She wrapped her arm around me and squeezed. “I know you will. It’s the only reason I’m agreeing to let him stay the night.” I snorted. Maria squeezed me again. “I’ll see you at dinner tomorrow?”
I smiled. “For Miles’ birthday? Of course.” She chuckled. There was cursing coming from inside.
Maria sighed before she headed back in. “Boys, what are you doing?” she demanded as she slipped behind the curtain. Laughter erupted in the room.
I was giggling until that chill ran down my neck. No… not now. I turned and looked down the hall. The soul of a woman in a hospital gown walked down the hallway in a daze. Her short, wavy hair was messy, her eyes wide. She looked to be in her early forties. Her triangular face was classically pretty, her cheekbones sharp as she looked around the hallway, trying to talk to the staff around her. But what caught my attention was the fact she was in black and white, her image fading in and out. I’d only seen that one time before.
My barriers shook and cracked. The need to be heard swamped me, making me fight for breath. Fuck. After crossing thirty souls this morning, this was going to hurt. I set the soda cans and bottles of water on the inside of the door and headed down the hallway. I walked past her and made eye contact. Her eyes grew wide as she realized I could see her. My barriers shook again. Shit. I moved further down the hall; the woman followed. I found a guest bathroom and went into the handicap stall. I closed the door and locked it. I stepped back before the woman walked through the door.
“You can see me?” she asked.
“Yeah.” I sighed. “Who are you?”
“Caroline Peters,” she said. “They aren’t listening; they have to let me go.”
Fuck me. “You’re on life support.” What was with today?
She nodded. “I want off of it. I don’t want to be a vegetable the rest of my life.”
My face ached, my nose started bleeding. I grabbed some toilet paper and held it to my face. “Look, I can’t get them to take you off the machines.”
“Please, you have to tell them—”
“And then I’ll be thrown out because they’ll think I’m nuts,” I countered. “But I can try to cross you over.”
“Do you think that will work?” she asked. “I don’t want to stay here.”
I shrugged. “I don’t know. I’ve never tried and I don’t know what will happen to your body. I might be killing you.”
“I don’t care,” she told me. “I just want to go.”
I nodded, and then slid down the wall to the floor. It’s what she wanted; was it murder to do this? I didn’t know. I reached out to her and wrapped that gold ribbon of will around her wrist. I dropped. As we fell there was resistance. We slowed. Shit! I focused on pulling her with me. Pain tore through me as I fought to drag her down. It took time.
When we finally landed in the Veil I felt scratched, torn. I dropped to the grass and shook. That hurt like a bitch. Caroline was smiling as she looked around. A golden ball came down from the Way.
“Thank you,” she said. I waved to her as I tried to get my strength back. It took a few minutes. By the time I was on my feet again she was gone. I closed my eyes and pulled myself out.
Opening my eyes, my stomach rolled. I scrambled across the tile to the toilet. I was sick over and over. My head exploded and lights danced in front of my eyes. When I finally stopped heaving I stayed where I was. Blood poured into the bowl. When I could, I sat up and put tissues to my face. Leaning my head back against the stall door, I closed my eyes.
I don’t know how long I sat there, miserable, but eventually the bleeding stopped. I tossed the tissues into the toilet and struggled to my feet. Throwing the latch, I moved out into the rest of the bathroom. I leaned against the counter and looked in the mirror. Dried blood caked my ears and trailed down my neck. I grumbled as I grabbed some paper towels and got them wet. Then I went about cleaning my neck and face.
I looked into the mirror. How much longer could I do this? How much longer could I keep pushing it like this? Honestly? I looked at my paler-than-usual face, and my less-than-bright eyes. Not much longer. It was time to face it. I reached into the pocket of my shorts and pulled out my bracelets. I didn't even have a choice anymore; my barriers were going to hell. I needed to pull back... I slipped my beads on, resigned to spending the rest of my life wearing them if I had to. Don’t be so dour, Lexie. Start with a day or so.
When I felt human again, I headed out into the hallway. People were running. I stayed near the wall. Down the hall, medical personal were spilling out of a room. I leaned against the wall and watched through the window as the doctor used the defibrillator on Caroline Peters.
I closed my eyes as I listened to the sound of a heart monitor flatlining. She was dead. It was her choice; she asked me to. It helped, but it didn’t erase the guilt.
With a heavy heart, I headed back towards Miles’ room. It felt farther than before. I turned the corner and almost ran into Isaac.
“Hey, Red. I was coming to look for you,” Isaac told me as his eyes ran over my face. “You okay?”
I nodded and gave him a strained smile. “Yeah, fine.”
He frowned at me. “Fine, don’t tell me.” He walked towards Miles’ room.
“Isaac…” I called, my voice cracking. He stopped and turned back to me.
"What?" he bit out.
"I want to talk to you," I told him, my voice tired, “but you don't even answer the phone anymore."
He sighed deeply. "I... " He met my eyes. "I need to ask you some questions."
"Okay." I had no clue what about... "How does tomorrow afternoon sound?"
He nodded. "Sounds good." He walked beside me to Miles' hospital room.
He simply walked in. I stopped at the closed curtain. “Is it clear?”
“He’s dressed, Beautiful,” Ethan called.
I started to pull back the curtain and hesitated. “Is he really dressed or are you fucking with me?”
The guys chuckled.
“He’s dressed,” Asher reassured me. I opened the curtain and walked in. Miles was pale and sweating in the bed. I walked over and grabbed a water bottle.
Zeke eyed me with a frown. “You okay?” he growled.
I gave him the same smile I gave Isaac. “Yeah, fine.” I moved to the right side of Miles’ bed, near Asher, and took a quick drink.
“Hey,” I said softly. He opened his eyes and gave me a small smile. His backup glasses were rimless with narrow rectangular lenses. They looked… damn good on him. I bit back a smile.
“Do they look that funny?” he asked, his eyes still a bit glazed.
“No, actually, they look better than the last pair,” I admitted.
He grinned. “Yeah, but they’re easier to break.”
“Hey, we’re going to go see about getting chairs for everyone,” Asher announced.
“Thanks, guys,” I said. The guys headed out. I sat carefully on the side of the bed, facing him. “So, how are you feeling?”
He closed his eyes. “Like I was in a car wreck and had surgery.”
I smiled. “If you need to sleep, sleep.”
His hand moved to mine. I reached out and held his. He quickly fell asleep after that.
When I was sure he was asleep, I sat down in Ethan's chair. Caroline popped back into my head. The ventilator.... being stuck here when there was no hope of recovery.
I was deep in thought when Rory came into the room. He was still in his uniform as he moved to Miles' side. "How's he doing?"
"He had surgery to fix his broken arm. He's banged up and had a hit to the head,” I explained. "Surgeon said he’d have full use of his arm again.”
“Good.” He sighed. “Well, his car is totaled.”
I doubted Miles would care. Everyone in it was safe and alive.
“I need you tomorrow afternoon,” he told me. “I have somewhere to take you.”
“Sure,” I muttered.
Rory’s eyes ran over me. “Are you okay?”
I nodded, my eyes still unfocused. “I just crossed a woman who… she was in a coma, on a ventilator.”
Rory came to my side. “What you do mean? You were able to help her cross when she was alive?”
I nodded. “She… didn’t want to stay a vegetable. She asked me to cross her over.” My stomach knotted. “It killed her.”