A loud belch emanated from the corpse, making them jump.
“It’s just a reflex,” said the doctor as the boxer sat bolt upright and the sheet slipped off.
“What round is it Gus?” asked the boxer.
“Round six,” stuttered the shocked trainer taken aback.
“Did I win?” asked the boxer.
With his mouth agape, Gus nodded, and the boxer lay back down.
Although taken by surprise the medic’s reflexes kicked in and he placed monitors and re-sited the lifesaving equipment onto the sleeping boxer.
“Arrhythmia… sinus rhythm and respirations are normal,” he told the doctor.
The bemused doctor looked at his watch and exclaimed, “That’s impossible. He’s been dead for nineteen minutes!”
The ambulance pulled up to the front of the accident and emergency department. The dazed doctor, paramedics, and trainer went inside, while the hospital staff wheeled the sleeping boxer to the Intensive Care Unit.
PATH RC389: 2011
.
* * *
Vibrant sights and sounds of nature filled the woodland around the cottage, with the trees, foliage and flowers in full bloom, the quaint old cottage looked picturesque. Church and Pinky spent most of their time outside walking among the hedgerows. Church had set up a website www.PATH.com, which now provided him and Pinky with a useful tool for the first contact in finding relatives of lost soul’s location, using Google maps.
One evening, while Church sat at his desk updating the website, the familiar smell of Brussels sprouts filled the room.
He smiled and looked at the portal as Granny Pearl appeared.
“Hi Gran,” said Church, “Have you got another assignment for us?” He asked, hoping it would be lucrative, like the last one.
Church pressed a button on his newly installed intercom.
“Pinky, Granny Pearl’s here.”
“Church, I have another assignment for you both. We have a problem, and with the upheaval and damage repair still going on within the spirit world after the Diabolus encounter, we hoped you would help. The location was close,” Granny Pearl told him.
Pinky came in the portal room.
“Hello, Sharon, I hope you are well.”
“Hi, Granny Pearl,” said Sharon, facing the portal. “Yes, I am okay. Have you got another assignment for us?”
Pinky sat at Church’s desk while Granny Pearl explained, “A psychic surge emitted from a split in the fabric of our world, hitting the mortal world. Although extremely rare and usually harmless, it was the first time that a surge hit someone who was injured. Because of this, the mortal died, entering our world before his time. We returned the soul but he now has the gift and unprepared. We sent a Spirit Guide to make contact, but a mortal intervention’s needed, as the newly gifted one doesn’t seem to get on with the Guide we sent.”
Church nodded at Pinky, who smiled.
“Yeah, it sounds simple enough. No problem Gran, give me the details.”
* * *
People inundated the Intensive Care Unit of the hospital wanting to see the wonder patient. Journalists waited for the story from the man who had been clinically dead for almost 20 minutes and came back. The head of the hospital restricted the number of visitors, only allowing close friends and relatives.
The boxer settled into a private ward. Although still attached to monitors, he was free of the tubes and drips, so he could move around the room.
‘I’m bored,’ he thought, ‘I hope I’m not here long, and the voices in my head stop annoying me.’ His thoughts interrupted by the odour of onions filling the room and he sighed, ‘Oh, not again’ he thought.
“Hello, laddie,” said a Scottish voice.
“Piss off, Hamish,” shouted the boxer.
“Now laddie, dunae be like that,” said the voice. “I have something important to tell yee.”
“Don’t you always…Spirits, Guides, the gift; always important, but only a load of bollocks. Anyway, you are only my imagination because I may have brain damage, the doctor told me,” said the fighter and yelled. “Now bugger off.”
“Ach, jest listen to me fer one last time, and then I’ll be oot of your life forever,” said Hamish’s spirit.
“Good, because I used to like onions until your stink turned up.”
Hamish, the Spirit Guide, spoke to the boxer for several minutes and gave him some instructions. The boxer wanting to get rid of the annoying voice in his head and get back to enjoying onions.
Twilight eased out the sun to take over its night shift. The boxer sat at the window of his private hospital room watching this daily cosmic battle unfold. He had never noticed before, the wonderful, simple things that happen daily on our little blue planet. Because of his near-death experience, he did not intend to let anything, however insignificant, pass unnoticed.
A nurse came into his room to tell him that he had two visitors and asked if they could come in.
“They said you were expecting them,” said the nurse.
“Yes, I am,” he said, “Let them in please.”
A middle-aged man and a young woman entered the room and went over to the fighter. Ryan felt confused; he had seen people bathed in white lights but put that down to his head injury. Now he wasn’t so sure and gaped as the pair approached. He saw the girl had a crimson aura radiating around her, while the man’s looked like a rainbow.
“Hello, my name is Church, and this is Pinky. You must be Ryan… and a tad bit confused,” said Church.
Ryan nodded his head and turning pale, said, “Am I going crazy, as all this sounds unbelievable,” He looked at the pair and mumbled, “but I suppose you two being here like Hamish said you would be made it credible. Although, a tad bit confused, was a bloody understatement.” He pointed at Pinky and continued, “You are the same colour as me. He then pointed at Church, “apart from me and you two, everyone else has a white glow.”
Pinky looked gooey-eyed at Ryan’s muscular figure. ‘He’s a bit of alright.’ She thought as Church said, “We are special.” He smiled at Ryan and his tone soothed and reassured him as Church continued, “I’ll explain things to you and know you have a lot of questions.”
Church explained about the spirit world, the gift, Guides, and Keepers, along with their role as Paranormal Assisted Treasure Hunters.
The conversation went on for over an hour, with Church explaining and Ryan asking question after question. Ryan told him that
