Heaven Painted as a Free Meal Read online

  “We’re done for the time being,” he said. “Laverne will come and get us if they need help again.”

  “And?” Jewel asked.

  “The answer is that the bosses couldn’t see why not. That we should try.”

  Belle and Nancy both looked puzzled, but Jewel smiled, as did Tommy.

  Elliot asked simply, “Try what?”

  “It’s time we jump you to Deanna,” Jewel said.

  Belle and Nancy both nodded, then Nancy said, “We’re headed home.”

  And they vanished.

  “I have a hot tub with my name on it,” K.J. said. “And I got to check my shoes to make sure I have no cow dung on them from that field.”

  And he vanished.

  Elliot just shook his head. “Why do I get the feeling they are rats leaving a sinking ship and I’m the sinking ship?”

  “Because it’s been a long day for you already,” Jewel said.

  “And you have a little more of a rollercoaster ride ahead,” Tommy said, “before it can calm down and you can rest.”

  “Deanna?” Elliot asked.

  Jewel nodded.

  “Let’s go,” Elliot said, taking a deep breath. “I need to say I’m sorry and goodbye.”

  “Well, maybe,” Jewel said.

  And with that they jumped to Deanna and Elliot’s condo.

  Deanna was sitting on the couch, her head back, her eyes open, just staring at the ceiling. She had clearly been crying.

  She had taken off her jumpsuit and had on jeans and a plain white blouse and slippers.

  The living room was tastefully arranged with a number of chairs, a large couch, and a coffee table stacked with sports magazines. Everything was in brown tones and to one side there was a large dining room table with a laptop on it. There was an open kitchen beyond with stainless steel appliances.

  Books on oak shelves filled one long wall and Jewel could see a couple reading devices on the end tables.

  The place looked comfortable and lived in.

  A woman about Deanna’s age sat in a reading chair near her. The woman had long brown hair and had also been crying.

  There was a deep silence in the room.

  “That’s her sister Carla,” Elliot whispered. “She’s nice, but not too bright.”

  “They can’t hear us,” Tommy said.

  Elliot nodded and went to sit beside Deanna on the couch.

  Jewel watched as he carefully reached over and touched her.

  He jerked back, but kept his touch with her.

  Jewel knew that Elliot had run into the wall of grief. That’s why he had jerked back.

  Then suddenly Elliot seemed to sit up straight, as if listening for something in the distance.

  Jewel knew he was seeing the news that Deanna had gotten from the doctor that very morning.

  Suddenly Elliot stood and moved away from Deanna like he had been shocked.

  Then, after a moment, he looked at Jewel. “You knew and didn’t tell me?”

  “It wasn’t my place to tell you,” Jewel said. “It was her place and she just did. In the only way she could now.”

  Elliot nodded slowly, tears filling his eyes. “Is there any way we can make her death easier? Can I be there when she passes to the next world?”

  “That’s the other part we didn’t tell you,” Tommy said. “That she doesn’t even know. The powers want both of you as agents. She’s going to join you, not leave you.”

  Elliot opened his mouth, then shut it, then opened it again, shut it again, and turned to look at Deanna. “We’ll be together again?”

  “For as long as you both want,” Jewel said, her voice soft.

  With that, Elliot sat on the couch and just stared at Deanna.

  And Jewel could see he was smiling.

  THIRTEEN

  ELLIOT JUST LET himself sit and stare at Deanna, the woman he loved more than anything in the world. He had come here to say goodbye. Now Jewel and Tommy were telling him that Deanna was going to be recruited with him as an agent.

  And that they would be together.

  She was dying. But by dying, just as he did today, she would become a ghost agent. And together they could save people.

  Behind him he heard Jewel say to Tommy, “Head home. I’ll be fine here.”

  “Sure?” Tommy asked.

  Elliot turned and smiled at them both. “You can both go get some sleep if you want. I assume we ghosts sleep because I feel worn out beyond belief.”

