Death's Captive: Will she escape eternal confinement?

CHAPTER 11

TING!

I open my eyes, and I'm in Emergency again. The problem with Emergency is it can be hard to figure out who is going to need my help to pass on. I can see Dr Matthews tending to a patient out of the corner of my eye, but I sense her patient isn't the one for me. I glide around the room, not feeling the regular pull of a spirit in need.

I stand off the side and close my eyes, breathe deeply and try to tune in to the familiar sensation. I can feel something, but it's faint. Suddenly the Emergency doors burst open and paramedics hurry towards the operating rooms. Nurse Susie moves beside the cart and trots along with them down towards the operating theatres.

"Here's your stabbing victim. We called ahead for an OR. We can't stop the bleeding"

"OR two is expecting you!" Susie calls after them, then turns back to Emergency.

I hear a faint response of thanks from down the corridor. My body feels pulled towards the victim, and I immediately go into auto response. I sit on the patient's bed and we're wheeled towards the OR. He's a dark-skinned male in his mid-thirties; his breathing is short and quick. He sees me sitting at the bed of the trolley bed.

"Hi," I wave at him, feeling a little awkward. The man licks his thick, parched lips and turns his head away from me.

"I'm not done yet," he manages to squeeze out between gasps.

"If I'm here, it's your time." I reply softly.

"I have a wife and kids. I'm not leaving!" The man looks directly me. "You hear me?! I'm not ready to die!" He says.

My mouth turns into a hard line. It's worse when they fight against me. It feels a bit like I'm killing them, and I don't like it. The paramedic pushing the bed thinks the patient is talking to him, and responds in reassuring tones. "Don't worry; we're going to get you fixed up! We're not going to let you die."

The surgeon is already scrubbed and waiting as our trolley bursts into the OR. The patient is hooked up to machines and the nurse finds a vein on his dark hand and pushes in a sedative. I feel the man's heart slow as if it's my own heart. I know it's time. I rest my hand on his chest and push through to retrieve his soul, but it's still anchored to his body.

The surgeons are moving about me trying to stop the bleeding. "I need three units of O negative in here!" someone calls. I can still hear the bell in my head, and it feels right, it is his time. His blood pressure has dropped, alarms are sounding, and the doctors and nurses are working furiously to locate the bleed. I straddle the body and put another hand into his chest and pull hard.

"Found the bleed! Cauterising."

The man's spirit is slowly coming out of his body; his head is out and his spirit looks older than the body it's occupying. A wrinkled spirit face with bulging eyes screams at me. "Bitch, I told you! I ain't going! Let go!"

I squeal and let go in shock.

"His BP is stabilising. Good job everyone."

The OR is still tense, but there's a collective sigh of relief, a sense that the worst is over. They continue to work on the man, their hands poking through my body as I straddle him. I feel shocked to my core.

"It happens sometimes." I turn to the voice. Niklaus is leaning against the wall. He walks over to me, presents his hand to help me climb down off the bed. "Why don't you ever straddle me like that?"

I'm too shocked to retort to his lewd comment. I accept his hand unthinkingly.

"What just happened?" I ask Niklaus.

"The man's soul is very old. His conscious mind doesn't remember his past lives or that he's died before. But his soul does, and his soul will remain bound to his body for as long as it can."

"Why?" I whisper.

"If you've died before, your spirit becomes more self-aware. When it comes close to the end of its cycle it can hold on tighter to its body in this world if it doesn't want to leave."

"How many times has that soul died?"

Niklaus closes his eyes and breaths deeply. "Sixteen times that I know of, and none have them have been lives lived well."

"Hmm, no wonder he wants to keep a tight hold on this one." I say sadly.

The surgeons are still working on the patient. We stand by the white wall looking on.

"I didn't mean to leave so abruptly the other morning. I was called by the bells." Niklaus says.

I ignore his apology. "Can we get out of here? Out of this room?"

"Sure." Niklaus takes my hand and intertwines his fingers into mine. He walks ahead of me and leads me to the gravel path outside the hospital.

A/N

Sorry for the late update, it was Melbourne Cup day in Australia so it was a full on day at work. If you don't want to wait for the next update which happens every second week then you can purchase the full book on Amazon and binge to your heart's desire!