How To Save A Life [A Robert Downey Jr. Fan-Fic]

Chapter 9: Uncharted Waters

"You must be Kate", she assumed nervously and stared at me in the mirror.

I stared at her in confusion.

"Y- You can see me?", I stuttered quietly.

"Obviously", she replied calmly and swallowed hard before she narrowed her eyes, trying to make me disappear.

"You can't", I interrupted her, "I won't disappear because you want me to."

"Why are you here?", she asked, surprisingly calm.

"I don't know", I admitted honestly and regarded her closely.

She was pretty relaxed for someone who was actually talking to a ghost.

"Maybe I'm still drunk", she mumbled quietly, "Or I'm drugged. Yeah, probably someone has drugged me and now I'm hallucinating!"

Yep, there was the fear in her eyes again. The moment she realized something was terribly wrong.

"Then why should you see me?", I wanted to know, "You don't even know me."

Her big brown eyes stared at me intensely.

"That's a good point", she agreed and ran her fingers through her hair.

She was afraid. Although she really tried to cover her fear but I realized her whole body was trembling. I never meant to scare her. For sure, that was not what I wanted.

"Liz, I'm sorry", I tried to apologize but she interrupted me.

"You know my name? Why do you know my name?"

"I'm with Robert", I wanted to talk her down, "Usually, I'm always with him, protecting him."

Speechless, she stared at me.

"I'm trying to take care of him from my side and obviously you're caring about him on the other", I continued and half smiled at her, "You're doing good on him. And he needs you. He needs you so badly!"

"What do you mean when you say you're taking care of him?", she asked nervously.

I smiled at her.

"Trying to keep the demons away", I explained quickly, "Keeping him from hurting himself."

She nodded slightly.

"Obviously, just metaphorical, right?", she assumed nervously.

Usually, she would have been right. But lately, something has changed. I was able to be with him in his dreams. I could really talk to him! And then there was that incident at the liquor store... Something was different.

"Is this the first time you see me? Or dead people in general?", I asked instead.

"Meh, occasionally", she replied sarcastically, "No, of course it's the first time! And I'd be really grateful if you could just leave me alone because you're actually scaring me to death..."

Immediately, she covered her mouth with her hands.

"I'm so sorry", she apologized then, "I didn't mean to be impolite..."

"It's okay", I mumbled quietly, faking a smile.

"It's been a really tough day and lately, I'm going insane and use to talk to dead people", she explained jokingly and I couldn't hide a smile.

"I surely didn't mean to scare you", I started again, "Actually, I'm quite confused as well. This never happened to me before and I don't know why it's happening right now..."

For a long time we remained in silence, simply staring at each other.

"I don't know either", she mumbled suddenly, nervously running her fingers through her hair, "All I know for now is that something's terribly wrong with me."

Probably, she was right. But I didn't know her fate. I didn't know what was supposed to happen to her.

"I know this is probably very inappropriate", I said after a while, "But maybe you could do me a favor..."

She raised an eyebrow in surprise.

"I'm surely not doing a favor to a ghost", she countered seriously, "And actually, I'm just going to walk away and pretend non of this has just happened."

"No, Liz, please!", I shouted after her as she quickly exited the bathroom.

She was the only one who could help me right now. She was the only one to tell Robert about my presence. And although I knew how selfish I was at the moment, I just had to risk it. She was my only choice to finally leave this awful place of desolation. I was stuck, stuck between two worlds. I neither was with him, living a normal life, nor was I able to enter the place where I could finally rest in peace, a place like heaven, the place I actually belonged to. For sure, if I still had the choice I'd always choose Robert. It was him. It'd always be him. He was my world, my life. He was- as cliché as it might sound- my soulmate. And although I didn't realize at first, he has always been. But that was the problem, my dilemma. To reach the heavenly place, he as well as I had to let go of each other. I was bound to him. And this connection had to cut. On the one hand, I really wanted to leave this place I was trapped in but on the other hand, I couldn't leave Robert, knowing I'd never be able to see him again.

I just couldn't let go of him.

Not now.

No, I surely wasn't ready to do so.

I was holding on to him, not able to let him go. And obviously, he wasn't either. As long as I had the slightest chance to be with him, I would use the opportunity. No matter which consequences I had to endure.

It was worth it.

He was worth it.

Suddenly, the door opened again and her dark brown eyes stared at me intensely.

"I'm sorry", she apologized quietly, "I was just freaking out..."

I half smiled at her.

"It stands to reason", I agreed smirkingly.

She smiled back at me with the same soft and welcoming smile she gave to Robert.

"I'm going to help you", Liz explained then, "That's my job. I help people. Although this situation is all new to me but... I'll try to deal with it."

Immediately, I smiled at her. She was probably the only person on earth who would have helped me.

"Thank you", I whispered, smiling from one ear to another.

"I won't promise anything", she countered in defense, "I'm not used to this, whatever this is..."

"I know", I agreed with her, thankful for her attempt.

"You wanted me to do you a favor..."

"Yeah", I agreed quickly, "Actually, they're two..."

She nodded slightly, not keeping her eyes off me.

"You have to help Robert", I explained quietly, "He can't make it on his own as you might have recognized. And don't be mad at him when he's rude. He doesn't mean it that way..."

She smirked at me.

"I know", she replied calmly, "I'll do my best to fix him again. What's the second one?"

I hesitated for a second.

"Doesn't mind", I countered then.

I wasn't sure if he was ready for that, so I decided to wait for a while.

Until he'd be able to cope it.

Until he was able to cope I was still around, taking care of him.