Courageous: Afterlife Book Four (16 page)

It was Jason.

C
HAPTER 29

M
ICK AND
J
ASON
were groaning and moaning, then yelling and screaming. I fought hard to piece myself back together one bead at the time. It took a while for the body to absorb the pieces and make me whole again. I moved my fingers, arms and legs and took in a sigh of great relief, happy to see that nothing was missing

Mick managed to throw Jason into the air and I looked up with a gasp. Jason hit the ceiling but wasn't hurt. Like a spider he crawled across the ceiling and then bounced off it and landed just in front of Mick. They were growling like animals, circling each other. Jason took a step forward causing Mick to punch out to hit him, but he missed. Mick lunged at Jason once again, but again Jason was too fast and moved before Mick's fist could hit him. I watched them as they danced in circles around each other. Mick fuming with anger and the desire to wipe out the man he hated more than anything.

I couldn't bear to watch it. "Please stop," I said.

"Meghan, stay out of this," Mick snarled.

"Please stop," I pleaded again. "I don't want anyone to get hurt."

Jason looked at me and for a second our eyes locked. In that instant it was like he saw me again, like he saw me back then in his room when I had visited him, back when I had taken him outside and pulled him into the air with me, back when we had shared a kiss, our first and only. I felt a warmth spread inside of my body and I couldn't help smiling.

Out of the corner of my eye I suddenly saw Mick come towards Jason with high speed, then leap through the air and land on Jason, forcing him down to the floor. Mick's eyes were flaming as he punched Jason over and over again. I screamed and floated towards them. I grabbed Mick and tried to pull him away but he was too strong. The anger in him made his fluid body burning hot and I could hardly touch him. It was burning Jason too when Mick punched him. It sounded like he was being stigmatized, like every time Mick's fist touched Jason's skin it left a burn. Jason was screaming in pain. Tears streamed down my face while I punched Mick in the back, only to burn my fists.

"STOP! STOP!" was all I could manage to yell.

But Mick had no intentions of stopping. He kept burning his fists into Jason's body and tearing beads out of him. Jason was screaming, his screams penetrating my body like needles. I kept trying to grab Mick and pull him away and burning myself when suddenly I realized I was going about this all wrong. Jason screamed again and I cried while trying to find peace within myself. I tried to calm myself down in the midst of my fear. I closed my eyes and blocked everything out. Mick, Jason, the school, all my worries. I blocked them out of my thoughts. Then I rubbed my hands together and thought about water. Lots of water. Tons of water. A few seconds later it was pouring out of the palm of my hands. I gasped when I saw it. I hadn't been able to do any magic right for a long time. The water kept coming stronger and stronger and soon it was like a river flowing from the palms of my hands. I was shaking all over. Jason screamed again when I lifted up my hands and poured all the water over Mick. When the water hit him it sounded like putting out a bonfire with a bucket of water. The fire in him was extinguished and the water was forcefully pulling him off Jason's body and flushing him far away from me. The river of water kept flowing and Mick was fighting it with a scream when suddenly someone came into the room through the walls.

"What is going on in here?"

It was Headmaster Salathiel. I stopped the water by closing my hands and didn't open them until the gurgling sound was gone. Mick fell to the ground with a thud. I ran to Jason. He was moaning and trying to get up.

"Stay down," I whispered. "You're hurt."

Quickly I scanned his face and body and realized he was missing an ear and some hair and an elbow. I found the pieces floating close to him and helped him get back together again. Salathiel stared at me while Mick was groaning from the corner of the room.

"We need to get them both to the hospital tower," I said.

Salathiel nodded with a serious face, when Rahmiel entered the room as well. She looked at Salathiel and I could tell they spoke to each other in their minds. Salathiel nodded, then flew towards Mick and lifted him up from the floor. He was barely conscious when Salathiel carried him out of the room. Rahmiel then looked at me with concerned eyes and approached.

"Are you alright?" she asked.

I shook my head. "I'm not sure. I'll tell you everything once we're in the hospital."

