Reunited (Secrets of the Soul, Book One)

Chapter Six

Cold shivers wracked Elijah Rogers' body, making it hard to do more than draw in ragged breaths. He'd been like this for weeks, and his hopes of recovering were getting slimmer by the day, bringing a cold dread to his stomach that was nearly painful. It cut so deep, it would have brought him to his knees, had he been able to do anything more than lie in the bed that now made up the boundaries of his world. He coughed hard, bringing a deep pain to his chest that made him want to scream in frustration.

***

"Breathe."

Stephanie's quiet, soothing voice weaved its way into his consciousness, but didn't fully penetrate the deep state she'd managed to put him in. It was almost scary—the loss of control, the feeling of having been pulled out of time. It was also fascinating to him, feeling that he was being split into pieces that he didn't even know existed. Right now, there was something else talking for him, one of the other pieces.

"I can't," he said. "it's too hard."

"Yes, you can," she encouraged. "Keep going. What are you seeing? What's your name?"

"I'm in a bed," he began. "My name is Elijah."

"Why are you in bed?"

"I'm sick. I have been for a few weeks, and it's getting worse."

"That must be scary," she said. "How old are you?"

"I'm twenty-three," he answered. "My birthday was last week."

"Can you tell me what exactly is wrong with you? How'd it happen?"

He swallowed hard, then said, "I've got pneumonia. Nothing anyone did helped, so I sent the doctor away. I couldn't stand it anymore. At least, I can sleep if he's not here trying some new thing. It doesn't hurt when I sleep."

"Can you tell me anything else?"

"I was stupid," he admitted. "I pushed myself too hard, too long. I had to."

"Why?" she asked. "What did you do, exactly?"

"I worked myself too hard, bad conditions. My family owns a farm, and they needed my help. They probably would've tried to push me anyway. I didn't tell anyone when I started getting sick, and it got worse."

"That's not so uncommon," Stephanie pointed out. "Lots of people do that."

A series of coughs wracked his body, making it impossible to respond. He tried to settle himself to speak again, but nothing would stop the assault that stole his breath and brought a throbbing pain to his chest.

"Jack, listen to me," Stephanie told me. "You are not that person anymore. This is a totally different time, different situation. Remember what I told you before we started—nothing you're seeing right now can actually hurt you. Not if you don't let it. Listen to me, okay? I'm telling you the truth. Do you want to keep going for now, or would you rather stop and take a break?"

Slowly, the coughing began to subside until he was able to speak. He took a breath, and then said with a raspy voice, "What did you just call me?"

"I called you Jack. It's your name now. Remember? Jack, I think you need to come back for a bit. Open your eyes."

The snapping of fingers followed, pulling Jack out of the deep trance he'd been in. He blinked, glancing from one to the other with wide eyes. "What was that?"

"That was you remembering something from the past. Don't judge it or try to explain it away, just accept it. That's important. If you can't trust what you're seeing, you're not going to get anywhere with this." She stood and took a seat beside him, taking hold of his hand. "Believe me, I know how hard this is to understand but you're lucky."