After Life

Chapter 2

Drifting from hallway to hallway, she realized that her plan was easier said than done. Nurses ran back and forth, and, right as she felt that someone was looking at her, they called out to someone else. Not to mention, many workers passed through her. After the first time that happened, Elaine resolved herself to not let that happen again. It was just too weird.

It was half past three in the morning when she finally got something. There weren't any visitors, and the hospital was mostly deserted. So, when a doctor looked up at her general area and then immediately looked back down at his report, she figured that he saw her. Success!

"You can see me; I know you can. So tell me what's going on," she demanded, impatient to have an answer.

The doctor ignored her, which only served to add fuel to her anger.

"Listen here, Doctor," she looked at his name-tag, "Kirshner, I have been trying to find out why I am still around when, for all intents and purposes, I died. There's supposed to be a white light, but nooooo I get the dull doctor that refuses to even look me in the eye. So, if you can look away from your precious report for one moment, I would really appreciate it," she huffed out.

"Nair," he whispered.

"I beg your pardon? What did you just call me?"

"Not you," he clarified, finally looking up from his report, "my surname is pronounced Kirsh-nair. Besides, the light at the end of the tunnel only happens to some people. There are as many different ways to get to the afterlife as there are people in the living world."

"So if there are so many ways to get to the afterlife, why am I not there? Am I just going to dissolve spontaneously and end up there?"

Dr. Kirshner pondered the question for a bit, chewing on the end of his pen while doing so. "No, I do not think so. Most likely, something went wrong on your way over, and that's why you're stuck here."

"Am I a ghost now?" Elaine asked, suddenly fearful, "I don't want to be stuck here, where no one can see me, forever. If I don't cross over to the other side, then I'll never see my fathers again."

The reality of what she said sunk in. Her fathers will never see her again. Sure she could try and find them, but could she handle them not being able to see her? Did she really want to haunt them for the rest of their lives?

The doctor led her over to a chair, where he comforted her to the best of his ability. Admittedly, he did not have very good bedside manner. 

"Just because you're still here right now, doesn't mean that you'll be here forever. Most 'ghosts' are just residual emotions, not actual people."

Regardless of the comforting words, Elaine didn't feel better. But, she was good with puzzles, and that's what she decided to focus on. Why was she still here and not in the afterlife?

 Was she compartmentalizing? Probably. Was it working? Yes.