Sad to say...this is the finale guys... I hope you've enjoyed reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it. This was more of my more difficult pieces to write because I've never dealt with fantasy or spiritual type themes. But I hope I did this story justice. Again, thanks for sticking with it and voting and commenting. It means the world to me.
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"Ashley, this isn't gonna work." Madison tells me as Glen closes all the blinds in Spencer's hospital room.
"Yes it is." I tell her, trying to convince myself as well.
"We're gonna go to jail." She says as Glen walks back over to us.
"I thought you were okay with that?" I ask, quirking a brow at my friend.
"Yeah I was...in theory." She nods. "But now that those words hold truth. I'm pretty freaking terrified." She says with bulging eyes.
"It's gonna be fine. I have reinforcements." I assure them both. They both look at me with narrowed eyes as Spencer's room door opens.
"We have two minutes to do this." Nurse T says. We're gonna continue to call her that so she won't be implicated in this. Can't have her going to jail for being a really cool person and helping me out with this.
"This is insane." Glen points out.
"I know." I nod as Nurse T unhooks Spencer from all the wires.
"Doesn't she need that?" Glen asks, pointing to her ventilator.
"I'm not taking her off this one, it's portable so I'm just gonna unhook it from it's base." She says as she does just that and places the machine at the foot of Spencer's bed.
"We ready?" She turns and asks the three of us. We all nod once and lift the rails on both sides of Spencer's bed before we make our way out the door with her. We get a couple stares from some nurses working at the desk but none say anything because Nurse T is with us. We get on the elevator and I press the button for the ambulance bay. When the doors close everyone visibly relaxes a bit.
"Wait, how are we moving her. My car isn't big enough."
"Neither is mine." Madison chimes in.
"I got that covered." I assure them as the elevator doors open to the ambulance bay.
"Hey, Ashley." A brown haired guy greets me as the elevator opens.
"Hey, Aiden." I smile as we roll Spencer into the ambulance. "Thanks again for doing this Aide, I know you could lose your job." I tell him genuinely and he smiles.
"It's no problem." He waves me off. "After you got me Bob Dylan's Complete Paper Sheet collection and Album collection box and ABBA's Voulez Vous rare 1979 blue marble vinyl, how could I not help you out?" He asks with a grin.
"Still thank you."
"I'll meet you guys there." He says shutting the door to the ambulance, and flipping on his lights.
"Thanks again." I turn to Nurse T and say.
"My pleasure. I really hope this works." She says with a smile and nod.
"Me too." I tell her.
"Ash, we gotta go." Madison says as her and Glen run towards his car. I give Nurse T another smile before catching up to them.
It took us less than twenty minutes to get to the Garden. Aiden was already there waiting. I'd asked Mrs. Peatree if she could open a little later today and to my surprise she happily agreed.
"Where am I going with her?" Aiden asks as the doors to the back of the ambulance open up.
"In here." I tell him and they all follow me to the back of the Garden where Spencer and I first met.
-
"Do angels exist daddy?" I ask him as we sit and stare up at the night sky through the Garden skylight.
"I'd like to think so." He says and I turn to look at him.
"Are you an angel daddy?" My six-year-old self asks him and he chuckles a bit before answering.
"No sweetie." He shakes his head.
"Do you have to die like a flower and go to heaven first daddy?" He chuckles again before picking me up and putting me on his lap.
"I think so sweetie." He tells me and kisses my forehead.
"Are you gonna die daddy?" I ask and he purses his lips and looks away like he's searching for the right answer.
"Someday." He settles on and I frown. "But not any day soon." He adds quickly when he sees my frown.
"When you die and go to heaven you'll be an angel daddy." I say cheerfully with a smile.
"I promise to always watch over you." He says softly, pulling me into a tight hug.
-
"Ashley we don't have much time." Madison snaps me back to reality.
"Put her there." I tell Aiden who complies quickly.
"We have about five minutes before the cops show up. I heard it on the scanner." Aiden says and I nod. I tell him to take Spencer off the ventilator for me and he does. We have to get her back in her body quick before her brain runs out of oxygen. "I'm gonna get out of here if you don't need anything else."
"Okay." I nod.
"Ashley what exactly is your plan?" Glen asks, a bit confused at what we're doing here.
"Spencer!" I call out, looking around the Garden. "Spencer!" I say again, this time louder.
"This was your big plan? Bring her body to the Garden and hope for a miracle?" Madison says in disbelief.
