“You will not touch her!” Cole bellowed. An emotion beyond hate in his eyes, Jeremiah perched like a rabid bird on the edge of his seat.
“It’s an abomination!” another black-eyed council member cried, ignoring Cole and Jeremiah’s scuffle. “A judged human?! Walking about in the world of the living? Still living!”
“What else do you suggest we do with her?!” Cole bellowed, loud enough it seemed a tangible thing that filled the entire cylinder. “They will not claim her and we cannot try her again! She has no place here, at least not yet. Send her back!”
The council argued with themselves for several moments. Finally, Sal spread her arms before her, as if she were trying to keep two fighting children apart.
“Enough,” she hissed. Her eyes settled on me. It was strange how different she seemed. She was so normal without being normal, and yet there was still the Sal I knew and loved in there. I could see it in her eyes. “This girl has been through enough. And we must see logic during this time. What our brother has said is true. She doesn’t belong here yet. She can’t exist here. Let her run her course.”
“It won’t be long,” Cole said again, though I felt it was more for me than for anyone else.
The council was finally still again, thinking to themselves. My strength seemed to drain out of me and my knees suddenly wouldn’t hold me anymore. I sank to the stones below me.
“Fine,” the leader of the exalted said, his jaw set. “We can all see she doesn’t have long. What is it going to matter anyway, if she’s given another day?” He looked to his neighbors, and slowly they each nodded their heads. Jeremiah just continued to stare at me with blood and ice in his eyes.
“Thank you,” I managed to mutter, relief somehow fluttering in my stomach through the storm that raged there.
Cole turned to me and knelt in front of me. His eyes burned with intensity as he looked at me. He took one of my hands in his.
“I mean it when I say you don’t have long. Just like before, you are at death. Get help the moment you return. I want this to be good-bye for what I hope will be a good long time,” he said in a low, rushed voice. “I’m afraid to say that I don’t think I’ll be able to keep my offer on the table any longer though. After this, I am fairly sure I will lose my position.”
“I don’t think it’s a bad thing to not be the leader of the damned anymore,” I tried to say lightly. He only gave me a sad smile, placing his hand lightly against my cheek. “You’ve changed so much,” I breathed. Oxygen wasn’t coming in and out very easily.
“You deserve something better,” he said. “Something better than a lifetime of being chased and tormented by beings like me.”
“Thank you,” I whispered.
“Good-bye, Jessica,” Cole said.
He pushed me off the ledge.
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
One.
There was a hint of warm air against my face.
Two.
I felt the surface underneath me hit my back like being slapped with a wooden plank.
Three.
Pain.
Four.
A scream leapt from my throat.
Five.
I rolled over and vomited on whatever surface I lay on, my stomach heaving.
Six.
Someone screamed.
Seven.
My eyes finally opened.
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
“Wait a minute!” someone screamed. “There’s one more!”
I couldn’t quite place myself as I stared up at the ceiling. The fan above me seemed to be spinning, but after a moment I realized it was me who was spinning, not it. Or rather my brain was spinning. There was blood on the tan carpet and on the bed that I could just make out in peripheral vision. There were red lights flashing against the walls.
“Jessica!” a familiar sounding voice said and the surface I lay on suddenly jostled and shifted. A beautiful albeit white and terrified looking face leaned across my field of vision.
“Holy shi…” I heard someone else breathe near the doorway. I thought it sounded like Austin.
“Emily?” I said, my voice barely audible.
“Jessica!” she said, her voice terrified and relieved sounding. “We thought…” she started choking on her words. “We thought you were gone. Oh my… Jessica. Your eyes.”
But I wasn’t comprehending her words. Blackness was starting to close in on the edges of my vision. That strange thumping that seemed to start and stop in my chest was back. My entire body felt chilled, despite the fire that was back in my brain.
“Alex,” I muttered. “Where’s Alex? Is he alright?”
Emily stilled for just a moment, holding something back.
