by Stacy Eaton
Montgomery stood back up, “He might not have to cross over with you. Just being close enough might give you the strength to move over into that level.”
Corey stood up quickly, “Then we have to try it.” She tore her gaze from Montgomery’s face and focused on me sternly. “Did you know about the accident?”
It was only a matter of time till that question was asked, I knew. “Yes, and you did too.”
“Me?” her voice rose. “How could I have known? I’ve been here, wrapped up in your arms this whole time, the whole time Mitch has been lying in a bed dying, and you knew!”
“Corey, you were at the accident scene,” I said slowly.
Her eyes started flicking back and forth in an effort to remember.
“You were riding on the back of the motorcycle with Mitch. I pulled you off right before he crashed.”
She continued to jet her eyes around and then her feet began to shuffle and she turned in circles. Her expressions were changing so quickly, I was afraid to speak again.
She sucked in a sharp breath and stopped moving, and I knew she had remembered. Her head spun around to face me. “Why did you do that? Why did you take me from him? I could have helped him!”
Her anger was understood, and I worked hard to remain calm as I replied, “Coralenna, you were in a mortal body. If you had been in that crash, you could have been injured or killed.”
“What? I’m already dead! Please explain to me how you can die again?”
With the use of my back muscles, I pushed off the railing and moved closer to her. I saw her shoulders straighten, and her jaw clamp down, but she didn’t move away.
“Sweetheart, your mortal body could have been killed, and then your soul would have not been able to return here. That’s why we have always said it was so dangerous for you in the living arena.”
“But what about Mitch?” she started to tear up. “Couldn’t you have saved him, too?”
“We can’t change destiny. We can only guide people. What happened to Mitch was meant to happen. I just couldn’t let anything happen to you.” My voice lowered as I spoke, and I lifted my hand to slide my knuckles over her cheek.
A single tear slipped out and I caught it with my thumb. “We’ll help him, Corey, I promise we will do everything we can.”
Her nod was jerky, but she circled her arms around me and put her head on my chest. For a few moments, I held her tightly. David cleared his throat behind us.
Coralenna and I pulled apart, but kept one arm around each other’s back.
“We need to go,” David said meaningfully.
“Let’s go save my brother.” I tipped Corey’s face up and kissed her lips lightly. We phased while still holding each other.
~ Corey ~
When they said Mitch had been in an accident, guilt rained down on me like a load of bricks. Here I had been happy and safe in Brock’s arms, and Mitch was fighting for his life.
How I had not remembered the accident was beyond me. When Brock mentioned it, I wracked my mind to find the pieces of the puzzle that would fit together. Using my own memories that I had tucked deep inside, and the ones that I had acquired from Brock, I relived the whole incident.
The fear that Brock had felt right before it happened and the sound of the crash around us as our bodies ignited, I had thought were from our connection.
I wanted to be angry at someone, but hearing what Brock told me about dying a second death calmed the heated threads in my head and heart. From his memory, I knew he had only pulled me to protect me, to save me. How could I fault him for that?
As I stood against his strong chest and felt the love he had for me, I knew I had no right to be angry with him. He loved me, and he would do anything for me.
Now we had to do everything that we could to save Mitch.
We phased to his hospital room. The pale blue walls displayed shadows from the machines hooked up to him. One small light was on over his bed, reflecting towards the ceiling rather than directly on him.
His entire body was practically covered in plaster, one whole leg and half of the other one. Tubes and wires were connected to every part of his chest; nose and arms were visible around the bandages.
I choked on a sob and buried my head in Brock’s shoulder. He held my head tightly to him, and I heard him clear his throat. Tears rolled down my cheeks, and as I leaned back to wipe them off, I saw Brock wipe his own cheek.
“Where’s Montgomery?” I turned, but only David stood in the room with us. Beth sat silently in the chair beside Mitch’s bed, her eyes closed, but I knew she was not sleeping.
“I don’t know. I’m sure he’ll be here in a minute,” Brock said from beside me.
“We can’t do this without him. We don’t know what to do!” The words rushed out of my mouth.
“Relax, my dear,” Montgomery landed beside me and patted me on the arm. “I needed to make a pit stop and make sure we were doing it right.”
Relief that he had shown up was short-lived as the monitor in front of us started to beep rapidly.
“Coralenna, you need to go,” Montgomery said beside me.
“Go where? I don’t know what I’m doing?” My body shook with fear.
“You and Brock need to be touching him and holding hands yourself. You can do it from here, you don’t need to be in the living arena, but you do need to all be touching.”
We moved to Mitch’s side. I placed my hand over his shoulder while Brock touched the visible skin of his thigh.
Beth sat up in her chair and studied the monitors, alarm on her face.
“Focus, Corey, you need to focus on Mitch. Go inside his mind, find him. He’s in the dark someplace searching for the light.” The heart monitor began to slow; my hands grew damp.
“Go, Corey, find him,” Brock’s strained voice came from beside me as I focused all my energy into Mitch. It took a moment, and then I found the small piece of his mind that appeared to be working.
