After Life

Chapter 1

It wasn't quick. Perhaps that is what went wrong. All Elaine knew was that everything that she read told her that death was peaceful, like falling asleep, except more permanent. Lies.

It took about a week for her organs to shut off, one by one. The doctors kept adding more and more machines until it became apparent that she had reached the point of no return. Her family was understandably upset, but she refused to let them see how scared she was. After all, she understood that these would be the last memories that her family had of her, and she refused to let them be stained by fear. Eventually, she slipped into unconsciousness, and the heart monitor flat-lined.

~~~

When Elaine's eyes reopened, she was understandably confused. Her body didn't hurt, as it often did after the accident, but she didn't feel like she was on painkillers either. Looking around the room, she also noticed that most of her stuff was packed up.

Seeing her dads outside of her room, she tried calling for them. When it became clear that they couldn't hear her, she resolved herself to go to them. Elaine was slightly confused as to why her legs were working so well after a week in bed rest, but she filed that question away for later. 

Both of her dads were crying as she approached them; an unusual action for her papa, who tried to avoid outward displays of emotion as much as possible. 

"Papa, Daddy, what's going on?" Elaine asked, her voice frail and quivering.

Neither seemed to hear her. Instead, her papa continued rubbing circles into her dad's back.

"Daddy! Papa!" she called out again, "Why are you crying? Why aren't you answering me?"

Hating how powerless she felt, she backed up slowly before running away from her parents. She kept running and running until she ended up at a locker room, presumably for the doctors and nurses working on the floor.

Entering the room,  she collapsed into a corner, pulling her knees to her chest. And, figuring out why no one could see her, she finally allowed herself to cry for the first time in a week.

Elaine stayed like that for a while, but every storm runs out of rain, and Elaine's turbulent emotions were no different. Getting up, she resolved herself to finding someone who could explain the whole being-dead thing to her.