Sorry it took so long, I had problems with my computer. I decided not to break it into two chapters because it took me so long to post it. I hope everything is explained. Thanks for the reviews! =) Enjoy!
The sun came shinning through the window and rested on Melinda's face. She started to wake up and she pulled the top sheet up around her neck curling herself into a ball. She was so happy in the moment as the thoughts from last night came flooding back. Melinda smiled remembering the smell and touch of her Jim. He was really back, she could see him, feel him, and taste him. In a moment that feeling vanished. Melinda suddenly realized Jim wasn't lying next to her and she closed her eyes tightly refusing to believe that it was all a dream.
"Jim?" She called softly. She knew even if he was in bed with her there was no way he would've heard that. Melinda felt a tear roll down her face and used the sheet to wipe it away.
She had to open her eyes. She needed to know if last night was a dream but if it was a dream what would she tell Jim? Melinda loved having Jim in her life no matter how she had him, but the only thing that remained the same was his touch and his eyes. His smell was different to her, the feel of his skin and even his taste to her was different. But last night she had all those things back and if she had to tell Jim she missed all those things it would destroy him.
Melinda heard the shower running as she sat up in bed still tightly closing her eyes. She would know in an instant when they opened because the room would look different. Finally, she opened her eyes and panic spread in. It was a dream. The flowers by her nightstand were gone and the bed was no longer covered with rose pedals.
"Oh God, no." Melinda cried. "Please no." She quickly hopped out of bed, threw on her robe and headed down the hall to the bathroom. She had to see him, she didn't want to hurt him but the only thing she thought about was his comfort. She needed his arms wrapped around her.
She stopped in the hallway when the water turned off. The bathroom door was closed slightly and she couldn't see inside. Melinda waited for a moment wondering if he was going to come out of the bathroom and she quickly wiped her tears away. She didn't want them to be the first thing he seen. Melinda heard him brushing his teeth and decided to wait and compose herself a little more before going to him. After a few moments he rinsed his mouth and she crept through the door. Jim was bent over the sink still rinsing his mouth and the only thing she could see was his back, but was it different? She stared at him, he was standing there in nothing but a towel, and when he stood up her heart stopped.
"Jim?" She asked fighting back the tears.
Jim turned around to see Melinda resting her head against the side of the door. He could see her tears about ready to boil over and he smiled at her. He knew what would be going threw her mind but decided not to comment on it. Melinda's heart was beating out of control as she processed what her eyes seen. Jim was standing there in a towel, his dark hair still dripping wet, and his soft blue eyes that she loved so much.
"Good morning, beautiful." Jim said softly stepping closer to her. He slid his left arm around her waist and gently kissed her neck pulling her in for a tight embrace.
Melinda smiled at the sound of his sweet voice. She loved the way he talked to her.
"Are you okay?" He asked pulling away a little to see her face but kept his just inches from hers.
She didn't know how to answer that question. The bedroom looked different but she still seen Jim. "It's still you, but the room…it doesn't look like it did last night." She said in a whisper not sure of what he would say. If it was only a dream she still woke up to Jim.
"What do you mean?" He asked looking down the hall to their room. "It looks the same to me.
"The rose pedals are gone and where are my flowers that were on the nightstand? Was last night really our anniversary?" She spoke fast but her voice was still quiet. She hated feeling confused.
"The rose pedals that were on the bed are now on the floor." Jim smiled and now he turned red. "The flowers that were on the nightstand….well….you kind of knocked them down last night. I did clean that up." He leaned in closer to her and lightly brushed her head to the side so she could see the rose pedals still on the ground. "Maybe you didn't see them through your tears." Jim took her face in his hands, looking into her eyes he whispered. "And yes, last night was our anniversary." He kissed her gently a few times then pulled away. "Are you okay now?"
Melinda nodded. She was more then okay. Her eyes closed slightly at the smell of his breath so close to her skin. "Did you shave already?" She asked a little embarrassed and she could tell her face had turned a little red.
"Yeah, before I got in the shower." Jim asked tilting his head to the side in confusion. "Why?"
Melinda leaned in and ran her tongue along the side of his neck. Jim's knees instantly buckled, he pulled her closer to him and braced himself on the door. She rested her cheek against his and he closed his eyes tightly.
"What was that all about?" Jim asked still a little weak.
Melinda smiled and pulled away from him taking his face in her hands. "Are you okay?" She asked shyly.