I contained a sob as I felt the inside of his battered body. How could he recover from his? Dear Lord, please help me, I prayed as I moved towards the single area of his mind.
~ Mitchell ~
“Corey, you came for me.”
The most beautiful sight in the world stood before me.
“Hello, Mitchell.” Her voice sounded like musical notes to my ears, tinkling in the darkness around me. I smiled and reached for her.
She slipped into my arms, and I held her. “I’m so glad you’re alright. I was worried about you.”
She pulled back so she could see into my face. “I’m fine. You don’t need to worry about me. We need to worry about you, though.” She cast a glance around, “It’s so dark here, take me someplace else.”
“Let’s go into the light.” I pointed behind her and she shook her head.
“No, take me someplace nice, take me to the river.” Her smile melted my heart. I would do anything for her. The image of the river and the rocks along the banks came to mind, and there we were.
“Wow, that was kind of cool.” Birds were singing in the trees and the water was rushing over the rocks. The sun was high in the sky, but the trees blocked out the strongest of the rays. “Is this better?”
“Much better, Mitchell,” she paused and ran her fingers over my cheek. I snuggled into her palm as she cleared her throat, “Mitchell, you need to go back, you can’t stay here with me.”
Surprised that she would say that, I stared at her for a moment, “No, I’m right where I want to be, with you.” I leaned forward and put a soft kiss on her lips.
She stepped back slightly and put her hand along the side of my face, “Mitch, you can’t stay. You have to return.”
Frustration edged my voice as I countered, “I don’t want to. I want to be here with you.”
“Honey, I know you do, but it’s not your time. You have a family that needs you and a long life to live.”
“I’m ready to leave them. I want to come up to heaven with you,” I sai
d adamantly.
“But what about Chase? What about watching him grow up? What about Beth? Do you want to leave her all alone? I know you love her. You need to go back to your family. They need you now more than ever.”
What about Chase? I would miss watching him play baseball and all the things he accomplished in school. I’d miss his graduation and the day he would get married. Could I give up those things?
While things were better with Beth, could we fix everything and share a happy life, or would I always be wishing I was with Corey?
I turned away from her and moved to the edge of the rocks, staring into the running water.
“Mitch, time goes by so fast, and you don’t want to miss a minute of it. You have the chance to go back, to be a part of your son’s life. He needs you.”
“But he’s not my son!” I spun around on her and stared at her hard.
“Yes, he is. You have raised him. You are the only one he knows as a father. You can’t tell me that because a mistake was made all those years ago that you are going to hold that against him, or against Beth for that matter.”
I didn’t want to leave my son, and I knew that Beth loved me. Could I leave them alone? If it had been anybody other than Brock, it wouldn’t have mattered, but this was my own brother.
“Wait, you don’t want me with you because you want to be with Brock.” I stepped closer to her, the anger that had started to recede grew back threefold.
“You don’t know the whole story about what happened with Brock and Beth. He was—”
“And I don’t want to know! I don’t care! He’s not my brother! My brother wouldn’t have done that to me.” I crossed my arms over my chest, feeling the need to protect myself.
“Mitch, you need to listen to me, please. Just listen for a moment.”
“Whatever, Corey, what?” I turned away from her again and scrutinized the water.
“Mitch, Brock was very ill. He didn’t know it at the time, but he had a brain tumor.”
My head turned slightly toward her, “He what?”
“He had a very large brain tumor.” She stood still, watching me, the sun shining down on her hair. I thought about her words for a moment before I turned back to the water.
“That’s no excuse,” I blurted out.
“No, you’re right. It’s not. He made a bad choice that night, but the tumor was large enough that it caused major problems with his personality and the way he dealt with things. Shortly after, he found out about the tumor. The tumor was inoperable, he was going to die.”
My head hung down. My brother had cancer and never told me.
“When Beth told him she was pregnant, he already knew he was dying. He made Beth promise not to tell you because there was no way he could ever be a father to the child, and that was his odd way of making up for what he had done. The tumor is what killed him.”
“No,” I turned back to her, “he died in an accident. They never said anything about a tumor.”
“They were wrong. The police saw a man killed in a car accident and never questioned it, but he was coming back from chemotherapy and had a problem. He crashed because of the tumor.”
I blinked and then blinked again. He had been sick, and I never knew.
“So you’re saying that because of the tumor he did what he did?”
“Yes, it changed his personality. I know that doesn’t excuse it, but that’s the truth. I’m sorry you had to hear that from me, I wish that he could have told you himself.” She paused for a moment. “Someday, you will need to speak with him, learn to forgive him and Beth.”
I thought about what she said, but I wasn’t sure how to forgive them. “How do I do that?” My arms fell to my side as I thought about it.
She walked to me and took my hands in hers, gently squeezing them, “You just let it go, you just believe in what you have, and you forgive them. Brock gave you a gift from God. Don’t turn your back on it.”
