Detached

Let's Get Lost

Getting to the hospital was the easy part. I pretty much blinked and I was there. Cool, right? Getting in the hospital was another story. I didn't have a body so I couldn't open a door manually, and I was weightless so automatic doors were out. The emergency room was our best bet at finding someone going in or out. Of course in my luck, I was the only emergency that night. Someone finally opened the door about an hour later when a teenage girl around my age came in on a stretcher. She looked about as bad as my body did. Axel and I wandered around the hospital looking for some indication of where my body was. It was almost impossible and I just about gave up until my best friend walked in.

Jazz marched right up to the counter and demanded to know where her "sister" was. It's true what they say about family only. We followed them to a waiting room outside of a cubical marked "ICU". My mom and younger brother were waiting there. Jazz spoke to them and discovered the damage. I was in bad shape. A doctor came out of the little room and I used this opportunity to slip inside. I found my body on a bed behind a curtain hooked up to various machines. The slow beep, beep, beep, of the heart monitor was the only indicator that I was still alive. I looked at Axel who looked at my body with sorrow on his face.

"Hey. I need you to do something for me, okay?" I said.

"Sure, anything."

"I'm not gonna be around anymore. But I want you to stay here until I'm out of the hospital. I don't want you to be stuck here like this." I said. He was confused but he nodded anyway. I gave him one last smile and walked over to the bed where my body was laying. I took a deep breath and touched my arm. My hand kept reaching. I tried again and touched my face, my leg, my stomach. Nothing worked. I couldn't get back in. But I'm not dead! I thought. If I'd had tear ducts, my cheeks would have been stained with tears. "Why is this happening?" I said out loud. I heard Axel swallow. I turned to face him. "Something's wrong." I said.

"Maybe I can help." I heard someone say.

"Who are you?" I asked.

"My name is Wendy, and I'm a wanderer like you, Willow. I work here at this hospital trying to get as many souls as I can back into their bodies before it's too late."

"You work here? Why can't I get back in to my body? Why am I stuck here?" I said.

"I've only seen it happen once before..but it seems as though you can't get back in because...because your body is already being occupied." She said.

"Occupied? As in there's another soul in my body?" She nodded. "Well make it get out! This is my body!" I yelled.

"I'm sorry. As your body is unconscious, so is the soul right now. I cannot communicate with he or she until they decide to wander again, or until your body wakes up. That is, if your body wakes up." She parted from us after I didn't say anything. It was a lot to take in at one moment. Why would anyone be occupying my body? I wasn't even wandering freely this time. It was accidental.

"Willow? Are you okay?" Axel asked.

"No." I shook my head, willing tears to fall. They didn't. He walked over to me and I collapsed into his arms. He smoothed my hair (which was weird, apparently wanderers can touch each other, but not other things) and just held me there for a long time. I watched as my mom came in and held my hand and whispered things to me. They say when a person is unconscious they can still hear what you are saying. They aren't kidding."It'll be okay, Willow. We'll figure it out. And you know...if things don't work out...I'm not so bad. You could stay with me...." Axel said. I smiled up at him.

"Of course I will." He smiled at this.

Axel fell asleep sometime during the night (another thing weird thing about wanderers, they sleep. who knew?) and I got up to do some exploring. One thing I found out is that if you don't have a body, going through walls isn't a big deal at all. That made my life a hell of a lot easier! Some how I ended up in the girl on the stretcher's room. Her body was very similar to mine. A guy was asleep on a chair next to her bed. I stared at his perfectly chiseled jaw and muscular arms. Hey, souls can drool too. I wondered what happened to the girl, if it was anything like what happened to me.... I sat down next her. "Hi." I said, though she couldn't hear me. "My name's Willow. I'm in a room a couple down from you. I was in an accident and I'm in pretty bad shape. You look about as bad as I do. But you're pretty. I think you are anyway. That's not weird though. I mean I'm just sayin. Okay this is getting awkward...especially because you can't even hear me right now. Maybe you can. How should I know? I just hope you aren't wandering somewhere. Hopefully you stayed...attached. So this guy.. Is he your boyfriend? Well he's cute I'll tell you that. You did good. I never really had a boyfriend...I was always the weird one..well maybe I made myself the weird one.." I went on about my life and how I thinks she should live hers. Talking to someone, even though they couldn't respond or even hear me for that matter, felt great. It was like letting out a life's worth of secrets and finally being able to breathe again. I placed my ghostly hand over the girl's and quickly fell asleep.