After the Dust Clears (Jon_14 and Void)

Void

Void

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Leonor smiled at the nurse, the best false smile she could muster after weeks in the stodgy hospital. "You're sure you're ready to go home?" The nurse, Emily, asked with professional concern. "We could always keep you here until your ready to transition back into your normal life." Emily smiled, riffling through a few pages of paperwork clipped to her board. Her pen advertised a local bank, which Leonor thought was odd, seeing as the hospital had their own out front by the reception desk.


"I'm sure. God, I'm so sure," Leonor sighed, smoothing her unkempt hair. Her father entered the room, carrying her change of clothes for when she could finally leave. He looked tired, like he was the one going through something awful. Once they had left her to change, she deflated visibly, the guilt in her stomach a palatable thing. It was a stronger stress than any anxiety she'd felt about school or social life. Those things seems so… trivial now. So insignificant. Carefully sticking her cast through the loose leg of her jeans, she stifled the tears that had been swelling in her chest since the accident. It had been her fault, she'd been reckless, and now he was gone forever. The nurse came back, still smiling in a way that wasn't at all comforting, and helped her out the door.


The drive back was quiet, since her parents didn't want to say something hurtful on accident. In retrospect, it was probably a good thing, but it made her feel more alone. Made the fact that Will was gone more real and terrifying.
 
Ugh....my head. Willian thought as he got up from where he fell. He looked around for Leonor to see if she was there. "Where did she go? Why did she just leave me here?" He said annoyed at the fact she wasn't around, since this was her idea to begin with that he wasn't up for to begin with.


"I'll get her for this," He muttered walking down the street to her house. William was unaware that he kinda...died.
 
Leonor sat down heavily on her bed, running her fingers over the stitching on her comforter. Everything was exactly as she'd left it. Her bookcases lining the far wall were orderly as usual, a few plush animals perched on top, most of them birthday gifts from when she was little. Their beady eyes watched her accusingly. Turning away, she buried her face into her pillow, breathing in the scent of the rosemary detergent her mother had always used. It was strangely nostalgic. Now that she was alone, she cried into the soft fabric, choking on her tears as sobs racked her body. She already missed him so badly, and she couldn't stop her brain from feeding her small memories of when they played together in elementary school.
 
(By god its already depressing to read. O.o That's a good thing by the way.)


William walked to her house and took two small pebbles, before tossing them at her bedroom window as he normally does sometimes when he doesn't feel like coming to the door to greet her. He awaited for her to peep out the window as normal, and he'll finally figure out why she vanished from the hill.
 
At first, Leonor thought she'd imagined the knock against her window, as if it were part of a memory that was stronger than the rest. Paying it no attention, the second one caused her to sit up, her face scrunched in confusion. The only person who ever did that-


She stumbled to the window, struggling with the latches through her tear-blurred eyes. Leaning her head out, she called out, her voice sounding small against the silence of the street. "Will?" She whispered disbelievingly. "Will, are you there?" She repeated, louder this time. She felt so foolish, shouting for someone who was dead and gone.
 
"No, its the pizza guy!" William called out to her sarcastically,"How come you bailed on me back on the hill? Who knows how long I've been out." William noticed though that she didn't seem herself though. "Say you okay Leonor?" He walked up closer to the house to get a better look at her, well the best he could being on the ground. William still couldn't get a good look at her face though.
 
It was as if the air had been sucked from the room, and Leonor struggled to breathe, her vision swimming. I was him. "But that's not possible," she stuttered, gripping the window so tightly that if left an impression on her palm once she released it. Why is this happening to me? I must be dreaming. "Will, Will-" Leonor sobbed loudly, "I'm so sorry, I never meant to get you hurt. It was an accident, it was a terrible accident, I never should've been so careless." She wiped her face, breathing for a moment so she wouldn't pass out where she stood. "And now you're dead. You're dead Will, and it's my fault." She pleaded, tears starting in her eyes once more.
 
Leonor was spouting out so fast and blubbering through it so William had to catch exactly what she was saying. The dead part disturbed him, though the only reason he got a little scared(or tense), is because she did seem to be serious at the fact he was dead. Dead? I'm right here....maybe she hit her head too hard.


"Calm down...I'll be up there in a moment." He went to the door and rang the doorbell.
 