“What?” I tried to demand, my voice to week to sound demanding. “Just tell me.”
“He’s back,” she said, her voice cracking. “He’s in pretty bad shape though. He looks like he’s been run over by a semi.”
“He’s…” I tried to understand. And then it clicked. “No, he’s had the life nearly beaten out of him by Cole.” Alex had come back in the same shape he’d left as well. Right before Cole snapped Alex’s neck Cole had beaten him to death.
Suddenly two people dressed in uniform rushed in and started barking questions.
“What’s wrong with her?”
“Who is she?”
“Where’d she come from?”
The blackness was closing in on me faster though as I felt my body being lifted and then set back down. I felt wheels rolling underneath me and the air grew cooler. Suddenly I could smell trees and rain. Turning my head to the side, I forced my eyes open.
Just before they closed the back door to one of the two ambulances, I saw the bottom of one of Alex’s favorite shoes, completely covered in blood.
I let the darkness take me.
X
There was a certain smell. That was the first thing I was aware of. It was subtle but familiar. With that smell came a sense of dread in the pit of my stomach.
They say the sense of smell is the strongest in triggering memory.
Mine was filled with times of worrying about Sal, of times after being in an accident with Austin, of wondering if Caroline would survive.
A hospital.
That was where I was.
My entire body felt sluggish and achy. And my eyes felt so heavy. It took everything I had in me to force them open.
The ceiling tiles above me looked blurry and yet not, at the same time. I kept waiting for all the small little details to slide into focus, to start noticing all the tiny cobwebs, the cracks in the walls, anything. But they didn’t.
Forcing the muscles in my body to work, I lifted my head and took my surroundings in.
I was in a hospital room, that was for sure. Another bed lay empty across the room. There were balloons and flowers spread across the two bedside tables, a handful of cards were to be found. As I looked down at myself, I realized I was in a hospital gown. Attached to me were tubes and wires, an oxygen cannula sticking in my nose. A monitor beeped that I was still alive.
I was alive.
And while I didn’t feel great, I didn’t feel like I was on the verge of dying either. My head wasn’t spinning or pulsing, my body was sore but didn’t feel like it had been hit with a bus.
My stomach actually growled.
I was alive.
As I heard footsteps, noticing how quiet everything sounded, I realized the door to my room had been left open.
Panic flooded me for just a moment. Where was Alex? What had happened to him? I remembered blood and there being paramedics but not much else.
And then a moment later, a wheelchair was pushed into the room by a towering man with black as night skin.
“Alex,” I breathed, feeling tears prickle at the back of my eyes.
“I’m here,” he breathed as they stopped just inside the door. His eyes instantly turned red and it took only a moment for a tear to break onto his cheek. Actual tears.
br /> My breath caught in my throat as I looked at his eyes. Brilliant blue. Human, Alex blue.
Finally, I took the rest of him in. Those beautiful eyes were framed with rings of black, his nose had a bandage on it, obviously broken. His left arm was casted as well as his right leg. The rest of his visible skin looked pretty black and blue as well.
“I’ll give the two of you a bit of time alone,” the other man said as he wheeled Alex closer.
“Thanks Derek,” Alex said with a smile, glancing in his direction before he left and closed the door behind him.
I drew in a quick breath, biting my lips together, a tear of my own slipping onto my cheek. Slowly I reached a hand out, letting it brush Alex’s yellowed cheek. He may have been broken. But he was alive. And he was human.
“Hi,” I breathed. The smile that spread on my face hurt a little, yet it felt so good.
“Hi,” he said, his face breaking out into a smile too. He winced, an ouch slipping between his lips, followed by a chuckle from the two of us.
“We’re alive,” I said, my voice filling with wonder.
“We’re alive,” he repeated, taking my hand in his un-casted one. “I am so proud of you. You were…”
“Stupid?” I said with a chuckle.