  Jewel laughed. “We sleep. And everything else as well. But I want to stay here because we have some other things to discuss about what’s going to happen to Deanna during her last two months of living. I’m a doctor, remember.”

  Elliot nodded. “Thank you.”

  Tommy kissed Jewel and then said, “See you at home.”

  Then he vanished.

  Elliot wanted to ask how ghosts could have homes, but figured there was more than enough time to figure that out later.

  Jewel sat down in an open chair facing Deanna. “When you touched Deanna, you felt the grief, right?”

  “I did,” Elliot said. “Like hitting a wall.”

  “And then how did you figure out she had an inoperable brain tumor?” Jewel asked.

  Elliot pointed at Deanna’s sister in the other chair. “She just told her. She had planned on telling me tonight.”

  “She did, actually,” Jewel said, smiling.

  “Yeah, she did, didn’t she?”

  “So we have been given permission from our bosses, whoever they might be,” Jewel said, “to try to do some training with Deanna before she crosses into our state.”

  Elliot looked at Jewel, clearly stunned. “How can we do that?”

  “Deanna is going to be drugged for most of the next month,” Jewel said, “and the last month she will almost certainly be in a coma considering where that tumor is and how large it is.”

  “Wow,” Elliot said, staring back at the woman he loved who was still sitting on the couch, her head back, staring at the ceiling.

  “The doctors will mostly just keep her out of pain,” Jewel said. “So we can, in theory, train her mind. But I need to warn you, this hasn’t been tried before and it might not work.”

  Elliot nodded. “Worse comes to worst, I can just comfort her until her time comes. How long?”

  “Two months from today,” Julia said.

  Elliot nodded. “I’ll keep training while I stay with her. Think I can do that?”

  He hoped like anything that he could do just that. He didn’t want to leave Deanna’s side.

  “Except for being called for duty as we were tonight,” Jewel said. “I think we can make that work.”

  “Wonderful,” he said.

  “So I would suggest that you touch Deanna again,” Jewel said, “tell her you are here and not to worry, that you will be with her through it all.”

  Elliot looked at Jewel and then just blurted out what he was worried about. “What happens if I see she doesn’t really love me, or has secrets in her past that I shouldn’t know about.”

  Jewel smiled. “Just love her and that will be all that matters.”

  Elliot nodded. “You are a wise woman, Doctor.”

  Jewel actually laughed. “Give me another century or two and I really might learn something.”

  Elliot had no idea what to say to that, so instead he just turned and moved over beside Deanna.

  He put his arm up and around her and pretended to pull her close.

  She sort of turned toward him and settled her head down, as if she was settling against his shoulder.

  Elliot could see that her mind was spinning in a thousand ways at once. Horror at seeing Elliot’s body, anger at him leaving, total grief that he was gone and not willing to believe he really was gone.

  And then the reality of her own cancer. Part of her was glad for it now, glad she would be following Elliot quickly.

  Another part of her was so angry, she could punch walls.

&
nbsp; The day had just been too much.

  “Calm,” Elliot said. “I’m here. I’m not completely gone. I’ll be with you through all this.”

  He could feel her heart slowing a little.

  “Calm,” he said out loud. “Just rest. I’m here.”

  Her thoughts slowed, and he could feel her exhaustion taking over her body.

  “Just sleep,” he said.

  She closed her eyes.

  And a moment later she was asleep.

  Then inside her mind she sort of stood up.

  She didn’t wake up, but she stood up and looked at him.

  She could see him. Her mind could see him.

  “Elliot, is that you?” she asked.

  “It is,” he said. “I’m right here and I’m going to be right here helping you through this.”

  She hugged him and he hugged her back and they stayed that way for the longest time.

  “I’m dreaming,” she said. “But it’s a wonderful dream.”

  “It sort of is a dream and isn’t a dream,” he said. “But we have lots of time to talk about that later. Just know that I am still here, with you, to help you. I haven’t left, even though my body has left.”

