From crossing the street to waking up, being in the large brightly lit room
was the first thing that Eddie could remember. People were mulling around
but no one seemed to be paying any real attention to him, only the few
fluttering looks the young girls gave him that he really didn't understand
in the first place. Suddenly out of no where, a little girl about 6-years-
old came running up to him and took his hand in her pale one. "Are you
Eddie then?" She said cheerfully in an accent tinted with London. "Yes" He
said slowly and the girl beamed. "Wonderful, I'm Hailey Carter. She is
every excited to meet you, come with me"
Helpless and confused and what else to do, Eddie let Hailey pull him down the hallway. "Where are we going?" Eddie asked as they came upon a big white door with a tiny window slit at the top. Hailey turned and stared at him with her big sea green eyes. "You mean you don't know?" When Eddie shook his head, Hailey pouted. "Most people don't know, but I did. I knew right away" She seemed sad so Eddie stroked a hand down her fine dark gold hair. "Knew what Hailey?" She didn't answer for a moment. "That I was dead, like you are, and like her" Hailey said as she pointed to an old lady walking past them.
Eddie felt shock waves travel through him at amazing speeds as he looked down at Hailey and a thought struck him. Had he seen her on the street, he would think that she were a normal happy girl. "I think there's been some mistake, see, I'm not dead" Hailey sighed and ran a hand through her own hair that was almost comically grown up for a child her age. "It's a bit much to take in at first I know, but you'll come to realize in time" Eddie shook his head. "I think I must have hit my head on something" He said as he rubbed the back of his head and looked down at Hailey who was regarding him with such bloody patience.
"Alright then," He said after a length of time. "If I'm dead, then how did I die?" Hailey pushed open the door but didn't go in, nor she did she prompt Eddie to. "You were hit by a car, also you suffered from blood rejection at the hospital" The dark clouds that seemed to be gathering in the doorway swirled and suddenly separated and Eddie could see Jane being lowered in a chair by a handsome doctor in a white coat that was rolled up to the elbows and smeared with blood. She was crying and Liz gathered her into her arms while they cried together.
"I want to go see her" Eddie said to Hailey but she shook her small head. "You will have to talk to Gretchen Morris before you're allowed to visit earth again. But I was told that yours was a special case, so I'm not sure how she will deal with you" Hailey pointed a delicate finger down the hall to the second room on the left and Eddie, without asking, went there and pulled the door open. Of all the things he had expected to see, he didn't expect a pretty woman about 20 at the most with free flowing hair and vibrant burnished gold eyes sitting behind a very business like desk with a set expression on her young face that was the color of strawberries and cream.
"Are you Gretchen?" He asked unsurely, a smile tipped the corners of her unpainted mouth. "Yes I am," It was strange to Eddie how her voice seemed to echo and bounce off the stark white walls. "I was told to come talk to you" She rose from behind the desk and Eddie was surprised to see that she barely came up to his shoulders. "You have a troubled soul Eddie," She said in a voice softened with sympathy. "You have unfinished business" Eddie wanted to laugh but he guessed that this wasn't the kind of thing that you were supposed to laugh at. "You wouldn't happen to know what it is would you." He asked with a hint of sarcasm that Gretchen didn't seem to catch on to.
"I do, yes" She took his palm and stroked her long lean fingers over the lines in his palm. "You have yet to find your true love" Eddie pulled away and looked at Gretchen angrily. "I found my true love, her name is Jane Goodale" Gretchen smiled softly and shook her head. "You only think that she is because you are tired to searching" Eddie growled and Gretchen's smile just stretched a little wider. "I know what makes you tick, so to speak, Mr.Alden" Gretchen said and flipped her hair over her shoulder and let it cascade down her back like an ebony waterfall.
"I've had a talk with your inner-cupid," She said as she paced the room in a manner that had Eddie gaping. Gretchen wasn't walking around the room at all; she was more floating 7 inches off the ground. Her summer green dress drifted at her bare heels and Eddie found himself being more confused by the minute. "It seems that he is unsatisfied, so until you find you're true love and make the choice, you can not stay here in Heaven" Eddie began to laugh uncontrollably. Gretchen simply leaned back against the desk and waited for him to compose himself. "This is Heaven and next I suppose that you're going to tell me that you're God"
"What if I tell you that I am?" She asked softly and that only caused Eddie to throw himself into a more violent laughing fit. She was very still till he stopped and when he did, she calmly regarded him with her pretty eyes and made him feel very uncomfortable very quickly. "Firstly God is supposed to be a man" He said as he wagged his finger at Gretchen's crepe dress. "Old wives stories, they like to blame a man when something goes wrong, it's easier for them then to blame themselves I guess" Eddie rolled his eyes, easily dismissing what Gretchen had said. "And secondly," He went on as if she had never said anything in the first place. "You look nothing like God. I mean you're floating and all and that's kind of freaky but you want me to believe that you're the one that billions of people pray to?"
