by Sean Hayden
She nodded and picked my sister up gently. She banished her wings before walking though the front door. I peeked out around her and saw her pink bug in the driveway as the police cruisers started pulling away from the curb. Good. Let’s see what else I have to deal with.
I changed back to my human-seeming self and ran upstairs to find Mom and Dad asleep in their bed. I checked for wounds but didn’t see anything. Brett must have done something to them though. I shook Dad over and over until his eyes opened.
“What, Connor?”
“Are you two, okay?”
“Yeah. We’re fine! Go back to bed.”
“Okay, pop. G’night,” I said and kissed him on the forehead. I’d tell him about Caelyn in the morning. As I passed my room, my phone started ringing. Great. What now?
I opened my door and ran to the phone. “Hello?”
“Conrad?”
“Mr. James?”
“Yes, it’s me. Jessica asked me to call you. We’re at the hospital.” His voice cracked. “I think you should come down here…It doesn’t…it doesn’t look good. I think it’s time.”
I didn’t say anything. I dropped the phone and ran. I ran downstairs, I ran past Darius, and I ran out the front door. I probably would have run all the way to the hospital if I hadn’t remembered I could fly. I took off and flew straight to Jessie.
I landed some ways away and turned human. I ran straight up to the emergency room doors and almost crashed into a man in a wheelchair trying to get out.
“Sorry,” I mumbled and moved around him. The waiting room was full of people, including Clarisse. She stood as soon as she saw me. “They took her inside. I think they’re giving her a transfusion. I told her she cut her neck on some barbed wire.”
“Thank you, Clarisse. I’m here for Jessie.”
“Oh. Is she…okay?”
“Not according to her father. I need to get inside.”
“Okay. I’ll be here. Waiting.”
I nodded and otherwise ignored her. I saw a door leading into the interior of the emergency room and headed for it. A rather unpleasant, large, elderly woman sat at the desk next to it.
“You can’t go in there, young man,” she said without looking up.
“Please, my girlfriend is in there.”
“Immediate family only.”
“My sister is in there, too.”
That caused her to look up from her rather archaic looking computer. “What’s her name?”
“Caelyn Sullivan.”
She punched in a few keys. “They have her in ICU. You’re not allowed in there right now. Are your parents coming?”
“Um, I don’t think they know yet. Please, I have to see them…her.”
“Young man, if you don’t take a seat I can promise you one thing–
Enough. “Let me in,” I said.
“Go right ahead, young man. Your sister is all the way at the end of the hall in room 113. I’m sure she’ll be fine.”
“Thank you,” I said and opened the door. Rows of little rooms with curtains half closed offered a little bit of privacy for the sick and injured people waiting to see the doctors, but not much. I glanced in each one as I passed. I didn’t see my sister or Jess in any of them.
“Who are you looking for?” I looked up at a nurse behind a large desk in the center of the enormous ER. “Jessica James,” I said.
Her face darkened in sadness. “She’s in room 112 in ICU. Follow me. I’ll take you to her.”
“Thank you,”
She took me back to the rear exit of the ER and into another corridor. Larger rooms with doors lined either side. She took me to the one with a plaque that read 112.
Mr. James sat in a rather uncomfortable looking chair next to a curtained off bed. I could see feet under the blanket, but that was it. He nodded at the nurse and she left me standing there in the doorway.
I swallowed and walked in. The closer I got to the curtain, the more of Jessie I could see. I peeked around the corner and prayed she would be awake.
My heart sank. She was almost the same color as Brett after I had ripped his soul from his body. Hot tears rolled down my cheeks. My heart started beating again slowly. I inched my way closer to the bed and with each inch, my despair grew. My mouth opened and a low moan escaped.
“No, no, no…” It was the only word I was capable of saying.
“I’m sorry, Connor,” Mr. James said and put his face in his hands.
“What happened?”
“She was fine when we got home. I sent her to bed. A few minutes later she called me upstairs. She said she didn’t feel good. When I went to put my hand on her head, she collapsed.”
“Why?”
“The doctors have no idea. They said all of her major organs are shutting down one by one. She’s breathing on her own, but they have a respirator ready in case her lungs fail, too. They said the only thing strong is her heart.”
As soon as he said it, the monitor attached to Jessie started blaring. Mr. James closed his eyes. I sank to the floor.
A team of nurses and doctors scrambled into the room wheeling carts of medical equipment.
“Code blue, ICU. Code blue, ICU,” rang out over the speakers in the hall.
