Ghost Kiss

Lily

     I'm so sore. I open my eyes. I squint at the bright lights in the room. Then suddenly they dim and I'm able to fully open my eyes again. I look around and there's a man I don't know standing in my room staring at me.

     "Who are you?" I ask, maybe he's another officer wanting to ask more questions. "You probably don't recognize me do you, Lily?" Ok, so this stranger knows my name. I'm unsure how I feel about it, but I'm not afraid either. Something about his eyes puts me at ease.

     "I don't but if I'm supposed to it would be nice if you would just enlighten me." I don't mean to sound snotty but I've been through enough as of late and I'm not in the mood for a guessing game.

     "You told me once that the reason you don't ask for help is because you spend your days trying to prove your mother wrong. You love your mother very much, of course, and she loves you. But you get tired of her thinking that you can't take care of yourself. So you do everything on your own. Including moving a mattress down the stairs with a bum wrist. Still sorry about that by the way."

     I stare at him, astounded. "Deacon?" He rushes to my bedside, grabs my hand, and brings it to his lips. "I'm here. I will always be here for you." I run my hand through his hair, "How are you here? How are you whole?" He laughs at my question but answers. "Let's just say my grandmother took care of me one last time. Oh, and she said to use Italian sausage in your chili instead of hamburger."

     "That makes sense." I nod. It's quiet for a minute. "Why am I still so sore?" I'm not sure if I want to know the answer to that question but I need to know. "Your cheek is swollen and your eye is black and blue. You have bruises all over your body from when you fell through the table. And you have scratches."

     There's a knock at the door. We both look up. "Mom! Dad!" Deacon immediately leaves my side to make room for my parents. Me and my mom both start crying as I reach for her and she rushes to me. She wraps me in a hug and I don't even complain about the pain. I'm so happy my parents are here. I can feel my dad holding my hand behind mom's back, he kisses it and rests his forehead on it.

     After a good minute, my parents finally released me. "I'm so sorry, I wasn't trying to hurt you. We got here as fast as we can." My mom says through her tears. "That's right sweet pea." My dad says, still not a man of many words. "The officer told us vaguely what happened and we don't need the details. What happened to the man who did this to you? I sure hope he's not just out walking around." My mom asks me, but I have no answer for her. I don't know what happened. I've only just woken up.

     "Ma'am, sir, the man responsible for this is currently sitting in a psych ward. He insists that a ghost launched him across the room and roared at him." Deacon says as he gives me a wink. I try to hold in my laughter. Good riddance.

     Both my parents turn to Deacon, my mom the first to ask "Who is this, Lily?" I don't know what to tell her. Who is Deacon to me? He seems to sense my hesitation, "I'm Dane, ma'am. Dane Fernsen. Lily and I met at her work." Dane? He looks at me with an 'I will explain everything later' look.

     "Oh ok, she never mentioned you in any of our phone calls." My mom looks down at me. "Sorry Mom, nothing really to tell."

     It's left at that as the doctor walks in the room and announces that visiting hours are over and I need to rest. My parents give me one last hug and leave. Deacon, or I guess Dane, stays behind. "Sorry Lily but I have to change my name, it would be kinda weird to have the same name as a man who is supposed to be dead living in the same house he lived in." I nod because it makes sense.

     "I'll see you again, right? Your not, like, leaving me?" He leans down and leaves a ghost of a kiss on my lips. "You're never getting rid of me, Lily." I smile at him. I never want to either.