Old Souls (5 page)

His body stiffened and he struggled for a response. Before he answered my question though, voices whispered from behind the curtain in the partition next to mine. The urgency and tone of the whispering drew our attention from our conversation.

“Colin McNaughton.”

“Why are you whispering?  Release him, he’s fine. The scans are clear. No concussion.” I heard papers flipping and then, “in fact, he’s lucky. I can’t believe he was completely uninjured after they told me about the wreckage.”

Mark looked at me, brows pulled together. From my reaction when he asked about him, I think he expected Colin’s injuries to be serious.

“That’s just it Doc, he was dead.” Another voice behind the curtain sounded, and at his words Mark’s eyes widened, locking onto mine. Why did I suddenly look away and feel as though I should be ashamed of something?

“There was no evidence that someone performed CPR,” the doctor sounded confused.

“No CPR.”

“Then it’s impossible.”

“Doc, I’m telling you.” The man’s whispering became louder, more agitated.  “They had to cut him out of that vehicle. I monitored his condition as the rescue team worked.  I was talking to him, heard him struggling for breath, badly. I couldn’t examine him because he was trapped in the car, but from the sound, I’m positive he’d punctured a lung. I felt his pulse weaken until it eventually stopped altogether. Not only that, but how do you explain the fact that there was blood all over the scene and neither passenger of the vehicle has a cut or scratch on their bodies to account for it?”

For a long time, the silence hung heavy in the air before he continued. “Something weird is going on here.”

“There was no one but the two of them in the car?” the doctor asked.

“No.” There was silence again and then the man insisted once more.  “He. Was.
Dead
.”

Tears burned the back of my eyes as I caught Mark’s worried gaze.

“He was at least five minutes without a pulse. Next thing I know his body jerked and he was suddenly talking and breathing without a problem. When we got him out there wasn’t a mark on him.” The only sounds were the sounds of their breathing, then, “I swear to God.”

My breath hitched as I remembered those terrible moments from my perspective.
Excruciating pain ripped through my limbs. We were trapped in the confines of the car for what I now knew was merely hours, but had seemed like days, while noises and shouts swamped us as they attempted to cut us out. The bone in my leg had been broken(I’d studied martial arts since I was ten years old and I’d broken multiple bones in that time, so I knew exactly what it felt like). I’d had a gash on my forehead that was dripping blood incessantly, and there was a horrible pressure on my chest that had made me feel like I was drowning every time I took a breath.

I knew I was in bad shape, but I slowly became aware that my body was somehow healing itself much faster than was normal. Gradually, my breathing slowed and became easier until I no longer felt the crushing pressure in my lungs. Everything was tingling, but improving. Even the broken leg I was unable to move minutes before was mobile again, and the pain eventually dissipated altogether. Once the pain was gone and I could think again, consciousness invaded, making me aware of something else. 

I felt something…strange. All at once, it was like I was cognizant of the connection between every living organism around me. We all have five senses, but right then it was like a sixth sense had awakened. Like being blind, only instead of my eyes it was my mind that sat in darkness. It had been pitch black, without as much as a sliver of light, then suddenly something
changed and there were bright, shining beacons of light everywhere. All linked to each other. Every one of them alive and I could sense them.

I felt the emergency workers outside the car, felt the trees and bushes, I even felt animals, right down to the insects. Anything and everything that held a spark of life, I was aware of them all.  But something wasn’t right.

It was Colin.

While everyone else was bright, like a slightly muted version of the sun, Colin’s light was dim…and flickering. I knew with an intuition I couldn’t begin to identify,
that he was dying. I literally felt the life force seeping out of him, and there was nothing I could do to stop it. I’d never felt so helpless to do anything. And then when that light extinguished completely, overwhelming despair stole my breath.

I sobbed. The only thought in my head
,
“I can’t lose my best friend
.” 

“Well, there has to be a logical explanation.” The doctor’s voice forced me back to the present and out of the awful memory.

They walked away, voices trailing off after them until I could no longer hear them. With a pensive look, Mark turned to me. “We
need
to talk.”

***

Hours passed before the hospital finally released me. Mark waited patiently by my bedside then took me home to his condo to spend the night, promising of course to be a perfect gentleman.  I argued I was fine to go home, but he seemed reluctant to leave my side. In all honesty, I wanted to be with him as well so I didn’t fight the idea too hard. Lying in that hospital bed today I had felt all alone, like something was missing. The minute Mark walked into my room I knew what that something was. It went beyond attraction, this was something else. Tonight though, I knew nothing would happen between us. Even though the kiss we shared had left me aching for more, there was just too much that had happened today.

“Wow!” I said as I took in his place for the first time.

Gorgeous walnut hardwoods spanned the entire living area. The walls were painted a taupe-grey, and scattered with colorful art. Oversized, black leather couches took up a large area, but it was the entertainment center that dominated the space. Sheesh, it was obvious a man lived here—a man with good taste, but still obviously a man’s domain.

An open, contemporary kitchen was situated off
of the living room. But the most striking feature was the floor to ceiling windows along the outer walls. He lived in a high-rise in the trendy Yorkdale neighborhood and the view was spectacular.

“Make yourself at home.”

“Thanks.”

Automatically, I moved to the windows. As I stared at nothing in particular, I heard him inch closer behind me. Felt him, not only with the buzz beneath my skin, but also the heat radiating from his body. A shiver ran along my spine. Then his arm reached in front of me, holding a glass of wine in his hand. “Here, you’ll probably need this.”

“Thanks.”

