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“Momma doesn’t want to let me go. She doesn’t believe I’m already gone, but I can’t leave her like this.” Corina walked to her mother’s side before looking back at Anastasia with pleading eyes. “Tell her I’m gone. Please. Help her let me go.”
Anastacia took a deep breath, and without a plan, stepped into the room. “Excuse me?”
The woman lifted her eyes from her daughter.
“I’m sorry to disturb you. I, uh...” Words tumbled around in Anastacia’s brain but none seemed right for the moment. She wished Mel was with her, keeping her calm so she wasn’t such a bumbling mess. When Anastacia tried to clear her throat, she sounded more like a toad being choked which, given the pain that followed her attempt, was all too accurate of a description. She winced, coughed into her elbow, and tried again. “I’m sorry. I have nothing remotely proper to say. I can’t imagine how hard this must be for you…”
“Come here, baby.” Corina’s mother stopped her, waving her over to the empty chair at her side. Anastacia nodded as she crossed the room and sat.
“You don’t know me,” Anastacia started.
“That’s how all meetings begin.” The woman’s expression could hardly be called a smile as her attention fell back to her daughter. She smoothed out the blankets over her daughter’s body and touched Corina’s hands laying still over the pristine sheets. “She’s good about meeting new people.”
“A good talent to have.”
“So, what brought you to me?”
Anastacia paused and sent an imploring glance at Corina quickly for any clue on how to continue. Corina only made a gesture to push Anastacia forward.
“Corina,” Anastacia breathed, the words thick in her already sore throat. “Corina brought me here.”
The woman paused for a moment, turning her dark eyes to meet Anastacia’s golden ones. Anastacia inhaled as deeply as her injured trachea would allow, mentally steeling herself against the inevitable yelling from the woman. The accusations of being mentally unstable, the demands to get out, or even calling security were sure to follow. It had happened to her multiple times before when she was younger, trying to soothe the fresh wounds of grieving. She was ready for it.
Instead, the woman nodded, her own eyes filling with tears.
“You got the sight.”
“Yes.” Anastacia kept her chin up to show what confidence she could.
“Where’s my baby?” The mother clenched her daughter’s hand in one of hers while gripping Anastacia’s hand with the other. She let a dejected laugh fall from her lips. “She in a better place like they tellin’ me?”
“Not yet.” Anastacia could see the surprise on the woman’s face as if she expected placation instead of something so honest. Anastacia put her free hand over the mother’s, squeezing it with what comfort she could give. “She’s worried about leaving you behind. Her body is exactly what it is. Just her body. She’s left it and she doesn’t want you attached to an empty vessel. She doesn’t want you to worry about her, or where she is or isn’t. She wants you to let go and live on. She loves you too much to let you waste away.”
Tears falling down her face, Corina’s mother’s hand nearly crushed Anastacia’s.
“Where’s my baby right now?” she whispered so she wouldn’t sob.
“She’s at your shoulder.” Anastacia watched as Corina put her hand on her mother’s shoulder and smiled when she noticed a shimmer just underneath her mother’s hair.
“She’s wearing my favorite pair.” Corina swiped her hand at her mother’s earring and it moved at her touch.
Her mother gasped at the sensation, turning to Anastacia for an explanation.
“You wore her favorite pair.”
“I did.” The mother smiled, more tears blooming from her eyes. She turned back to the body and nodded. “Okay, baby. Okay. I love you and because I do, I'll let you go. Don’t worry about me, baby.”
“Stay strong as always, Momma,” Corina whispered in the same ear she touched the earring on.
“I’ll stay strong,” her mother promised before Anastacia could relay the message as if she had heard her daughter.
Corina beamed with gratitude, her eyes moving from her mother to Anastacia. “Thank you.”
“It’s my pleasure,” Anastacia breathed in a hushed tone. She squeezed the woman’s hand as she looked away from Corina. The bright light came and went as quickly as it had with Sammy and the room felt a little emptier, but calm.
“She gone?” Her mother squeezed the words out.
“She’s gone,” Anastacia affirmed. “Would you like me to stay for a little?”
