Heavenly Fire

Chapter 6

Aaron paced to and fro within the hospital room, noticing the blatant absence of his so-called 'family'. Bare and empty, the room was just depressing. Not even a card in sight to show anybody cared whether he lived or died. The room seemed cold, as bitter as Aaron felt. The number of people that must have died in that very room made Aaron shiver to the core. Those restless ghosts that must linger at twilight.

He thought back to the world he had just awoken from, but was that all it was? Was it all really just a dream? Had he imagined the whole thing? Could it be his meeting with demons and devils was just a fear of his own imagination? A part of him wanted to and almost did believe that it was all just a lie, a water-logged dream. But a desperate ounce of him hoped for it to be a reality. The guy, the shadow Aaron had met, promised him power and strength. He would live an eternal life of youth working under the Devil's Knave.

The thought though, if he was to remain dead, If his life was to truly end the moment he hit that lake, he would still be in the pits of hell. If his life was to cease, at just the age of 19, his soul would be damned. Did that mean he was evil? Did that mean his soul was dark, doomed to corrupt those he loved? Well that was impossible, there was nobody in his life left to love. His parents had ignored him from the age of 9, sending Aaron into a stage of rebellion in hopes of obtaining their fragile attention for even a second. His friends were the kind you see in the streets and ignore any form of communication, refusing to acknowledge them in the shame of being associated with thug- like students. And the only person he truly cared about, the only person in the world he loved more than himself, was his older sister who had left him in the worst possible way. Death.

He wondered if she had been in Hell, if he had walked past her without knowing. But he knew too well, she couldn't be. Her heart was soft and pure. Dani was the kindest of them all. Her untimely death was just an act of stupidity, weakness. Her hand forced into an act her boyfriend encouraged. The very thought of Robert Surrey made Aaron's blood bubble, it was though he could feel the air rise beneath his veins and burn through the skin. His body burned with hate and for just a second he was sure he saw fire course along his veins.

"I need to get out of here..." He said, but with no clothes he was trapped. He would not leave that hospital with nothing but a pathetically fragile piece of cloth.

Looking around he searched for his clothes, all in vain. The room was neat and pristine, so much so it made him feel sick. It was too clean. The draws were empty and the wardrobe bare, not a spec of dust nor clothing in sight. Looking into the en suite bathroom, he hoped for a miracle, luck would prevail. Behind the door hung a heap of flannel like cotton that between his fingers felt rough and coarse. As he brought the heap down he realised it was a dressing gown. Although, he wondered why on earth anyone would wear something of such bad quality. The cotton was frayed in multiple places and the cream colour it once was had faded into a gravel grey, decorated with tattered holes. Clearly it had be worn before and Aaron wouldn't of been too surprised to hear if it had never been washed.

He looked upon it with high distaste but saw no other choice. Slipping in a reluctant arm and another, he pulled it over his hospital garment and pottered barefoot into the corridor. The muffled sounds of patient-doctor consultations carried along the almost empty halls. All that accompanied the bare white walls and the sickly floor was the occasional vacant wheel chair or hospital bed, usually empty. Doctors and nurses wandered mindlessly past him, too focused on their routine to notice a stray patient with a mission to escape.

Walking into a waiting room he was surrounded by idle chatter and sputtering coughs, the groans of illness and sighing parents. Many turned and observed as he emerged through the doors before turning back to their own dilemmas.

" 'scues me..." He said to the receptionist, who absently skimmed through this week's Woman magazine.

"Yes, sugar?" Val said as Aaron read her name badge. Her grey hair curled down to her shoulders in tight rings and her face sagged with age around her pale eyes and wrinkles wrapped around her bright pink lips. Her yellowing teeth barely looked believable; he cringed as they starred at him with the stains of lipstick.

"I'm looking for Gracie McIntyre?"

Val turned to her computer with fingers tap tap tapping against the keys, a click of the mouse every other second. "I'm sorry, only family visits today."

"I am family." Aaron interjected quickly. "We're cousin's. We grew up together. More like brothers really." He added with a feigned yet surprisingly sincere smile, "I say 'brothers', our Gracie never was the most lady like of girls. Always one of the guys."

Val starred him down, her grey eyes piercing his but Aaron stood his ground and stood by his story. Seeming convinced she slowly nodded her head and looked back toward the screen. "Down the corridor make a left, follow down to the end of the corridor, turn right. There's another reception desk in that hospital wing, they'll take you from there."

"Thank you." He smiled formally with a gracious nod.

Following the instructions he finally came to the second reception desk, only this time there was some male nurse dressed in blue with a stethoscope hanging around his neck filing out paper work. A male nurse, Aaron smirked, what a dick! Working a woman's job because he simply wasn't good enough to be a doctor, classic.

"Can I help you?" His voice asked simply, not even looking up from the clip board in his hand as he ticked and signed across numerous papers.

"I'm looking for a patient here, my cousin actually, Gracie McIntyre?"

"She expecting you?"

"Yes, I called her parents this morning letting them know I was visiting"

"So this was a planned visit?" the nurse interrogated, distaste plain on his face. He was a young man, not much older than Aaron he guessed. His hair dark and skin contrasting pale, it made him seem mysterious.

"Yep." Aaron exclaimed with a certainty that dared anyone one to question it.

"Then why are you dressed in nothing but hospital scrubs and a dressing gown." He preached.

Aaron face dropped like a piano falling from the skies. He had forgotten how ridiculous he looked, how vile his attire screamed.

"Son, I know your sort. Your here to mess around and cause trouble with the nurses, disturb a few patients and just generally make yourself feel better by raking havoc amongst other people's days. Now I suggest you take your self back to your ward before I call hospital security."

"Look, the girl that saved me is somewhere behind then doors and somehow I need to thank her, so please just let me through." Aaron could barely believe himself as the words tumbled from his lips, they couldn't be his. He didn't think a word of what he just said but escaped as an eruption of sound. Perhaps he had hit head first against the ice and lost a few brain cells his body forgot to replace. The words spoken seemed too... heartfelt to be his own, too emotional to come from him but they were his. He needed to thank this girl, for saving his body from the icy grips without regards for her own life, the silly bitch. But how could he thank her: words, money, presents? "Thank you" wasn't a word often found in Aaron's vocabulary so when it's need came, he wasn't sure how to use it.

The nurse looked at him with piercing eyes, hard as stone as they glared into his soul looking for any hint of dishonesty in his truth. With a sigh, the nurse buzzed him through with the allowance of 30 minutes to say his dues then he would be escorted back to his own room.

"Down the hall, fourth bed on the left."