Escape From This Afterlife

Zacky raised his tequila shot with his friends, Matt, Johnny, and Brian. There was one of them missing, it had been almost nine months since the passing of his best friend and brother Jimmy, but that night was not about Jimmy, it was about his proposal to his long time girlfriend, Melina. He had proposed merely twenty-four hours ago, and he was the happiest man on the planet.

“She’s everything I want,” Zacky grinned happily to his band mates. “It’s been too long and I want it to be official.”

“Are you sure she’s not pregnant?” Johnny asked and Zacky nearly punched his friend.

“Yes, I’m sure, short shit,” he said.

“Don’t listen to him, we’re happy for you,” Brian patted his back. “He’s just jealous he’s going to be the only one not married.”

“You guys are old,” Johnny shot back, “that’s why you wanted to get married. I’m still young and handsome.”

“Shut up!” everyone shouted at him.

Zacky’s mood did not change. He was totally in love with Melina. He met her at one of the Warped Tours from a long time ago. He remembered that their first conversation was about an hour, and they still wanted to talk more, so when they were done performing they met up again and continued to talk.

She didn’t see any other bands and just stayed and talked to him.

She was there with the band for the rest of the time.

He was everything he wanted in a wife, and they were living together for the past four years, so it was like they were married already.

He knew he wanted to propose two years ago, but there was a lot of band stuff going on. Now with Uproar kicking off he wanted to marry her before he went touring. It would be weeks before he would be back home, so he wanted things to be settled before he left.

She was supportive of the band much like Val. She even went with him on tour a couple of times. It was the best times of his life. She had the smile that brought a dead room to life. His heart pitter patted every time he saw her, no matter how often he saw her.

His hands still got sweaty when she looked beautiful. The butterflies never left and each kiss felt like the first. Even after seven years of being together it always felt like the first time.

After celebrating with his friends, he drove back home. It was past midnight, and Zacky only had tequila in his stomach and two beers. He wasn’t drunk at all. He could see perfectly, and he had two water bottles before he left the bar.

He banged his head to some Pantera music blasting his stereos.

The red light he was on turned green and he hit the gas, but not too hard.

Before he could react, a car hit him on his side. The car that crashed into him had been going 60 mph thinking he could beat the light. Zacky’s car rolled on the top and he lost consciousness.

What the fuck happened? he thought as he regained consciousness. He opened his eyes almost wincing thinking he should be in incredible pain, but he felt nothing. He looked around and noticed that he was looking up at the ceiling.

He moved his head to the right and saw Melina sleeping uncomfortably on a small couch. He turned to his left and noticed the machines that he assumed were attached to him. He lifted his right hand and noticed he didn’t have an IV on him. He sat up and felt nothing from being attached to the machines.

“Melina?” his voice was normal.

Melinda didn’t move.

“Melina!” he called out louder, but she didn’t wake up. Zacky got off the bed and turned and stumbled back when he saw himself lying on the bed. He closed his eyes tight and reopened them, but he was still on the bed, yet he was standing up. He was in a hospital gown.

The Zacky on the bed was still unconscious and he had gashes on his forehead, busted lip, and he looked a bit paler than usual.

The other Zacky moved to Melina and tried to touch her, but his hand went right through her. She only shrugged it off and shivered a bit.

He was going to pass out if he didn’t get some answers now.

“You’re in the middle,” a voice spoke from behind him.

Zacky turned around and his eyes widened when he saw Jimmy standing at the doorway of the room. He walked away and looked around frantically and pulled on his hair.

“I’m fucking crazy! It’s a dream, yeah… just a dream,” Zacky told himself. He felt like his world was spinning around and around.

“Relax, I’m not your friend Jimmy,” Jimmy said, “and you’re not dreaming, sorry to be the bearer of bad news.”

“How can this not be a dream?!” he screeched. “I can see myself sleeping!” he pointed to his unconscious self. “And what do you mean you’re not Jimmy?”

Jimmy sighed and shook his head. “It’s always so hard and it’s always the same questions. Look, I am angel, sort of, I am here to guide you to the light and you are most comfortable if I looked like your friend. To trust me, or whatever.”

“I’m dead?” Zacky whispered softly, almost incoherently.

“I said you were in the middle, don’t you listen.”

“But you said you’re here to guide me to the light! I don’t want to die, I just proposed to the love of my life!”

“And it’s sad and tragic, but you’re not the only one.”

“You’re not taking me!”

“Do you really want to stay here?”

“I’ll find a way back to my body!”

Jimmy shook his head and pinched the bridge of his nose.

“I hate my job,” he sighed deeply and then looked back to Zacky. “All right, there’s a small chance you can return to your body, but it’s all up to her.” He pointed to Melina.

Zacky was confused.

“Why?” he asked Jimmy or angel… whatever.

“It’s up to her,” Jimmy said and snapped his fingers and he was gone.

