Stephen King: The Dead Zone

Ve: What did you tell him?

Va: I said that at that point such a question was meaningless, because our options were all still open. I told him he would need an operation. I should point out that at this time I had no knowledge of his coma and his extraordinary – almost miraculous – recovery.

Ve: And what was his response?

Va: He said there would be no operation. He was quiet but very, very firm. No operation.

I said that I hoped he would reconsider, because to turn such an operation down would be to sign his own death-warrant.

Ve: Did Smith make any response to this?

Va: He asked me to give him my best opinion on how long he could live without such an operation.

Ve: Did you give him your opinion?

Va: I gave him a ballpark estimate, yes. I told. him that tumors have extremely erratic growth patterns, and that I had known patients whose tumors had fallen dormant for as long as two years, but that such a dormancy was quite rare. I told him that without an operation he might reasonably expect to live from eight to twenty months.

Ve: But he still declined the operation, is that right?

Va: Yes, that is so.

Ve: Did something unusual happen as Smith was leaving?

Va: I would say it was extremely unusual.

Ve: Tell the Committee about that, if you would.

Va: I touched his shoulder, meaning to restrain him, I suppose. I was unwilling to see the man leave under those circumstances, you understand. And I felt something coming from him when I did … it was a sensation like an electric shock, but it was also an oddly draining, debilitating sensation. As if he were drawing something from me. I will grant you that this is an extremely subjective description, but it comes from a man trained in the art and craft of professional observation. It was not pleasant, I assure you I… drew away from him… and he suggested I call my wife because Strawberry had hurt himself seriously.

Ve: Strawberry?

Va: Yes, that’s what he said. My wife’s brother … his name is Stanbury Richards. My youngest son always called him Uncle Strawberry when he was very small. That

association didn’t occur until later, by the way. That evening I suggested to my wife that she call her brother, who lives in the town of Goose Lake, New York.

Ve: Did she call him?

Va: Yes, she did. They had a very nice chat.

Ve: And was Mr. Richards – your brother-in-law – was he all right?

Va: Yes, he was fine. But the following week he fell from a ladder while painting his house and broke’ his back.

Ve: Dr. Vann, do you believe John Smith saw that happen? Do you believe that he had a precognitive vision concerning your wife’s brother?

Va: I don’t know. But I believe that it may have been so.

Ve: Thank you, Dr….

Va: May I say one more thing?

Ve: Of course.

Va: If he did have such a curse – yes, I would call it a curse – I hope God will show pity to that man’s tortured soul.

5.

and I know, Dad, that people are going to say that I did what I am planning to do because of the tumor, but Daddy, don’t believe them. It isn’t true. The tumor is only the accident finally catching up with me, the accident which I now believe never stopped happening. The tumor lies in the same area that was injured in the crash, the same area that I now believe was probably bruised when I was a child and took a fall one day while skating on Runaround Pond. That was when I had the first of my ‘flashes’, although even now I cannot remember exactly what it was. And I had another just before the accident, at the Esty Fair. Ask Sarah about that one; I’m sure she remembers. The tumor lies in that area which I always called ‘the dead zone’. And that turned out to be right, didn’t it?

All too bitterly right. God … destiny providence… fate… whatever you want to call it, seems to be reaching out with its steady and unarguable hand to put the scales back in balance again. Perhaps l was meant to die in that car-crash, or even earlier, that day on the Runaround. And I believe that when I’ve finished what I have to finish, the scales will come completely back into balance again.