Save My Soul (2 page)

"You're joking, right? Mason, I have
nine hours left of my shift, and I haven't slept in over twenty-two
hours. I really don't think God would put himself in my shoes.
Besides, he's only a figment of everyone's imagination, something
someone made up to explain why we are all here. No one really knows
why we're here. And no, I don't think she started seizing because I
walked out, then stopped when I came back in and spoke aloud to
you." I was a little disappointed to learn this tidbit of
information about my doctor, but I wouldn't be the one to judge him
come judgment day, so he wasn't my problem. I only needed him to
patch me up.

"I swear, Adam," he lowered his voice
a little. "She was seizing when you walked through the door, and
she stopped the second you spoke."

Adam sighed. "Does she have a history
of epilepsy or seizers?"

"Nope," I could hear the grin in
Mason's voice. He was really enjoying the hell out of this. "She
gets annual check-ups, and she is hardly ever sick, sick enough to
see a doctor, anyway. She may not have gone to a doctor for the
stomach bug or snotty nose, but there's nothing in her medical
record about epilepsy or any other conditions."

I was nodding to myself, and to no one
else evidently, about everything Mason was saying about my medical
history. I was actually getting a little bored with their small
talk about me. I'm not epileptic; move on to the next thing. There
was no way my body reacted that way just because he had walked out
of the room. Mason was crazy to even think that. I am a very
independent woman with a strong career and extreme hobbies. I have
a friend with benefits but never really let myself get too attached
to men. I don't have time for a person in my life with issues, and
all men seem to have issues.

"Fine," Adam sighed. "Has anyone been
able to locate a friend or relative of hers? I can go down and let
them know that she is stable for now and that we will have someone
with her the whole time she is in S.I.C.U." It sounded as if he
blew air out through puffed out cheeks. "I can't believe she fell
to the bottom of Dead Man's Cliff, and is alive with no fractures.
I know she was wearing the little helmet that almost no one uses
while rappelling, but I never dreamed they would be so effective
from such a serious height."

So, that's what I'd been doing. The
events of the day slammed into my frontal lobe, but I was still
lacking the memory of the accident.

"A few guys and another girl were
asking about her earlier. They had blood all over them, and looked
to be dressed like our famous daredevil here. It hasn't been that
long ago, they may still be here."

The door opened again, then something
that sounded like a gurney, or a bed on wheels, was placed to the
right side of my body. A short moment later I heard Mason, "On
three. One…Two…Three"

"You got it this time, Mase?" Adam
said with laughter in his voice. He had such a good laugh. I hated
that he was leaving me here with the nurses, but if I really had
the episode a few minutes earlier because I missed him, then I had
to try extra hard to keep my emotions in check.

I could hear the wheels squeaking
beneath me as I was being transported from the O.R. to the recovery
room. I could even hear the blood and fluid bags that were swinging
above my head and to the left a little. It is amazing how well your
hearing increases when you lose all of your other
senses.

The noises stopped, and I had come to
the conclusion that I was in recovery. My assumption was confirmed
when a whistling nurse walked near to me. The whistling abruptly
stopped. "She lived?"

Mason chuckled. "Dr. Chamberlain
operated on her, of course she lived. He hasn't lost a patient yet.
He wanted her to stay here in recovery until she wakes up, then
we'll move her to S.I.C.U. He said that she has to have someone
with her every second. You want the job?"

"Hell no. I don't want to sit and
stare at a half dead girl my whole shift."

He laughed again. "You couldn't do it
anyway. He said it couldn't be an aide."

The girl laughed a little. "If it
could be an aide, you know that he would force me to do it. You
know he doesn't like me."

He chuckled. "Adam doesn't like
anybody. You know that."

"Well, he doesn't seem to have a
problem with you. But then again, it is kind of difficult to
dislike someone that looks as good as you do in scrubs. See you
around, Mase."

It sounded to me like there was a
little flirting in her tone, but who was I to judge? Maybe she
liked Mason, and just maybe he liked her back.

"You won't if I can help it," Mason
muttered. Evidently the girl was gone, but maybe still in hearing
range, because it was almost a whisper. Maybe he didn't like
her.

"I'm going to be right here beside you
until you wake up, Kendra. And I'm gonna need for you to wake up
pretty soon, because I have a date in two hours." I heard buttons
snapping beside my left ear, and figured whoever had dressed me in
a hospital gown hadn't taken the time to finish dressing me. "There
you go." I heard him yawn, and then heard buttons being pushed on a
machine, probably my blood, fluid and antibiotics, then the low hum
of a blood pressure machine. I couldn't feel it on my arm, but I
was sure my blood pressure was being taken.

"Your vitals are good. There is
nothing wrong with you but the obvious, so you need to wake up
now." I heard Mason sit in a chair to the left side of my bed. He
yawned again.

I really would wake up if I could. I
had been trying to get control of my body for the last hour. I
wondered if I was in a coma, and if this was how comatose patients
felt, like they're trapped in an empty shell with nothing but their
hearing. It was maddening.

After a short time, I could hear soft
snoring coming from Mason, and I wondered how pissed my doctor
would be if he walked around the corner and caught him napping when
he was supposed to be watching me. The doctor seemed pretty
insistent that I be watched carefully.

Well, alone with only my thoughts
again.

"You aren't alone,
Kendra."

I jumped. Well, my body didn't; I
couldn't move, remember? There was a voice in my head that wasn't
mine. It was a man's voice.

"Who's there?"
I said back to the voice. Great, now I was
talking back to the voices in my head. Who is crazy now? It was
worth a shot; I needed some answers.

The man laughed.

