Finding Jaime

Chapter 44

"Could he be like this forever?" Dad asked.

"He could. But honestly, if he's like this for the next three months, it's unlikely he'll ever wake up. Then it'll just be machines keeping him alive. We'll keep monitoring his brain activity, since that's our biggest concern right now, considering the amount of medication he took."

"I'm right here! I can hear you, douchebag!" I yelled. I got up and started pounding on the walls, ignoring the intense electric pain running through my body when I did that.

The scene on the screen changed. The picture was shaky and dim. Dad was gone but there were a lot of other people around shouting all sorts of instructions. I didn't understand any of them.

Suddenly, the screen went dark.

"Hey!" I yelled. "Turn that back on! What's going on? Where am I!?"

I heard a click behind me.

"You have choices to make, Jaime," a disembodied voice said.

"Who are you? And what do you mean about choices?" I asked to no one.

"Who I am is of no consequence to you. You do not need to know who I am. But you have choices to make. Your first choice is whether to leave the room or not."

"What happens if I leave the room?" I asked.

"If you choose to leave the room, you put into motion your destiny. In a way. You will, of course, be faced with more choices if you leave the room. Ultimately, where you wind up will be up to you."

"What do you mean by 'where I wind up'?" I asked.

"You chose to come here. You put into motion a set of circumstances that ultimately have changed the trajectory of your given life. Now, you must decide what you truly want."

"What does that even mean?" I asked.  "And who are you? And where are you?"

A figure in white appeared in front of me. If I had to describe him, he kind of looked like Jon Hamm, the actor. In a white t-shirt and white pants and white shoes.

"I am right here," he said. "I suppose, if you need to know who I am, I am your guide. And to some extent, your guardian. It is my job to assist you. But when it comes to decisions, I can not interfere. I can not guide your decision. I can not influence your decisions. I can only guide you towards your final destination, whichever you choose."

"I don't understand," I said

He looked at me with a raised eyebrow.

"I believe you understand exactly what I have laid out for you. We know a lot about you, Jaime Clarke. And we know why and how you got here. But we can not let you leave one way or the other, unless you make decisions here that will determine where, ultimately, you will end up."

"So, I'm choosing whether I want to live or die?"

"In a very ineloquent way, yes," Jon Hamm sad.

I stared at the man in front of me.

"Would I be able to be with my mom if I choose to stay here?"

"No. Your mother is in a place where you would not be allowed."

"Why not?"

"Because her death was not her choice. If you choose to remain here, you have made that choice against those who are tasked with following your path and who are tasked with easing you here when it is your predestined time. They cannot come here, either, so you won't meet your guides. You have only me as a guide.  And I'm only your guide because of the choice you made. My job is to guide people like you. Some choose to continue the path you took initially. Some return to your... realm? I have never been able to come up with a good description of where you were before you came here."

"Are you saying if I choose to stay here, my mom is in heaven and I'd be going to hell?"

"You mortals have very strange beliefs.  There is no such thing as this 'heaven' or 'hell'. You are not going to find yourself sitting in some fire and brimstone hellscape, nor will you find yourself in some garden or paradise. Although, your ultimate destination is influenced by how you lived."

"But I'm only 15. I haven't really lived much of a life," I said.

"And yet, you chose to come here. You chose to attempt to terminate yourself. This is not something that is considered a particularly honourable thing.  May I ask why you chose this route?"

I teared up.

"I miss my mom. My dad is mad at me for something stupid. I don't fit in anywhere anymore."

"These seem trivial and no reason to end what could have been an incredibly productive and rewarding life, had you simply given yourself the chance."

"What do you mean?"

"That is all the information I can actually give you. That is actually more than I am supposed to give someone like you. But, as you said, you are young. So I made the decision to give you some extra information," Jon Hamm said.

"What was that TV screen thing I saw?"

"That was what you were seeing in your ... world."

I didn't understand.

"But... they said I couldn't see. But I could. I saw my dad. He looked terrible," I said, more to myself.

"Humans have very little understanding of humans," he said.

"That makes no sense," I said.

Jon Hamm sighed.

"You humans have a very limited understanding of the universe. Yourselves included."

I frowned.

"So, how do I get out of here?  How do I go home?"