“GET OUT!”
Beep.
Beep.
Beeppppppppppppppp…
“GET THE CRASH CART!”
Breaking free of their arms, I tried to reach her. It was like déjà vu, watching as they ripped open her shirt and charged the defibrillator once more. David and another officer pulled me away from her.
“ESTHER!”
“Clear!” Dr. Neecey said and once again, just like last time, it felt as if the electricity had been applied directly to me. The shock was so piercing, so excruciating, my knees buckled underneath me. This was the answer. We were going. Right now. Right here. I’d had a feeling but…
“Malachi? Malachi?! Doctor!”
Laying on my side I looked up at her bed, at her. “…Esther…”
As my vision began to tunnel, I could only make the same promise over again.
I’ll find you. I’ll love you. I swear it.
26. A O
MALACHI
Timeless - The Garden of Good
Birds.
I heard birds.
I smelled fresh flowers and rain, even though I did not feel rain. Instead, I felt the warmth of the sun above and the plush cool grass below. Gentle winds blew the crispest air I’d ever breathed. Even without opening my eyes, I knew I was surrounded by beauty. That it was paradise. I wanted to stay and rest here when I remembered her again. My eyes snapped open. I expected the sun to blind me or force me to close my eyes once again, but it wasn’t like that. In fact, I saw the glowing sphere, I felt the warmth of it, but it didn’t burn to look at. It just hung in the blue sky.
Where am I?
“Home.”
I knew that voice…but I shouldn’t have heard it again unless…
I sat up, turning right to where I’d heard the voice of Alfred. And sure enough, there he was, dressed in all white, kneeling in front of a bush to pick berries. Each time he’d picked one, another would grow its place.
“I died,” I whispered. “This is death, Alfred?”
“Yes, you did. You should be used to it by now. Come on, we have a lot of work to do,” he replied as he rose from the ground. I noticed his clothes weren’t stained. Seeing his clothes made me look at mine, but I was still wearing the hospital sweats I was given. He handed me one of his baskets and pointed across from me.
“Foxes?” I said watching the small orange fur balls with black legs wrestle and tackle one another. I looked back to find Alfred, but he was already gone. “Okay. I’m dead,
and now I’m feeding foxes berries. Make sense.”
I nodded to myself and walked over to the pack of them. Upon hearing me approach, they all stopped and turned their heads to me—a dozen little orange fur balls with dark eyes pinpointed on me. For some reason, I just wanted to mess with them. So, I dashed left then I dashed right, watching as they moved from side to side, trying to anticipate where I’d be next before they collectively got fed up with my antics and just made a charge for it, jumping in unison for the basket, and me. The berries flew up to the sky as I landed right back on the ground.
“Patience is a virtue,” I told them with a laugh, as they ate the berries around me. I sat up and picked one of them up, brushing through fur before handing it a berry. “Slow down!” I said as I watched them scarf down berries. And when they were done, they rushed off. By the time I got back on my feet again, a dozen rabbits hopped out and they all stared at me, waiting. I stared back.
“What?”
One of them came out hopping into the now empty berry basket.