"It's gonna work." I turn around and tell her. She rolls her eyes and throws her hands up in the air.
"I'm gonna go jail for nothing." She says in disbelief, shaking her head.
"Ashley..." Glen calls my name but I hold a finger telling him to wait.
"Spencer!" I call to her again. "Spencer I know you can hear me! Get your ghostly ass out here now!" I yell but still nothing.
"This isn't working, Ashley." Glen pipes up. We can hear the police sirens in the distance.
"Ashley, come on." Madison says.
"This is gonna work." I say again, turning to face my friend. "It has to." I add. I shut my eyes tight and pray. Please God, if there was ever a time where you should do something for me, this would be it. Please, you took away my dad, the person I loved most in this world, the least you can do is bring Spencer back to me! "Please!" I shout out loud.
"Ashley." I hear my name being called by the softest and sweetest voice I have ever heard. I keep my eyes shut a moment longer before I open them and see Spencer standing in front of me with a smile on her face.
"Spencer..." I breathe out, as she wraps her arms around my neck. I can see Glen in my peripheral vision looking around the room for her.
"Where?" He questions.
"She's right here in front of me."
"Ashley I don't see anything either." Madison says.
"Glen." Spencer says and runs over to her brother. "Oh Glen!" She says and tries to hug him but she goes straight through him.
"She's trying to hug you." I tell Glen and I can see the tears building in his eyes.
"Little sis." He breathes out and closes his eyes.
"I can't hug him." Spencer says sadly, standing next to her brother.
"Ashley." Madison says as the police sirens get closer.
"Right." I nod realizing we didn't have much time. "Spencer you have to get back in your body." I tell her and she gives me a puzzled look.
"Ashley you know I can't leave here. I tried. I tried to follow you after our fight and I know it was stupid I knew what would happen but I didn't care. I needed you to know that I loved you and that I was sorry for acting the way I did. I just didn't want you to ruin your life for me."
"Being with you wasn't ruining my life, Spencer." I tell her. Forgetting all about the fact that we don't have much time. I hear Madison groan behind me. "You made my days worth living." I tell her as she moves closer to me.
"I love you." She says.
"I love you too." I say engulfing her in a hug.
"Ashley you look ridiculous." Madison says, and I probably do but I don't care. I pull back and kiss her lips.
"I don't want you to be with that girl anymore." Spencer tells me with a smile.
"I broke up with her. My heart belongs to you Spencer." I assure her and smile grows wider.
"I hate to break up the weird air hugging and kissing you're doing right now, but you hear those sirens getting closer and closer...yeah those are coming from the cop cars that are gonna take us away and put us in jail!" Madison says gradually getting louder as the sentence progressed. Spencer and I both giggle at her.
"I like her." Spencer turns to me and says.
"Me too." I nod.
"Wait, you were seeing someone else while you were seeing my sister?" Glen says in a big brother like tone causing Spencer to 'aww.'
"You can kick my ass later. Let's just do this before the cops get here." I tell him and he nods firmly.
"Do what exactly?" Spencer asks me.
"I think that you stayed in your coma-"
"I'm in a coma?" Spencer asks and I nod.
"You're right there." I tell her pointing to her body and when she turns around and sees herself she gasps.
"I'm in a coma." She says again walking closer to herself. "I'm in a coma." She says again but this time louder. "I'm in a freaking coma." She says and runs back to hug me.
"Yeah, you're in a coma." I giggle at her.
"I'm not dead." She shakes her head.
"No, you're not dead." I smile. "I told you." I add and she smiles.
"You did."
"Oh my God will you two love birds hurry this up?" Madison says from behind us.
"Sorry Mads." I say with a smile as Spencer and I walk hand in hand over to her body.
"What if I do this but I don't wake up?" Spencer turns to me and ask apprehensively.
"I don't know. I didn't think of that."
"I'm scared." Spencer says as I help her up onto the table.
"I'm right here. I'm not going anywhere."
"Yes you are cause we are going to jail!" Madison says and Spencer and I laugh at her again.
"Don't mind her." I tell a smiling Spencer.
"Don't leave me, kay?" She says and I nod. She positions herself directly over her body and lays down. Her 'spirit' disappears.
"Spencer." I call out to her but she's gone. I wait for her to wake up as the sirens close in on us. They should be right outside now. We only have seconds for this to happen. "Spencer, please wake up." I beg her seemingly lifeless form.