"Yeah, I just wasn't expecting that." Jim's crooked smile flashed across his face and he laughed at the childlike look on her face. "So, are you going to tell me what that was all about?"
"I don't want you to laugh." Melinda said innocently.
"Promise I won't laugh." He smiled.
Melinda lowered her eyes from his smiling like a school girl. "I missed the taste of you." She said as her faced flushed red.
Jim did his best to refrain from laughing. "So, I smelt different, looked different, and I taste different?" His voice was soft and sweet. His concerns from last night had all but disappeared, replaced my nothing more then curiosity.
Before she could answer the phone rang making her jump slightly. Jim couldn't hold his laugh back anymore.
"You're a bit jumpy this morning." He said as sweetly as he could when he noticed the look on Melinda's face. She wasn't amused but still smiled. "I'll get the phone, you hop in the shower, and I'll meet you downstairs." He kissed her cheek quickly and headed out the door.
Melinda finished her shower, got dressed and was now headed down the stairs to the kitchen. She could smell breakfast and felt her stomach rumble with hunger.
Jim handed her a plate as he leaned in to kiss her over the counter. "I'm sure you have a lot of questions."
"Yeah, about a million." Melinda laughed. "Who was on the phone?"
"Aiden, he wanted to let you know that he loves you and he misses you but Ned promised to take him to do whatever he wanted today so he won't be home until dinner." Jim said smiling. He'd already asked Ned to take care of Aiden today. He knew Melinda was going to have a lot of questions and he thought it would be easier if it was just the two of them.
"Are you starving?" Jim said trying not to laugh while Melinda practically inhaled her food.
"Famished." She said blushing. Jim watched in amazement as she cleared her plate. "More please?" She said handing him an empty plate.
"Wow, you really are hungry." Jim smiled taking the plate. He placed another small omelet on there before handing it back to her.
"Yeah, whatever we did last night sure made me hungry." Melinda said when he got close enough for her to put her arm around his neck and pull him in for a kiss.
Jim kissed her for a moment before resting his forehead on hers. "Last night was different." He said softly.
"Jim?" She asked hearing his voice crack. "What is it?"
He wanted to tell her everything but at the same time he was a little hungry himself. They would be plenty of time to answer her questions. "Let's eat first, then we'll go in the living room and you can ask me whatever you want." Jim gave her his crooked smile that she couldn't say no to.
Melinda shrugged and went back to her food. She wondered if Jim thought she couldn't handle the questions with her emotions being so out of whack lately. But after she showered she felt much better and was back to her normal self. She also knew her 'normal self' was still a little emotional but she knew no matter what he said she would be fine.
They finished eating, cleaned up the kitchen a little, and Jim led her into the living room. The rose pedals were still strung out all over the living room and on the sofa. He sat down first thinking she'd sit next to him but instead she climbed on top of him. Melinda took his face in his her hands and stared into his eyes for a long time before she spoke. Jim knew that if he hadn't seen her in six years he'd be doing the same thing so he never said a word.
"I love your eyes." Melinda said softly before resting her head on his shoulder.
"I thought you said my eyes were the same?" He asked taken back a bit by her words.
"No, Jim, I could see you in there. But, I don't think there is a man on this planet that has eyes as piercing as yours." She said hoping that she hadn't hurt him too much, hurting him was the last thing she wanted to do.
Jim smiled but said nothing. He ran his hands up and down her back waiting for her to start her questions. He didn't have to wait long.
"Jim, does Aiden know I couldn't see you?"
He took a deep breath and let it out slowly. Jim knew these questions were coming but he still wasn't sure he was prepared for them and he had no idea how she would react to some of the answers.
Jim thought for a moment before he spoke. "Last summer, we were putting him to bed one night. You were telling him he had a hair appointment the next day…" Jim paused to look at her. He could see she was just waiting anxiously for the answer so he continued. "He said he wanted his hair like mine. He meant he wanted it cut like mine but you said you didn't want him dying his hair blonde."
Melinda sat up trying to hide her feelings from Jim. She knew it wouldn't work but she always had to try. Jim wrapped his arms around her tightly keeping her in place.
"He didn't know before then?" Melinda asked quietly.
Jim shook his head. "Why would he? It's not like you walked around the house all the time telling him I only looked different but it was still me."
"What did you do? How come he didn't say anything?" Melinda asked looking down at his chest.
