My Angel

"Clear!" Somewhere in the distance, Landon heard people screaming around him, feeling them beat on his chest, which seemed so far away. Pulses came and went, one moment he'd be in the white cool breeze where only tranquility and love reigned, the next someone would be trying to suck him back into the loud, cruel world he came from. He fought to stay in the light, fought to move forward, fought to be near her.

The light was beginning to get brighter, the pulses slowing and losing their grip. Far off in the white light, a silhouette had formed. It was her! He knew it, he felt her presence stronger than he had ever before, he could almost feel her touching him, he'd waited so long for this moment.

"Jaime!" He cried, tears began to fall without control. She came closer, floating like the angel he always knew she would be. She wore a pure white linen dress, flowing down to her feet, which hovered across the clouds, the same smile on her beautiful face, the same honesty and magnificence in her big, brown eyes. "Jaime." He whispered.

Wordlessly, she placed her hand softly on his cheek, allowing him to ease his pain and take comfort in her loving hand. "Landon." She breathed, sounding almost otherworldly, sounding so far beyond him. She sounded and felt like although she was standing right in front of him, she was nowhere near him, she far away despite everything.

"I found you." He whispered. "I need you. I've missed you so much, I couldn't bare…" His tears formed again.

"Shhh." She calmed him. "I'm here, I've always been here. I've always been with you." She looked into his tortured eyes, wanting nothing more than to relieve his pain.

"It's not the same. You couldn't stay with me, I understand now, you deserved to be here, all your beauty and light, here was where God intended you to be, I know that now. But without you, I wasn't anyone. You are my soul, without you I'm lost." Landon cried, seeing his lost love again, feeling her in the same place as him. He'd only dreamed of her this way for so long, and now it was reality. He never wanted to leave…

"I'm here, Landon, with you. I've missed you too, but I have never left you, I have always been with you. There hasn't been a moment when…" She smiled reassuringly.

"It's not the same." He dropped his head. "But I'm here now, we can be together."

Jaime stayed silent, taking his hand and kissing it with her glowing lips. "I love you so much, Landon, but you can't stay. I'm here only for a little while. You have to go back, it's not your time."

"I can't leave without you." He pleaded. "I won't."

"You must, for me. You don't belong here yet. You have you're whole life ahead of you, and I will be there every step of the way, I promise." Jaime smiled, kissing his cheek softly.

"You made me who I am, Jaime. You changed my life and you were taken from me too fast. I don't know how to work without you, I don't know how to live…" He squeezed her hand tighter, hoping she might not let him go, unwilling to let her go.

"Yes you do, you are stronger than you think, I've have seen you're strength. It was you're strength that carried me through the last of my life, and it was your love that made me truly live like I'd never done before. I love you, I will never stop loving you and I will never leave you. You're part of me now." She showed him her hand with a golden band around her fourth finger, their promise to love each other in sickness and in health, in life and in death. He brought up his hand with the same ring and they stared at it. "I believe in you." She whispered.

"How do you make all my fears and worries go away so easily?" Landon smiled. "Thank you, Jaime. Thank you." He kissed her softly once more as she began to float away, or he was floating backward, never breaking eye-contact.

"I'll be waiting for you." She blew him a kiss. "If you need me, I'll be in your heart."

He stood silently, taking in every last part of her; her face, her smile, her eyes. She became smaller and smaller, darkening into a silhouette once more before he felt the pulses beginning to get stronger and stronger, pulling him back into the world he knew.

The light began to fade, morphing into blurry blues, greens and blacks; a beeping sound picked up pace beside him. "He's back." A blurry voice shouted beside him.

Landon felt his heart give a heavy thump in his chest, becoming more frequent and he felt his whole body in every inch of searing pain. Jaime's face still the last and first thing he saw when he opened his eyes, giving him newfound hope and purpose in his life.