Page 218 of A Second Dawn

Where am I?

The soft hum of machines becomes more pronounced, guiding me back to reality.

My eyes reluctantly open, and the room swims into view. I blink at the unfamiliar surroundings.

There’s a sense of displacement, a tugging sensation that something significant has occurred.

The pieces of the puzzle seem just out of reach, leaving me suspended in uncertainty.

“Well, hello there, handsome,” a woman’s voice from beside me says.

She looks familiar, but I can’t immediately place her.

“Am I dead?” I ask, only half joking.

It’s a possibility given my line of business. This room is not in a hospital, and that’s where I last remember being.

“Yes, you’re dead,” she replies, full of conviction.

Oh.

“Then why am I hurting everywhere? Isn’t death meant to stop all pain?” I groan as I try to move my body and shooting pain travels through my chest.

“If I got a dime for every time a newly departed said that, I’d be a very rich woman,” she chuckles.

“But it’s nothing to worry about, it only takes a hundred years for the disembodied soul to forget its last experiences on earth,” she says in a playful tone, and I can’t help but let out a soft chuckle. I regret it instantly. The slightest movement hurts.

I feign shock. “A hundred years of this? I should have read the fine print.”

She grins, and I remember who she is… Ella’s nutty friend.

Ella.

Where is she?

I look around the room, trying to spot her. Her friend wouldn’t joke with me if something had happened to her, would she?

I try to sit up but give up right away, the pain too much. I settle, trying to get more comfortable, groaning in the process.

“Oh my god, you’re awake,” a voice I never thought I’d hear again interrupts my malaise.

“Angel.”

“Of course you’d have to wake up just when I step out of the room,” she mutters more to herself as she rushes to my side.

“And that’s my cue to leave,” Claudette murmurs, but I pay her no attention.

How could I when the light of all lights just entered the room?

Ella is all I see.

Tears stream down her face as she throws herself into my arms, and I hold her tightly.

I never want to let go.

My heart pounds with a fierce, overwhelming happiness that drowns out the pain. She’s alive and well. That’s all that matters.

Ella buries her face in my shoulder, guttural sobs shaking her body.