  “I’m dying,” she said.

  “I know,” he said. “I’m already dead.”

  She half laughed. “So what happens when I die?”

  “Then the fun begins,” he said.

  “You know,” she said, “this is a very strange dream.”

  “It is,” he said. “But as long as we’re together, I sure don’t mind.”

  “Neither do I,” she said.

  “So I need you to now wake up, get ready for bed just like you normally do, and crawl into bed. I’ll join you there.”

  “You promise?” she asked.

  “I promise,” he said. “Now, just as I often had to say when you fell asleep reading, wake up and go to bed.”

  She laughed, but stirred and he moved away from her.

  She stood, hugged her sister, then said she was going to bed. That she would call her in the morning.

  The sister wanted to stay, but Deanna insisted and locked the door behind her and headed for the bathroom to get ready to go to bed.

  Elliot turned to Jewel. “I got her to go to bed. I’m going to curl up with her and just sleep.”

  Jewel nodded. “I’ll be out here if you need me.”

  “Why not just go get some sleep yourself and come back early in the morning,” Elliot said. “I’m a ghost. I’m not going anywhere but with Deanna and to sleep.”

  “You’re sure?” Jewel asked.

  “I am sure,” Elliot said. “And thank you for letting me remain with the woman I love.”

  Jewel nodded. “Get some sleep.”

  And then she vanished.

  Elliot went into the bedroom, stripped off his jumpsuit for the first time, then his clothes under that. He went to his closet and grabbed another pair of pants. The ghost pair came away while the regular ones just remained. He nodded. At least tomorrow he wouldn’t have to put on the same clothes.

  Deanna came out of the bathroom in her pale-blue robe as she always did, took it off, and crawled into bed.

  She looked more wonderful than he had remembered, and he had only seen her this morning.

  What a long day.

  Elliot went into the bathroom and turned on the faucet. Only he didn’t actually turn it, but it seemed water came out, so he splashed water on his face.

  Then he realized he needed to use the toilet. Luckily Deanna had left the lid up, but he couldn’t raise any more than a ghost seat, so he did what he needed to do, sort of stunned that as a ghost everything still worked.

  Then he went into the bedroom just as he always did.

  Deanna was on her side of the bed, lying on her back, staring at the ceiling.

  He crawled in his side, raising ghost blankets around him, but not disturbing the real blankets. The ghost blankets felt as real as any blanket.

  Then he put his arm over Deanna.

  Again he could feel her mind starting to spin out of control and the grief building.

  “I’m right here,” he said.

  She moved toward him and sighed.

  “We need to sleep,” he said. “Just sleep.”

  Her mind calmed and she closed her eyes and after a moment she was asleep, but he was with her.

  “You really are here?” the real her inside asked.

  “I am,” he said.

  “If I told anyone they would send me to a grief therapist, you know that?”

  “You’re dying, remember. I’m going to be here with you all the way through that and beyond. You won’t have time for anyone to judge you.”

  “Oh, thank heavens,” she said.

  “Now our minds need to sleep,” he said. “I’ll explain more tomorrow and as time goes on.”

  “Promise?” she asked.

  “As soon as I learn a bunch of it,” he said, “you’ll be the first to know.”

  “What does that mean?” she asked, feeling more and more tired to him.

  “Being dead is complicated,” he said. “Now sleep.”

  And with that he shut his eyes and let himself relax with the woman he loved.

  SECTION THREE

  Another Attack

  FOURTEEN

  ELLIOT WASN’T REALLY surprised that after a full night’s sleep, when Deanna awoke she wasn’t as welcoming to him trying to talk with her. She kept shaking her head, so he backed up and just worked to keep her calm.

  When she went into the bathroom to take a shower and get dressed for the day, he got dressed and went out into the living room and kitchen. He so wanted to go take a shower with her, as they had done many times, but he felt this morning she needed her privacy and to just get through the day.

