Chapter 6 #2
Dell knew he wasn’t asking her what it felt like to possess a Gen Z loiterer.
“Like nothing. I just fell asleep.”
“What does it feel like now?”
“Kind of cold and tingly, but only if I touch someone.”
He held up his hand with his palm facing her. Dell mirrored him and held up Robbie’s hand. She glanced at Cole in case he was about to tell her this too was a bad idea, but he remained stoic.
She pressed her borrowed palm to Jason’s, and where she wondered if she’d feel a spark, a zap, a pulse of earthbound reality
calling her back, she simply felt her best friend’s warm skin.
Jason, on the other hand, shivered with a small shake of his shoulders. His eyes suddenly went wide. “Wait. Was that you earlier? When it was cold as hell in your house?”
“Yes!” she cried, oddly thrilled he’d made the connection now. “And it was me when—”
“I felt like I chugged a slushy and got the worst brain freeze of my life?”
She cringed. “Yes. Sorry about that. I was only trying to get your attention.”
He shook his head, remembering the unpleasantness of the experience. “Well, you’ve got it now. And how did you get in Robbie, by the way?”
Dell guiltily bit Robbie’s lip. “I figured out how to possess him, and he let me.”
“Consensual possession sounds like an oxymoron, but okay. And for the record, not consensual over here.” He pointed at himself. “I’m here to help you in whatever fashion needed, but stay out of my head. This
body is off-limits for hosting. No thank you.” He shuddered.
“Noted. It’ll be easier to have a body to talk to you from anyway.”
“This is so weird.”
“You’re telling me.”
“So, what are we going to do?”
“Great question.” She folded her hands in her lap like she would normally, which felt very out of place with Robbie’s lanky, masculine body, but nonetheless, she was ready to discuss next steps. “Cole?” she said, and nodded at him. “What’s next?”
Cole stepped in front of their bench.
Jason followed Dell’s gaze to the empty space. “His name is Cole?”
“Yes. He’s a transition specialist, and he’s here to fix this.”
“Hmm,” Jason hummed, and narrowed his eyes. Dell could sense him judging the invisible man in front of them. “Is he hot?”
She sputtered. “Jason.”
“What? I’m just trying to get a visual here since I can’t see him.”
“Well, he can hear everything you are saying, and I don’t see what his appearance has to do with anything.”
Dell averted her eyes as Cole blushed to the tips of his ears again. Even if it was true, she wasn’t about to admit the answer
to Jason’s question was a resounding yes.
“Well, can I at least get a description?” Jason asked. “An age range, even? Are we talking, like, Morgan Freeman as God, or,
like, a Backstreet Boy in his prime?”
Dell grumbled, knowing he wouldn’t give up until she gave him something. She looked at Cole and tried to fight the heat rising
in her cheeks. He was intently studying the lawn and avoiding eye contact. She traced the outline of his face, his jawline,
the flip of his tousled hair moving in the breeze. “He’s . . . tall,” she offered.
“Tall?” Jason said in a dissatisfied tone. “That’s all you’ve got?”
“Oh my God, Jason, can we concentrate on the matter at hand here, please?”
“Yes! As soon as you give me an adequate description. You know I’m a visual learner.”
“Fine. He’s tall, probably taller than you. He has dark hair and eyes. Clean-shaven. I’d guess he’s a few years older than
us. He’s wearing a tie and button-down with rolled sleeves; both are loose. His socks are argyle, but they don’t match. He
looks like a poetry professor had a love child with a Jane Austen hero. There. Are you happy?”
She wanted to melt into the bench. She risked a glance at Cole, the man she’d just completely objectified in front of his
face. A flush still clung to his cheeks, darker now, but his lips turned up at one corner. He caught her eye, and she couldn’t
fight the small smile tugging at her mouth.
“Is that true? Were you a poetry professor?” she sheepishly asked, still wanting to melt.
“I wish I knew, but I doubt it. I’m not good at rhyming.”
“Poems don’t have to rhyme. In fact, some of the best ones don’t.”
He met her eyes again and softly smiled. That mysterious spark she’d felt when she’d yanked him into her doorway earlier came
back for a fleeting moment.
Jason’s hand suddenly appeared in front of her face. He loudly snapped his fingers. “I hate to interrupt whatever this moment
is, but remember I can only hear one side of this conversation.”
Dell shook herself. “Sorry. He said he doesn’t know if he was a poetry professor, but he doubts it because he’s bad at rhyming.”
“Hmm. Well, good thing he doesn’t need to write a poem to bring you back to life.”
With a hard blink, Dell remembered that’s what they were here to discuss. “Good thing. And on that note, we have three days to identify some wrong turn I took in life, and that will undo it.”
