Heaven on Earth

"That was it, I was done, I signed out of my body and into this free world watching everything from above. It felt weird, I had to admit, especially seeing things from this prospective. I was staring down at my cold, lifeless body which was now turning a light shade of blue, as he sat there, holding my icy hands in his, a complete shocked expression on his face."

48 Hours Earlier:
"Honey! My back is killing me!" I groaned, leaning farther back into the comfort of the sofa in our living room. I was 9 months pregnant, with our first child. A girl. Naeveh Crystal was going to be her name. I was due anyday now, and I could almost swear she was going to just fall out if I got up to do anything. Even though I know it took more than that, it still felt weird.
"Here's an asprin." My husband smiled, as he handed me a glass of water and a pill. I smiled back, greatfully taking both and swollowing it quickly.
"God, she's gotta come out soon, right? This is agony!" I complained, wincing slightly as I sat up, looking around for the TV romote.
"Can I never find anything around here?" I snapped, realizing how harsh it had sounded after I said it. I immidiately apologized, leaning into Bryan's muscular figure. I smiled as a familliar sent filled my nostrils. The cologne he used was absolutely intoxicating. Especially since my sex drive had increased a considerable ammount since I first got pregnant. However, I didn't feel like doing anything of the sort at that moment, since my stomach felt as if it contained a 15 lb bowling ball just then.

"You know I love you." I smiled up at him, kissing his neck gently. He smiled back, and wrapped his arms around my figure even tighter than before, "And I love you too, baby." he said softly, before kissing my forehead and resting one of his hands on my swollen belly.
It seemed it was only yesterday that we had met at the alter, and said our vows. It had been a very untraditional wedding. I had worn a very unconventional dress, and he had worn something that resembled a suite, but had been more.. badass.
His hair had been spiked, and mine had been teased to perfection. We were not your regular couple. They had played an acoustic version of 'wake me up when september ends' for me to walk down the isle to, and had played holiday as we left the church. Our cake was very unique, and had various shades of gray green and brown in it. And as gross as that sounds, it was beautiful.
"Oh my god! She just kicked! I felt her kick!" Bryan exclaimed, smiling more brightly than I think I've ever seen him smile. His smile was the one thing that could always make my day wonderful. There was just something about the way his lips curled into perfection, that I couldn't say no to.
I giggled, and placed my hand on top of his, "She's saying hi." I told him, looking over at him, staring into his beautiful hazel eyes. They were mostly brown, but if you looked close enough, there was most certianly a hint of green hidden in them. They were beautiful. Mysterious. Just like him.
"I'm tired, baby. Lets go to bed. I know it's only 9:00, but Nevaeh's draining all my energy." I laughed, attempting to get up. Once I was comfortable, with my body sunk perfectly into the sofa, it was really hard to get up. The bowling ball in my stomach prevented me from being able to bend properly, so it was quite a task to get out of bed or anywhere comfortable once I was settled.
"Here," Bryan smiled, standing up and extending his hand. I shook my head, "No. I got this.. I'm not completely incompatent you know.." I smirked.
"Alright, one more try.." I grunted, and eased myself up and out of the chair, using the armrest for support. I smiled proudly, and took my husband's hand gently. I tugged slightly, and soon I was completely enveloped in his embrace. I felt warm, and safe with his arms around me. Nothing could ever hurt me while I was in his arms. Nothing.
3:00 am:
I awoke with a stabbing sensation in my stomach. The pain was concentrated to one spot; The baby. I began to panic. What if something was wrong? What if I was having a miscarriage. I needed to wake Bryan up. But before I could reach out to touch him, blackness surrounded my vision, and I colapsed on my pillow.
When I woke up, I was surrounded by a flood of noise and blurry lights clouded my vision. I blinked a couple of times, and everything began to clear up. I looked around, hoping to find a familliar face. Before I could recognize anyone, a shooting pain when through my back, and my abdomen tightened. I let out a scream as another pain shot through my back. Just as it got to the point where I felt as if I was going to pass out, the pain subsided, and I sank back into the bed.