Mr. James and I were pushed out into the hallway by angry looking nurses. They left the door open, but completely blocked our view of Jess with the curtain hanging from the ceiling. The hot tears burning their way down my face flowed faster.
“There’s nothing we can do?”
“Nothing I haven’t already tried. There’s nothing left to do. How could I have been so selfish? I utterly loved her mother. She wanted a child. I knew what would happen, and I did it anyway. This is all my fault…”
“Don’t. You have a wonderful daughter, Mr. James. We both know this isn’t the end. You’ll see her again.”
“I know. But it won’t be the same. She’ll either be as we are now, or a perfect soul. Have you ever seen a soul, Connor? They’re not the same. They’re…they’re…they care almost nothing for what they were. When the body dies, part of them dies, too. It’s just not the same. I just hope she’s strong enough to become one of the Chosen. At least then she’ll have a chance. Either way, I’ve lost my little girl.”
I put my hand on his arm, at a loss as to what else to say.
The blaring machines in the room silenced. Mr. James and I stood in the hallway and waited. Medical technicians started wheeling equipment out of the room. With each passing person I cried a little harder. The nurses came next shaking their heads. Finally the doctor on duty came out and ushered us farther down the hallway. Mr. James was having trouble standing upright.
“Is she?” I looked up at Jess’ father and my heart went out to him. I had no desire to live whatsoever. I could only imagine the pain he felt.
“I don’t know how to say this…”
Mr. James collapsed in the middle of the hospital hallway floor. “No…”
“No!” I looked at the doctor. “Oh, my God, I am so sorry. You misunderstood me. She’s fine!”
“Huh?” I did a double take.
“What?” Mr. James leaned up and grabbed the doctor’s lab coat.
“I didn’t know how to say that apparently she’ll be fine! She stopped breathing and her body sort of… rebooted itself?”
“What are you trying to say, doctor?” Mr. James stared at him. The doctor’s face went blank.
I guess he wants the truth without the emotion.
“The girl started breathing again on her own. Her EEG returned to normal. All of the other monitors showed all of her organ functions returning to normal. Throughout everything her heart never wavered once. It actually started pumping stronger as everything else started shutting down. It’s what kept her alive the whole time.”
For the first time since the park, I smiled. “Can we see her?”
The doctor turned and looked at me. He shook his head to clear it. “Um, yes. She’s wide awake.
Her f
ather and I ran into the room. Jessie smiled at the sound of our footfalls. She turned and opened her eyes and looked at us. “Hi, Dad. Hi, Connor.”
I smiled and crossed the rest of the room. Her eyes followed my every move. I paused when as realized it. “You can–"
She smiled. It was the most beautiful smile I'd ever seen.
“See you? Yup. Damn you’re cute.”
I must have fainted a little. The floor was cold. I felt it through the tattered remains of my shirt. Cold linoleum sucks. I looked over at the bed at Jessie who was leaning over the side and laughing.
Her dad took the opportunity of my sudden incapacitation to run to the bed and scoop his daughter in his arms. “Oh, Jessica. I love you, baby girl.”
“I love you, too, Daddy. But you’re crushing me.”
“I don’t care. Don’t ever scare your father like that again."
She giggled. “I won’t. Daddy. I can see!”
“I know. I heard. How?”
“The doctor said my body healed itself. They said they have never seen anything like it.”
“He said your heart kept you alive through everything. They said it refused to quit.”
Jessie pulled back from her dad. I stood and she gave me a funny look and started laughing.
“What?” I couldn’t believe she was laughing.
“You saved me!”
“Ha ha, Jess. How did I save you?”
“Don’t you remember, silly? We traded. It was your heart that kept me alive.”
Epilogue
Mr. James patted me on the back and I kissed Jessie on the forehead. She snuggled into the hospital bed and smiled.
“I love you, Jess. I’ll be back tomorrow morning to check on you.”
“Okay, baby. You heard the doctor. I’ll be home on Monday.”
“I know, but I’m still going to come see you tomorrow.”
“You better.”
I laughed. “I will, baby. Get some sleep. Good night, Mr. James.”
“Good night, Connor,” he said and relaxed in his chair. I wanted to spend the night with Jess, but he insisted he would. I don’t think seven tractor-trailers could have dragged him from his spot. I gave them one last smile and stepped out into the hall. The placard on the wall next to the door across from Jess’ room caught my attention. 113.
Caelyn!
