"It's Betty. I'm here with you inside your body. Don't panic. You're not dead. You're not a ghost. I'm holding your spirit inside your physical body."
"Betty? He vaguely recalled them talking before. "You sang to me."
"That's right." She explained how she was holding the cord together that kept him attached to his physical body. She then went on to tell him about the explosion at dinner.
He remembered bits and pieces but was glad she was telling him again. He was having issues understanding everything. "Lance?"
"He's by the hospital bed, asleep in a chair. He's okay. Your dad has a broken ankle, and your mom had surgery to get a piece of glass out of her leg. They're both okay. Jackson took them home a while ago and will bring them back later tonight to visit with you," Betty told him.
"How do you know? Why can't I hear them? See them?"
"You're still in your physical form. I can speak to your spirit because I'm in your physical body with you. If I was to float out, you would no longer hear me. I'm new to this. I don't know how it's all working. I think if you focus on your spirit, you might be able to see me while I'm here with you, but I'm not positive. You're still weak. We'll see how things change as you heal and grow stronger. I won't leave you until I know for sure that the cord won't break."
He relaxed as he started to understand. "Mom and Dad know you're with me?"
"Afraid not. I feel bad because they don't know where I am. I fear they think I went into the light. There's nothing I can do about it. I can't communicate with the other ghosts while I'm inside your physical body. For now, they will just have to deal with not knowing what's happening. I'm sure once we explain, they'll forgive me for scaring them."
"How do we both fit in my body?" Angus asked, imagining Betty lying spooned up beside him or on top of him so they both fit.
Betty laughed. "Your soul or spirit takes up very little space. I'm nothing more than a ball of light inside of you. The ghosts and I appear to you in human form because that's what you know us as. If we came to you as balls of light, you wouldn't know one from the other. I've wrapped myself around your cord, holding it together. Think of it like a rope tied to your ball of light and it connects to your physical body. When that cord breaks,that ball of light is free to escape and the physical body lives no more. Does that make sense?"
"I think so. But why am I so tired? I didn't think spirits needed sleep."
"Because you're still in physical form. You're feeling the drain of the physical being, not your spiritual. As you grow stronger, you won't be so tired. Right now, sleep is good for both your spirit and your body. I think both are in shock from what happened. Rest. I won't leave you until you're ready, and that is going to take some time. Just know I'll keep you safe."
"You always have. You're like another mother to me, Bets. Even if I couldn't hear you, I knew you were there. When I was sick, you'd sit with me. When I was upset, and refused to talk to Mom or Dad, you stayed with me to make sure I was okay." Angus fought the sleep that tried to pull him under. "Thank you. Even if you did tell Mom everything I was up to."
"Not everything, my boy. Not everything." She laughed gently. "Go back to sleep. We'll talk more when you're stronger. I have many stories to share about times I didn't tell your parents what you were up to."
"Love you, Bets."
"I love you too, my sweet boy."
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Lance glanced up as someone came into the hospital room. He smiled and slowly stood. "Hey, Mike." He liked Angus's best friend. They'd gone out to dinner a few times together and had a few backyard barbeques.
"What the hell happened?" Mike stared at Angus in the bed. "Franks called me…"
"I'm sorry. I should have. I haven't been thinking straight since this all happened. I'm glad he called you. Angus would want you to know." Lance moved closer to the bed and placed his hand over Angus's. "Did you hear about the explosion at Desorio's last night?"
Mike nodded. "Franks said you two were there?"
"Angus's parents took us out to dinner. We hadn't been there long when it happened." Lance looked up as Mike stepped closer. "Careful not to jar the bed or his body. They have him in an induced coma to keep him still. A large piece of glass cut into his neck." Lance blinked back tears. "It was bad."
"He's going to be okay though, right?" Mike looked across the bed at Lance.
"It's too soon to know. He made it through surgery. That was the biggest hurdle. Now we just need him to hold on while he heals. They'll keep him in a coma for a while so that his neck can heal, then we'll see where we stand once they're comfortable bringing him out of the coma." Lance stroked a finger gently over Angus's knuckles.
"My God. I had no idea you two were there. I saw it on the news but never guessed I knew anyone there. You're okay? What about his parents? Lizzy and Martin okay?"
"I dislocated my shoulder and had some glass shards they had to remove. We all had glass shards embedded everywhere,but Martin also has a broken ankle. Lizzy had to have surgery to remove a large piece of glass from her leg, but she's okay too. They're both at home resting but will come back twice a day to see Angus."
"I'll drop by. See if I can do anything for them. Maybe run to the store or pick up stuff they need." Mike stared at Angus. "I talked to him three days ago. He was talking about the three of us going on another bike ride up the canyon soon."
"He mentioned that to me. I'm afraid he won't be doing any riding for the rest of the year. Hopefully, next spring he'll be strong enough." Lance had to believe that Angus would survive, and by next year they'd be back to doing normal things like taking the motorcycles out. "I have no idea how long he'll be in the hospital; let alone how long it's going to take for his neck to fully heal. I know he'll appreciate you checking on his parents. My brother is helping, but I know Lizzy and Martin would be happy for your company."
"What about you? What do you need?" Mike asked.