“Now, I need you to tell me
exactly
what happened today.” There was an odd note to his voice, so I knew this was important. Taking a deep breath, I launched into what I remembered from the time I left the house this morning.

“I was distracted when Colin picked me up for work this morning, anxious to talk to you.”

“With everything else that happened, I forgot about that. What prompted you to call me this morning?” He asked.

I stared at him silently—afraid to give him details for fear he would think I was crazy.

“Honestly, you can trust me, Alyssa.” He grinned, lightening my mood. I promise I won’t think you’re nuts.”

I smirked back. “We’ll see.”

I took a large gulp of my wine, emptying half the glass. Then I began to describe the strange occurrences with my skin and hair over the last few days. I expected him to laugh or mock me in some way, but what I didn’t expect was his understanding.

“Now you see why I couldn’t just tell you what to expect?” His mouth curved gently at the corner. “You would have reserved a padded cell for me.”

My eyes had been trained out the window the whole time I spoke to him, but his words had me turning to face him for the first time. “What? You knew?”

“Don’t worry, sweetheart. I
will
explain everything, I promise.” As if sensing that I needed the liquid courage, he lifted the bottle of wine and topped off my glass. “But first, what happened with the accident?”

Taking another mouthful of wine, I exhaled roughly. “Colin and I were on the highway and I saw a landscaping truck up about ten cars ahead of us.  I don’t know how, but out of the blue some of their equipment flew off the truck and landed in the middle of the highway. All I saw after that were brake lights and cars swerving everywhere. Two cars collided directly in front of us and Colin swerved to avoid them. We spun out, eventually settling in the ditch. Then I saw it
…” Closing my eyes against my racing pulse, it was almost like living the sheer terror of that moment again.

“What, baby? What did you see?” Oh my god, if we hadn’t been having this particular discussion, I might’ve noticed that it was the first time he’d called me baby. And I really liked the endearment. He reached for my hand and held it firmly. My chest tightened at the gesture, and I drew strength from the contact.

“An airborne car headed right for us. I knew it was going to hit us, but there was nothing we could do, it was happening too fast. I threw up my hands, closed my eyes and braced for the impact.” I glanced into the crystal blue ocean of his eyes, hesitating before I continued. “Nothing happened. I waited and when I heard Colin gasp I looked up.”

He stiffened beside me. “Colin saw what happened?”

I nodded.

“Shit.”

“Mark, the car was hovering in midair above us. A blue glow shone from my hands and something crackled in the air around me. Colin stared at me like I was a freak.” My voice wavered and a lump lodged in my throat as I remembered that look. “I was so shocked I pulled my hands back without thinking. The next thing I knew the car suddenly crushed us… It was my fault.”

“What?” His voice pitched. “Of course it wasn’t your fault. Don’t even think it.”

His face changed from surprise to compassion instantly. Reaching his hand toward me, he cupped the back of my neck while his thumb swept away an errant tear.  “I need you tell me what happened with Colin. This is important.”

I nodded, took a steadying breath and continued. “I must have blacked out because all I remember next is waking up trapped in the car. The only thing I could move was my arm, and everything hurt.”

“You were injured?”

“Yes.” Mark grimaced at my answer, a pained look crossing his face. “Mark, my injuries should have taken weeks to heal. I don’t understand how I healed in minutes.”

“Alyssa, I promise you there is an explanation and I will tell you everything I know about it, but this is really important. I
need
to know what you did to Colin first.”

  “When I came to, one of the emergency workers was beside the car trying to keep me calm. He let me know what they were doing to get us out and he monitored my condition. There wasn’t much he could do though since he couldn’t reach me.  I heard someone with Colin, too. I was relieved to hear his voice so I knew he was alive, but he sounded really bad.”

Wearily, I rubbed at my forehead as if that could wipe away the memories. Retelling the events of this morning was like reliving them all over again.

“Then someone shouted his pulse was weakening. I was so scared. I tried to reach for Colin, but could only get hold of his hand. I kept talking to him but he wouldn’t answer. He was so quiet, even his breathing was slow until it just …stopped. People were yelling everywhere but the only thing I heard was someone shouting they’d lost his pulse. A few minutes passed, it felt like an eternity, and I knew he was dead.”

Mark squeezed my hand. “I know it was scary, sweetheart, but he’s okay now. Focus on that.” He was taking this story entirely too well, like he wasn’t all that surprised that I just told him Colin had died even though he’s fine now.

I wrapped my arms around his waist and buried my head in his chest. He reached his hand up and stroked my hair for a few minutes. “Mark, there’s something else. Something weird happened before he died. I don’t know how to explain it, but I knew he was going to die—like deep in my gut knew.”

He nodded. “I know.”

Tilting my head back, my eyes moved to his. “No, I don’t think you understand what I mean. I
felt
it. It was like there was a light inside him and I could see it, but it was fading.”

“Alyssa,
I
know.” His eyes fixed intently on mine, trying to impart some message. It took a few seconds, but finally, I understood what he was trying to convey. He knew exactly what I was talking about, because he was able to sense life the way I had in the car. Somehow that made me feel better, made me feel not so alone.

“Tell me what happened
after
he died.” He continued.

I nodded, and tears pooled in my eyes again. “I felt like I couldn’t let him go.” Whispering, I laid my head on his chest, tears spilling down my cheeks. His shirt was wet, but he didn’t seem to care so I stayed where I was, wrapped in his arms. “I remember wishing I could fix him, and the next thing I knew heat built in my hand.  I wasn’t exactly sure what was happening, but suddenly I saw his light again. Actually, I didn’t just see it, it almost felt like I was pushing the light into him.”

“You were.”