C
HAPTER 30

I
HAD TO
spend the night in the hospital tower for observation since they wanted to be sure nothing had happened to me or the baby when I had been torn into beads. Luckily nothing seemed to have happened to the baby, they told me. Abhik slept in a chair next to me, holding my hand. Neither of us got much sleep that night. The next morning Rahmiel came to me.

"How is Jason?" I asked before she had hardly entered the room.

"He's better. You can see him later today."

I was filled with relief.

"You look better too," she said and caressed my cheek.

"They say I'm fine and that the baby is fine too."

"You are very strong, Meghan. Your baby will probably be too."

"But I feel exhausted," I said.

"Well you've been through a lot emotionally lately. That taxes your strength more than you know. The water you flushed out of your hands took its toll on your body as well. It's not an easy thing to do, what you did. It's going to take a few days before you can make any magic again. Your body is tired."

"Well hopefully I don't have to."

"What's going to happen next?" Abhik asked. "With Mick I mean."

"Mick just woke up a few moments ago," Rahmiel told us. "He is being detained by guards of Angels that I sent for yesterday. The coming days we will try and sort out exactly what has been going on with him and get his story straightened out. I still have hope for him that we might be able to get him back on the right track, but he has to want it. He has been a dear friend to this school and we all love him profoundly, but only time will tell if we can get our Mick back the way we knew and loved him."

"So you're not going to throw him out?" Abhik asked upset. "After all he has done to Meghan?"

"He will receive a proper punishment, but what it will be is not up to me. That is for Salathiel to decide. "

"What about the marriage?" Abhik asked. "Is Meghan still married to him?"

"If she wants to she can get it annulled. It's just a technicality. In this world we don't care about titles or anything like that. It's all very human and earthly. It doesn't matter here or even in Heaven. Love is all that matters. It's up to you Meghan."

I exhaled deeply. "I think I need it to be annulled," I said. "I feel I hardly even know who Mick is anymore. There is no future for us." I felt tears pressing behind my eyes then reached down and touched the bump on my stomach. The baby returned my gesture by kicking me several times. I chuckled lightly. "The baby and I will be fine on our own."

"Then that's settled," Rahmiel said. "I'll tell Mick when I speak to him later today, that you are no longer his wife."

I was discharged from the hospital a few hours later. Abhik floated next to me as I said goodbye to the nurses.

"We'll probably see you again soon," one of them said and caressed my stomach. "Won't be long now."

"Well at least it'll be under more joyful circumstances," I said.

Abhik held my hand as we flew down the corridor.

"I want to see Jason before we leave," I said.

Abhik smiled. "Of course. I'll ask a nurse where to find him."

Abhik left and came back a few minutes later. "He's in room two-thirteen," he said and pointed. "It's right in there."

"I'd like to go in alone," I said as I put my hand on the door.

"I'll be right out here," Abhik said with a smile.

"Thanks."

I put both of my hands on the door and pushed myself through. Jason lifted his head from the bed when he saw me come through the door.

Then he smiled. I smiled back remembering how much I loved his boyish smile. Remembering how much I had once cared for him.

"Meghan," he said and reached out his hand towards me.

I took it.

"How are you?" I asked and held his hand tight in mine.

"I'm fine," he said. "They're just being overly protective in here. They keep fussing over me."

I chuckled. Jason laughed too. Then his face was strained in pain. "Well as long as I don't laugh, I'm fine," he said.

"Thank you," I whispered after a short pause.

"For what?" he asked. "You saved me, remember? How did you do that trick with the water? It was really cool."

"It kind of was," I replied. "Luckily it worked too. I haven't been able to do it in a long time actually."

"Well, it sure worked alright." He paused and became serious.

I felt a pinch in my stomach. He looked at me with his soft brown eyes that almost swallowed me. They were so deep and beautiful. He sighed, then reached out his other hand and touched my cheek gently. It felt like a wave of pleasant electricity running through my entire body. I gasped. Jason stared at me with urgency in his eyes, like this moment was important to him beyond anything.

"What is it with you?" he asked.

