Unbroken: The Loss Mission: Book 3 (Soulmates)

by Jay T

  9 eva

  “Welcome back?” That’s the best he could come up with? Welcome back and leave me all on my own to explain this to Kami. Thanks a lot.

  “You have some explaining to do, young lady,” Kami says as she folds her arms across her chest.

  This time I look at her and truly see her. Not the mask she plasters on her face for my benefit, but the Kami who’s lost as much as I have, if not more. The Kami who doesn’t have the answers I have.

  How do I explain this to her? How do I tell her I’ve met her unborn baby? How do I tell her I’ve been to hell and back and fought tooth and nail for the rights to my own soul? I look around this hospital room; everything is so normal, so human. It’s like I’ve been splashed with cold water as I snap back to real life. We don’t see the war. We don’t see the fight each and every soul goes through every day to make the right choices, to ignore the darkness and choose the light. How do I tell her about our army of angels watching us when we can’t see them or talk to them? How do I tell her that her soulmate and her child love her and miss her as much as she misses them and they’re just waiting on her to finish her own mission in this life? That they’re waiting to hold her again, that everything in this life hurts and it sucks but it’s worth it. The pain and the tears and the struggle; it’s all worth it in the end.

  “I think you have some explaining of your own, Aunt Kami,” I eye her.

  “Excuse me?” She’s not impressed with my response. “I’m not the one in the hospital bed with the crazy kid who came out of nowhere and woke your butt up!” she yells from the doorway where she’s been rooted. She shakes her head and comes to sit down in the chair next to me.

  “I guess it’s a good thing I’m the only one in the hospital tonight, right?”

  “What’s that supposed to mean?”

  “I think you know exactly what that means.” I make eye contact with her and I won’t back down on the glaring contest.

  Her eyes narrow.

  Time ticks by until I break the silence. “I don’t know what to tell you that won’t make you send me back to the nut house.”

  “Well, from what I just saw, I might need to go to the nut house myself, because I don’t believe it for a minute, yet, here we are.” She waves her arms at the room around us. She says nothing for few moments later then, more softly, she says, “Please talk to me. I promise I’ll have an open mind.”

  I don’t know what to say. I stare at the IV in my forearm. The tape is wrinkled and I run my finger over the top of it. “Do you believe in angels, Aunt Kami? In life after death?”

  Kami takes a short gulp of air,She nods. “Of course I do,” she says. “That’s been the only thing keeping me going, that maybe someday I’ll get to see them all again.”

  “What do you think happens to us if we die too soon?” I ask. “If we end our own lives before it’s meant to be over?”

  She fidgets in her seat. “I don’t know, but I can’t help but think that’s not the way it should be done.”

  “So, you won’t try it again, right?”

  Tears flood her eyes and she gets to her feet. She’s almost out the door when I yell after her, “He says to say stop it with the ‘I’m sorrys!’”

  She stops dead in her tracks and turns around, eyes wide open. I can see the goosebumps on her arms from here.

  “Why didn’t you tell me? All those times on the couch, when we were crying into our brownies, why didn’t you tell me you were mourning more than I knew about?” I ask. Then more quietly, “Why didn’t you tell me about her?”

  She looks at me like she has no idea who I am. I guess I’m not the same anymore. I understand more now and I’ve had my chance to hug them and tell them I love them. I’ve had my closure, she hasn’t been given that yet.

  She whispers, “You had enough to worry about, Eva. You are all I have left and I couldn’t bare to put anything more on you.” She turns to leave but she doesn’t get too far. She shuffles from foot to foot. She turns around and looks at me from the hallway as she bites her lip. “Every fiber in my body is telling me to walk away, but I need answers, Eva. How you know about the baby?”

  There’s a buzz. Aunt Kami reaches into her pocket and pulls out her phone.

  Amy: Wheres Eva?

  Aunt Kami holds up her phone, “Amy wants to know where you are. Why is she asking me that?”

  I shrug.

  Kami: We are at hsptl in stown.

  Amy: Is she....ok?

