TWENTY-THREE: When Soul Meets Body - Pt. 2

The resident returned a few hours later with his "boss," an older neurologist with gray hair and an amazed look in his eyes. He admitted that he didn't know what had caused the coma, but offered up some possibilities. "It could be some environmental toxin," he suggested. "Or a new virus that we didn't capture on our viral panel."

I personally didn't blame him for not knowing I'd spent the last few hours in the Underworld; I figured they didn't teach that in medical school.

"The good news," the doctor continued, "is that whatever this was, it seems like it was self-limiting. There's someone else on the unit who experienced very similar symptoms and he woke up a few hours ago too."

Even though James had reassured me everything was okay, it was nice to get confirmation that Billy had made it.

Despite the fact that I was looking a lot better, the doctors wouldn't let me go that easy. They told me that they wanted to keep me in the ICU for a little longer, and if I continued to look good, I could be transferred to a normal room as soon as this evening. As for when I could leave the hospital? They said tomorrow was the earliest, and that was only if I continued to look this good and physical therapy gave me the thumbs up.

I had no doubts that whatever my affliction was, it had passed. Which meant I needed to settle down and make myself comfortable. For the first hour or so, I took a luxurious nap; almost dying really wears a girl out. When I woke up, my family was playing a round of BS with a pack of playing cards Evan had bought from the gift shop. I joined in, explaining the rules to James who, of course, didn't know how to play and was somewhat morally offended by all the lying, but he picked it up quickly enough. My dad stepped out of the room every so often, answering phone calls to let everyone know that I was all right. And Mallory pulled out her phone and let me pick some music to play off of Spotify, which was a miracle as she never let anyone else choose what music was playing.

Around 2pm, my family decided they had gone on long enough without eating, and they all slipped off to the cafeteria—not before, of course, my mother asked me five times if it was all right that they went to eat. Which of course it was. They even took James with them, who had been regarding his rumbling stomach with a hint of amusement.

They'd only been gone a few minutes when I heard a set of footsteps outside my room. I thought it was my nurse, or maybe my mom had lost her nerve and decided to stay with me rather than get lunch. But I was wrong.

It was Lana.

"Hi," she said, taking a tentative step inside the room.

My room in the ICU was on the fifth floor, with tall windows letting in bright November sunlight. But the lighting only served to highlight how unwell Lana looked. Her skin was ghastly pale, her eyes sunken in and deepened by charcoal shadows. She looked like she was the one who needed to be hospitalized, not me.

"Hey," I said, my eyes trailing down to her hands. For a moment, I thought she had brought me a gift. Then I realized it was the teddy bear.

"I was just in Billy's room," Lana said. "To make sure he was okay, and... to say goodbye. He was asleep but..." She shrugged, her eyes moving from the monitors, then down to the cords and lines that wrapped me in their plastic tentacles: the navy blood pressure monitor, the soft red light of the pulse oximeter, the IV nestled in the crook of my left arm.

"Humans are so fragile," she said, so quietly it was hard to hear her. Yet I could hear the shiver in her voice, an echo of fear and awe.

"I'll be okay," I said. "They're probably going to transfer me out of the ICU tonight. And I'll probably be able to go home tomorrow."

"I hope you know that I'm sorry," Lana said, sitting at the edge of my bed. "Truly, deeply sorry for what I did to you. And Billy. I didn't mean for it to get so out of hand."

"It's okay," I said, squeezing her hand. "In the end, you did the right thing."

"Yeah..." she said, trailing off as she caught a glimpse of someone standing outside my room. Suddenly, she stood, hands shaking and eyes wide.

I followed her gaze, and saw James hesitating at the doorway.

"Sorry," he apologized to me. "I didn't know you had a visitor. I was just coming back up to ask if you wanted a dessert or something from the cafeteria—"

"James," Lana said in a voice as soft as a breeze.

James paused and squinted. "I'm sorry, have we m...?" The realization crossed his face in a flash.

There was an awful moment of awkward silence; James' mouth twitched with unspoken words. Finally, he said, "Fallen one."

"It's Lana," the Devil said. "At least, that's what I go by now." She took a half step forwards and then stopped. James hadn't moved any further into the room. He stood like a statue, trying to maintain some sort of poise in the doorway. But I could see his nerves as clear as day; he kept rubbing his fingers together, a tiny rustle in the relative quiet.

