Proof of Heaven by Mary Curran Hackett Page B

in your brain.” Sean was pointing at the middle of Monsignor’s head.
    Cathleen shouted, “Sean, please stop!” But Sean was on a roll.
    â€œYou get high off it, don’t you, Pops? You’re no different than a junkie or a drunk. You just get your juice from a different kind of bottle. Trust me, I know allllll about it. And let me tell you something else, Monsignor, he’s ours , Colm’s ours .”
    â€œNot in front of Colm,” Cathleen said, cutting Sean off. She couldn’t take it anymore.
    â€œMama, what’s Uncle Sean talking about?”
    â€œNothing, Bud. It’s just silly, stupid adult stuff. They’re both cranky and tired.”
    The monsignor was obviously flustered by Sean’s tirade, but he was more angry at the way Sean had reduced his faith to nothing more than the old opiate of the masses line. He had spent the better part of his life arguing with skeptics that the God he believed in was real and heard and saw everything that everybody did and said—even doubters like Sean. Even though he wanted to tell Sean how disturbed he thought he was and how, at some point in this life, he would cry out for God, the monsignor held his tongue. There would be no use in trying to explain it all to someone like Sean, he concluded. If Colm’s miraculous revivals couldn’t prove it, the monsignor thought, then nothing ever could.
    â€œSean, we all want Colm to get better, that’s all I am saying.”
    â€œWhat’s this we stuff, Pop? The only we here is Cate and me. Got it?”
    â€œStop!” Cathleen screamed. “Leave Monsignor alone. He’s only here to help. And you’re right, there is no we . I am Colm’s mother. And I want the monsignor here. He’s our family, Sean. He’s the only one we’ve got left now to help us. If you don’t like it, you leave. Just get the hell out of here. I can’t stand to look at you right now.”
    Sean felt a stabbing pain in his chest. The air completely left his lungs. He felt like the wet, bloody towel he had thrown out of a window. An embarrassment. Discarded and forgotten. He leaned in without thinking and kissed Colm’s head and then started for the door.
    â€œThat’s right, Sean. When the going gets tough, the tough get drinking. Have one for me, why don’t ya?” Cathleen said it quickly and drily, hoping it would cut him deep.
    Sean stopped himself at the door. He wanted to slap her, but more than anything, he was embarrassed because she was right. As he left the room he never looked back.
    Cathleen couldn’t believe she’d said something like that in front of other people. She and Sean often argued, but not in front of Colm. Her mouth and contrary disposition always made things so difficult for her and for those around her. She knew she had no right to speak to Sean that way. Her mother’s final request had been for her to take care of her brother. And hadn’t Sean been so good to her these past two days? She had just gone for the jugular, and now she regretted it. From the look on Colm’s face, she could tell he was as disappointed with her as she was with herself. Maybe even angry with her. He adored his uncle.
    â€œMama, that wasn’t very nice. I wanted Uncle Sean to stay.”
    â€œI know. I was wrong, Bud.”
    â€œYou should say sorry so he forgives you.”
    â€œI will. I promise.”
    Dr. Basu was in the hallway on his way to see the boy when he saw Sean walking briskly toward the elevator.
    â€œSean! Where are you off to in such a rush? How is the boy?”
    â€œGotta run.” Sean pushed past the doctor, knocking his shoulder as he went by. He only wanted to get out of the hospital. To get away from everyone. There was a bottle of Jameson, Sean thought, and it had his name on it. The elevator door opened, but Sean turned around. “Hey, Doc!”
    â€œYes, Sean?” Dr. Basu headed