Chapter 4: Answers

April's questions are answered.

I think I laid on that floor for hours. Just laying there, crying, sniffling and wiping tears from my eyes. I didn't get it. I still couldn't figure it out. Why was I there? Why isn't there anyone else here? Where is everything? What happened to me? I couldn't answer any of it. I couldn't put a finger on it. I was so confused. At one point it felt like someone lifting me up and putting me on something. Then I was lifted again and put down. For a little while it felt like I was in a moving vehicle. It was moving so fast. And there were sirens. Could that have been the ambulance?

I kept hearing the voices. I heard my friends and family crying. I heard doctors and nurses trying to talk to me. Why couldn't they understand. I couldn't talk. I couldn't see them. I just yelled, but no one responded.

At one point I heard a doctor talking to my parents.

"Mr. and Mrs. Rozner, I'm terribly sorry but your daughter was hit by a bus. She's in a bad coma. Chances are likely that she may never come out and even if she does it will take months, maybe even a year or two. But usually after a year families decide to... um... take them off life support. That decision is totally your choice, though."

I heard my mom's sobs.

"Thank you, doctor." My dad said in a painfully sorrowful voice, "But we're not giving up on April just yet."

"No," I whispered, "No you can't kill me."

I started shaking and crying again. I couldn't stand the thought of staying here forever. I never even had the chance to say goodbye to my friends and family. If I could just go back. I'd tell them how much I love them all. How much I need them. I couldn't stand being here all alone for even a few hours. I don't know what I'd do for... forever.

I felt a soft hand on my shoulder. It startled me. Was it my mom? Was it Amy? Cindy? I turned around. This was someone I didn't know. He was wearing jeans and a white T-shirt. I was staring right at his black sneakers. He put his hand out to me to help me up. I took his hand. My whole body still hurt. I could see his face now. He had tan skin, light brown hair and blue eyes.

"Ow," I whispered to myself.

"Hi," The guy said, "I'm Ryan. I'm your mentor."

"Mentor?"

He nodded, "You're probably really confused, I was too. Come, sit down with me." He turned and there was a wooden table with two wooden chairs sitting across from each other.

Those weren't there before. I sat down in a chair. The chair looked hard and uncomfortable, but it felt soft and cozy. Ryan sat across from me.

"I know you have many questions. You can ask me anything." Ryan told me.

"Who are you? What's a mentor?"

"I'm Ryan. A mentor is someone who helps you get through everything that you're going through. You're confused and scared. I know,"

"How do you know."

He sighed, "About five years ago, I was home alone. My mother was at work. We were very poor, my mother worked very hard. I was trying to cook something on the stove and a fire started. I poured water on it, but it got worse. The flames rose. I fainted from the fumes, and I burnt down with my house. Then I came here. I didn't get it. My whole body felt like it was on fire."

"I'm so sorry."

"Don't be, I've never been more happy when I was alive, than I am now, dead."

"What happened to me? Am I dead?"

He shook his head, "You're in a coma. You were hit by a bus."

Now I remembered. Someone yelled at me to watch out. I looked to my left and there was a bus. A few inches away from my face. Then I came here.

"What about the voices?" I shouted, "I keep hearing voices!"

"It's okay, since your in a coma you can hear voices. Your soul is here, but your body is on earth. You can feel anything that your body is going throuh and you can hear anything that people around you say."

"Will it ever stop?"

"The voices? Not until your are fully dead. It's the same with the pain. It will not go away until your dead."

I put hid my face in my arms and started sobbing. I couldn't stand this. I would keep hearing the voices of my friends and family in pain until I die. I didn't want to die!

"It's okay, please stop crying. I know your sad. Here, take this."

I looked up and he was handing me a tissue. I put my head up and wiped my eyes quickly.

"So, is this heaven?" I asked Ryan.

"No, not yet. Heaven is whatever you imagine it to be. If you like parks, heaven is a park to you. You would live there with all the other who like parks."

I nodded. I closed my eyes. Heaven to me means paradise. For me, paradise is a beach. A big Carribean beach. With a beautiul blue sea. A sunny blue sky, palm trees, soft sand. I opened my eyes and it was all there. Everything. It was beautiful and sunny. I looked over at Ryan and he was wearing red swim trunks. I looked at myself. I was wearing jeans and a pink shirt on the beach. I closed my eyes. When I opened them, I was wearing a pink bikini with matching pink flip flops. My hair was in two long perfect pig tails. I hugged my knees. My skin felt warm from the sun.

I felt a little feverish. I fell over on the soft sand.

"April! April, are you okay?" Ryan asked me.

I blinked, "No,"

Author's Note

Hope you like it! This one should make up for the last short one.