Another man's voice in my
head said,
"Don't freak her out, Coen.
She's probably scared to death as it is."
Yeah, freaked out was one of the things I was beginning to
be. I'd always wondered what went on in the mind of a
schizophrenic, but I didn't actually want to become one to find
out. Great, I was crazy.

"There is no way to not
freak her out about this, Rhyan," v
oice
one said. I had names for the personalities in my head, and they
were both men, so they were going to have issues. This was just
fan-freaking-tastic.

"Maybe if you just
introduced us instead of making her think she has gone
crazy…"

"Guys, guys, I'm right
here, and crazy isn't the worst thing that has happened to me
today."
I guess if I was going to talk to
the voices in my head, they could keep me company until Dr. Adam
caught Mason sleeping. Even I was looking forward to hearing him
get chewed out. But it was mainly because I wanted to hear the
doctor's voice again.

What was wrong with me? I had never in
my life obsessed or ogled over a guy before, and I didn't like
doing it now.

"Yes, we know about your
unfortunate accident; that's why we're here. We came to get
you,"
Coen said.

I couldn't have heard him
right. I was going to need a little more explanation than
that.
"I'm sorry. I don't think I
understand what you are saying. Where, exactly, will you be taking
me?"
I so did not want to hear the answer,
but I wasn't sure I was going to get a choice. I was almost
positive that I couldn't make them leave.

"We're here to take you to
heaven, Kendra,"
Rhyan said.

I was beginning to like
Rhyan less and less.
"No, I don't think
so. You see, Dr. Chamberlain fixed me and I'm all better now.
They're just waiting for me to wake up. Then I will heal and go
home. Back to my job. Back to my dog, Hercules. Back to my
life."
The thought of my miniature
Chihuahua at home made me want to cry. Who was going to take care
of him if I let Rhyan and Coen take me? I couldn't let them. I had
too much left to do with my life. Hell, I was only twenty-nine and
hadn't even considered marriage yet. I didn't have any children
yet, wasn't sure I wanted any, but I wanted the option.

"The thing is, Kendra, you
aren't going to wake up,"
Rhyan
said.

"Well, there is one
way…"
Coen said.

"No, Coen, I was sent here
to get her, and she is going back with me,"
Rhyan said.

I spoke only to Coen. I
didn't like how Rhyan was so definite, but Coen clearly had another
option. I wanted to hear it.
"What? Tell
me, Coen. What can I do to stay here? What can I do to live
again?"

Rhyan tried to speak again, but
somehow Coen muted his voice so I could barely hear him shouting at
me.

"I have been Adam
Chamberlain's guardian angel for the last thirty-two years. Rhyan
has been yours. You have listened to Rhyan, or your conscience,
should I say, in your twenty-nine years here on Earth. Adam has a
lost soul. He is a disbeliever and I need someone's assistance to
help him find his way back to the good side. I was the reason you
could hear in the operating room. I wanted you to understand what a
God complex our young Adam has before you made the decision to take
or reject my offer. If you can help me, I promise you will have
your life back."

I was quiet for a few
moments. I didn't know what to say, but I knew I had to try.
"What do I have to do?"
I couldn't see Coen, but I could have sworn he was
smiling.

"I can only give you until
next Friday, Kendra, but I have faith in you. You have a very kind
heart, and a competitive mind. It's simple; all you have to do is
lead him in the right direction."

"Which direction is
that?"
I asked.

"He has to believe in God,
Kendra. We are not allowed to mess with free will, and his mind is
so closed off that he no longer hears me. I only have one week to
get him on the right path before they give me to someone else. Adam
will no longer have a conscience. No one to tell him what is right,
or what is wrong. He will truly be lost then."

"How do I do that, Coen? I
was raised believing there is a God and that I am saved. How do you
make someone believe, who has never believed?"
I could hear him smiling again. I didn't know how I was able
to sense his emotions, but I could. I wasn't going to question it
further.

"Oh, he has believed
before, Kendra. The thing about a conscience is that it's split in
two halves; the good and the bad. I'm the good half, and I must
warn you now, you will meet the bad half before your week is up. He
has a lot more influence over Adam than I do. I would say Murry has
about ninety percent to my ten percent. It will be hard, but if you
want to live, I know you can do it and save the both of
you."

"But how…"
I knew my mind's voice cracked, because for the
first time in a long time, I felt helpless.

"Perhaps the young doctor
needs to remember how it feels to love again."

I opened my eyes to no pain at all. I
could feel my body, but I didn't hurt anywhere. Let's hear it for
miracles! I didn't know how Coen had done it, but I was definitely
going to give him a big kiss when I met him for real. There was an
oxygen mask on my face and an I.V. in my left arm. I had little
round white patches on my chest and back, and something was clipped
onto my right index finger. You would think by looking at me that I
was dying or something.

I took the mask off and sat up. I
looked to my left and saw that drool was dripping out of Mason's
mouth. His head was bent in an awkward position. How could anybody
sleep like that?

I knew one way to get him on his feet.
I slipped my finger out of the plastic device, and the machine went
from beeping steadily to flatline. Just as I had thought, he jumped
to his feet before his eyes were even fully open.

He stared at me as if I had an extra
nose.

This was fun. I wondered momentarily
how the doctor would react the first time he saw me
awake.

"Hi, Mason," I said cheerfully, then
looked down at the I.V. still stuck in my arm. "Will you help me
take off these sticky things? I could really use a shower. I'm
still all dirty from the accident."

Mason rubbed his face frantically with
both his hands, then ran them through his semi-short brown hair. He
had very pretty smoky blue, almost gray, eyes. I could tell
immediately why the nurse's aide had been interested.