Page 113 of Broken Souls

“Cindy, what's happening?” Axe's frantic voice asks.

“She's haemorrhaging. We need help in here,” Dr Cindy calls out loudly.

“Elora. Elora.”

Then everything goes black.

Chapter Seventy-One

Why am I in the forest? What happened? I'm walking through the forest but the forest floor is covered in mist. It's hard to see the trees. I look down and see I'm in a hospital gown but my belly is gone. I grab where my bump used to be. The baby... what happened? Where's Axe? Where am I? I keep walking, trying to figure out what's going on. All I can do is walk until I find something. I see something white moving in the mist. I stop and watch as it gets closer. A woman appears in a beautiful dress. But when I look at her face, my breath catches in my throat, I almost choke.

“Alina.” I gasp. “No, no, no, no. I can't be... am I dead?” I break down on the forest floor, the mud dirtying my legs and gown.

“Elora.” She kneels down with grace and grabs my hand.

Why can I feel her?

“This can't be happening.”

I feel it's hard to breathe. Wait. Am I even breathing?

“You lost a lot of blood. Your soul was brought here. It's kind of like purgatory, a waiting stage.”

“How? Why are you here? Are you at peace?” I bombard her with questions but I still haven't grasped this situation.

“Peace is waiting for me.” Alina stands up and stares off into the mist. “But I haven't gone yet.”

“Why?” I whisper.

“Because of you.” She looks down at me and smiles.

“I don't understand,” I cry, feeling distraught by everything around me.

“I have watched Axel. He might be on earth but that man has been through hell,” Alina says sadly. “He was a broken soul. If he had died, he wouldn't have found peace. His soul would have been lost.”

“Why are you telling me this?”

“Because you fixed him. When you came into his life, my peace appeared to me. That night you were dying on the ground, I created a path for him to go to you. I let your blood carry through the wind for him to sense you. I was granted my light once Axel had found his.”

“You're his angel,” I murmur.

“No, Elora, you are.” Alina smiles. “He can't handle another loss, that's why I'm sending you back to him.” She presses her hand over my heart then everything turns white.

My eyes snap open, a beeping filling my ears, the smell of sanitary products flooding through my nostrils. I look around and see Axe with his head buried in the blanket that's covering me. His arm is thrown over my legs.

“Axe,” I call.

His head rises within a second and his facial features destroy me. His eyes are bloodshot, his lips cracked, his hair messy, his skin pale. He's been crying beyond recognition.

“What happened?”

“You haemorrhaged.” His voice is barely audible and croaky. “I thought you were... Elora, I love you so much. Please don't ever leave me.” He presses his dry lips to my hand and just keeps kissing up my arm and when his lips touch my forehead, they linger there. He sniffles and looks into my eyes. “Are you okay?”

“I saw her,” I whisper.

“Saw who?” He frowns in confusion.

“Alina.”