The Last Stand: The Deleted Scenes
Eight
(From Chapter Twenty-Four)
Within seconds, Egbert's body had been entirely consumed by the same soft, miasmic glow that surrounded Isabella and her daughter. It was a sad moment, a poignant one; reminding each of those present that the end of an era had come, the end of a life.
Isabella smiled at Egbert, and the slowness of the absorbing process was shattered as she threw her arms around him in an embrace that had been forbidden to them for twenty-eight years by their separation. Egbert pressed his lips against Isabella's, and in that single moment, Mildred felt that she knew what true love really looked like. She had always known that this moment had come, but she had hoped that it would be a slightly less disturbing image. Whilst Isabella's ghost had been preserved at the point of death and looked no different to the forty-year-old woman who had perished those two decades ago, Egbert had certainly not been so lucky, and the past five years in particular had been overly harsh to his appearance. He looked old enough to be Isabella's mother, but she was still completely lost in their kiss. A major advantage of being a spirit, Mildred thought wryly, was that one never had to come up for air.
"Ok," said Della, whose spirit was fading before their eyes as it found its way to her body, ready to return her to the realm of the living. "I'm going now, so I'm going to say goodbye."
Della's words had no effect on the lovebirds.
"Erm, hi guys, it's your daughter over here, I'm going now and I'm not going to see you again until I die for proper, so I think some sort farewell would be appropriate."
Egbert raised one hand from Isabella's waist and waved distractedly.
"Good God," muttered Della as her spirit vanished completely and only her voice was left. "There's no wonder I came along, is there? Get a bloody room you two!"
Egbert needed some loving… He'd waited nearly thirty years for that!