My Other Half

Chapter Thirteen

He's dead, Bella.

He's never coming back.

He finally left you.

You won't be able to see him again.

"No!" She slid her body against the wall and sat on the ground, crying her eyes out.

He can't be gone. He can't be gone.

He can't be dead! Please come back!

Please let him come back!

꧁ ༄ ꧂

"Bella. Bella, wake up!"

Isabella snapped her eyes open, breathing hard from her chest. She sat on the bed, looking at the bedsheets.

She was home.

But she was just at the hospital, and she saw Aiden.

Oh God, Aiden . . . he's dead.

She just saw him die right in front of her, hearing the heart monitor do its final four beeps before the monitor flatlined. The room felt like it was getting smaller. She couldn't get the images out of her head—they wouldn't go away.

I'll never see him again!

"Bella, are you okay?"

Her ears turned on when she heard a familiar voice beside her. She deliberately looked to the right, seeing her best friend.

"Aiden?"

"Are you okay?" Aiden asked anxiously.

"You're alive?" Isabella breathed, tears blurring her vision.

He stared at her with confusion. "Yeah, I'm alive—"

Isabella wrapped her arms around Aiden and hugged him, still breathing rapidly. "I thought y-you were dead. You were in the hospital a-and you just died on the bed," she whimpered.

Aiden was quiet for a few seconds. "No, I'm right here." He soothed Isabella's back when he wrapped his arms around her. "You just had a nightmare."

"It felt so real," she murmured.

He pulled away from Isabella and looked at her face carefully. "It's okay." He grabbed her hand and brought it to his face, letting her touch his cheek. Isabella felt his warm skin against her palm instead of the cold one she felt in her dream.

She let out a small laugh, knowing he was not a ghost or anything else.

She wiped the tears away from her cheeks.

"Sorry I freaked out," she managed to say.

"It's okay. I understand," he reassured her.

Isabella dropped her hand on her lap, thinking this wouldn't be the last nightmare she would have.

"Now!" Aiden clapped. "I thought we could do something fun today."

"Do what?" She chuckled, grateful for the subject change.

"You'll see. Get dressed and do everything you need to do so we can go." He stood up from the bed and beckoned with his hand, prompting her to get up.

"Okay." Isabella rushed out of bed and went to her closet, scanning through her clothes to find something for the hot weather outside.