A handful of pills flushed down the toilet and one long ambulance ride later and Andy lapsed into a coma. The doctors couldn’t understand why he wouldn’t wake up; the medicine he took was pumped out of his stomach and his health was otherwise nearly perfect. And Mellie realized, once again too late, that she had done the wrong thing, because Andy didn’t want to wake up.
“’Morning, Mel,” a voice says from behind her, deep and rich and distinctly male. Reece floats over to her and sits on the ground at her feet, looking up to see her face. She smiles – this is yet another development she didn’t expect.
“Hey,” she replies, waving at him. “How was your case last night?”
Reece shrugs. “Same old, same old. This one was an elderly gentleman, so at least he passed peacefully.”
Mellie nods and claps him on the shoulder, her hand hitting him with a dull thud. “Thanks. I’m sorry I’ve been out of commission lately. I’ll be back on my feet soon enough.”
“No worries. I don’t mind.”
And he really doesn’t. That’s the one thing Mellie didn’t count on – meeting a stray soul that might not want to move on. Reece is just fine with staying where he is, watching over his family from a distance and helping Mellie with her job. He’s been pulling more than his own weight since Terra left; Mellie hasn’t had to even lift a finger.
Maybe someday she can move on, too. She knows Reece would let her.
When Terra convinced Andy to stay alive, she also finally realized the regret she felt about killing herself. That was what was holding her back, and Mellie knew. That wasn’t the first suicide that had been resolved through regret, and she’s certain it won’t be the last.
That’s the thing about death – it doesn’t discriminate. Young, old, male, female, happy and sad and everything in between. Suicides are always the hardest, though; that fact never changes. They’re the hardest to watch, and the aftermath is never easy to deal with. She regrets not saving more people when she’s had the chance,
but she knows she doesn’t have the right to decide when a person
dies. Charlotte taught her that, and Terra reinforced it.
But she doesn’t regret saving Andy Nolan. More than anyone she’s met – maybe with the exception of Terra Spade – he deserved to live.
Hopefully this is the last Mellie will see of the Spades for a long time. Andy, though – she still plans on keeping an eye on him.
“I’ve got to go,” Reece says suddenly, his expression strained. The pulls have been getting stronger lately, but Mellie doesn’t know why. It’s been hard for her to resist them this past week, but she knows she needed the time off. Things were getting to be too much, and she’s no use to anyone running on empty.
“Wait.” Mellie pushes herself off of the ground and stands, hovering a few inches above the blowing grass. Reece stops halfway into a turn. “I’ll come with you.”
“You don’t have to do – ”
“I know,” she cuts him off gently. “But I should. I’ve taken enough time off already. And besides, I don’t wanna miss anything exciting.”
Reece grins and holds his hand out to her. She takes it and a spark of electricity runs up her palm and into her arm. Even after more than a decade, she still hasn’t gotten used to that feeling.
“Hey, you should be glad you’ve missed out on a few of them. Mr. Miller two days ago – that was rough. I didn’t even recognize him after I compared his soul to his body. But the little old man I met yesterday… You would have liked him. He was really
chatty. Said I reminded him of his grandson.”
Mellie smiles and follows him out of the cemetery. She takes one last look over her shoulder when she reaches the gate; she can’t read Charlotte’s headstone from here, but she knows the shape and position by heart. Terra’s stands out, three plots away, and she’s thankful she doesn’t have to visit Andy’s grave at the same time.
Reece guides her away, towards the other end of town. She can already feel the type of situation she’s about to see – a young woman with a lung condition that, in a few minutes, will stop her breathing. She’ll go to Heaven, and Mellie will get to see Charlotte again, just for a moment. She always looks forward to it.
Maybe someday she’ll join them – the mother and daughter she’s grown so attached to. She looks forward to that, too.
Abigail Collins is a twenty-four year old from North Dakota.
She has a beautiful daughter named Eden and a puppy named Mazie, and lives with her mother and their dog and cat,
Josie and Percy.
She enjoys reading, writing, painting, and watching
a variety of television shows. Her passion has always
been writing, and she hopes to become
a best-selling author someday.
Other books by Abigail:
Death March
Six Digit Passcode
A Thousand Paper Dragons
Death in Spades Page 26