  “She wants to know if you’re ok. Why is she asking me this? What the hell is going on?”

  “I’ll tell you everything I know, but I’ll wait for Amy to get here.”

  ********

  I’m dressed in my clothes and sitting in the chair next to the bed in the hospital room. Amy walks in and I can tell she’s been crying. She’s changed her clothes but she hasn’t put on any makeup or done anything with her hair because it’s frizzed out. She walks over to me and punches me in the arm.

  “Ouch!”

  “What the hell, Eva?” Amy yells; her face is beet red.

  I hold my hands up to put some distance between us.

  “I hate you!” she screams, “I hate you so much!”

  I get to my feet and grab her in a hug.

  “Don’t touch me!” she yells. “Where have you been? You left me. I’ve been completely alone. I needed you. Where have you been?”

  I look at Aunt Kami over Amy’s shoulder as I continue to hug her; she fights me, trying to pull away.

  “I’m sorry, Amy.” I rub her back. “I needed to get my own head straight. I wasn’t right.”

  “None of us are alright, Eva. Did you even think about us? I lost my two best friends.” Amy keeps trying to shake me off but I won’t let go.

  “I wasn’t thinking about you, Amy. I’m sorry. I was consumed with myself.”

  “I hated you.”

  “That’s ok. I’d hate me too.”

  “Stop agreeing with me.”

  She finally stops struggling under my embrace, so I let her go and step back.

  “No,” I say smirking.

  She rolls her eyes and dries them with the back of her hand.

  “Why did I almost die last night, Eva?”

  Aunt Kami, sitting passively on the other chair in the room, suddenly gets to her feet and takes a step towards us. “What?”

  I nod, I know its time to spill everything I know. I don’t think they’ll really believe me, but they deserve answers as much as I did.

  “First of all, I want to tell both of you how sorry I am for everything I’ve put you through. I don’t know exactly how to tell you what I’ve been through in a way that could possibly make sense, but I promise I’ll try.” I motion for them to take a seat. Aunt Kami sits back down in her chair and Amy takes mine. I sit on the edge of the bed facing them, my feet dangling off the side.

  “It started at the beginning, when my family died. I would dream about the accident over and over. But the accident in my dreams was different than my memory. My dreams were terrible, but there was somebody new in them. Somebody I don’t think I was ever supposed to notice but I did.” I smile at the memory. “I met my guardian angel in my dreams.”

  Aunt Kami and Amy shift uncomfortably in their chairs.

  “I know. I wouldn’t believe it ether.”

  “It’s not that we don’t believe you, it’s just, you were going through so much…”Aunt Kami says.

  “It’s fine. Like I said, I’ll tell you my story whether you believe it or not, it doesn’t matter to me. I believe it.”

  10 evan

  I was headed out to Brent’s truck when, across the hospital parking lot, I saw Amy making her way to the front doors. I know how Kami is and how persistent Amy can be too. Eva’s going to have to tell them her story. I get in the truck and shut the door. I want to go eavesdrop on that conversation just to know what her side of the story is. I close my eyes and ground my body, but my spirit isn’t rising. I shake it
off any try again, but with the same results. I’m grounded. 90% human. No more spirit walking. No more fire. Great. This is going to make life so much more difficult.

  I briefly consider standing outside her door to listen in, but I quickly realize that would be a terrible idea. With Eva here, where do I fit in? What kind of role would I have once they all learn about me? That I’ve been lying to them? I lean way down in my seat, feeling defeated again. I have nothing to give Eva. I have no place to really live, no name, no permanent job, no way to get a job without actually being a person with a birth certificate and a social security number. How am I ever going to be worthy of her? And to top it all off, I’m grounded. In this state, I’m useless to keep anyone safe.

  I decide that the only place I feel like I can go is Chad’s cabin.

  ***

  Tristan’s truck is here at the cabin, which means Brent and Tristan made it home. I’m sure Amy knows all about me at this point. How I’m an imposter; how I messed up Chad and Eva’s life together by interfering. How can I go inside his house that was meant for him? A home that Eva and Chad probably would have lived in for many happy years together before outgrowing it. I didn’t know all this would happenI don’t belong here either but I have no place else to go.