I shut my eyes tightly, hoping that when I opened them I would be back home, in our house, in my own bed, snuggling up with my husband. To my dismay, when I reopened my eyes, I was still right there, in that hopsital bed. Then I noticed something I had been too preocupied to realize before; Bryan was sitting beside me, holding my hand and smiling at me. He reached out his other hand and began to brush some of my hair behind my ear. It was soothing.

"it'll be okay, sweetie. I promise" He kissed my forehead. But before I could answer him, another pain rippled through my body. It felt as if a train had hit me. I screamed in pain, tightening my grip on his hands. I get squeazing them tigther, and tigether to avoid thinking of the pain that was shooting through me. I couldn't stop. Tigther and tighter. Suddenly I heard a crack, and immidiately let go.
"Fuck!" he exclaimed, ripping his hand away from my grasp. I had broken it. Normally I would have been more caring towards him, but in my current condition, I was a little busy.
Now with no hand to hold, I grasped the side of the bed, holding as tightly as I could. My abdomen once again tightened, and I felt darkness enveloped my vision. The sounds around me became muffled. Everything went black.
When I came to, I was in a different room, and sunlight was streaming in through the window. I winced, and turned my eyes away from the window. I smiled when I saw that Bryan was sitting next to me. I shook my head and smiled, "I had the weirdest dream.." I began, then noticed that his hand was in a cast. I stopped.
"No, wait. It wasn't a dream.. Where's Nevaeh?!" I asked, my mind was beginning to panic. What had happened? Was my baby girl alright?

