Death's Captive: Will she escape eternal confinement?

CHAPTER 21

We appear in the long corridor that leads to Albert's room. Niklaus pulls me by the hand and we glide through the dark silence until we're both standing at the foot of Albert's bed.

I grasp Albert's hand and say to Niklaus, "I don't want his soul torn up. Even if it's damaged."

Niklaus gives me a look of slight consternation, then nods, knowing he won't change my mind about this.

"What happens if I just leave him like this? Maybe he'll wake up one day?"

Niklaus looks over the body and shakes his head, "If you leave him he'll have to be torn up later. His soul will wither as his body dies. Once torn up he'll be dispersed back into the universe; his energy could reoccur at any time in humanity's timeline – past present or future. But it'll need time to heal first, and that could take centuries."

"So, I'm never going to see him again?" I ask.

"No, it's not likely. Most souls continue along the timeline, once they're on the other side they can remember all the lives they've lived, having previously lived in the past they're able to go back if they want. This soul may want to relive the decades he missed out on."

"Will I get to pass on to the other side Niklaus?"

Niklaus seems caught off guard by this question. "I don't know. I don't even know if you'll get an afterlife. I don't know of anyone being stuck like you before."

"If you really loved me you'd try to get me out of here."

Niklaus clears his throat and looks down at his feet. "But I don't want to." His voice is so soft, I can barely hear him. He looks up at me and says, "I'm sorry."

"No, you're not Niklaus. You don't know what this existence is like."

"I can imagine."

"I think you should go Niklaus. I want to say goodbye to Albert before I do it."

Without even looking back I know Niklaus is gone.

Still holding Albert's withered hand, I talk to him one last time about all that has happened in the hospital. I tell him I kissed Dr Reeves junior and that it evoked visions of Dr Reeves Senior. I share the significance of remembering that little piece of my former self and how it changed my outlook on being trapped within this hospital. I mutter my thanks to him for being the one constant that I've been able to keep coming back to, and I hope my visits have given him some comfort. I look at his familiar face one last time then stand over him and reach into his chest and pull. It's much harder work than the usual reaping, because this person isn't on the edge of death, but Albert's soul comes out of his body and now he is young again, with only a few gashes on his soul, but nothing compared some others I've helped pass over. While holding onto his soul I sever the blue silk that still anchors him to his body. The machines around him begin to whoop and screech. Once released from its body, his essence takes on the form of a young man in a military uniform. I lead him away into the corridor, to save our ears from the assault of the alarms, so that I can say my final goodbyes. I look at him and open my mouth to speak but he interjects.

"Thank you for watching over me all these years. It was like I had my own guardian angel."

"You could sense I was here?"

He nods. "I enjoyed hearing about everything that was happening in the hospital. It was the only distraction I had from the misery of being trapped inside myself."

Relief washes over me and I feel blessed that I was able to give some comfort to him.

"I want tell you something. About you."

I feel perplexed. "About me?"

"About the day you died. I was there."

Fearing that the afterlife will take him too soon I snatch at his hands. "Tell me!"

"You were my nurse during the war. You were caring for me before I became unconscious. I was badly injured and you were taking down my information. That's why you know my name is Albert. Albert Abbernathy. I was muttering my name to you when you were shot."

I can see a glimmer of light over his shoulder and I squeeze his hands tight. "What happened?"

Albert seems to sense the urgency in my voice, and speaks in a rush. "A man in the bed opposite awoke in a panic and thought he was still on the field. There were soldiers everywhere – it was chaos. He grabbed the gun from the officer who was assigned to watch over him and shot at random. You were hit and so was an orderly. His wound was superficial, but yours was fatal."

I search Albert's face and try to dredge up memories. I remember the blood splatter hitting Albert's face. My blood. I remember seeing his panicked face as I fell to my knees. The next thing I remember is waking in the corridor outside of the ward with Niklaus's hand on my thigh, and screaming as he dragged me further down the corridor. His attempts to console me. My fear and panic at what I thought was harassment. Nothing was going to comfort me at that time. Nobody could see me and I could touch nothing. I cried, screamed and fought against Niklaus for hours until I was exhausted and nothing made sense.

The light is getting brighter, and forming the shape of a portal. I can sense Albert is resisting looking behind him. He looks at me with an intensity that I don't expect. "I don't know how you ended up like this – why you assumed Death's role, but I want to help you."

My heart jumps. "Help me? How?"

Albert shakes his head. "I don't know yet. I don't know what's on the other side, but when I get there I'll do something for you if I can."

My heart sinks a little. "If you can remember to help me, that is. Once you see the light..."

Albert grips my hands. "Because of you these gashes in my soul aren't deep. I wasn't left idle for decades. I had company that kept me from screaming from within. I want to help you as you have helped me."

From the fully formed portal comes a chorus of cheers, with streamers and confetti falling out of the light and evaporating once it touching the ground on this side. A hero's homecoming. Albert stands stiffly and salutes me. I give a haphazard salute in reply. "On your way solider." I say with a sad smile.

Albert turns and marches into the light and I am left in a dark corridor with tears running down my face.

The whine of the machines around Albert's body seep back into my conscious mind. The nurses' station is at the end of the corridor, and only one nurse is usually stationed at it. He's a big burly man who rarely has to minister to his patients on this ward. I take a seat beside Albert's bed and wait for the nurse on duty to respond. He pokes his head in and presses the emergency buzzer and begins a half-hearted attempt at CPR. I sit back and watch as the on-call doctor pronounces Albert's frail body dead. I see the burly nurse prepare Albert's body so that it can be moved to the morgue by an orderly. The nurse strips the bed, wipes the machinery down and packs it away. Within a few hours it's like Albert was never there. I've known this day was coming but I don't cry like I thought I would. I just sit and watch as everything connected with Albert's existence is removed from the room. I stand and leave, knowing I did the right thing, and that Albert is in a better place.