  I decide to go sit by the lake.

  I look down into the water at my reflection. Who am I? What am I still doing here?

  I kick the ground; rocks and sand distort my image in the water, and I lie down on the bank and look up at the heavens. I’m so lost.

  A short time later I hear a vehicle coming down the dirt road. I’m not sure if I should get up and leave or greet the new arrivals. I choose to stay where I am until I can assess the situation.

  Doors slam and I hear someone yell, “Hey! Why did you take off Anny?” Sounds like Robert.

  How do I even respond to that? “Well, a war between heaven and hell was about to begin and Eva was caught in the middle?” Or how about, “Amy was almost drowned by darkness and I needed to get to her to save her from drowning by using my light to fend them off?” Or, “Naomi was busy raining down thunder and starting the whole Kenai Peninsula on fire and I needed to help out?” I hop up out of the sand and rocks and brush myself off.

  “I had something I had to take care of,” I answer.

  Liam opens the door to the house as Brent is finishing up a conversation on his cell phone in the living room. He’s been pacing back and forth as Tristan sits at the bar drinking coffee. The guys don’t press my answer because they’re distracted by Brent.

  Brent holds up his finger, telling us to be quiet. “Sounds great, ok, yeah, thanks,” he says and hangs up the phone. He turns to us and says, “Guess what?” He doesn’t wait for our answer. “We have an actual paying gig next month! Keep your calendar clear because I’m the best manager there is and you’ll be busy.” He blows on his fingers and rubs them on his shirt like they’re an apple.

  “I don’t know if that’s the best idea,” I mutter. But they don’t hear me.

  “Hey, next time, a little warning if you need to be somewhere after the concert. You had some very sad fans who didn’t get to flirt with you,” Brent says seriously. The thought makes me shudder.

  “It worked out good for me,” Ryan jokes. “I picked up your slack in that department.” He holds up a wad of random napkins and ripped pieces of paper with phone numbers on them. “The women love us.”

  “Yeah, just wait until they realize you’re only 17,” Tristan jokes while making another pot of coffee.

  “Don’t tattle Brent!” Liam yells from the couch.

  The guys laugh and joke back and forth while I make my way to the couch and flop down. I don’t know that I’ll make it to the next concert. I don’t know that they’ll want me around as soon as Amy gets ahold of them.

  As soon as I get comfortable, my eyelids start to feel like they’re made of bricks. I didn’t realize how exhausted I was. I nod off.

  ***

  I hear the door open and voices follow. I open my eyes. It’s dusk and I’m still on the couch, slumped over. Drool is coming out of the side of my mouth and leaking onto the arm rest. I sit up and my neck and back instantly hate me. I grumble.

  “Oh man, you been sleeping all day? That’s crazy,” Ryan says.

  Brent sits down next to me as I finish wiping the sleep from my eyes.

  “I thought about tucking you in before we left this morning, but the guys would have made fun of me. So, sorry about your neck, dude. This should help with that,” he whispers as he hands me a beer.

  “Gee, thanks,” I say as I try and stretch out again. Beer doesn’t sound half bad. By my third, I’m starting to feel a little buzzed, which is new for me. Before, I could drink as much as the other guys and pretend to be drunk but I’d do it to keep an eye on them. Apparently, that has changed now too. I decide to go with it since it’s probably going to be my last night with them anyway. I relax a little and actually join in the conversation about the concert and what happened after I left. The guys told me that forest fires have popped up all over the place from the thunder storm and I tried my best to act surprised. Amy must not have told Brent anything about her incident last night, or if she did, he’s not saying anything.

  A few more beers and a shot of tequila later and I’m drunk for the first time since being on Earth. And why not? I mean, Eva chose light. The big battle is over. Her light is lit. As long as she stays on this path and continues to live her life as best she can, what else is there for me to do here? I take another swig as the front door opens.