She nodded, still half hysterical, and ran down the stairs, nearly colliding with her mother. "Leonor? Are you alright? The doctors said if-" Leonor brushed by her as the doorbell rang, throwing open the door and staring straight into William's eyes. "Oh my god, it's really you," she laughed, tucking her hair behind her ears. "I guess they just couldn't find you out there, so they assumed you were dead-?" It didn't make much sense, but she grasped onto the idea. Her mother pushed beside her, squinting in confusing. "Hun, what are you doing out here? there's nobody out here, come back inside."


Leonor glanced back and forth, beyond confused. "No, but it's Will," she protested. "He's standing right there!" The cold nipped at her toes as they dug into the welcome mat. "They said this might happen," her mother sighed. "It's just the grief, come back inside now, c'mon."
 
"Yeah I still don't get what you mean by-" He didn't finish that sentence at the sound of her mother sayinh she couldn't see him. William started to feel sick with a sinking pit feeling in his stomach. I'm standing right in front of her....I seriously doubt that this is a joke... He almost fainted, but didny as he fell back onto the doorframe in total shock.


I'm dead?
 
Finally, William's expression was just as shocked as her own, cementing what she suspected to be true. Despite the years, she still remembered the superstitious books she read growing up, of few of which she'd sill kept. A piece of her screamed that it was impossible, that ghosts and apparitions didn't exist, but there was one small shred-


Leonor had no clue what she could do, so in the heat of the moment, she gestured for William to follow her inside, doing her best to appear, well, sane. "You're right," she burst after a large breath, "it must just be the stress, I'm going to lay down for a while. Please just- well please just let me sleep for a bit." Nodding, but still concerned, her mother watched wordlessly as Leonor climbed the stairs to her bedroom. She didn't dare glance back to check, but hoped Will was following.
 
William was doing deep breaths to keep from losing it right then and there. How did this happen? Wait.....that fall...I remember I was falling headfirst...that was probably it... Will noticed Leonor gesture to come upstairs and he followed, though his legs felt weak that he nearly fell over walking up the stairs.


Once in her room he flopped on the ground in despair. "What am I gonna do?!?"
 
"I- I don't know," Leonor exclaimed in a hoarse whisper, pacing her room in violently deep thought. "Just calm down William, please. We can figure this out." Ironically, she was in no place to talk, confused and panicked herself. Halting her pacing, she knelt next to William, tucking her legs under her and grabbing where his shoulders should be. Leonor's hands passed though the spot, and she tried to not let it get to her head. "Okay. What's the last thing you can remember? About the accident?" She gulped, her face stained from her earlier tears that threatened to return.
 
"I AM CALM!" He shouted as he laid facedown on the floor,"Sorry...didn't mean to shout...." Will took some more deep breaths and did his best to calm down and recall what happened to him.


"Well after I hit the ground...I remember nothing else. Everything else was blank. Then eventually I woke up back at the same spot I fell on." He explained to her,"Why am I here though? And why can only you see me?"
 
Leonor flinched when William shouted, reacting more strongly due to nerves. She listened intently as he spoke, her eyes wide as she soaked in what he was saying. "I see, so that means you are-" Logic dictated he'd already started to suspect it himself, but she didn't want to break the news too suddenly. "That day, out at the park, we both fell," Leonor explained, pausing when the memory brought back painful feelings. "Except you didn't walk away. You never left that spot, not in reality. You died Will." Her voice cracked halfway through, but she continued on. "I must be able to see you because I was there when you died, or because we're close, or- or I don't know. I wish I knew something useful about ghosts." Silence filled the room after that last word. It was so blunt, and she wished she hadn't muttered it. She looked away, glaring at the darkened wall as she wrestled with her emotions.
 
William felt more and more depressed hearing the conformation at the fact he's dead. He rolled over on his back letting out a loud sigh in frustration, and stared at the celing in silence for a while thinking. About his family, friends, teachers, and pretty much anyone else who knew of him felt about this. His family is pretty obvious, he knew his parents and sister must be devestated at the news. He wondered if they could see him, but Will didn't seem to grasp hope for that possibilty.


After the silence went on for too long, he looked a Leonor who looked in distress. "Well, don't beat yourself up over this....I hate seeing you like that." He let out a weak smile to try and comfort her, before standing up and stretching. "So let's do some research on this. If its happened to me, then the possibity of it happening to others isn't that thin."
 