He looked away for a moment knowing his answer would upset her. "Mel, I…" Jim showed her what he did. He placed his finger over his mouth and winked. "I explained it to him later."
"What did you tell him?"
Jim paused. "I told him everything." Jim said quietly. "I didn't want to lie to him and I didn't think you'd want me to…I mean if you ever remembered I thought maybe you'd want me to tell him the truth."
Melinda ran her fingers up and down his chest thinking of what to say. She was glad he didn't have to lie to Aiden too. "How did he take it?"
"Better then I thought he would. I just told him it was a secret and he couldn't tell anyone. He didn't seem to mind as long as you were okay." Jim smiled and shook his head. "Which is amazing because that's the same way we all felt…I mean at least we still had you and that was all that mattered."
"I'm glad you didn't have to lie to him too." Melinda said relieved. She didn't think that would upset Jim. She was truly happy he didn't have to lie to both of them.
Jim exhaled slowly trying not to get upset. "It wasn't a lie, Mel, I was….I mean I know it was a lie but I did what I thought…"
Melinda gently put her finger to his mouth getting him to stop talking. "I'm not mad, Jim. I didn't mean for it to sound that way."
Jim nodded and looked away. He was really happy she was back but he didn't want to answer these questions. He knew he did what he had to do but there were times he felt like he was lying and he never wanted to do that.
"Next question?" She asked making sure Jim was okay. He nodded. "What about the book?"
"What book?" Jim asked confused but suddenly remembering what book she was talking about. "Oh, the Book of Changes?" He waited for her to nod indicating that was exactly what she was talking about. "Eli found it. He already had it when you woke up and you already knew about it. We figured it was because he'd talked to you about it while you were in the coma."
"You guys talked to me?" She asked confused.
"Of course we did, Mel." Jim said surprised. "Why wouldn't we? They told us you could hear us so we talked to you all the time. I read my books to you, Eli talked to you about the ghosts he'd been helping, Delia talked to you about the store, and Ned…well Ned talked to you about whatever popped into his head." Jim laughed.
"You read to me?" She said happily.
"All the time." Jim smiled and kissed her cheek softly.
"So, wait…Eli found the book and when I woke up I just knew about it?"
"Well…yeah…I mean you know about some other things we'd talk to you about so we figured that's how you knew. When you woke up knew I was studying to be a doctor, you knew about Ned's girlfriends and school, you knew everything about the store…" Jim stopped when he noticed her confused look. "What, Mel, what's wrong?"
"It's just weird." She stopped to think. "When did I wake up?"
Jim could tell her the exact day she woke up but decided that might be too much for her. He went with a more simple answer. "About two months before Aiden was born."
"Then I did get pregnant at the cabin?"
Jim nodded.
"And Aiden was okay while I was in the coma?"
"Happy and healthy." Jim smiled.
"I just woke up one day and what? I mean how did I not know I was in the hospital?"
Jim didn't want to sound like a doctor so he picked his words carefully. "You know how you always say that sometimes the ghosts only see what they want to see?" He waited for her to nod. "That's basically what you did. You got out of bed, got dressed, and went to the store. Just like you would've if you woke up in your own bed."
"You weren't with me when I woke up?" She asked confused.
"No," Jim said quietly. "I was taking my tests. Ned was there with you. He stepped out to get something to eat and when he got back you were gone."
Melinda could see the pain in his eyes when he remembered not being there for her. She took his face in her hands and kissed him softly. "I don't understand how you guys knew what I was dreaming about though." She said changing the subject. She hated seeing him in pain just as much as he hated seeing her in pain.
Jim laughed. "We had no idea what you were dreaming about."
"How did you guys figure it out?"
"Trial and error, my love." Jim said kissing her cheek. "We talked to you a lot, we listened closely at what you said, and when someone figured out something new we let everyone know. The first year was the hardest, but after that everything pretty much went back to normal."
"Your jacket and your ID have Lucas on them…how did you get away with that?" Melinda asked like she was trying to prove what he was saying wasn't real. It wasn't so much that she didn't want what he was saying to be real, because she really hoped it was, and if it was real, that just meant that five years of her life had missing pieces.
"No, Mel, my jacket has Lucas on it. But my ID has my picture and my name on them."
Melinda looked confused. "Jim, I've seen your ID and it doesn't have your picture on it."
Jim smiled and then he moved Melinda to the side so he could get his wallet out of his back pocket. "Look." He said handing her his driver's license.
