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Tow-​Truck Eddie was amazed that thethat the dark stain of blood still glistened wetly There were two ragged holes in the ut-​shot and was bled as white as the cocaine that had spilled all around hiht Eddie, who couldn’t stand disorder of any kind

The smell of blood was thick in the air: blood fro, al, and for a moment Eddie just closed his eyes and let the sh him He felt a little dizzy from it and had to blink his eyes clear for a few seconds

He bent closer to peer at the man Never in his life had he seen a man so close to death He had seen sick people, sure, even badly wounded ones dragged fro on that delicate point between life and death, his life essence fluttering like a lightning bug trying to work free from a child’s cupped hands It was incredible to see Beautiful and delicate and quiteto hi within him, but the realization crept into his consciousness as he watched the

Thein his eyes; eyes that were asith pain and fear, hatred and desperation Tow-​Truck Eddie crouched there, tasting the e from the man’s eyes The flow of pain was exquisite He licked his lips and sniffed in the scent of blood through both nostrils

"You’re hurt," he said, savoring the intense rush of blood scent and pain, of truly perfect suffering right here in front of him

"I…I’ve been…shot"

Tow-​Truck Eddie pushed the man over onto his back so he could see the bullet holes more clearly Fresh blood bubbled weakly froe to bend forward and drink from the wounds, but he knew that it wasn’t the tiht the right word

Sacraht dreamily Sacrament It wasn’t yet ti had to be in its tiain and nearly cried out as the thick coppery sh his nerves like a white-​hot current of electricity His eyes snapped wide and he rocked back on his heels as door after door blew open in his mind Suddenly he understood! Suddenly--all at once--this allthat he had thought about and dreamed about for the last few years hed out loud for the sheer joy of it

He looked down at theat hi the ain, and he felt tears gathering in the corners of his eyes Of course! This was no ordinary accident How could it be? How could he even have thought that it was? How could anyone be so blind as to think that? It wasn’t even an ordinary cri far removed from all of that, and Tow-​Truck Eddie could suddenly see it This was so orchestrated solely for hi immensely powerful

He touched the wounds and then looked at the blood on his fingers, glistening black in the light of his flash

Tow-​Truck Eddie’s h hiht This was not the Sacrement in which the Lord had told him he would one day partake This was…his baptism

In his mind the voice of God very faintly whispered, Yesssssss

Tears burned in Eddie’s eyes and he bent his head in humble thanks All at once, here in this lonely place, ae, he fully understood what he was and who he was God, ht this man, this baptizer here Just as surely as he had directed Eddie to come here Amid all this violence and evil

And did not God direct Jesus to the waters where John was baptizing the penitent? Was that not a occupation of Judea? Not exactly the saht to Eddie

Thiswaters of salvation A child could see it

Thedown his chin He would be dead soon, but Eddie wasn’t sure exactly what he was supposed to do Was he supposed to care for this ht to him This man--baptizer or not--had been manifested to him in the form of a criminal, and Eddie could not believe that God would want his Sword to rescue the wicked The ti had passed