He laughed. “Stupid, yes. But brave. Beyond brave. I can’t even think of a word for it.”
I just smiled at him, in wonder of the being that was Alex. “Are you going to be okay?” I finally braved to ask.
He shrugged, wincing as soon as he did. “No big deal.”
“This kind of looks like a big deal,” I said, narrowing my eyes at him. “Cole beat you to death.”
Alex shrugged. “My left arm and right leg are broken. So is my nose. I had a pretty major concussion but the doctors don’t expect any permanent damage. So yeah, I’m going to be okay. I’ll need quite a bit of physical therapy. That’s who Derek is, my therapist. But in a few months, I’m going to be right as rain.”
I smiled again, feeling something inside of me that had felt tense for what seemed like a lifetime relax.
“What about me?” I finally asked, feeling a little scared again. “What happened with me? I feel… better.”
A sly grin started spreading on Alex’s face. “That’s one I’m going to let the doctors explain.”
“What do you mean?” I started to question, when suddenly a doctor in a white lab coat and a nurse stepped in.
“Mrs. Wright!” the man with the thickest gray hair I had ever seen said joyously. “You’re awake!”
“How long have I been out?” I realized I had forgotten to ask.
“Two and a half days,” he said as he gathered what I assumed was my chart under his arm and pulled up a chair. “You were in pretty bad shape. I’m Dr. Knight by the way.”
“What…” I stumbled over my words. Everything seemed so quiet, I nearly felt like I was deaf. “What was wrong with me?”
Dr. Knight opened my chart and pulled a pair of glasses down to his nose from the top of his head. “This was kind of a strange case, Mrs. Wright. You contracted a case of malaria.”
“Malaria?” I questioned. “Don’t people usually get that from a mosquito bite in really hot, humid areas?”
“Yes,” he answered, looking back up at me. “And you were recently in Costa Rica, your husband informed me.”
I glanced over at Alex, catching that knowing look in his eyes as he nodded. I hadn’t caught malaria in Costa Rica.
“But the really strange thing is that the string of malaria looks like it has been in your blood for a while. Your husband said you haven’t been anywhere you would have contracted this in the last several years. Is that correct?”
“No,” I said. “I haven’t been anywhere other than Costa Rica in the last few years. England once, but nowhere warm enough for malaria.”
The doctor’s face was very serious looking. “Uh huh. Strange indeed. There are not many cases of malaria in Costa Rica.”
“So that explains the chills, the fever? Why I couldn’t keep anything down? Why I felt like my head was going to explode?” I asked. Alex squeezed my hand a little tighter.
Dr. Knight nodded, reading something in my chart. “Had you contracted malaria when you were a young child it would have been more difficult to diagnose. Those symptoms could be numerous childhood diseases from the flu to leukemia. As an adult this is a little easier to pinpoint. All it takes is some blood work and a few other tests.”
I glanced over at Alex, another knowing look passing between us.
“What is the treatment?” I asked, looking back.
“You’re already on IV medication. You’re receiving a drug called Quinidine. Normally this would be taken care of quickly but yours was a very advanced stage. You probably wouldn’t have made it more than another day or two, at the most. But you’ll be ready to go home with your medication in two days.”
“Really?” I asked, my tone disbelieving. This was the third time I’d almost died from this thing, and now I was just ready to go home? That was it?
“Really,” he said cheerily. “You still won’t be feeling on the top of your game for a week or so but yes, you’ll be fine. Though you might want to stay away from any tropical areas for a while.”
“Oh my gosh,” I breathed, tears starting to roll down my cheeks. “I’m going to be okay. It’s… it’s really over.” I looked over at Alex, his own blue eyes filled with tears as well. “I’m going to be okay. I won’t have to go back.”
“Not for a long time,” Alex said, squeezing my hand in his.
The nurse who had entered the room with Dr. Knight bustled about the room, changing my IV’s, recording my blood pressure and oxygen levels.
