Author's Note: At long last - the second to last chapter!!! I'm going to be doing a sequal soon, so stay tuned for that. Read and review!
Melinda opened her eyes and found herself in an endless dark abyss. She could hear Jim, although he sounded muffled and very far away. She looked down. It was as if she was looking through a long narrow tunnel, but she saw him there. He was cradling her head and shoulders in his arms. His head was down, and he was shaking and crying desperately.
"Mel… I'm sorry. I should've done more. I should've stopped you…." He sobbed and gasped for air. "I can't…. be….. Without you."
Melinda had to look away. It was just too painful to watch. Her eyes were flooded with tears, and as they streamed down her face she looked ahead and saw it: the light. And someone was standing there. She couldn't make out who it was until they stepped forward, and then she was staring into the eyes of her guardian spirit.
"Hello, Melinda." She said sadly.
"I'm dead." Melinda replied through her tears.
The guardian spirit nodded.
"This… This can't happen." Melinda cried. "I need to go back. Jim needs me, and I can't… I can't leave him. Not now. Not like this."
"It's too late." The guardian said softly. "I'm sorry. We tried to warn you."
"No." Melinda said, her sadness quickly turning to anger. "No, it's not too late. There has to be a way."
The guardian simply looked at her, her face calm and sympathetic.
"You give me these warnings, and you don't do a damn thing to help me otherwise!" Melinda stated harshly. "This wasn't supposed to happen this way!"
"You're right." The guardian said, causing Melinda to stare at her in confusion.
"What?" Mel whispered.
"It wasn't supposed to happen this way." The guardian clarified. "The order of things has been disturbed. Fate, destiny - those are forces not to be tampered with. But that's was Romano did. Your husband's death, your death… Weren't meant to happen. You were destined for much more, and Romano knew that… Which is why he had to break you down and eliminate you."
"So…" Melinda said thoughtfully. "What does that mean? What do I do?"
"We can help you. But there will be consequences…" The guardian told her.
"What consequences?" Melinda asked.
"We can send you back to the beginning of the end. To the event that triggered it all."
Melinda looked at her questioningly.
"The shooting at the lodge." The guardian said. "Jim will live. But you will both have the knowledge of what has happened. You'll both remember his death, your death and everything in-between."
Melinda let out a short laugh. "If that's the only consequence…."
The guardian quickly interjected. "It's not. We're doing this because all of the spirit world depends on you, Melinda. With you being gone, so is the light. All souls will be trapped. Earthbound for all of eternity."
"Why?" Melinda asked.
"Because you are the one." The guardian said. "You're the balance between light and dark, life and death. That's what we've been trying to tell you all along. That's the reason that Romano wanted you on his side. You have just as much power as he does. And with that power, you can stop him and free all the souls he's worked so hard to trap. And in doing so, you would leave him powerless."
"I still don't understand." Melinda said.
"If we send you back, you need to find him and put an end to what he's done." The guardian explained. "And if you don't… You'll end up back here, and you'll be trapped like all the others."
A chill ran down Melinda's spine at the thought of being trapped here forever. "Okay." She said softly. "I'll do it. Just please let me go back."
The guardian smiled. Then, everything went black.
"Mel."
She heard the voice, but she was having trouble opening her eyes.
"Mel, can you hear me?"
Jim. She thought. Then she heard another voice.
"Clancy, I'm gonna get a backboard and some oxygen!"
"Thanks, Bobby." Jim called.
She felt his hand on her face, and she drew in a long breath.
"Honey? Wake up. Come on, Mel. Open your eyes."
Her eyes fluttered open, and she was looking up at Jim's worried face. It's really him. She thought. He's alive. It worked.
"Jim!" She exclaimed, and quickly sat up and threw her arms around him tightly.
"Whoa! Easy, honey. Slow down…" Jim said, laughing slightly, as he lowered her back down into a laying position. He practically had to pry her off of him. He looked into her eyes, which were brimming with tears, and caressed her face gently.
"Are you okay? What happened?" Jim asked.
Mel studied his face. It was a mixture of confusion and concern. "Jim." She said. "Where are we?"
A look of sadness flickered in Jim's eyes. "Mel… We're at the lodge."
"And before that?" Mel asked. "Where were we before that?"
Jim closed his eyes for a moment and when he reopened them he gazed off, lost in thought. "I… I don't know. I'm really confused." He said, his voice distant. Then he looked at Melinda with uncertainty. "What is going on, Mel?" He whispered, so no one else would hear. "I was somewhere else… And then I was here, holding the gun I wrestled away from Hunter. And I heard Neely shouting your name, and I came out… And you were on the ground…" He laughed and shook his head. "I think I'm losing my mind."
"No." Mel said quietly. "You're not."
Melinda and Jim were sitting on the couch together, safe in the comfort of their own living room. After Jim's colleagues had looked over Melinda at the lodge and confirmed that she was okay, she and Jim drove home together. Now, Jim held Melinda in his arms, and she rested her head against his chest. They hadn't talked much in the car; both were too lost in their own thoughts; but Melinda had to know if Jim had any idea what had happened.
"Tell me what you remember." She said softly.
Jim kissed the top of her head and sighed, trying to figure out where to begin.
"I was at the lodge. I got the gun away from Hunter, and then I heard a noise come from outside. I was shot. I remember the ambulance and the hospital, and thinking that I was going to be okay… But then I died. Embolism." He said, pointing to his head. "And you told me I had to cross over, but I wouldn't… I wouldn't leave you. So I jumped into some dead guy's body." Jim chuckled, but his smile immediately faded. "But then I didn't remember who I was. I thought I was this Sam guy, and I was living in the garage, and you were the only person who I felt I could trust. And then I finally remembered everything. But then Romano started messing with you, making you sick, and I was so afraid of losing you."
He paused for a moment, and drew in a ragged breath. "And I did." He finished, his voice breaking. "You died… You died in my arms, and all I could wish was that it was me instead of you." He blinked back the tears that were forming behind his eyes, and took a deep breath.
Melinda put her hand on his arm, and stroked it tenderly. "And then the next thing I knew," Jim continued, "I was back at the lodge again." He looked deeply into Melinda's eyes. "Tell me I imagined that all."
Mel shook her head. "You weren't imagining it. That all really happened." She said.
"How?" Jim asked.
Melinda explained everything that the guardian spirit had told her. When she finished, Jim just stared at her for a moment before hugging her even more tightly and burying his face in her hair.
"God, I love you." He whispered.
"I love you too." She whispered back. "So much."
Jim drew back and cupped her face in his hands. He kissed her passionately, and when he pulled away, a huge smile spread across his face.
"What's that for?" Mel asked him, also smiling.
"That." He replied. "Is for second chances."