"Of course! You think I forgot who painted that portrait in Kara's room? Who it is in the painting? I might have forgotten the smaller details of that trip, but I haven't forrgotten the main things!"
Isabelle snuggled down closer to Phillip. Their newborn daughter, Kara, was finally asleep. After three years of marital bliss, Kara was a happy edition to the couple's life. She was a good baby; and almost never cried. She completed their family.
Now, Phil was back and Isabelle wanted to spend as much time as possible with him. However, an active 3 month old was hard to get to sit still.
" You know, the guys and I have the week off, and my cousin wants to see Kara. So, why don't we let her visit him for the week and we'll spend it together?"
"Brandon will have Kara for the whole week? I don't know...he's never been with a newborn before, has he?"
"No, but his girlfriend has. And she's going to be here for the whole week too. She went to the studio with us. She's our new manager, and she wants to see Kara too!"
"Call them and ask if they'll take care of her before we make plans"
She couldn't believe they actually said yes! So now she was driving back from Brandon's house. Izzy liked his girlfriend, she had been really sweet and Kara had actually liked her. Kara didn't exactly like to many people.
Izzy wasn't really paying much attention to the road. When Phil called her cell phone, she paid even less attention, as they began to discuss their plans for what to do without the baby around. They hung up the phone as Isabelle got onto the highway.
Suddenly, Izzy saw a black car barreling toward her. He was swerving left and right. He was drunk going the wrong way on the highway, as fast as his Transam would go. He started coming towards her. He suddenly lost control. Izzy slammed on her breaks as the car did a full 360 in front of her car. The car hit the barrier and slammed into Izzy's and the one to her left.
Isabelle crawled out of the car. Her car had been overturned by the force of the collision. She was surrounded by blood. Yet, she was perfectly clean. She knew she had been killed in the crash. The blood on the ground was hers. Suddenly, there was a mysterious light just a few steps away; she turned and walked away from it. She had to see Phillip one last time first.
She had made her way back to the house. She turned the corner, just in time to see the police officer drive away, but not before wiping his eyes.
"He's already been told," she thought.
She stopped. Why was it so important to see him? Why did she have to come here? Was this really for him (which was what she had told herself the whole way here) or was it really for herself?
She continued down the street. She reached the door and tried to turn the knob. Her hand went straight through the door. She took advantage of it and walked straight through the oak door.
What she saw in front of her was enough to bring her to her knees sobbing. Phil was lying on the floor with their wedding picture and one of Kara's toys held to his chest and he too was sobbing. She fought to get up. Then, she heard him murmuring.
"I'm sorry Izzy! It's my fault! You wouldn't have been on the highway if it wasn't for me!"
He suddenly sat up.
"Izzy?"
She just stared at him. Could he really see her? He got up and walked to where she was standing. He tried to wrap his arms around her, but they slipped straight through her body, which scared him. He pulled away from her, and then just looked at her.
"Why are you here? The police officer... he said that you were dead. Is that true?"
She tried to tell him that yes, it was true, but somehow, she couldn't even open her mouth to tell him anything. She could only nod.
"What? Yes you're dead, yes you're not?"
Isabelle looked at him. He immediately understood.
"Good-bye Izzy. That is the one thing I always hear people say, 'I wish I had been able to tell them good-bye, and how much I loved them!' So, here I am, talking to a dead person. I think I'm going nuts!"
Isabelle just smiled and nodded, watching him pace away from her. He whirled around to face her.
"And missy, don't you dare get up there and be so happy that you forget about me until after I die. God, Izzy, I love you."
He brought his hands to frame her face, then lowered his lips to hers.
Suddenly, Isabelle felt someone tugging on her arm. She turned and saw an angel beckoning her. She had a pleading look on her face. Isabelle turned to Phil and said her good-byes. Then, she followed the angel into the light she had turned away from just a short time ago. Then, she stopped. It just didn't feel right, leaving Phil behind. She about faced, and walked back to her own living room. Phillip was there, with Kara lying on her blanket in the middle of the room, asleep. Phil saw her, and walked up to her.
"Izzy, my heart can't take this, are you staying, or are you going to heaven? Oh, what the hell do I care? I LOVE YOU ISABELLE!! Don't you dare leave me again!"
He once again pulled her close to him and kissed her. As he kissed her, he could feel her materializing in his arms...
They pulled away from each other. Isabelle was now standing, in front of him, once again in the flesh. Behind her, Phillip saw the same angel that had taken her away earlier. Only this time, instead of being sad, the angel seemed overjoyed.
Izzy wheeled around, and after a few minutes turned back to Phillip beaming.
"What is it?"
"Phillip, I wasn't supposed to die. Someone from 'up there' messed up. We are going to die together, at 107 in our sleep. Your love has brought me back here, to your arms, which is right where I want to be. I love you too, Phillip."
He pulled her closer to him. The very thought of the fact that he almost lost her suddenly vanished. Nothing could tear them apart, not even death itself; he knew that love conquers all.
He tilted her face towards his. Once again, their lips meet, only to be torn apart by their daughter's cry for a playmate, Phil smiled slyly as he whispered in her ear...
Then, the angel, the light, any evidence of her death was suddenly gone. Only they knew what had happened, and for the rest of their life, they continued to treasure every moment they had.
