Stay With Me (Scömìche Short Story)

Chapter 3

           Eventually though, Kirstie decided to just just hash it out and get it over with. "Scott, about yesterday-"

"I know I might have seemed like a lunatic when you came to see me yesterday-"

           "No, you're not a lunatic Scott. Just... a little mentally, or emotionally unstable maybe?"

He blinked. "I'm not quite sure if that was meant to be comforting but... thanks? Look Kirst, the whole thing is just really complicated. It would probably take me a whole day to explain and maybe another to convince you that I'm telling the truth."

          "You know you can tell me anything, Scoot."

He inhaled deeply and let it out. "Mitch is still here."

          "Except that."

"See that's what I meant when I said I'll need a whole day to make you believe me."

           "Scott," she sighed, trying to choose her words carefully. "How do you expect me to believe that our friend who died months ago is still walking around perfectly fine, and nobody knew about it except for you?"

"I don't expect you to believe that immediately, but I do expect you to trust me when I say that I'm not lying to you. Mitchell is still here on this earth, but he's not alive, he's... he's a ghost."

          "A ghost?"

"Yes. And I didn't even know that until yesterday. Mitch was in the room when you came to visit me, and after my meltdown, I saw him again last night. He told me everything that happened after he died and why only I could see him."

          "How do I know you're not just making this up, Scott?"

"Because I'm telling the truth. He's here with us Kirstin, and I know it is weird and scary and totally unbelievable, but it is really happening."

           "Scott, maybe you should see a therapist about this."

"What? Kirstie, no I don't!"

          "Yes. You. Do. Scott." She raised her voice in order to get her point across. "I am so worried about you. I'm scared that all the movies you've seen and stories you've heard throughout your life have gotten jumbled up in your mind from losing Mitch, so you've started believing that he's still here when he's really not. It's not something that's possible Sc- Ahh!"

          She jumped up from the bed when she felt something touch her shoulder. Something that felt way too much like someone's hand. And yet as she looked around the hospital room with wide eyes, she was horrified to find that nobody was there.

          "What the fuck was that?" She turned to look down at Scott, her eyes still as wide as saucers. She found it creepy how Scott seemed eerily calm when she had just jumped like a frightened cat after being touched by someone she couldn't see.

But Scott was calm because he knew who had touched her, had seen the very Italian boy they were talking about appear near the door, walk up to the blonde girl sitting on his bed, and slowly put his hand on her shoulder.

"That... was Mitch."

          She stared at him blankly before her features contorted into a mixture of panic, fear and confusion. "You're kidding right? Really Scott, what was that?"

Before he could reply, his attention was diverted by Mitch's voice calling out his name. He watched as the younger boy walked over to the window and blow at the glass, surprisingly succeeding in fogging up the surface. He started running his finger across the glass, writing out his message.