"You never did" Gretchen said easily with a hint of accusation in her voice. Eddie shook his head though Gretchen caught the flush that started to creep up his cheeks. "I have a belief that people need to take responsibility for their own actions" Gretchen turned her back to him and started to ruffle through a stack of papers and handed him one with a picture of a man about fifty with stone gray hair and dark eyes pinned to it. "Who's this?" Eddie asked confused. "Christopher Malone, Sergeant Christopher Malone actually. 49 years old, 4 children and one on the way to being married. He prayed every night of his life but that didn't stop the bullet from the gun" Eddie's mouth turned into a sneer. "That's right it didn't" Gretchen took the paper from him and set it back down with infinite care. "Yes, but he came here to stay instead of having to go back and finish like you have to"
There was a brilliant flash of light and Eddie was in the hallway again with Hailey gripping his hand again. "How did it go?" She asked and Eddie just looked down at her blankly. Hailey smiled a pretty little girl smile of innocence and gently tugged Eddie down the hall. "Will I be able to see Jane?" He asked and Hailey looked up at him with shock running through her eyes. "Did Gretchen not tell you?" Eddie seemed puzzled. "Well she told me that since I have 'unfinished business' that I have to go down and finish it, but that's really it" Pity stirred inside Hailey's eyes and she didn't bother to mask it. "Since you walked into Gretchen Morris's office, one hundred years have passed and Jane is no longer living"
Eddie jumped back. "Then isn't she here?" This time Hailey only shook her head. "No. Well she is, but she is kept so that neither of you will be able to find one another" Eddie clenched his teeth and growled impatiently at the little girl who was actually nearly 238 years old. "What would I have to do to get this unfinished business taken care of?" He asked almost angrily and Hailey walked him a little ways down the hallway to a thick oak door that stood out with it gleaming brown against the stark white walls. "Walk through this door and you will be inside you're apartment 100 years from now. However, you can only travel 60,000 miles from the apartment"
Deciding that 60,000 miles would give him good coverage, he nodded. "Now remember," Hailey said as he pulled the door open and gave her a questioning glance. "If you fall in love with her and she falls in love with you, then you MUST tell her the truth" Eddie seemed to weigh the options. "What if I don't find the love of my life?" "Then you will remain earth bound until you do. If your love is strong enough to withhold the truth, then you will have to make a very important decision" Nodding, Eddie took a step forward and looked over the edge of the doorway, nothing but blank empty space. Then with a final breath, he took the last steps into the doorway, and then the door slammed behind him. Plunging him into darkness and space.
Helpless and confused and what else to do, Eddie let Hailey pull him down the hallway. "Where are we going?" Eddie asked as they came upon a big white door with a tiny window slit at the top. Hailey turned and stared at him with her big sea green eyes. "You mean you don't know?" When Eddie shook his head, Hailey pouted. "Most people don't know, but I did. I knew right away" She seemed sad so Eddie stroked a hand down her fine dark gold hair. "Knew what Hailey?" She didn't answer for a moment. "That I was dead, like you are, and like her" Hailey said as she pointed to an old lady walking past them.
Eddie felt shock waves travel through him at amazing speeds as he looked down at Hailey and a thought struck him. Had he seen her on the street, he would think that she were a normal happy girl. "I think there's been some mistake, see, I'm not dead" Hailey sighed and ran a hand through her own hair that was almost comically grown up for a child her age. "It's a bit much to take in at first I know, but you'll come to realize in time" Eddie shook his head. "I think I must have hit my head on something" He said as he rubbed the back of his head and looked down at Hailey who was regarding him with such bloody patience.
"Alright then," He said after a length of time. "If I'm dead, then how did I die?" Hailey pushed open the door but didn't go in, nor she did she prompt Eddie to. "You were hit by a car, also you suffered from blood rejection at the hospital" The dark clouds that seemed to be gathering in the doorway swirled and suddenly separated and Eddie could see Jane being lowered in a chair by a handsome doctor in a white coat that was rolled up to the elbows and smeared with blood. She was crying and Liz gathered her into her arms while they cried together.
"I want to go see her" Eddie said to Hailey but she shook her small head. "You will have to talk to Gretchen Morris before you're allowed to visit earth again. But I was told that yours was a special case, so I'm not sure how she will deal with you" Hailey pointed a delicate finger down the hall to the second room on the left and Eddie, without asking, went there and pulled the door open. Of all the things he had expected to see, he didn't expect a pretty woman about 20 at the most with free flowing hair and vibrant burnished gold eyes sitting behind a very business like desk with a set expression on her young face that was the color of strawberries and cream.