  Amy walks in with Eva behind her. My jaw drops and my eyes open wide.

  Liam, who is sitting beside me, spews beer from his mouth and nose at my reaction. Across the room, Eva and I lock eyes and I’m once again, I’m taken aback by her beauty. Every fiber in my body wants to move towards her. To be near her. I feel fingers pushing my jaw shut as Liam giggles. Amy says something to Eva and she nods as they go to the kitchen together.

  “Dude, seriously, you need a better poker face than that! She totally saw you drooling over her,” Liam said way too loudly.

  Robert shifts in his seat and I look up in time to catch the angry stare he and Tristan shoot in my direction. The room just got incredibly tense.

  “Well, it just got a little awkward in here so, I’m going to see the ladies in the kitchen,” Liam mumbles as he staggers away.

  I look down at my hands, not sure what to do at this point. I should leave, but I can’t drive. I took Brent’s truck already once last night, or technically the night before last as it’s past midnight now. Ah, who knows. I look at the clock on the wall, it’s 2 a.m. I don’t know if I can go home to the foster house since Naomi is gone now. She turned 18 and isn’t supposed to go back there. Her car is here, I could just drive to the end of the road very slowly and sleep it off there.

  I get to my feet and feel myself sway as I say to the guys, “I’m gonna take off. Thanks for the drinks.”

  “You drink here, you stay here. Those’re the rules, dude. I didn’t make them, but you aren’t going to be the reason we can’t drink anymore,” Robert says. “Her name is Eva and she isn’t on the market,” he says firmly. I sway some more.

  Brent speaks up, “Guys, it’s cool. Everybody chill.”

  Tristan scoots down in his seat. “She’s been through a lot, man,” he says shaking his head. No doubt thinking about how he hasn’t seen her in months since he lost Chad and his girlfriend, Christey.

  “She’s off limits.” Robert reiterates.

  I sit back down, well, flop would be more accurate. I shouldn’t have come here. I don’t belong. I should say something. Robert gets up to go see Amy and Eva in the kitchen and I feel the rest of the guys’ eyes on me. Now would be the time to tell them a little more about who I am. But I don’t. Their conversation continues on without me.

  11 eva

  As I finish my story, Aunt Kami wipes her eyes and blows her nose for the millionth time.

/>   “I don’t expect you guys to believe this, but I do,” I say.

  “That’s quite the story. I’m not sure what to say about it. But if it helps you, I’m happy,” Aunt Kami says.

  Amy nods. “I wish I could have seen Bryant and Christey. They looked good?”

  I picture the last time I saw them both with their smiles, blades, and beautiful white wings. I smile, “They looked great.”

  Her face lights up as she nods happily.

  “Alright, let’s see about getting you out of here,” Aunt Kami says.

  Against medical advice, they allow me to leave. Aunt Kami must believe some part of my story if she thinks I woke up from a coma an hour and a half ago and I’m perfectly fine to leave the hospital without further tests.

  ***

  Amy and I go with Aunt Kami back to our family home. I sleep in Micha’s bed and Amy sleeps in Bryant’s. It’s been a long night/morning for all of us. It feels weird to be home, like everything has changed. It’s still quiet, but it’s peaceful. I can almost feel them here, especially since I know they actually are here now. It’s 4 p.m. before we emerge and get ready for the day.

  “Do you mind if I go to the cabin and meet up with my friends, Aunt Kami?” I asked. We’d spent the rest of the afternoon catching up and at 10 p.m. Aunt Kami has started yawning.

  “As long as I don’t end up with a comatose girl on my front porch ever again,” she gives me a hard look. There’s a little joke in there, but I know she’s serious.

  I chuckle. “I seriously hope that never happens again. I do not want to stare down the Devil again any time soon.”

  Her eyes go wide. I may have left that part out of the original story. She shakes her head and walks away, heading towards the stairs to go up to bed. “Be good and don’t get into trouble,” she calls out she climbs the stairs.

  “Yes, ma’am.”

  “You did what?” Amy asks once we hear Aunt Kami’s door close.