The murmuring turned into a cheer as everyone began to cheer and whistle. The somber mood that had hung heavy on the medical ward dissolved and suddenly there were smiles and hugs all around. Several people clapped me hard on the back. I returned their thanks, all the while itching to be at Gabe’s side.
Before the cheering had a chance to die down, Ben Cael appeared from the depths of his son’s room. He ran into the hall with his eyes wide and cheeks red. His gaze fell on his wife and he trembled as he spoke. “Georgia, come quick. He’s fading fast.”
She took a sharp inhale of breath and sprinted toward the door. I followed closely on her heels, panic bleeding into my chest. This couldn’t be it. He needed his soul. He needed it now.
The machines surrounding Gabe’s lifeless form beeped with alarm. The heart rate monitor had flat-lined and a low buzzing tone filled the room.
Georgia ran to her son’s side and clung to his hand, tears streaming down her face. “No, not yet. I’m not ready. I can’t lose another child. Not today.”
In that brief moment, seeing Georgia so fragile and pale next to her dying son, all the resentment I held for her died. She’d already lost her only daughter. And now, she was about to lose her son. All the hatred she had for me had come from a place of fear. Losing one child was hard enough. To lose a second might destroy her completely. I understood her in that moment. I pitied her.
Rounding the bed to Gabe’s other side, I took a quick look at his deathly complexion. The blood had drained from his lips and there wasn’t a hint of breath left in his chest. A voice inside me screamed with panic. It couldn’t be too late. I had his soul in my hands. It was right here.
“Hold on, my love,” I said, placing my hands over his chest. The pale light of Gabe’s soul flickered. It was as if it too, were fading. “Just a moment more.”
Georgia gasped and stared at me through tear-soaked eyes. “Is that...?”
“His soul,” I answered.
I wasn’t sure how to place a soul back into a body. Placing it softly on top of his chest, I removed my hands and waited. It blinked and shuddered. With every bit of strength I had left, I prayed that this would work. That my Gabe would be spared. That Heaven would allow him to come back to us.
After what felt like an eternity, the small ball of light sunk into his chest without a sound. The skin beneath his shirt glowed bright for an instant and then it was gone. I clasped my fingers around Gabe’s and desperately watched his face for signs of life.
It was as if I was seeing him for the first time again. Just like those harrowing moments in that little abandoned cabin in the woods when I’d rescued him from the demons, I allowed my gaze to soak in his features. His strong chin remained clean shaven and the tiniest white scars marred his jaw. Thick black lashes splayed along his cheeks under his heavily lidded eyes and thick black eyebrows. The proud cheekbones that I longed to kiss were pale.
I begged him to open his eyes so that I could see his brilliant green gaze once more. I missed the fire in his stare and the stubborn way his mouth would twitch when he didn’t want to smile. He had to come back. His time here wasn’t done.
“Georgia.” Ben placed a hand on his wife’s shoulder.
She twisted away and clung to Gabe’s chest. “No, he’s not dead. He can’t be.”
I sobbed silently from the other side of the bed.
“Georgia,” he said again. “Listen.”
There was a note of something in his voice. It sounded like hope.
We both perked up our heads. There was something different in the room. It was the slight beep of a monitor, picking up a steady pace. I stared at the screen with confusion clouding my head.
“It’s his heart,” Ben said, his voice growing louder. “It’s beating again.”
I swiveled my head to look down at Gabe. The slightest lift of his chest made me cry out in relief as he took a breath of air. Color had begun to return to his cheeks and lips. His eyelids twitched and his hand squeezed mine.
“Gabe, I’m here,” I almost shouted. Glancing at Georgia and Ben across the room, I smiled. “Your parents are here, too. Come back to us.”
After the brief flutter of his eyelids, my green-eyed angel finally gazed sleepily upon my face once again. Happy tears rolled down my face as I pressed my lips to the palm of his hands. His lips twitched in a smile and he sighed.
“Lizzy.”
A sob wrenched itself from my throat and I couldn’t hold back the emotions any longer. My shoulders shuddered as relief, sharp as a knife, cut through me. I felt arms surround me and soft hands comb through my hair.
“He’s alive,” Georgia whispered, handing me a tissue. “My son’s alive. Thanks to you.”
I couldn’t reply. The emotions were still wracking my body.
“Mom...” Gabe sighed and reached for her hand.
“Son.” She kept one arm wrapped around me and clasped his hand. “Welcome home.”