I smiled guiltily and went to go check on her. Her room was empty. I shrugged and left to go find Clarisse. They'd probably discharged her and they were in the waiting room, pissed I hadn’t come out yet. I walked back through the ER and through the door guarded by the big scary nurse. I smiled at Clarisse when she saw me come through the door. Then I saw her and saw her tear streaked eyes…
“Where’s Caelyn?” I looked around for my bratty sister.
“Oh, Connor…I’m so sorry.”
“Don’t even joke, Clarisse. Seriously, where is she?”
“Young man?”
I turned and saw the scary nurse. She looked sad. Don’t tell me they got her in on the joke! I’m going to kill the both of them. “Yes,” I said, playing along.
“Your parents are here. They’re waiting in the main hospital lobby for you.”
I looked back at Clarisse. She was full on crying and looking everywhere but at me. “Clarisse?”
“Connor, she…she lost too much blood. They couldn’t save her,” she said and started sobbing. She stood and wrapped her arms around me.
“No. Come on, this isn’t funny. Where is she?”
“Connor, please. I would never joke about that. Come on, sweetie. Let’s go find your parents.
She took my hand and led me through the corridors of the hospital. The emergency room was in the back with the main entrance was in the front. I didn’t remember anything as she brought me to the lobby. We must have passed a hundred people and a hundred doors. I didn’t see anything but my feet hitting the floor.
“Connor!” My mom’s voice cut through the haze filling my head.
“Mom?” I ran to her and started crying on her shoulder. She held me tight as I cried. My father came over and put his arms around the both of us. They started crying, too. Dad was the first to pull away.
“Do you want to say goodbye? They waited for you,” my dad said.
I nodded and he took me back inside the hospital. We turned right instead of left and walked down a hallway that felt a little darker than the other ones I'd already passed through. At the end of the hall ominous looking double-doors stood closed. I looked at the wall and read the word "morgue". Each footfall sounded like the beat of a drum, getting louder the closer we got. The doors opened automatically as we approached. My father stood behind me with his hands on my shoulders as we passed through the doors.
Caelyn was there.
She'd been laid out on a table and draped with a sheet. The closer we got I kept watching for signs of breathing. She didn’t move at all. She had no color either. Her lips were a pale purple and her skin was porcelain white.
“I’ll let you say goodbye. I’ve already done it, and honestly, I can’t do it again.”
I patted my dad’s hand to let him know it was okay and I heard him walk away and through the doors of the morgue. I reached out and touched Caelyn’s arm. Her skin was hard and ice cold under my finger tips.
“Caelyn, I’m so sorry. I thought you were okay! I’m so sorry!” I put my arm on the table and buried my head in my elbow and cried. It was all my fault. If I'd known she was that badly hurt I would have been there for her!
I must have cried myself out. The tears stopped falling and I breathed in through my nose. I stood up and looked down at my baby sister lying there. I kissed my fingertips and touched her forehead.
“Goodbye, brat,” I whispered.
“Stop calling me brat.”
Caelyn’s eyes opened. Her irises were blood red. She gave me an impish smile and bared her fangs.
Little sisters suck…
Other works by Sean Hayden
The Demonkin Series:
-Origins
-Deceptions
The Magnificent Steam Carnival of Professor Pelusian Minus
Series: (Co-authored with Connor Hayden)
-First Flight
-Second Chance
-Third Time
-Fourth Stand (Available 2012)
Lady Dorn
The Games We Play
Her Majesty's Mysterious Conveyance (Anthology)
-Queen of the Travelers
A Very Scary Christmas (Anthology)
-The Ghost of Christmas Last
Flashy Fiction and Other Insane Tales (Anthology)
Sean Hayden's Biography
Born the son of a fire chief, Sean naturally developed a love of playing with fire. His family and friends quickly found other outlets for his destructive creativity. Writing is his latest endeavor.
Always a fan of the macabre, mythical, and magical, Sean found a love of urban fantasy and horror. After writing several novels in this genre, he found, fell in love with, and immersed himself in steampunk. He has always wanted to rewrite history and steampunk gave him that opportunity.
Sean currently lives in Florida as a fiber‐optic engineer as well as an author. He was blessed with the two most amazing children he could ever hope for, has met the absolute love of his life, who coincidentally is his partner in everything. His hobbies include grand designs on world domination as well as a starring role in his own television sitcom.
www.seanhayden.org
Table of Contents
My Soul to KeepAll Rights Reserved
My Soul to KeepAll Rights Reserved
Dedication
Special Thanks
Prologue
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
; Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Epilogue
Other works by Sean HaydenThe Demonkin Series:-Origins-Deceptions
Sean Hayden's Biography