"This isn't working." Glen and Madison say in unison.
"It has to work." I whisper out. "Spencer please wake up. I need you to wake up."
"Step away from the body." I hear a voice say behind me and I turn around to see the police standing there. Both Madison and Glen both have their hands on their heads and are against the wall.
"I can't leave her." I tell the police officer who has one hand on his holstered weapon and the other on pointing at me.
"I need you to step against the wall, away from that body ma'am." He tells me unbuckling the clip on his holster.
"I can't." I shake my head. "I promised her that I wouldn't leave her." I say, not releasing Spencer's hand.
"Ashley get away from her." Madison tries to talk reason into me. Stealing someone from the hospital is probably like a federal offense or something. I'm sure the officer has authorization to open fire if he deems necessary but I don't care. I promised Spencer I wasn't leaving her and I'm not.
"That's her! That's the girl that stole my daughter." Mrs. Carlin comes up behind the police officer, pointing and accusatory finger at me.
"Ma'am I need you to step back." The officer tells Spencer's mom who looks to her side and see's Glen standing against the wall with his hands on his head.
"Glen!" She shouts before maneuvering past the officer over to her son. "What are you doing here?" She questions him with a hand on her hip, waiting for his answer.
"I...I...um..." He stumbles over his words, not able to find anything to say, he settles for a guilty smile and shrug.
"I'll deal with you later. Officer I want this girl arrested." She tells the officer pointing that finger at me again.
"Ma'am I'm handling this, if you could just-"
"Don't you tell me what to do young man. I want you to get over here and arrest this young lady right now." She demands the officer who looks to be in his mid to late twenties, but a rookie.
"Ma'am-" He tries again but she cuts him off.
"Fine, if you won't then I will." She says stomping over to me and grabbing my arm.
"I'm not leaving her." I snatch my arm away from her.
"Take your hands off my daughter right this instant." She commands me but I'm not hearing her.
"Mom you're being unreasonable."
"Don't you tell me what I'm being, you don't know what I'm going through."
"Spencer please wake up."
"Ashley just let her go." Madison tells me but I shake my head.
"Spencer you need to wake up."
"Ma'am if you could just calm down."
"Didn't I tell you not to tell me to calm down young man, I will have your badge for this."
"Ashley, come on it's over. Just let her go."
"Mom why do you always have to blow things out of proportion all the time."
"How dare you speak to me that way, Glen."
"Ashley." Madison calls my name again.
"Spencer." I bend down and whisper to her.
"Ma'am if you could just-"
"What is your name son!?"
"Mom!" Glen shouts.
"Ashley..." I soft but deep voice calls to me. I turn in the direction it came from.
"Dad." I breathe out and all the talking around me stops. To everyone else I'm staring at a blank wall, but in my eyes it's my father...who looks as great as he did six years ago, standing there. "Dad." I say again. Maybe this is all just a dream.
"You're not dreaming." He smiles and walks closer to me.
"How are you...what...dad..." I say and he chuckles. I've missed his laugh so much.
"Daughter." He says once he reaches me. I look down at Spencer and let a small smile escape my lips before releasing her hand and wrapping my arms around my father.
"I've missed you so much, dad." I whisper into the hug and feel the tears start to run down my cheek.
"I've missed you two, sweet pea." He says as he pulls back.
"How are you here?" I ask, immediately reconnecting my hands in Spencers.
"Ashley." Madison questions behind me and I just turn to her and nod. I think she gets it because her eyes go wide briefly before she smiles.
"I'm here to help you." He tells me and I know my face is showing how confused I am.
"I don't understand."
"With her." He says looking down at Spencer.
"Do you know her?" I ask him and he nods and smiles.
"I sent her to you."
"Huh?"
"Spencer was supposed to die in that car accident Ashley. Well technically, she did die for a few moments and when she did she was assigned to me." He tries to explain but I'm still not getting it.
"I don't get it." I tell him and he smiles again.
"I'm what you would call a guardian angel. I sent her here to help you." He tells me and I narrow my eyes at him.
"To help me do what?"
"Learn how to love again, to be happy, to have someone that you can't wait to see everyday." He shrugs.
"Dad, I don't-"
"I didn't really think my plan through." He says and forces a smile.
"What do mean?" I say completely confused again.
"She can't stay here, Ashley." He tells me and immediately my heart aches.
"No." I say shaking my head. "Dad no, please."
