What if people didn’t die, but their bodies just rotted while their consciousness continued to roam?

The flickering fluorescent lights hummed overhead, bathing the dimly lit hospital room in an eerie, yellowish hue. The smell of disinfectant wafted through the air, but beneath it all, a hint of death lingered. It was a strange, almost inexplicable scent that felt both familiar and foreboding.<br><br>The room was small, with a single bed positioned in the center. The bed was covered in crisp, white sheets and adorned with a patchwork quilt. Three chairs were arranged in the corner, two of which were occupied by loved ones.<br><br>One, an elderly woman with short, curly brown hair and soft green eyes, clutched a rosary between fragile fingers. Her wrinkled hands grasped the beads for comfort, a sign of her fear as much as a show of faith. The other, a middle-aged man with a shaggy beard and tanned skin, rubbed his eyes. They were bloodshot and red, the result of too much weeping.<br><br>I turned away and found myself staring at the woman lying in the bed. Her face was stretched, pulled tight like a balloon. She must have been a pretty lady once. Now, her skin was deathly white, with bright red blisters across her nose and cheeks. Her hair was nothing more than a disheveled mess.<br><br>She looked at me and smiled, her lips splitting beneath the effort. A trickle of blood slid down her cheek. I stared.<br><br>“Hello?” the man asked. “Can I talk to you for a minute?”<br><br>“Sure.”<br><br>I turned away and walked toward the door, mildly happy to leave the room and its awful stench behind. The man followed, his footsteps echoing in the silence.<br><br>“Ah,” he said, “sorry, my name is Chris.”<br><br>“Matty.”<br><br>“And you are…?” he asked, tilting his head.<br><br>“I’m…” I shrugged. “I don’t know. I don’t remember my life.”<br><br>“Did you see her?”<br><br>“See who?”<br><br>“The woman in the bed.”<br><br>I shrugged again. “She’s dead but she’s not dead.”<br><br>“What?”<br><br>“She’s not in her body anymore,” I continued, “but her consciousness lingers.”<br><br>“I know,” Chris said, “I know. But you’re not supposed to see it.”<br><br>“See what?”<br><br>“When a person dies, their body rots, but their spirit doesn’t leave the world. It just…just goes away, somewhere else.”<br><br>I shook my head. “I love to listen, but someone else is talking.”<br><br>“What?”<br><br>“It’s a quote,” I said, “I think. I’m not sure. I don’t really know what it means.”<br><br>Chris stared at me a moment before asking, “Where are you from?”<br><br>I shrugged. “I was in the hospital, a lot like this one. I watched as a lady died, and her spirit left her body. Now I just wander.”<br><br>“Why?”<br><br>“I don’t know,” I answered. “I don’t know anything about myself. I don’t know how old I was when I died. I don’t know my name. Sometimes I wonder if I was really alive.”<br><br>Chris nodded. “Well, my mother is gone. Her name was Sherri. She was a pretty lady once. I think she looks prettier now, in death.”<br><br>I touched his shoulder. “I’m sorry.”<br><br>“Can you see her now?”<br><br>“Yes.”<br><br>He turned and walked back into the room. I followed. The woman was watching me, a smile on her face. Her eyes seemed to follow me, watching me as I walked in.<br><br>“Matty,” she said. “Chris.”<br><br>I nodded, and the old lady waved. “Sherri?”<br><br>“Yes?”<br><br>“You come back to us.”<br><br>She nodded. “In time,” she said. “But not now.”<br><br>The man shook his head. “I will see you soon. Be good. Watch over yourself.”<br><br>“I will. I am.”<br><br>I watched as the woman died. The lights flickered briefly, taking on a blue hue. She stepped out of her body, and it fell to the ground, dead. She looked at the body, then she looked at me.<br><br>“Come with me,” she said.<br><br>I nodded my head, then I turned to the man and the woman. “Thank you for your kindness.”<br><br>Then I turned and left with the dead woman, the light in the room fading.