Bryan began to stroke my hair again, which always managed to calm me down.
"She's fine. She's in the nursery right now. She's doing fine." He reassured me, smiling down at me. I smiled back, then shut my eyes. This time, however, I was in control. I was so exausted, and little dissapointed that I was unconcious for the birth of my daughter, but at the same time, I didn't care. I just wanted to sleep. I began to hum the lullaby my mother used to sing to me when I was little. It was soothing, and in no time I found myself fast asleep, dreaming of Nevaeh. And of Bryan and me. And everything good that I had.
I woke up to the sound of doctors shuffling around my room, talking amongst each other. It was a bit unsettling. I was never one to trust easily, and I certainly never wanted to have my baby in a hospital where doctors and nurses had free reign over my little Nevaeh. When I tried to sit up, the pain was overwhelming and immidiately sank back into the many pillows that surrounded me. Looking around to see if Bryan was still there, I noticed something; My white hospital gown was drenched in blood. I was bleeding exessively. I yelped in alarm, and tried once again to sit up, but the pain was encompassing. It rippled through every inch of my body. I had no choice but to lay back down. I could feel myself begin to weaken. I felt the dizziness in my head take over my mind. I felt like my body was burning up in flames.
"Help.." I whimpered, as a single tear found it's way down my cheek. It felt almost like a drop of acid streaming down my face. Burning it's way into my skin.
Suddenly, Bryan was there. He was once again holding my hand; everything was okay. I knew everything was fine. I smiled weakly.
"Whatever happens, baby.. I love you." I breathed, looking up at him with what little strength I had left, "I love you."
That was it, I was done, I signed out of my body and into this free world watching everything from above. It felt weird, I had to admit, especially seeing things from this prospective. I was staring down at my cold, lifeless body which was now turning a light shade of blue, as he sat there, holding my icy hands in his, a complete shocked expression on his face. Suddenly, that look of shock disapeared and turned into one of rage. I saw him stand up, and grab one of the doctors by the collar of his shirt, and though I couldn't hear what exactly he was saying, I knew he was trying to get them to do more for me. Though there was nothing left they could do.
Then, just as swiftly as I had left my body, I began to leave this world. Everything shot by me in a flash of light, it was almost as if I was traveling at the speed of light, yet I wasn't moving. Everything else around me was. Then there it was; Heaven. It was unlike anything I had ever seen or imagined it to be. It was perfect. The temperature was perfect, the life in the grass was perfect, the sun light was just warm enough, yet wasn't too hot. I seemed to be in some sort of meadow. There were flowers of all different sorts; none like I had ever seen before. The grass was filled with little yellow flowers that resembled a buttercup but had a larger amount of petals. The smell of summer surrounded me, and that alone was almost enough to make me forget everything I ever had on earth.
Then on the edge of the meadow there was a beautiful forest. The shade of green that grew here was unbelievable. It almost looked fake, but at the same time I knew it could never be fake. It was just more beautiful than I could have ever imagined. I began to make my way through the forest. The beauty was captivating. I never wanted to leave. Then, I heard what seemed to be water. After a few more moments of wandering towards the sound, I found myself ankle deep in a crystal clear stream. I was a little thirsty, so I cupped my hands and brought some of the water to my mouth. It was unbelievable. The water was so cool and crisp, and tasted sweeter than any water I had ever had. While I was distracted, I didn't notice a large horse like creature approaching me. That is, until it was nearly ontop of me. I whurled around, startled at first. Then as the blinding light that surrounded the creature subsided, I noticed a pair of wings attached to it's back, and instead of the neck and head of a horse, the creature had the torso and head of a man. His hair was long, silver and was flowing in the passing breeze.
"My name," He said, looking down at me, "is Gabriel. I am a messenger of the Lord. He has sent me to bring to to him." He reached out one of his hands, and I took it gracefully. Before I knew it, we were flying across the tree tops, and landed almost as soon as we had started. Thought we must have covered miles in the few moments we were in the air.
Then there before me, was a gate and a wall. I could see that beyond the gate there lay a city. A beautiful city. The streats were paved with gold and silver, and the sun shone so brightly upon it that if it were anywhere else, it would have blinded you. I pressed my face against the gate, in awe of what lay in front of me. That's why I jumped in surprise when I felt a hand rest upon my shoulder. I turned around, and immediately fell on my knees, looking at the ground.
"Oh my god. It's really you." I exclaimed, realizing too late that I had used his name in vain. "I'm so sorry. It won't happen again." I nodded, still too fearful to look him in the eye.
Then came a laugh; a soft, kind light-hearted laugh. It was so soothing, and reassuring. When he spoke, the heavens and earth itself seemed to pause in awe, "Be still, my child." His smile was just as comforting as Bryan's, I remembered. Then came the shock, and reality set in.
"Am I dead?" I asked, a note of fear in my voice.
"Not exactly. Your body is struggling to hang on because your soul isn't ready to move on. It has a little more life left in it to live out."
I sighed, I wasn't sure I understood.
"So, what happens now?" I asked, looking up at him, "I don't understand.."
"You are being given a rare choice, Hannah." He stopped walking, and placed his arms atop of my shoulders, looking me in the eyes; making sure I understood clearly, "You can choose to follow me past these gates, and into heaven. We would celebrate, and you can meet your grandparents and some of your family friend's that you never met. Peter is also here, and wanted you to know he says 'thank you'." I smiled, a tear sliding down my cheek. I had never met peter, but every since his death, I had felt empty.
"But if you stay, that would mean you would never see your family again. You would die, leave them for good.
Or you can choose to go back to your body. You can choose to live. To be with your husband and daughter. To be a mother and a wife. To teach Nevaeh how to talk, to teach her about me. To give her the best gift a daughter deserves; her mother. However, you will have no memory of every being here.. The choice is your's, my child."
I smiled, having already made my decision. Suddenly my eyes shot open, and I was once again in the hospital bed, with Bryan sobbing over my body. I couldn't move, but my speech hadn't been effected, "Bryan, I'm right here." I whispered. He looked up, and saw that my eyes were awake and that a small smile was spread across my lips.
"It's okay, baby. I'm here. I'm alright." I breathed, squeezing his hand weakly, "But damn.. I had the absolute weirdest dream!"
"Tell me about it?" He asked as he kissed my hand, and brought it up to his face, and burried himself in the palm of my hand.
"I will. But right now, I want to hold my daughter." I smiled up at him, and he nodded.
Before long my arms were wrapped around a tiny bundle of blankets, which somewhere contained our baby girl. 'This right here, is why I was born.' I thought, 'to be the mother of this beautiful child, and to be the wife of this amazing man. I am blessed.'

THE END