Melinda looked at in amazement. There it was in black and white. James Clancy. She tossed his wallet on the coffee table and thought for a moment. "Oh," she said quickly, "what about the tests? How did you become a doctor so fast? Sam took those tests not you." She said with a smile on her face. She thought she had him.
"True, but who's to say I couldn't take the same tests that he took? I didn't have time to study them before. But with my wife being in a coma for seven months, I had a lot of time on my hands to study." He smiled and pulled her closer to him. "Why are you trying to prove me wrong? Don't you want this to be true?" He asked softly whispering in her ear.
Melinda thought about his question and realized exactly why she didn't want it to be true. What had she done to him for five years? How much pain had she put him through every day of his life for five years, just like the Amanda said, she was hurting him everyday. What else had she not seen or forgotten about?
She pulled away to look at him, she took his face in her hands again, and forced the tears away so she could speak. "Jim, if this is true…that means you've known this whole time that you were really you and that I…your wife…" she stopped not sure if she could finish without the tears coming, "thought I was with another man and I just don't know how you dealt with that for this long." Melinda could feel the tears whaling up and were on the verge of escaping. "It means I've hurt you everyday for…"
Before Melinda could blink she was lying on the sofa. Jim wrapped her legs around his waist and placed his mouth gently on her neck.
"Mel, listen to me please." He whispered softly on her neck. She could feel his love and his voice was soft against her skin. "Listen with your heart and not your mind," he paused. "Please?" He waited for her to respond. She could only nod and then he continued. "Since the day I met you, Mel, that day I tossed your slipper at you…from that moment you said those three words to me," Jim paused for a moment before repeating her words. "When you said 'please believe me'…from that moment on, Mel, my life became about you. Everything I did was for you. You stopped my heart, Mel, and in an instant the only thing I wanted to do was take all your fears and doubts away. I went back inside that building for you. For months I was scared to death that I was going to have to raise our son by myself. When you woke up and called me Sam, yeah, my heart broke. I was scared to death you didn't know who I was. But then we found out that you knew it was me, that you thought my spirit had just went into this other body, I didn't care what I had to do. I just was glad that we were still together. You want to know if it hurt. Yes, Mel, it hurt like hell and I had no idea that you couldn't hear my voice or smell me, or even that the taste of my skin changed. But if you're asking me if it was worth it, if I do it again." Jim paused, kissed her neck and then her lips softly before looking into her eyes. "I'd do again without hesitation." He smiled as he wiped her tears away. "You've always known that I was here, you believed that I would never leave you, and you knew you'd never have to be alone. Please, don't forget that now. I love you, you're my whole life and I want you to know that no matter what happened, no matter what you thought, it was all worth it. Listen to your heart, Mel, it didn't lead you astray before, and please don't let it lead you astray now. I'm here, Mel, I never left you and you know I never will."
Melinda couldn't speak, or even think. She pulled him in and held him closely. She knew eventually they'd work everything out, she knew someday it would all make sense. But for now all she wanted was Jim.
"Are you trying to climb inside me again, Mel?" Jim asked trying to get her to loosen her grip. "I can't breathe when you're squeezing my neck so hard." He smiled and kissed her softly when she finally loosed her grip. "You okay?" He asked and she nodded still unable to speak. "Mind if I ask you a question?" Jim watched her nod again. "It's just a question so please don't get mad."
"I wont." She said slowly trying to force a smile.
"If Sam died doesn't that mean his body could no longer hold his spirit?" He asked watching here eyes closely. He really didn't want to upset her. But again Melinda only nodded. "If that's the case how come his body could hold mine?"
Jim watched her for a moment. He could see the confusion written all over her face and he realized that she'd never questioned that. Jim could tell that she was a little hurt by the question and quickly pulled her into a kiss. The one kiss he knew would get her to forget everything for the moment. They held each other closely, neither one of them wanting to move. It had been a long time since they'd both felt so much peace and they didn't want it to end.
Now, before people start getting all upset it's just a story. If he can jump into another body then she can see things the way she wants to see them. But, my friend and I got in an accident a few years ago. She was in a coma for three months and when she woke up she knew things that had happened to us while she was in the coma. The only thing we could think of as to why that happened was because she heard us. Also, when she woke up she thought her teddy bear (that she'd had since she was a kid) was a rabbit and she wanted nothing to do with it. Anyway, hope you enjoyed…and please leave some feedback. I'm working on two other stories so I'll be posting them soon.
Thanks =)