"I'm sorry sweetheart. I didn't mean to cause you pain. I only wanted you to realize that it was alright to be okay again." He says and I continue to shake my head.
"Wake her up dad please. You have to." I tell him as the tears blur my vision. I look down at Spencer, my Spencer. I made her go back into her body. This is my fault.
"I cannot." He says and I look up at him.
"Why not?" I question.
"Only the Elder can." He tells me.
"Well, how do I talk to this Elder person?" I question.
"Ashley sweetie, it's time to let her go." He says and I shake my head and push him back.
"No dad!" I say firmly.
"Ash, what's going on?" Madison asks behind me but I don't have time to answer.
"She's not going to wake up." He says and my face contorts in pain as I start to cry again.
"Please dad, please just bring her back." I beg him as I fall down on my knees, never releasing Spencer's hand.
"Ashley." Glen and Madison both say. I turn to look at them from my position on the floor and see both their eyes widened and glued to something in front of me. I slowly turn my head to see a woman in a white cloak standing next to my father.
"Elder." My father greets her.
I turn back to my friends. "You guys can..."
"Yeah." They both nod. I look at the cop and Spencers mother and see they both are staring at her too.
"Guardian." She says to him. I stand up and wipe my face.
"You're the person that I talk to about saving her?" I ask her and she nods once. "Will you?" I ask and she shakes her head. "Why not?" I question.
"It is neither wise nor appropriate to reveal ourselves to humans, we do not raise the dead nor kill the living." She says in a voice that sounded of music.
"I love her." I say simply.
"You do not!" Paula says from beside me.
"Shut up mom!" Glen says to her from behind us. She scoffs but shuts up nonetheless.
"Love cannot change what is." She says.
"And what is?"
"It is her time." She says simply.
"Please." I beg her. "Just this once is all I'm asking. I can't live without her." I add and the woman simply shakes her head.
"It is foolish to live on the breath of another." The woman says.
"But life without love is not a life worth living." I rebuttal. I see a small smile play at the corner of the woman's lips before she looks to my father who nods at her and then she disappears.
"What the-"
"Watch it, Glen. I am still your mother." She cuts him off.
"Sorry." He mumbles.
"Dad?" I question him for answers. I don't really know what's going on right now.
"I'm so proud of you." He says before leaning down and kissing my forehead. "I've always been looking after you." He says once he pulls back.
"Dad." I say again as a light begins to glow around him. "Dad don't go." I say but he only smiles before disappearing like the Elder woman.
I close my eyes tightly as the tears fall down my cheeks.
"Ashley." A voice calls from next to me. My eyes shoot open when I recognize the voice.
"Spencer." I bend down and look at her, she's smiling up at me. Everyone else runs to her and gathers around her body.
"Spencer honey." Her mother says next to me.
"Mom!" Spencer tries to say loudly but it come out in a hoarse tone. Having a tube down your throat for six years will do that to you.
"Little sis." Glen says as the tears fall from his eyes. I've never seen a brother sister bond so strong like these two.
"Glen." She smiles and lifts a hand to wipe away his tears.
"Spencer." I call her name again. I don't want to ruin the family moment but I need to see her eyes, I need to make sure this is real.
She closes her eyes and smiles before looking at me. "You're real." She says.
I giggle and nod. "Of course."
"I thought I was dreaming about all of time we spent together."
"No." I shake my head.
"Ashley." She says in a low whisper.
"Hmm?" I say, unable to hold back my tears any longer. Tears of joy.
"I love you." She says and I smile and laugh through my tears.
"I love you, too!" I say and bend to kiss her forehead.
-
One month later...
"Do you remember much?" I ask her as we walk through the Garden, back to the spot we first met.
"Bits and pieces now. It's like I was in a really good dream." She says with a smile.
"When we got into that fight and I left, when I came back and you were gone I cried for a week straight. I came here everyday and called out for you. I just wanted to apologize, to make it all better. To go back to the way things were." I tell her as we sit on the bench.
"It's okay." She assures me.
"Spencer." I say and swallow thickly.
"Yes?" She breathes out, turning to look at me.
"I'm gonna kiss you now." I tell her and she nods. We both close our eyes and lean forward. The moment our lips touch I feel it like the first time we kissed. We both pull back.
"Did you-"
"I did." I nod.
"I wanna feel it again." She smiles as I lean forward and kiss her again as the electricity surges through us.
The End.