"Sam."
The voice sounded far away, yet so close…
"Sam, can you hear me? Oh God, please wake up."
He felt someone's hand softly caressing his face. He heard Melinda's voice calling out to him. He clawed his way out of the darkness and back into awareness.
His eyes fluttered open, and he was looking up into Melinda's tear-filled eyes. Acute concern was etched on her face, but seeing him awake, a bit of relief washed over her.
"Melinda." He whispered.
"Oh my God. Are you okay?" Mel asked frantically.
He sat up halfway and threw his arms around her, taking her down with him. She gasped as he held her close and caught her in a passionate but tender kiss. It lasted for several seconds before she slowly pulled away.
"Sam…" She whispered, breathlessly. She pushed herself back up, and he sat up with her, grabbing her hand.
"Mel." He said, his voice breaking slightly. "It's me, Jim. I remember."
Her eyes widened. "Y-You….?" She stuttered.
"I remember…" He repeated. "Everything. I died, and you seemed so lost. So devastated. I couldn't leave you. I wouldn't. So I saw Sam cross over, and I thought that if I could just take his place…. We could be together. I'm so sorry, Mel. I'm sorry…."
Melinda's eyes welled up with tears again, and she wrapped herself around him desperately. "Jim." She sobbed.
He held her and kissed the top of her head. "I love you." He whispered. "I love you so much."
Melinda pulled back a few inches, remaining in his embrace, and looked up at him. "I thought I'd lost you forever…." She cried. And then she buried her face in his chest again.
He stroked her hair and her back and absently rocked with her. "I'm here." He whispered. "Everything's alright now."
An hour later, the pair laid together on the couch. Mel's head resting on Jim's chest as she snuggled up against him. His arm wrapped around her snugly, afraid to ever let her go again.
"When Eli told me that memories of past lives are lost… Usually permanently… I lost hope." Melinda said softly. "I was so scared."
Jim stroked her arm, and sighed. "I'm sorry I put you through all of that. If I had known…"
"No." Melinda cut in. "You're here now. You're back. That's all that matters." She paused for a moment. "And I'm glad you did what you did. It may be selfish of me, but I don't think I could've survived without you."
"Selfish?" Jim said. "Mel, you are the most un-selfish person I know. You're also the strongest and bravest person I know. I think you would have been alright. It's me that couldn't have lived without you."
Melinda looked at him. "You could've gone into the light." She whispered sadly. "You would have been happy there."
Jim shook his head. "Not a chance." He said. "No place can be happy if you're not there. I don't care how great everyone says it is."
Melinda laughed, which caused Jim to laugh as well. When they both stopped laughing, Jim brought Melinda's lips to his. The kiss was intense, electric, and filled with the love and loss that both had accumulated over the past four months. They had to make up for lost time. So that's what they did. Neither one of them got any more sleep that night.