"What do you mean?"

"I feel ... I feel so drawn to you." Jason sat up in the bed and pulled me closer. Our faces were next to each other now. I could feel his breath on my face. I breathed heavily. Jason closed his eyes. "It's like ... I can't describe it. It's so strange." He held my face between his hands and looked me straight in the eyes. "It's like I know you, as if I've always known you. Like yesterday. I somehow knew you were in danger. I just sensed it. It was like an insisting inside of me, an urgency that I couldn't ignore no matter how hard I tried. I was drawn towards the kitchen, I had to go there. I mean how silly is that? I have never been in there before. Why all of a sudden? Why now?"

I grabbed his wrists and pulled away a little. "Well I'm glad you listened to that voice inside of you. That's what I came to say. Thank you."

"I'm sorry," he said. "I didn't mean to frighten you. I know you're a married woman. I have been fighting this feeling inside of me ever since I met you for the first time on the cliffs. You remember that? The night your baby kicked? Ever since then I haven't been able to stop thinking about you."

I shook my head then floated backwards. "Jason, I don't think ..."

"It's appropriate? No, I guess it isn't," he answered. "You're married and with child. I know I should keep away from you, but ..." Jason bit his lip. "Well I guess I can't help it. I keep telling myself that you're happy with that guy, that I'm being stupid for thinking about you. But ..." Jason threw his arms in the air. "Well, I just can't help it.  It's like I knew I loved you from the day I met you, as if I’ve known you all of my life. I guess I have to try and get you out of my head, huh? Please promise me that you won't let him treat you that way again. I can't believe he would act like that to the woman he loves. He doesn't know how lucky he is."

"I'm not going back to him," I said. "I annulled the marriage."

Jason's face lit up. "You have no idea how relieved I am to hear that," he said. "The way he acted towards you on the balcony, I knew he was bad news. And yesterday . . . I was afraid you were going to go back to him, even after that."

"Well, I'm not. But I am going to have his child and right now that's what I need to focus on."

Jason nodded. "Of course." He exhaled. "Maybe I'll see you around?"

I nodded shyly. "Sure."

Feeling Jason's eyes on me, watching my every move I turned my back to him and went through the door to Abhik who was still waiting outside.

C
HAPTER 31

I
SLEPT IN
one of the guest-chambers the since I didn't want to be in mine and Mick's tower room alone and constantly be reminded of our disastrous marriage. I spent the days sitting in the windowsill of my new room and staring at the black forest surrounding the castle. Some days I cried while thinking about how horrible the last months with Mick had been after we had gotten married and maybe it even went wrong before that, I thought. I scrutinized for hours and hours and realized it had always been bad between the two of us. The jealousy, the rage had always come between us. Soon I came to the conclusion that I had loved Jason more than I ever loved Mick and that had come between us. It had been wrong from the beginning. Why had I then chosen to be with Mick? He made me feel good, he made me feel secure, he was there and he loved me so much. He had wanted me so badly that it was hard to say no. It was hard to follow my heart when there were so many good reasons to be with Mick and the only reason not to was that my heart wanted someone else, that I loved someone else more, someone who wasn't even here at the time, someone I didn't even know if I would ever see again. Now Jason was here, now he was telling me that he longed for me even if he didn't know me, or our history. Why had I not told him everything in the hospital? Why had I been frightened when he told me all of those things? Fear, I guessed. Fear of repeating my mistakes, fear of rushing into something I wasn't ready for yet. I needed time, I thought. I needed time to find myself in the midst of all this turbulence.

Slowly, while resting in the chambers and taking occasional floats above the castle with Abhik, I regained my strength. I began preparing food for myself again and even for Abhik as well. He and I found our own rhythm, enjoying each other's company simply hanging out and talking about everything and nothing. I was hurting, my heart was broken, but I wasn't going to let it pull me down. I was determined to enjoy my life from now on no matter what my circumstances looked like. I was pressing through even if some days I was overwhelmed with fear and worry about the future, about the prospect of becoming a single mother.