In the Lone and Level Sands by David Lovato

furious.
    “The good news is she’s going to be just
fine.”
    Glenn turned to Charlie.
    “You son of a bitch! It’s your fault
my daughter is in this!” He moved toward Charlie, looking like he
could kill. Charlie’s mouth was dry, and he couldn’t speak, though
he didn’t know what to say anyway.
    “Mr. Andrews,” the doctor said.
    “You’re a disgraceful piece of scum. You
could have gotten my daughter killed, taking her to that damn
concert!”
    “Mr. Andrews!” Glenn turned back, breathing
heavily. “I just have to say that this man here is a real
gentleman. He was right by Martha’s side the entire time. I don’t
know the situation well, but I’d say that Charlie here really cares
for Martha.”
    “If he cared so much, why’d he take her out
to begin with?” Glenn said. The question sounded like it was for
the doctor, but Glenn’s eyes never left Charlie.
    “Mr. Andrews,” the doctor said, “it’s Elvis. Elvis .”
    “I don’t care if it was Kennedy himself!”
Glenn said. He rifled a finger toward Charlie. “He put my girl in
harm’s way!”
    “I’d never do such a thing,” Charlie said.
All eyes turned to him, so he continued. “With all due respect,
sir, my intention was the opposite. I wanted Martha to enjoy her
life.”
    “She was enjoying it just fine before you came along!”
    “Was she?” Charlie asked. When Glenn had to
pause to think of the answer, he immediately knew that Charlie was
right.
    “Charlie, do you really care about my
daughter as much as she says you do?” Carolyn asked.
    “More than anything in the world… I want to
respect your wishes,” Charlie said. “You have every right to want
to kill me. Hell, you have every right to press charges, but that
won’t change how I feel about Martha.”
    Carolyn smiled. She looked at Glenn.
    “Glenn, he’s really serious.”
    “How old are you, exactly?” Glenn asked.
    “I’m twenty-four.”
    Glenn thought for a long while, and then
sighed. “Okay. But if you ever hurt my daughter, you’d best
be prepared to receive the pain tenfold.”
    “You don’t need to worry,” Charlie said.
Although he was still worried about Martha, he was happier than
he’d ever been in his life.
     
    ****
     
    “Charlie touched so many people in his life,
and he will be missed,” Reverend Patterson said, interrupting
Martha’s memories. She looked up at the reverend. In mid-sentence,
Reverend Patterson stopped speaking. His face went blank, his eyes
stared into space, and he dropped his hands. Family and friends
looked up patiently and curiously at the reverend.
    “Reverend?” someone said. Patterson did not
respond. Martha stood up.
    “Please, Reverend, finish the sermon!”
    “It’s okay,” Francine said, putting a hand
on Martha’s arm. Francine was seventeen years old and sported the
hipster look. Her dark brown hair was not even long enough to hit
her shoulders.
    “But I want to know what’s going on,” Martha
said. The rest of the front row was made up of Emily and Billy,
Martha’s daughter Angela Emerson and her husband Phil, and their
fifteen-year-old son, Jesse. Beverly Evans was also in the front
row with her husband, Tylor.
    After several seconds of nothing more than
the reverend standing silent and staring off into space, Tylor
stood up and approached him to see if the reverend was all right.
Reverend Patterson didn’t even turn his head to acknowledge Tylor,
who stood in front of the dazed reverend, calling out to him.
    “Reverend, are you okay?”
    No answer. Tylor waved a hand in front of
the reverend’s face, but Patterson’s eyes remained unfocused. Tylor
turned around and shrugged. “I don’t know what to do. Maybe he
needs medical help.”
    Reverend Patterson leaned forward, grabbed
Tylor, and bit into his neck. Tylor cried out and fell, and the
Reverend came down with him. He began digging into Tylor’s arm.
Everyone was screaming, some children in the crowd were crying.
More people began