For the first time, Corey looked like a real angel as the sun shone down around her, and she just glowed. How had I been so lucky to have someone like this in my life?
“If I return, will you leave me?”
She picked up each of my hands and kissed the backs of them one at a time.
She shook her head and smiled, “No, I’m never going to go away. I’m your Garda, and I will always be with you in some way. You may not see me, but I’ll always be right here.” She placed her hand on my heart.
“You promise?” I placed my hand over hers on my chest.
“I promise. You will always have my love, Mitchell.”
“Okay, but can you tell me one more thing before I go?” My heart started to beat a bit faster thinking about never seeing her again, never holding her again.
“Sure, anything.” She took her hand from my chest and laced her fingers with mine.
“What’s going on with you and Brock?” I tried not to sound angry, but I wasn’t sure I succeeded.
She threw her head back and laughed, “Oh, that is so complicated, Mitch.”
“Does he love you?” I whispered when she stopped laughing and brought her attention back to my face.
She grew serious, “Yes, he does.”
I swallowed and forced myself to keep eye contact with her, “And do you love him?”
She paused, taking a moment to think before she answered, “I care for him deeply. Is it love? I don’t know. It’s not what you and I shared, but, I think in time, I will grow to love him.”
My head bowed at her words. I had hoped the answer would have been no, but who was I to tell her whom she should love and whom she shouldn’t.
“Mitch, he’s my destiny,” she whispered. “Are you ready to go back now? Beth is waiting for you; she’s really worried.”
“Can I hold you one last time?” I was torn. I didn’t really want to leave her, but if she said this wasn’t my time, then I had to believe her.
“I wouldn’t have it any other way.” She pulled me into her embrace, and we stood there for a long time. The sun shone down on us, the breeze gently tossed the ends of her hair, and the birds sang softly in the trees. To me, until the day I died, this place would be my heaven.
When we finally pulled apart, she tipped her head up and kissed me one last time. The kiss was one of the softest we had shared, one of promise but also of goodbye.
“Take us back, Mitch, it’s time to go home,” she whispered.
I gazed at her, “I love you, Corey.”
“And I will always love you, Mitchell,” she murmured softly.
I closed my eyes and found myself alone in the dark once more. A moment of fear struck me, but I felt her presence calling to me, and I reached for it.
Very slowly, I felt myself coming back. The high-pitched beeping in the room reached my ears, and the cold air filtered in my nose. I fought to open my eyelids, and for the first time, they started to respond.
They fluttered softly, and I struggled to keep them open. I knew someone stood over me, but I could not see who. After a few more tries, I was able to get them to open, and I blinked to clear the fuzzy image.
Beside my bed, leaning slightly over me was Corey.
“Welcome back, Mitch,” she said with a smile.
~ Brock ~
The sight of my brother lying in the hospital bed tore at my heart. Corey buried her head into my chest. I understood why because that was exactly what I wanted to do: hide.
As Corey touched Mitch’s shoulder, I silently prayed that what we were about to do would work. The Maker had said to believe, and that was what I would do.
Even though Coralenna’s hand was in mine, I felt her slip away from me. I gasped for air as loneliness settled around me. I struggled to reach for her and searched for her energy pattern, finally finding it as it wove through Mitch’s mind.
Every part of his body was destroyed, and his mind was the worst. How hard he must have struck the pavement to cause that much damage. I struggled to stay strong and not turn away fr
om what I was seeing. She had so much more courage than I did to face this.
When she reached him, I could hear her words, and when they moved to the stream, I could see it all through her internal sight. She loved him so much, but she fought to make him understand that his life was here and not above.
Tears ran down my face as she stood there and explained to him what had happened all those years ago. It should have been me explaining it, but she did it for me. She removed a burden from my past and took it upon herself to right it. My love for her grew with each word.
I even found myself snickering when she threw her head back and laughed at our connection. The seriousness of her tone gave little doubt to the fact that she did truly care for me, and that one day I would win her love. For now, I would be satisfied to have what I had with her.
The moment Mitch decided to come back, I knew that we had succeeded. I left her mind just before she went into his arms, giving them a last moment together to say goodbye. They both deserved that.
Joy passed through my entire being when Corey slipped back into her body. I squeezed her hand and thanked God for putting such an incredible woman in my existence.
“Brock, I need you to keep hold of him, I want to try something before he starts to come back.”
At a loss for words, I stared at her in awe of her radiant beauty. She focused again and squeezed my hand tightly. I felt her slipping back to Mitch, and panic teased my mind.
“Relax, Brock, I need to pull your energy to do this.”
Steeling myself for God knew what she was about to do, I felt her draw on my inner strength. I focused on her and finally realized what she was doing, she was repairing his brain.
When she shifted back into her body once more, I felt how weary she was. She had drained herself and pulled a lot of my energy out, too.
Her soft smile turned towards me, “We did it.”
Mitch tried to blink, and we all held our breath. David and Montgomery stood at the end of the bed, one with his arms crossed tightly chewing on his bottom lip while the other fisted his palms by his side.
