JAMES
I released an internal sigh of relief as the pain let up substantially and I felt like I could breathe again. Took a while before I could open my eyes, though. But when I did, I saw Heaven.
Specifically, I saw Miri.
She looked like hell. Streaks of grease and soot covered her white-blond hair and face, but her eyes still shone. Her eyes still made me feel so alive.
Which I totally wasn’t.
“Oh, bright eyes. You shouldn’t be here.”
“And what? Let you leave me? You’re not getting rid of me that easy, James Mason.”
How could I tell her I already had left her? I was dead. However it was she was talking to me, it couldn’t last. I was pretty sure that where I was, Miri couldn’t be. Would never be.
I reached up to tuck a strand of hair behind her ear and saw my arm was covered in dirt and blood. I hadn’t looked like that two seconds ago.
“Look around, dumb ass. You’re not dead.”