  Jewel was in the kitchen, drinking a glass of orange juice, sitting at the kitchen bar. She pointed to another glass of juice on the counter and he took it. With one sip he knew it was the best orange juice he had ever tasted.

  “Does everything taste this good after death?”

  Jewel laughed. “It does. And I see you figured out that clothes have a ghost element about them.”

  “I did,” he said. “So not only do we get free meals, we get free clothes?”

  “We do,” Jewel said. “And I’ll explain how we end up living in places later on.”

  “I was wondering about that,” Elliot said, again sipping the incredible orange juice. He was hungry. He was going to need to eat pretty soon.

  “So how did it go?” Jewel asked.

  “We slept together and a couple times when she started to have nightmares, I was able to keep her calm and get her back to sleep.”

  “Good,” Jewel said, nodding. “She’s going to need that.”

  “This morning,” Elliot said, “after she was rested, her mind didn’t want to accept that I was there with her, so I didn’t push it.”

  “Again, smart,” Jewel said, nodding. “I’m assuming you would mostly like to stick with her today. Keep her calm where you can, keep reassuring her.”

  Elliot nodded. He had hoped he would be allowed to do that. He hadn’t figured out just exactly who was in charge of this ghost job he found himself in. A question he would ask later.

  “What’s Deanna’s plan for the rest of the day?”

  “Her sister will be here in just over an hour,” Elliot said. “From there, I couldn’t get any plans. I don’t think she knows other than a second opinion doctor appointment at three this afternoon. She had figured I would go with her on that.”

  “You will,” Jewel said.

  “Thank you,” Elliot said. He couldn’t believe how relieved he felt with that. He wanted to help Deanna as much as he could.

  “So how about now we meet Tommy for breakfast at the Golden Nugget,” Jewel said. “We can answer more of your questions and give you some first basic training. Then you can come back here and be with Deanna for the rest of the day.”


  “I like that idea,” Elliot said.

  A moment later they were standing beside a table tucked into the back of the Golden Nugget buffet. The place looked pretty crowded and there was a table of two elderly couples sitting pretty close to their table. Both men had walkers.

  The golden tones of oak and wood really felt comforting, and the bright light coming through the tall windows was warming and welcoming.

  And the smell was wonderful. Bacon, waffles, it all smelled so wonderful.

  Tommy was threading his way through people back from the buffet with a plate full of food. He was smiling as he sidestepped people who couldn’t even see him like he was playing a game of tag.

  A couple times he brushed through a person, but he didn’t seem to notice or care.

  Tommy reached them and put his plate down on the table and shook Elliot’s hand. “Heck of a first day yesterday. You okay?”

  Elliot liked Tommy a great deal. He was a man who made decisions and acted. He must have been a great Marine and cop when alive.

  “It went as well as could be expected,” Elliot said. “I actually talked with the true Deanna when she was exhausted, but this morning she wanted nothing to do with the idea that I was with her.”

  “Logical,” Tommy said, nodding.

  Elliot looked at all the people around the horseshoe-shaped main part of the buffet. None of those people could see him.

  “How do I manage to not get trapped in anyone accidently again?”

  “Just move through them,” Jewel said. “You will hear and know their thoughts and memories and details of their lives with a single touch, but if you don’t focus on the details, those memories vanish quickly.”

  “Thankfully,” Tommy said, sitting down and pulling his plate toward him.

  “So try to avoid them,” Jewel said. “But if you can’t, just go through.”

  Elliot nodded, took a deep breath, and headed toward the buffet.

  He managed to grab a plate that felt warm to his hands, and actually get some scrambled eggs scooped up before a man turned and bumped right into him.

  Actually, he didn’t bump, he just went inside Elliot, or better put, Elliot went inside him.

  The guy was about sixty, gray hair, overweight, and in a hurry to get to the blackjack table. He was an accountant, happily married, and enjoying his vacation with his wife.