“Wrong turn?” Jason asked.
“Supposedly,” she said with a shrug. “While we work on that, I need you to stop them from taking me to the morgue because
my body was just carted off by the coroner.”
“Okay, how do we do that?” Jason said with the same determination that flowed in Dell’s veins.
“I don’t know, stall?” she offered.
“And how does one stall a medical examination of a dead body?” Jason asked.
They both looked to Cole.
“Decoy?” Cole suggested with his eyebrows high.
Dell snapped her fingers and pointed at him. “Yes. That’s perfect.”
Cole deflated with a relieved breath.
“What’s perfect?” Jason asked.
“Ugh, sorry. This half the conversation thing is going to get old fast. He said we need a decoy.”
“Love a good decoy,” Jason said.
Dell turned and put her hands on his shoulders. “And you’re great at them, Jay. I need you to follow that ambulance and stop
them from putting me in a freezer. Do whatever it takes. Stage a scene. Tell them you saw me blink or heard me speak. Anything
to slow it down.”
He nodded along like a plan was already unfolding in his mind. “You got it, boss. What are you going to do?”
She paused and chewed Robbie’s chapped lip. “Well, I can’t really follow you around as Robbie. That would be weird. My family would have too many questions. Maybe I’ll give him his body back, and then go back to the house? You can find me there once things are sorted out with my body.”
“Okay. And how do I find you again if you’re not . . . ?” He waved his hands around in front of her.
“Possessing someone else’s body?” she filled in the blank.
“Yes.”
She glanced at Cole and remembered little things. “I’ll find a way,” she told him. “Just keep your eyes peeled.”
“Okay,” he said with a big breath. He threw out his arms to wrap her in a hug. “I gotta say, D, we’ve been through some shit
together, but this takes the cake.”
“I know. I hope it’s over soon. Or I at least hope Robbie bathes before I need him again.”
Jason huffed a laugh as they pulled apart. He squeezed her hands and nodded. “See you soon?”
“Yes. Good luck.”
Not really sure what she was doing or if it would work at all, she stepped back and spoke inside her head.
“Robbie? It’s me again. I’m going to leave now, so you can wake up, or come out of wherever you’ve been, okay?
Here I go.” Still having no idea what she was doing but going off a hunch, she lightly crouched, feeling Robbie’s knees bend, and then
jumped. Robbie’s feet stayed on the grassy ground, but with a tingly sucking sensation, she felt herself spring free.
“Whoa!” Cole said when she stumbled right into his arms.
She gathered her footing and looked up at him.
He softly smiled at her. “You are frighteningly good at that, which shouldn’t be possible for a novice.” His dark eyes hooked
her for a half second before she stood up straight.
“It wasn’t that hard,” Dell said.
“Which only makes it more impressive,” Cole said. “Even if it weren’t against the rules, I’d never attempt it. Especially
not one day into being dead.”
Dell got the sense it was more to do with fear than anything related to rules holding him back.
Behind them, Robbie staggered backward with his hands on his head as if he were trying to hold it in place. “What the hell
just happened?” He looked up and saw Jason standing by the bench. “You,” he said, and pointed at him with a shaking finger. “No, no, no. This was you and her, wasn’t it?”
Jason arched a bored eyebrow at him. “I have no idea what you’re talking about, Robbie. I think you should go home and take
a nap.”
Robbie continued to stumble backward away from him. “No, she did something to me. Where is she?” He whipped his head around.
“Is he going to be all right?” Dell asked Cole.
“Let’s hope so,” he said with a grimace.
Robbie turned and ran off shouting, “Stay away from me!” into the morning air.
Jason quietly laughed. “This is probably funnier than it should be. Don’t hate me for laughing, D.”
She reached out and swatted at his arm. He flinched at the icy feeling and shot a grin in her direction. “Okay, I’m going
to go make sure they don’t put you on a slab,” he said toward where she was standing, and then jogged off.
Dell watched him go, hoping whatever dramatic diversion he came up with served its purpose.
“He’s a good friend,” Cole said. “You’re lucky to have him.”
She turned to him, ready to say something snarky, but caught a sad look in his eye. A longing. “I know I’m lucky. I’m lucky to have everyone in my life.” The burning sensation like tears were imminent rushed up her throat only to fizzle out again. “And I want them back.”
Cole’s jaw clenched. He nodded. “I know.” He paused for a few beats and then said it again. “I know.”
They turned back toward her street. She noted he slowed his pace to keep in stride with her.
“So, what are we going to do?” she asked.
Cole pursed his lips and looked up at the sky. She studied the long line of his throat and chin.
“Well, it’s good news your friend is intervening on the examination process. That will slow things down, while we work on
this list.”