Falling is Easy

Mia looks around, bewildered and scared. She is unsure of why there are people all around her, why they seem so alarmed. Mia watches and tries to wave away the nurses, freezing when her arm doesn't lift. She notices the absence of feeling as well as rhythmic beating. Why can't she feel her heartbeat? In the midst of her panic, Mia hears a tentative voice, feminine and soft.

"Don't think of moving anything in particular, just move."

Mia does just that, and climbs off the hospital bed. She turns, looking for the person who helped her and finds a girl watching her warily. The girl's arms were crossed over her chest in what seemed a defensive manner. She was wearing a dress and sandals; an odd combination for someone in an intensive care ward. Mia looks at the girl once more, thinking that she looked familiar but knowing they had never met before.

"I'm Mia, what's your name?"

"Ailyn." The girl replies, her gaze jumping from Mia to the bed she had left. As Ailyn's gaze switches between her and the bed, Mia becomes rather annoyed and a little worried. Mia turns to see what is so interesting and finds herself in shock. The nurses were still huddled around the bed working quickly in an attempt to revive the body on the bed.

"What is that?" Mia asks, her voice shaky and scared. Ailyn merely looks to her with a sorrowful gaze, shaking her head to say she wouldn't respond. "That's... that's me on the bed. How is that possible? I'm right here so why am I there? Answer me!" Her voice rises angrily, as she moves towards Ailyn.

"You're dead, that's how you're on the bed yet standing here at the same time."

"You're crazy, I'm not dead. I'm right here and alive, so this is all a nightmare that I'll wake up from." Mia shakes her head and moves away muttering about how she'll wake up any time now.

"Take a closer look at your body if you don't believe me. See that band of light outlining it that's fading? Now look at your hands; see how as the light around your body fades, the light around your hand gets brighter? That band of light is your spirit essence and since your spirit is no longer in your body, the essence is transferring back to your spirit itself." Ailyn says, in an attempt to explain and help her understand. Mia stares at her, looking from her body to her hands. What Ailyn said was true, the band of light was leaving the body and going straight to Mia.

"You," Mia says slowly, despair and anger taking over as she realizes that she is truly dead. "you did this to me! You're the one that told me to move! If I hadn't listened to you, I'd still be alive!"

"No, Mia, you would be dead with your spirit trapped inside stuck in your body or whatever is left for eternity. I was trying to help you, most spirits leave the body on their own and then go to wherever they're supposed to be."

"How do you know all this?" Mia asks, her anger slipping away.

"I'm dead too, that's how I know. I've seen dozens of spirits leave and helped those that needed it. I don't know why I didn't move on, all I know is I've been here since I've died." Ailyn responds softly, hoping that Mia will move on now.

"Wait, I can't leave! I can't die, Ailyn! My boyfriend, he'd be devastated if I died! He already lost his brother, I can't stand for him to lose me too!" Ailyn listens, worry growing as Mia's desperation rises. "Don't you see? I have to go back!" Mia tries to touch her arm, but her hand passes right through the body on the bed. "What... why isn't it working?"

"Mia, you can't go back. You're going to move on in a few minutes, there's no going back. Every spirit I've seen leave their body moves on after a few minutes. They have no control
over it, they just... go." Mia regards Ailyn with confusion, not wanting to accept the inevitable.
"Wait a minute, you said you didn't move on... I'm going to, but you aren't." An idea comes to Mia and she looks to Ailyn with a smile. "You have to be there for him. I can't, but you can." Ailyn steps away from Mia, shaking her head sadly.

"I can't help you, this isn't how it works." Mia only smiles in response following Ailyn and grabbing her wrist. "Mia!"

"It has to work, Ailyn. You're going to be there for him." Mia says, pulling Ailyn over to the hospital bed and shoving her onto the body. Ailyn feels her spirit settling in the body, getting one last glimpse of Mia as the heart monitor beeps and white fills her vision.

Mia smiles, watching the heart monitor beep at a steady pace as her heart, no Ailyn's heart stabilizes. Her body is Ailyn's now and she'll be there for Heath, just as she's supposed to. Mia feels a sense of satisfaction as the Ailyn's eye's flutter and she let's herself drift out of the room, to wherever her spirit is destined to go.

In the room, Ailyn's eyes open to see nurses leaning over her with smiles on their faces. She sits up as they move about tending to the IV and leaving. Her gaze settles on the reflection in the mirror across from the bed. The reflection in the mirror is Mia and Ailyn is now in Mia's body.