Zacky blinked in surprise. He immediately wondered what he meant by his words. What did Melina have to do about him returning to his body?

He tried to do it the old fashion way by going back to his body, but… he wouldn’t stick. He cursed when it didn’t work.

Melina woke up from her sleep estate.

Zacky’s eyes went to her. She looked so exhausted, like she hadn’t slept in days. Just how long had it been since the accident? Melina walked over to Zacky’s unconscious body and picked up his hand and pressed her lips on top of it.

“I miss you, mi amor,” she said ‘my love’ in Spanish. He adored her Spanish speaking, especially when they were cuddling and doing naughty stuff.

“Melina,” he said her name, but didn’t look at him.

He noticed her phone on the nightstand. He looked at the screen and saw the date was two weeks after the accident. He had been unconscious for two weeks, and now he was going to let go?

Was he in the afterlife?

All he knew was that he wanted to escape it. He didn’t belong there.

He belonged living and kissing his fiancée.

Melina started to sob and he wished he could comfort her. He wanted to hold her and tell her that it was going to be all right. He hated seeing her cry.

“I’m so sorry, Zacky,” she sobbed. “The guilt is killing me.”

He frowned and looked at her face. He could see it now. She was so exhausted because guilt was killing her.

“I… while you were on tour two years ago, I found out I was pregnant.”

He wanted to touch her, to make her feel comfortable. She looked so torn.

“The pregnancy didn’t last… only a month and I had a miscarriage. I didn’t tell you anything because… it made me feel… less of a woman.”

“What? No, that’s--” he stopped himself and cursed again. She couldn’t hear him, but he wanted to tell her that she had nothing to be ashamed of.

“I know I’ve been avoiding the children talk since then because all I can think about is not being able to give you the family you want, but I just want you Zack. You’re my family, please don’t leave me all alone.”

She would truly be alone.

She grew up in a foster care, the only family she ever knew was him and her friends.

“If you leave, I won’t have anything to live for, please… come back to me,” she begged.

It broke his heart to hear her and not being able to say anything.

Hours passed and he was still unable to get to his body. He was getting really tired of being like a ghost.

Hours turned into days and days into more weeks.

He watched as his friends and family all prayed for him to get better.

He learned that he got pretty hard on the head and that he was in some sort of comatose. They didn’t know for how long.

He noticed the toll it was taking on Melina. She always looked like she was going to pass out and her back was hurting from sleeping that small couch. He screamed at her at one point telling her to go home and get some rest, but she didn’t even flinch.

“Getting tired?” a voice asked.

Zacky turned again and saw Jimmy, yet again.

“Do you mind losing that?” he gestured to Jimmy.

“Yeah, it’s the only way you’ll talk to me,” Jimmy said. “Look, Zacky, it’s time to move on. You don’t belong in the middle. I’ve let you for too long”

“She confessed, she told me about the miscarriage, what else do I need to know?!” Zacky growled.

“It’s you.”

Zacky frowned. “Straight answers, please.”

“You’re the one that doesn’t want to return.”

“Why wouldn’t I?” he exclaimed angrily. “I see all of my loved ones hurt for me!”

“You still feel guilty about Jimmy dying.”

Zacky let out a huff of anger. “You really shouldn’t talk to me about Jimmy with his voice and everything.”

“Deal with it.”

“I am dealing with it!” Zacky shouted out of frustration. “I couldn’t save you, all right?! If I had known something was wrong, I would’ve helped you! But it wasn’t my fault!”

Jimmy grinned like he had some sort of dark secret.

“Ah, the magic words. Now you can move on,” Jimmy said and lifted his hand to snap his fingers.

“What? No!”

Melina’s sleep was disturbed when she heard an annoying sound. She opened her eyes and noticed that Zacky’s heart had stopped beating. She got off the couch immediately and called for assistance. There was a crash cart already on its way.

Nurses and a doctor filled the room and she was pushed out of the room.

She watched in horror as the paddles shocked her fiancé.

She panicked and cried out when his heart didn’t go back to beating. The doctors tried it three more times and yet his heart wouldn’t beat a single time.

The doctor looked remorseful as he looked at the time.

“Time of death 8:30 in the morning,” he called it in.

Beep the sound came.

Melina’s eyes shifted to the monitor.

Beep

The sound got louder and the nurses and doctors got to work.

“What the…?” the doctor was baffled by the recovery.

“I’ve got a pulse!” a nurse shouted.

Melina let out a cry of happiness and pushed through the nurses, which wasn’t hard because they were in shock by the miracle. She was at Zacky’s side in a flash.

“Baby?” she asked and his eyes opened slowly.

“Me--me--”

“Shhh,” she quickly silenced him. “Don’t speak…. Oh, God, you’re alive!”

His eyes wondered around the room, confused. “Where--”

“In the hospital, you died, you went to the afterlife and came back to me,” she cried of happiness.

He tried to smile as best he could. “Love you.”

“I love you, too.”