The Coroner's Office
At the coroner's office, the lady at the desk made Rose stay in the waiting room because children were not allowed. Her mom bought her an orange soda, as if it would somehow make her feel better, and she followed a man down a long hallway.
The T.V. was blaring one of Rose’s favorite movies, but she couldn't sit still enough to try and watch it.
She wanted to see her dad, too. Everyone was acting like she was a little kid. What good would it do to make her wait here?
Looking around, she noticed a restroom just past the reception desk in the hallway her mom had disappeared down. The lady at the desk apparently had nothing to do besides watch Rose, so Rose decided to go in there to sneak away.
Smelling of air freshener, the restroom was clean and sterile. There were three stalls, all empty. Peeking back out the door, Rose watched the receptionist until she got a phone call, then she exited back into the hallway, which was quiet except for the sound of the buzzing light fixtures overhead. Tiptoeing up to doors and lighted windows in search of the right room, Rose felt the chill of this place deep in her bones.
Up ahead, she heard the echo of a closing door, then there were voices.
“The autopsy is scheduled for tomorrow morning,” said a baritone voice.
“Thank you,” Rose's mom said, with a hitch in her voice.
Rose ducked into the nearest doorway and watched their shadows pass by her. They went into an office on the other side of the hallway, and Rose hurried into the door they had just come out of.
The room was dark, but Rose could make out the shapes in the room from the light filtering in through the windows. Seeing her dad's body lying on the table was a huge shock to her. She stayed right by the door, breathing deeply – in through her nose, out through her mouth – to avoid crying out or throwing up.
She could still smell his cologne. Once, when her dad was away for a few days, Rose tried spraying his cologne on her teddy bear, so she could smell him but it wasn't the same. It had to be on him to smell right. Closing her eyes, she breathed in the scent of it as deeply as she could, committing it to memory. The process calmed her.
Finally, she walked over to him, and stood there staring for a moment. It was definitely her dad, but it wasn't actually him. This was like an empty shell of him.
Brushing her fingers over his cheek, she was surprised by how cold it was, but she didn’t care. She thought back to the day she discovered her gift at the water hole with Amber. Amber would have died if Rose hadn't been able to do what she did. More than one person had told Rose that.
Her dad was alive and happy just this morning. What if she could fix this? A surge of hope filled her.
Remembering how she had healed Megan at Grandma's house, Rose focused on her feelings for her dad. She couldn't love another person more. He was everything to her. Reaching up to hold her locket for a moment, she opened it and studied the picture of the three of them in Hawaii. Of course she could find enough love in her heart to heal him – even from this.
Placing both hands on her dad's cheeks, Rose thought back to the day when they had the picture taken. They had spent the entire day exploring the beaches on the Big Island of Hawaii. About to sit down and have a picnic dinner on an abandoned beach, they had come across the first person they had seen in hours. In order to remember this beautiful day forever, they asked her to take their picture.
Then Rose thought of the day her dad had given her the locket. He said it had belonged to his grandmother. Rose had always been told the most amazing stories about his grandmother. She was truly an incredible woman, whom he had loved dearly. It meant a lot to her when he had given Rose her locket.
There was the time when she was five, and he was teaching her to ride her bike, but she fell and skinned her knee. He held her until she was all done crying, then bandaged her cut. It was such a normal thing for a parent to do, but she had never felt so loved in her life. That was when he had nicknamed her Princess, because he was giving her the royal treatment.
Rose realized by now, the tingling should have started. Why wasn't it happening?
With tears streaming down her face, she said, “Come on, Daddy, I need you. I know I can do this.”
She moved her hands to his chest, and closed her eyes, concentrating even harder.
Then she heard the door open, but she didn't care. She was going to heal her dad, and she didn't care who saw. Without even looking up, she started trying to remember more things about her dad.
“Rose,” her mom said gently, putting her hands on Rose's shoulders.
Rose said nothing. She only shook her head, and tried to shrug away her mom's hands.
Holding on tighter, her mom said, “I didn't want you to see him like this, honey. It's not him. His soul is gone. This is just his body.”
“No,” Rose wailed.
“Honey, we have to let him go.”
“No!” Rose shouted, angrily. “I won't let him go. His soul can't be gone! I can fix him, Mom. I can make him better. I know I can, if I just remember hard enough.”
Tears streaming down her face, she tried harder to shake her mom away, but her mom held her tight.
“Oh, Rose,” she said, understanding creeping into her voice. “Honey, you can't heal him. He's gone.”
“NO!” Rose screamed. “He doesn't have to be dead! I can fix this! Get off me!” Violently shaking her shoulders, she felt her elbow connect hard with her mom's stomach.
Her mom grunted, but held tight, continuing to try and help Rose understand.
“You can't fix this, Rose. I know you wish you could, but it's too late. His spirit is gone.”
Crumpling to a heap on the floor, Rose sobbed for a long time. Her mom stayed there and held her, without moving a muscle until Rose had cried all she could. She felt like she had purged everything from her body, and now she was hollow and empty. They sat together silently, just holding each other, and trying to catch their breath.
Finally, Rose's mom spoke gently.
“We have to leave him here, Rose.”
“I don't want to leave him, Mom. We can't just leave him here on this cold table.” It was practically a whisper.
“They have to let a doctor look at him, to find out what happened, sweetheart. I know it's hard, but we have to leave him.”
She stood up and held her hand out. Rose hesitated, but then took her mom's outstretched hand and accepted the help getting up. Her mom put her arm around her waist and they walked out of the building together.
Rose felt like she was leaving half her heart behind.