AN: Sorry for the wait!! But it's here, and it's longer that 1000 words. That's long, by my standards...I don't own DPS or Ghost Whisperer...because if I did I would be...well, a lot older, for a start...hope you like the chapter...

Chapter three

Melinda wakes with a jolt. Jim is still sleeping peacefully beside her, unaware that their room has an extra occupant.

"Neil?" she whispers, careful not to wake Jim.

Neil's eyes widen. "Do you read minds as well?" He asks

She smiles "No. I found your obituary in the library."

Neil frowns. He'd watched his father writing that obituary and tried as hard as he could to erase those words form the page, screaming at the top of his lungs "That's not me! That's not who I am! Why couldn't you see that!" but for all his efforts, he'd only managed to knock the typewriter over a couple of times.

"I never wanted to be a doctor," He mutters bitterly. "It's what he wanted for me,"

"Is that why you can't cross over?" Melinda asks "Do you need to tell him?"

"No!" Neil's voice becomes a shout, and for a split second, his eyes light up furiously. "No," He says again, quieter, sadder this time. "When I died – "His voice shakes slightly "I left my friends without an explanation, a reason. "

Melinda nods. "What about the man your father mentioned in the obituary – the teacher?"

"Mr Keating had nothing, nothing to do with what happened. He was the only person who understood...everything. He helped me see what I really wanted to do. I'd always wanted to act, but of course my father wouldn't let me. He was the only teacher who told me not to listen to my father, that he didn't know what was best for me, that I knew what was best for me."

"What happened?" She asks softly.

"I'll show you,"

Melinda blinks, and suddenly she's not in bed, talking to Neil, but in a bedroom of a posh looking boys school. There's nothing to say that she's not really here, except that there are two Neils. One is standing beside her, watching the scene unfold sadly. The other is standing on the bed, in superhero pose, wearing a blanket like a cloak, and declaring triumphantly "So, I'm gonna act. Yes, yes! I'm gonna be an actor! Ever since I can remember I've wanted to try this. I even tried to go to summer stock auditions last year, but, of course, my father wouldn't let me. For the first time in my whole life I know what I wanna do - "

The vision-Neil grabs his friend's papers and tosses them in the air. Beside her, Neil smiles.

"That's Todd," he says "he's – I mean we were roommates.

"And for the first time I'm gonna do it whether my father wants me to or not! Carpe diem!"

""That's Latin for 'seize the day''" Neil supplies. "It was sort of my philosophy, back then.

The scene dissolves, and the vision-Neil is now running through the corridors, banging on doors and shouting excitedly "I got the part! I'm gonna play Puck! I'm gonna play Puck!"

And suddenly they're not there anymore, they're in Neils room again, but the atmosphere is considerably different.

"That's my father" Neil whispers "He can't see us, right?"

"No, he can't" says Melinda

"...Tomorrow," says Neil's father "You go to them and tell them you're quitting!"

"No. I can't. I have the main part, the performance is tomorrow night!"

"I don't care if the world comes to an end tomorrow night! You are through with that play! Is that clear? Is that clear?"

"Screw you," says Neil

"Yes sir," says the vision-Neil

And then they're in an office, the vision-Neil is talking to -

"Mr Keating," Neil tells Melinda

"I just talked to my father." says the vision-Neil "He's making me quit the play at Henley Hall. Acting's everything to me. I- But he doesn't know. He- I can see his point. We're not a rich family like Charlie's, and we- But he's planning the rest of my life for me, and I- He's never asked me what I want."

"Have you ever told your father what you've just told me?" asks Keating

"I can't talk to him this way," says the vision-Neil resignedly.

Keating looks steadily at Neil "Then you're acting for him, too. You're playing the part of the dutiful son. I know this sounds impossible, but you have to talk to him. You have to show him who you are, what your heart is."

Neil almost laughs, but he is near tears "I know what he'll say. He'll tell me acting's just a whim, and that I should forget it. He'll just tell me to put it out of my mind 'for my own good,"

"You are not an indentured servant." Keating says "If it's not a whim for you, you prove it to him by your conviction and your passion. You show him that. And if he still doesn't believe you, well, by then you'll be out of school and you can do anything you want".

"He made it sound so easy," says Neil. Looking back now, he wonders what would have happened if he'd followed Keating's advice. Would he still be alive now? Would he be an actor? Or would he be studying unhappily at Harvard, training to be a doctor?

The vision Neil wipes away a stray tear. "No." He says "What about the play? The show's tomorrow night.

"Well, you have to talk to him before tomorrow night." Says Keating.

Then they're riding in Neil's father's car after the play. The car melts away, and they're watching the vision-Neil stand up to his father

"I've got to tell you what I feel!"

"You told him?" Melinda asks happily. "Good for you!"

Neil shakes his head "Wait," he says simply.

"What?" says his father angrily "What? Tell me what you feel. What is it?"

There is a long, agonising silence that stretches by the second, like an elastic band about to snap.

Neil wants to scream at his vision-self, tell him to show his passion, his fire for acting. But he knows it's useless. You can't change the past, so what's the point trying?

"Is it more of this-this acting business?" Mr. Perry asks "Because you can forget that,"

Neil sits back down with a sigh "Nothing," he says.

The next scene happens in flashes. The vision-Neil is in his bedroom, then walking down the hallway, into a study. And then he's behind his father's desk with a gun in his hand, pressing it to his head. His finger tightens on the trigger. Melinda cover her ears and turns her head, knowing what he's about to do.

Neil shuts his eyes tightly, not wanting to see his own death, but at the same time musing that he's too squeamish to watch this, yet he had no problem doing it.

There's a gunshot, and then darkness. Neil and Melinda are back in her dark bedroom. Melinda is breathing hard, as though she has just run a race. Neil is standing in the same spot, tears silently coursing down his cheeks.

"It's been five years." He whispers "It shouldn't hurt this much,"

"I know," says Melinda, not bothering to keep her voice down "But it does,"

"What does, honey?" asks Jim

"Doesn't matter," Melinda says "I'm sorry I woke you,"

Jim nods, understanding.

Melinda turns back to Neil, but he's gone.

AN: I know, I know...a lot of movie script hides in corner but the other way of Neil telling his story would be lots and lots of dialogue...so I thought this was the best way?

Reviews, comments, suggestions...are all very, very welcome...:D

Smiles

--CBT