James cleared his throat. "Thank you for returning the humans," he said, his voice all business. "My preliminary report was received favorably. I will be returning to the upper world soon to deliver my final report to the Almighty—"

"How are you?" Lana asked, interrupting his spiel.

James opened his mouth, about to spurt off another official speech, when Lana interrupted him once again with a "Please."

James exhaled, eyes darting desperately around the room as if looking for a way out. "Really Lana? You know I can't talk to you. You were banished—"

"I was banished from Heaven," she interrupted. "From God. But not from you." There was anguish on her face. "I hope you know I tried to visit. After everything that happened."

James nodded slowly. "I heard the rumors. But you were locked out, as set forth in your punishment."

"I didn't accept it at first," Lana said, looking him straight in the eyes. "I was okay with never seeing Heaven or the others again. But the thought of never seeing you..." She looked down at the bear she held in her hands. Her fingers fiddled with the cool metal locket holding a piece of James' hair. "I knew there was a store that existed between realms, one with objects that could bridge the gap between Heaven and Earth. Whenever I came to Earth to make a deal, I'd try to find it, but it never appeared to me. So I... I tried to make a link of my own," she said, holding up the stuffed animal.

James' brows furrowed. Even I had to take a moment to process what she had just said. "What do you mean?" James asked.

"I took this toy and tried to forge a link between Heaven and Hell. I just wanted to hear your voice. But I couldn't get it right, so I threw it away. I don't know how, but I guess it ended up in that store." She stared at the bear. "In a weird way, I guess it worked. It brought me back to you. Eventually."

She stared at him with wide, sad eyes. James meanwhile just looked frustrated.

"What's wrong?" Lana finally asked.

"Lana," James said, "we can't go back to the way things were. Things have changed."

"But I've changed too," Lana said, more insistently now.

James laughed, a short, unbelieving bark, and then turned to look at me. "Jessa, has she changed?"

I was startled that he was asking me.

Immediately Lana turned towards me, eyes hopeful, pleading. But James caught her look and said, "No. Jessa look at me."

I did, staring at the angel straight on.

"And tell me the truth."

I took a deep breath. "To be honest... yes, I do think she's changed."

James' face twisted in surprise.

"She's made a lot of mistakes," I admitted. "But I've also seen her be good. In the Underworld, I offered myself up, to stay in Hell in Billy's place. But she wouldn't accept my offer. She set us both free, out of the goodness of her heart, even though it meant she'd still be lonely forever. And she apologized for what she did." I found myself fiddling with the cord measuring my oxygen level. "She's not a saint, but who is? She has things to work on... but so does everyone else. You and me included."

James seemed at a loss for words.

"Please," Lana said. "Just talk with me for a few minutes. I... I feel like there's a reason for all of us being here. Haven't you noticed how strange this has all been? Like, why did my spell—a spell that for years has chosen simple, straightforward deals—choose Jessa, a girl who didn't actually want anything? Why was I so convinced that the deal was centered around me falling in love with a 17-year-old human, something that was doomed to fail from the start? And why were you, amongst all the legions of angels, chosen to come down to Earth and intervene?"

James shook his head. "I don't try to guess at what the Almighty is thinking."

"But don't you think it's strange? Strange enough that maybe this was all part of some Plan?"

James was silent, but I could see his eyes darting around the room, his brain trying to piece everything together but coming up short.

"Just give me a few minutes," Lana begged. "Just a few minutes to talk to you. And then I'll leave you alone and you can return to Heaven. But please give me the chance to talk."

James drummed his fingers on his thighs, then nodded. "I'm not sure if this is against the decree set forth as your punishment, but... okay. I'll talk with you. But we talk alone." He said that with a glance towards me. "I don't want to compromise Jessa's soul anymore by dragging her into this."

Lana nodded. "Fair enough." She gestured down the hall. "There's a chapel we can chat in. I poked my head in; looks pretty nice."

James seemed shocked by the suggestion, but nodded. "All right." And he stepped out of the room.

Lana hung back for a moment, lingering beside my bed. Thank you, she mouthed.

I shook my head. "Don't thank me. I told him the truth. Just... keep working at being better. Don't make me regret what I said."

She squeezed my hand. "I will. I won't let you down." And then she was gone.