SPASE

SPASE: CHAPTER TWELVE

Maddie wakes up with their back to the grass. The ground is always cold and wet, further jolting Maddie back to reality. At least the reality that they know right now. The dew doesn't soak their clothes, but it makes them damp enough to cool Maddie off as soon as they sit up. Maddie looks around with swollen, wet eyes.

"Was it a dream? That was it. I simply had fallen asleep, dreamt that I had seen my body, Melissa, the whole damn thing, right? Nick? Reynolds?" Maddie says. "Say something!"

The thing is, Maddie doesn't remember falling asleep.

"Woah, where the hell did you go?" Nick says, amazed. "Like, one second you were over there, and then you were a mist. You fucking disappeared! Then you came back and you were lying down over here."

Nick continues to talk to make sense of the situation, pacing back and forth. Reynolds and Maddie watch Nick as he freaks out, throwing his hands up in the air and scratching his head.

"I was. I was. I think I went back," Maddie interrupts.

"What do you mean back?" Nick questions. "That's not normal! None of this is fucking normal!"

"Back. I saw my body in the hospital. Melissa was there, talking to me," Maddie cries through wet eyes, turning their head from side to side. It's as if they are looking for something or someone. They turn around and Reynolds is still there, sitting patiently for them. He is a constant in Spase for Maddie.

Those in comas that have not passed on have the ability, sweet girl, to see both sides at once. It's part of how the soul stays grounded to the body, even when it seems out of sight, Reynolds explains.

Maddie appreciates how Reynolds can talk to them, and only them. Maddie wonders what Nick would think if he could hear Reynolds too.

"Nick would totally flip if he heard you talking, you know?" Maddie relays to Reynolds.

Like he already hasn't done that, Reynolds jokes.

"Have you been able to do it too?" Maddie asks Nick. If he is like Maddie, he should be able to do it too.

Nick scratches his chin, thinks for a moment, and parts his mouth as if he is going to speak. Even after searching for the right words, for the first time in his life, he is actually at a loss for words.

Maddie looks at Reynolds. Reynolds is just about to relay something to Maddie when Nick finally speaks.

"What, go see my body, well yeah. I have done it a few times..." Nick abruptly says. It isn't like Nick to stumble on his words like that. He is either lying, or he's not saying what he is really thinking. Maddie shrugs it off. Everything is new to him too.

Reynolds lets out a low growl as Nick tapers off his thought.

Are you going to tell him? That you're the Guide? Reynolds says through his teeth. His tail curls up toward the sky to let Maddie know that he is alert.

Maddie looks at Reynolds again. Something deep inside Maddie's gut tells them to keep the details to themselves, knowing that there is no way in hell that Nick could believe Maddie is chosen for the job and not him. Telepathically, Reynolds urges Maddie to speak up anyway.

"So, that Guide person that the guy in the Cub's cap... his name was Jimmy right?" Maddie states, clearing their throat. "What else did he say? Did he describe what the Guide was supposed to look like?" Maddie attempts to take the attention off of themselves and begin a new conversation.

Nick looks at Maddie like they're stupid. But it works.

"Yeah, that's what I said I think. He was a pretty cool dude..." Nick nods to himself. "Why do you wanna know? Honestly, since we're not really dead, I think we can just get out of here by ghosting, or whatever you're doing, and just jump into our bodies or something. Right? There has to be something that we can do."