"Are you Gretchen?" He asked unsurely, a smile tipped the corners of her unpainted mouth. "Yes I am," It was strange to Eddie how her voice seemed to echo and bounce off the stark white walls. "I was told to come talk to you" She rose from behind the desk and Eddie was surprised to see that she barely came up to his shoulders. "You have a troubled soul Eddie," She said in a voice softened with sympathy. "You have unfinished business" Eddie wanted to laugh but he guessed that this wasn't the kind of thing that you were supposed to laugh at. "You wouldn't happen to know what it is would you." He asked with a hint of sarcasm that Gretchen didn't seem to catch on to.
"I do, yes" She took his palm and stroked her long lean fingers over the lines in his palm. "You have yet to find your true love" Eddie pulled away and looked at Gretchen angrily. "I found my true love, her name is Jane Goodale" Gretchen smiled softly and shook her head. "You only think that she is because you are tired to searching" Eddie growled and Gretchen's smile just stretched a little wider. "I know what makes you tick, so to speak, Mr.Alden" Gretchen said and flipped her hair over her shoulder and let it cascade down her back like an ebony waterfall.
"I've had a talk with your inner-cupid," She said as she paced the room in a manner that had Eddie gaping. Gretchen wasn't walking around the room at all; she was more floating 7 inches off the ground. Her summer green dress drifted at her bare heels and Eddie found himself being more confused by the minute. "It seems that he is unsatisfied, so until you find you're true love and make the choice, you can not stay here in Heaven" Eddie began to laugh uncontrollably. Gretchen simply leaned back against the desk and waited for him to compose himself. "This is Heaven and next I suppose that you're going to tell me that you're God"
"What if I tell you that I am?" She asked softly and that only caused Eddie to throw himself into a more violent laughing fit. She was very still till he stopped and when he did, she calmly regarded him with her pretty eyes and made him feel very uncomfortable very quickly. "Firstly God is supposed to be a man" He said as he wagged his finger at Gretchen's crepe dress. "Old wives stories, they like to blame a man when something goes wrong, it's easier for them then to blame themselves I guess" Eddie rolled his eyes, easily dismissing what Gretchen had said. "And secondly," He went on as if she had never said anything in the first place. "You look nothing like God. I mean you're floating and all and that's kind of freaky but you want me to believe that you're the one that billions of people pray to?"
"You never did" Gretchen said easily with a hint of accusation in her voice. Eddie shook his head though Gretchen caught the flush that started to creep up his cheeks. "I have a belief that people need to take responsibility for their own actions" Gretchen turned her back to him and started to ruffle through a stack of papers and handed him one with a picture of a man about fifty with stone gray hair and dark eyes pinned to it. "Who's this?" Eddie asked confused. "Christopher Malone, Sergeant Christopher Malone actually. 49 years old, 4 children and one on the way to being married. He prayed every night of his life but that didn't stop the bullet from the gun" Eddie's mouth turned into a sneer. "That's right it didn't" Gretchen took the paper from him and set it back down with infinite care. "Yes, but he came here to stay instead of having to go back and finish like you have to"
There was a brilliant flash of light and Eddie was in the hallway again with Hailey gripping his hand again. "How did it go?" She asked and Eddie just looked down at her blankly. Hailey smiled a pretty little girl smile of innocence and gently tugged Eddie down the hall. "Will I be able to see Jane?" He asked and Hailey looked up at him with shock running through her eyes. "Did Gretchen not tell you?" Eddie seemed puzzled. "Well she told me that since I have 'unfinished business' that I have to go down and finish it, but that's really it" Pity stirred inside Hailey's eyes and she didn't bother to mask it. "Since you walked into Gretchen Morris's office, one hundred years have passed and Jane is no longer living"
Eddie jumped back. "Then isn't she here?" This time Hailey only shook her head. "No. Well she is, but she is kept so that neither of you will be able to find one another" Eddie clenched his teeth and growled impatiently at the little girl who was actually nearly 238 years old. "What would I have to do to get this unfinished business taken care of?" He asked almost angrily and Hailey walked him a little ways down the hallway to a thick oak door that stood out with it gleaming brown against the stark white walls. "Walk through this door and you will be inside you're apartment 100 years from now. However, you can only travel 60,000 miles from the apartment"
Deciding that 60,000 miles would give him good coverage, he nodded. "Now remember," Hailey said as he pulled the door open and gave her a questioning glance. "If you fall in love with her and she falls in love with you, then you MUST tell her the truth" Eddie seemed to weigh the options. "What if I don't find the love of my life?" "Then you will remain earth bound until you do. If your love is strong enough to withhold the truth, then you will have to make a very important decision" Nodding, Eddie took a step forward and looked over the edge of the doorway, nothing but blank empty space. Then with a final breath, he took the last steps into the doorway, and then the door slammed behind him. Plunging him into darkness and space.