Sebastian The Traveler

I was real.

I had a body, I had a life... though it didnt look great at the moment...

I was just as stunned as Avery appeared.

I didn't think this was possible. I had never known anything other than being what I was now. I had convinced myself I was a ghost. That I had no previous life, as I couldnt remember it. I just assumed I was this and only this. Looking at myself in that hospital bed now, memories flooded back to me like a tsunami.

I was mountain biking with friends...

...Didnt see a rock in my path.

I was going too fast...

...thrown from the bike, tumbling down the mountain.

Then darkness...

I looked around the room. It was filled with flowers, balloons, get well soon cards and pictures. Pictures of me. It was me. Smiling and happy. Having a good time surrounded by friends. I had a lot of friends.

My eyes turned to Carolyn.

Mom. I remembered now!

And then Avery...

"I know him..."

My mom looked at her, confused, "What?" She asked.

Avery nodded. "Carolyn, this is going to sound nuts..." she walked around to the opposite side of the bed my mom was standing at. She placed her hand into mine, holding it.

I felt it. I examined my hand. Not the one attached to me in the bed, but my spirit hand, right in front of me. It tingled. I could feel the warmth emanating from her touch. I felt it from across the room. Curious.

"I have dreamt about him every night for the last two months, until last night... my first night in Colorado Springs."

My mother started to cry. Hope filled her face. "Tell me," she begged.

Avery stared at me in the bed and smiled. Her eyes didnt leave me as she continued to explain, "I dont know. One night he just appeared. He said his name was Sebastian," She met my moms eyes, tears were falling down her face now as well, "I didnt think he was real..."

My mom ran to Avery embracing her.

They cried together.

***

Mom and Avery's shift had ended hours ago, but they stayed in my room. They stayed with me. Avery smiled at the pictures around the room. Examining each one closely, picking up one and touching my pictured face. It was one of my favorites. And I remember now the day it was taken. We were white water rafting, me and some friends. I was having the time of my life. I was grinning over my left shoulder at the camera. Rushing water in the background.

"Carolyn? Can I have this picture?"

Mom smiled, a bit mischievously, but she told Avery to take it.

And then my loving mother proceeded to tell Avery every embarrassing story about me she could possibly remember. They laughed for hours. I gritted my teeth and endured it... what else was I supposed to do? I couldnt stop it.

But Avery...

There was a new aura about her. She was happy. She was full of love. She seemed not to notice that I wasn't waking up. She didnt care that they thought I never would. She was still on a high from finding out she wasnt, in fact, insane. I actually did exist. And I was right infront of her.

My mother finally decided it was past dinner time and she should head home. She hugged Avery, promising to see her tomorrow. She kissed my forehead and left.

Avery and I were alone.

Sure, we had been alone before but there was always a wall there. Static in the reception. A hurdle neither of us could jump. So this... this was different.

She ran her finger tips through my hair. My spirit body felt it and I touched my head in response. Only her hand wasnt there. It was across the room, on the real me.

How to I get back to the real me? How do I reattach myself? How do I find my way into Avery's real arms?

I had no answers.

She kissed my forehead. "I love you, Sebastian," she whispered.

My heart stopped. I grinned. She said it. She finally said it. All the feelings I had immediately felt the first time we met were now being reciprocated.

I yelled back, "I love you too, Avery!" Like I thought she could hear me or something.

Stupid.

I felt as if I might jump through the ceiling. And then I remembered my body. Yeah. I wouldn't be jumping through anything, anytime soon. I frowned, frustrated.

"I'll wait for you, for as long as it takes. I'll be right here when you're ready to come back," she whispered.

Then she left.

She left me alone with a body I cant seem to make work anymore.