Leonor wasn't aware of how worried she was about it until William didn't blame her for his death, at least not vocally. She still knew it was still her fault, but not having him be angry at her was a breathtaking relief. "Well, same here, I hate seeing you, well, like this. Sure, I'll see what I can find, maybe this is fixable somehow?" She knew it probably, or truthfully, definitely wasn't possible, but it didn't hurt to give him some hope. She stood and dug her laptop out of her nightstand, rummaging for the charger since it had died after sitting for so long. While she waited it to boot up, she watched William quietly, suddenly curious. "You should try moving something," she offered, looking about for something she didn't mind getting broken. "How about this?" She handed him a school biology textbook, secretly hopping it would get destroyed.
 
William sighed with relief that she was calm. To be honest, he wasn't sure himself about how long this would last, or even if this is fixable, however he just wanted Leonor to not be distressed.


With her suggestion to try moving an object he picked up the textbook with ease. "Seems like I can touch and interact with things just fine when I was alive."
 
"Really?" Leonor remarked, genuinely surprised. "That's amazing actually, I can't believe that," she stuttered, staring at him in awe. The jingle of her computer booting up distracted her, so her turned her attention back, slamming her password into the keyboard. A few minutes later, the best she could find were hoax and superstitious sites plastered with neon text on black backgrounds, cheap and disappointing. Sighing, she shook her head. "Nothing so far, just junk, but I'll keep looking." From down the hall, the sound of footsteps echoed as they climbed the stairs. Her mother, already proving to be a nuisance, stepped straight though William and took a seat at the end of Leonor's bed.


"You've had a long day, you should rest," she urged, plucking her laptop straight from her hands. "I know you're not ready yet, but let me know when you're ready to talk, okay?" Leonor scowled silently, but nodded, wishing her away with every fiber of her being. After her mother finally left, Leonor rolled onto her side and frowned. "So much for that…"
 
"Yep. I don't really feel any different than normal." William stated to her before putting the book back down on her desk. Then he watched her to try and do research, and he was disappointed as she was about it turning up nothing but fake stuff.


"Maybe the library might have some-" He was cut off by her mother walking into the room and right through him. I'm never going to get used to this. William was thinking as they talked about getting her mom's attention, but that could go sour real fast so he didn't.


Once she left, William turned to Leonor," Something tells me its going to be like this for a while."
 
"Same here," she sighed, propping herself against a pillow. Staring out the window, she was struck by a bitter though. "If you can move and interact with things, do you think you'll try to communicate with your parents? I mean, on one hand, it'd be nice to let them know you're still around, but then- but then it might drive them insane. Even I'm still not to terms about it, imagine with them…" She watched him thoughtfully for a moment. "What're you planning on doing for now? You can stay here as long as you need, until we figure something out."
 
"I wonder if you're going to see a pyschiatrist over this?" William wondered alound before answering that question Leonor asked,"Well yeah that is a good idea, but I don't think its a good idea to reveal it just now. At least not directly, I'll figure something out."


He looked relieved that he could stay there,"Thanks. Even though I could probably head somewhere else I'd go mad with no one to interact with." William then had something else come to mind,"Oh yeah don't you have to go back to school?"
 
She laughed dryly, shaking her head. "Bet you ten bucks I'm going to get sent to a mental institution for talking to myself, but hey, totally worth it," Leonor smiled, laying back and staring at her ceiling. "I'll go steal a futon to put on my floor, you can stay there as long as you promise not to move anything when my parents are in the room," she explained as she stepped outside and ran down the hall to the closet. Dragging it as quietly as she could manage, she plopped it in the middle of her carpet, panting lightly. Her time in the hospital had left her feeling weak.


"Right. School," she groaned, rubbing her forehead. "That'll be fun. You should come along and pull the fire alarm or something," she said, only half joking.
 
"No problem. That's easy enough to do." He said to Leonor as she went out the door to get the futon. Once she was back and put it on the floor he laid on it. "Ahh much better than the floor."


Then he turned to face her,"Well I'll join you at school then. Beats staying here all day by myself, even worse not being seen. Don't worry I won't cause a scene...well intentionally that is."
 
"Well, I guess that's one advantage to everyone thinking I'm half out of my mind, anything weird that happens will be written off on me being insane. But hey, if I get sent off, I'll at least have you to keep me company," Leonor teased. "Just promise not to turn into a poltergeist over night, and if you do, please don't haunt me. I've seen enough horror movies to know what'll happen with that." She tucked herself into her bed, pulling her sheets around her ears and breathing in the mundane smell.
 
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