Reaper Reincarnation

I roam these white halls unseen. Blending among the sick and the well, seamlessly. No one has ever turned a head in my direction among the living; only the dead and dying can see one like me, until her.

From the moment she was wheeled in, I could see something special about her. She was a young mother, in the late stages of hard labor, who seemed to glow more brightly than the others around her. She was crying for the doctors to please save her baby, not to allow her little girl to die.

As the hospital staff wheeled her past me, she turned her head and made eye contact with me – her spellbinding eyes, one cerulean blue and one amber in color. Reaching out, she touched my hand, without passing through me. Her eyes beseeched me as she begged for the life of her child.

Curious, I followed the gurney towards the delivery rooms, and as they wheeled her into DS#3, I went right on in. She had seen me, but she was not one of the dead or dying. I had not experienced this phenomenon before. Unsure what this meant, I planned on watching over this one.

I listened as, between contractions, the young woman told a nurse the baby was all the family she had. I watched the doctor shake his head as he looked at the test results he ordered. I saw the covert looks of pity each one spared the girl when she was distracted. Then I understood.

I understood why she could see me. Even though she was living, she was a vessel – a vessel for the dead. Sadly, her baby was already dead inside her, had passed as she was brought into the delivery room doors. The infant’s soul was lingering near its mother, unsure where to go.

I was torn. I knew it was my job to reap the newborn’s soul and lead it to the afterlife reserved for it. Doing so would sever any life force left within the child’s small body within minutes. Crushing this woman mentally in the process.

I didn’t think I could do that to this poor woman. I had to, though. So, taking the infant’s soul tenderly in my arms, I carried this poor innocent to its new crib in heaven.

As I laid the babe down on its feathery pillow of white, I had a new thought. I wondered if it was possible. There was only one way to find out, and that was to try.

With all the speed I could muster, I flew to my district.

I headed straight to the woman’s delivery room, passing through walls and the living.

I arrived just in time to see the infant’s birth. The babe was small and born completely blue. The doctor whisked her away to another table and began performing life-saving procedures on the doomed child. Only I was aware of the ticking clock and the missing soul.

Without further thought, I twirled and leapt into the air, coming down upon the baby girl’s mouth. Shrinking, as I’d hoped, my being soon occupied the child’s entire body. Testing my limits, I opened my - her - eyes, just as the doctor spanked my - her - bare ass. Shocked, I - she - inhaled air and screamed a sound that was more of a squall.

My eyes were no longer adjusted for some reason. Everything and everyone was now fuzzy, unless they were inches from my nose. Sounds were louder than before, clashing and jarring me. Unable to form a word, I now converse through a piercing wail. Smells are more pungent, some even revolting to me.

I know I want something or someone. I just don’t know who.

Then I smell her.

The doctor had carried me over to her. I hear them mumble, his voice deep, hers familiar and comforting, as he passes me to her. I nuzzle her chest, then I sigh. As I fall asleep, I remember nothing of the before.