When she saw the flashing red and blue lights of police and ambulance vehicles, she decided to make her exit from the scene. There was nothing more she could do now but return home to her own dimension, to her body, and her bed.
***
The sound of banging on her front door startled Sara-Kate out of her deep sleep. The room was still dark, without even a trace of sunlight peeking in from beneath the window blinds.
She was once again safely within her own walls.
She sat up in bed, and her vision swerved. She exhausted a great deal of energy trying to comfort the dying man in the car. Any mild discomfort she felt now was worth it if it brought him any peace at all. In a short time it would pass, and she would feel her normal self once again.
At the edge of the bed, she held her eyes closed momentarily. When she opened her eyes, her vision cleared. She slipped her feet into slippers, and reached for her terry cloth robe slung over the back of a wing chair.
The rhythmic pounding on her front door continued. Someone sure was anxious to speak with her. Occasionally, the courier would arrive before seven to drop off and pick up. Today must be one of those days.
Holding the bannister, she hurried down the stairs to the landing, and flipped on a light switch that illuminated the foyer leading to the front door.
Unlocking the deadbolt, she turned the door knob, and flung open the door.
Sara-Kate stood in mute shock, and stared at the man who stood in her doorway with a suitcase in his hand.
It was the man with the long dark hair, who died in the car accident just a short time ago. The man who she watched take his final breath.
Yet, here was on her doorstep, a bit disheveled, but looking very much alive as she was.
Only he wasn’t really wasn’t alive.
Then again, neither was she. Not really, anyway. Not like she was right before she died in 1929, at age eighteen.
She understood her predicament on this earth, but somewhere the Fates messed up big time with this guy. Or perhaps, she thought, I did something to cause this mishap.
Her vision swerved again, this time from a jolt of anxiety, and she grasped the doorjamb for support.
“Can...can I help you?” She forced the words out through a suddenly dry throat.
He looked so lost and vulnerable. Dark eyes huge, and confused. Her heart hurt for him, and his condition.
“I think I fell asleep behind the wheel, and had an accident with my car. I don’t know where I am, or how I got here.”
Sara-Kate brought comfort over the years to many people who were departing one life for the next. None of them ever followed her through dimensions before.
“Come in and sit down,” she said to him. She would figure out how to handle this situation.
He stumbled on the threshold, and she grabbed his arm for support. He let go of the suitcase he carried, and it hit the hardwood floor with a bang. She guided him into the darkened living room, and eased him gently onto the sofa.
Now what?
He shivered all over. “Is it cold in here? I am so cold.”
It was early autumn, but still very muggy and warm. He was still shedding his humanness, she guessed. The feeling would pass, and he would settle into his new self.
“Stay right there,” she patted his shoulder. “I’ll get you a blanket from upstairs.
She dashed up the stairs, painfully stubbing her big toe on the top step. “Ouch!” she groaned under her breath, and hopped on one leg into her bedroom. At the foot of the bed she lifted the lid on a linen chest, and removed a heavy patchwork quilt.
She descended the stairs, more carefully this time, still feeling the throbbing pain in her toe. Her visitor was sitting in the same position she left him, shivering mightily, and staring forward. She went about arranging the quilt over his shoulders and back.
“There you go, Reed.”
His face turned to hers at the mention of his name. “How do you know my name?” he asked.
Panic rose in her throat. She couldn’t just bombard him with the news that the life he knew was gone, and they were earthbound spirits. Hers by choice, his probably not so much. Besides, it wasn’t her job to tell him he died in the car accident. The Fates put them both in this heartbreaking position. It was the Fates’ job to sort it all out. Yet somehow, Sara-Kate knew that it was now her job, that her choice had been taken away. She just didn’t know how or when she would tell him, and how he would react.
It was against every fiber of her spirit to lie, but right now, she felt she had no choice. She sunk into the sofa next to him. “You must have told me, Reed.” The lie hit her like a punch. Now to temper the lie with a truth. “My name is Sara-Kate.”
A flicker of life rose in his dark eyes, and she felt exposed under his scrutiny. “You look, and you sound, like an angel. A flame haired angel.”
A slight smile played on her lips. He thought she was an angel earlier as well, right before he died. “Not quite an angel, Reed.”
“And this place,” he continued. “It smells like some kind of heaven.”
It was the lingering smell of lavender and rose that still permeated the air. Flowers from her own garden that she worked with on a daily basis, creating special healing-infused candles, oils, and sachets.
She reached for his hand, and took it between her hands in an effort to warm him. He was ice cold, not warming at all, she thought with dismay. She could make