“Things aren’t going to be easy for the two of you when you get home but you’re lucky to have such a strong support group behind you,” he said, indicating the balloons and flowers. “You two are very loved.”
Dr. Knight then excused himself, saying that he would be back in a few hours to check on us. The nurse finished up and left as well.
“Oh my gosh,” I repeated, still not able to believe what I had been told. “I don’t have to go back.”
Alex leaned forward, pressing a kiss to my cheek. “It’s all over.”
“What…” I tried to make my thoughts coherent again. “What did you tell them happened to you?”
Alex chuckled, his eyes falling into his lap for a moment. “I told them that you had collapsed and I ran to get the phone to call 911 when I tripped and took a nasty tumble down the stairs. I told them I pulled myself back up and into the bedroom before I passed out. Then miraculously Emily and Austin showed up and called 911 for me.”
I chuckled, shaking my head. “We’re a couple of liars, you and me.”
Alex chuckled too, shaking his head.
There was a light knock on the door before it was opened. In walked Emily, Austin, Amber, and Rod. Followed by my parents.
“Hi,” I said, tears rolling down my cheeks again. My chest swelled at the sight of them. This time in a good way.
“You’re awake!” Emily and Amber cheered at the same time. Mom started crying immediately and flung herself at me, covering me with her body, squeezing me in a slightly painful hug.
“I just had a feeling that you two going to South America was a bad idea,” Mom choked on her words. “You almost died!”
“I know, Mom,” I tried to reassure her, rolling my eyes at the ceiling. “I’m sorry.”
“You’re sorry,” she chuckled as she sat up, wiping at her eyes. “You have nothing to be sorry about. What a crazy thing to pick up.”
“Yeah,” I chuckled again, reaching for Alex’s hand again. “When did you guys get here?”
“Your sister called us the morning after you and Alex were admitted,” Dad answered. “We flew out here that afternoon.”
Everyone spent an entire hour gushing over the fact that the two of us were alive, how worried they had been, and how happy that we were g
oing to be able to leave in just two days. I didn’t miss the changed way Austin looked at me. I wondered how much Emily had told him.
And when everyone else was distracted, she whispered to me how she’d slept the night before. And hadn’t had a nightmare.
But I knew Emily had redeemed herself. The afterlife wasn’t going to risk a screw up like what happened to me again. Emily was free too.
My dad informed me that he, Rod, and Austin had been back at the house for the last four hours making it wheelchair accessible for Alex to use over the next few weeks until he could use crutches. Mom and Dad would be staying down in the guest apartment for a few days after we went home to help us get along.
I couldn’t help but smile as I looked at everyone around me. I finally had what I wanted. A normal life. A family. People who didn’t think I was crazy anymore.
“I have a weird question,” I said as everyone settle down. “Did we ever go on any trips out of the country when I was really little?” I asked my parents. “Like before I was four?”
“My parents took us to Puerto Rico when you were about two,” my mom answered. “Why do you ask?”
I smiled just a little bit and shook my head. “No reason. I just wondered.”
And when I was two, while we were in Puerto Rico, I had been bitten by a mosquito, malaria had sat dormant in my blood for a few years. And when it nearly killed me, difficult to diagnose when I was so young, my father made a plea that had saved my life but put me through hell in exchange.
But it had all been worth it.
“Are you sure her eyes are so strange because of the malaria, Alex?” my mom asked suddenly, her eyes narrowing at me. “I’ve never heard of something like this happening.”
“That’s what the doctor said,” Alex said. I detected another of his necessary lies.
“My eyes?” I questioned.
Alex looked at me, something in his eyes saddening, his entire countenance shifting. He looked over at the table next to his bed and pointed to something. “Would you hand that over, Rod?”
Rod picked up what I realized was a mirror and handed it to Alex, who extended it to me. Before looking into it, I looked at Alex for a long moment, my stomach filling with prickly butterflies. He just nodded.