadn't moved, and he would never move again.
The funeral in Fallen Oak drew a huge crowd, made up of locals as well as far-flung relatives and business associates of the Barrett family. Dr. Goodling led the service at Fallen Oak Baptist Church, though Carter would naturally be buried in the family cemetery on the Barrett's land outside town.
“It is always difficult when the Lord takes one so young,” Dr. Goodling said. “It is a struggle to find the words to express the profound grief, the loss of promise and hope...a struggle to remember that God has a greater plan, and no man knows the place nor the hour...”