Show Me

16. Better & Better

Haha oops

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Oh. My. Gosh.

I did not just do that.

I did not just leave my body.

I did not heal when I left my body.

I can still go back.

It's not too late.

Oh, but it was.

The moment I stood up, I knew it. The moment my leg no longer hurt, and I didn't have a headache, and my arm seemed to pop painlessly back into place. When my ribs no longer made me feel like I was being stabbed.

That's when I knew it was too late. And Draven knew it, too. All because this black-haired boy in front of me couldn't understand what I meant, but it still wasn't his fault. I was delusional. He still had his hands in front of him, trying to get me to stop. But I didn't get it. His eyes are wide, and I shift my eyes to look at the door, where his mom is standing, staring at the both of us blankly.

"I'll just..." I start, my voice cracking while I waved my hands in no meaningful way between my body and me, "I'll just wait until my body heals, right?" I choked back a sob. Who knew how long that could be?

Draven didn't respond. Didn't move. Didn't blink. He just stared. I was starting to question if he was even breathing.

His mom made her way over to me, taking deliberately slow and easy steps, as if I could be easily startled. And, right now, I could be easily startled.

"Caitlin, sweetheart," she began, pausing to close her eyes, "you know how... how when you're here, you heal almost instantly?" I nod. "Well, that's because your soul is what heals. It contains all of, what your world's doctors call, your 'immune system.' Without your soul, your body can't..." she trailed off, waving her arms in front of her.

My body can't heal without my soul. I blinked twice. Stumbled. Sat down on the bed where my body lay seemingly next to me, but it was now further than it had ever been. I was pulled up and into a hug by Leah Anne.

"You can, however, get worse." she choked out. She sounded like she was about to break down. "Without your soul there, your body can get sick. Your arm never would've healed anyway. If your head hadn't have been bandaged it would've never stopped bleeding. Your body's brain isn't doing too well, Cally. The chance of you going comatose..." she stopped there, her voice breaking and her hand flying to her mouth to muffle a sob.

I couldn't say anything. Nothing at all. The doctors had said I was unstable. They said they weren't sure what was stopping me from slipping into a coma. Now I know. My soul. My will to live. But now...

Turning towards my body, I studied myself thoroughly for the first time since coming to the hospital. I was broken. Sleeping. Dead-looking. And...did I look paler than normal?

I went to bush a stray strand of hair that had fallen in front of my face, but my hand slipped through. I felt my knees wobble under me, and I heard footsteps rushing out of the room followed by soft sobs. I braced myself on the bed, turning back towards the door. I finally looked in front of me, at what was really in front of me, and saw Draven, only about a half step away. His face looked as if he was the one who was dying. I didn't realize I had been crying until he reached his hand to my face, like he did the first time I came to this dimension, but this time he wiped his thumb across my wet cheek.

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I didn't leave the hospital with Draven's mom, and therefore Draven didn't leave, either. He pulled and wheeled over another hospital bed for himself, and he just lies there, staring at the ceiling. I did basically the same thing, except every once in a while I sat next to my dad in the hospital chair and stared at him, or studied my unmoving seemingly sleeping form. I would only get choked up if I stared too long, though, so that didn't last very long.