A stunning woman stood before me - glamorous in a way I had only seen on magazine covers.
Her hair was of pale gold, falling in smooth waves over her shoulders.
Her skin looked flawless, and her lips carried the faintest rose tint.
Hers was the kind of beauty that was effortless yet sharp enough to cut.
And then there were her eyes - an icy impossible blue that should have looked cold, but instead glimmered with grief and gentleness all at once.
"Between what?" I asked.
"Life and death. Choice and consequence."
She stepped forward and suddenly the fluorescent-lit waiting room felt as vast as a cathedral.
"Hello, Yuna. My name is Elodie."
I have not seen her or know her name before.
"Am I dead?"
"Yes," her smile was gentle. "You were murdered trying to expose HelCure. Very brave. Very foolish. Very… necessary."
"Necessary?" Anger flared through me as I recalled my conversation with Dr. Hemlock. "I died! I didn't save the children, I didn't stop Hemlock, I didn't -"
"You did exactly what needed to be done."
A second voice, male this time, resonated through the space.
He was an angel, I realized, as he materialized beside Elodie.
An actual angel.
Tall, imposing. And had eyes that held a millenia of knowledge.
"You documented evidence. You confronted evil. You died fighting for the innocent. Do you think God did not see?"
"But they won!" my voice broke. "HelCure is still out there. They will keep killing children. And I'm… I'm dead! How does that help anyone?"
"It didn't," Elodie stepped forward, taking my hands in hers.
Her touch was warm.
"But it could."
"What do you mean?"
The angel spoke again.
"Dr. Yuna Bane, you have been brought here because two souls - yours and Elodie's - have intersected at a divine crossroads. You both died fighting darkness. You both prayed for the innocent. And you both have unfinished missions."
Elodie interrupted softly. "Right now, my body is failing from poison administered over months."
My stomach dropped.
Poison? Months?
"You…" my voice cracked. "You're dying?"
"Don't worry, I'm ready to go," Elodie smiled. "I've been ready for a long time."
"I don't - What does that have to do with -"
"Everything." The angel's voice was grave. "Elodie prayed that her death would help someone. That her life, which has been controlled and used by evil men, could serve a greater purpose after she's gone. And you, Dr. Bane, died with a prayer on your lips: that someone would save those children."
My heart - if I even still had one - was pounding.
"What are you saying?"
"I'm offering you a trade," Elodie said. "My body for your mission. My life for your purpose. You go back and have a second chance to finish what you started."
"Back?" I whispered. "But as… you?"
"As me." She squeezed my hands. "In my body. With my face. My name. My life." A shadow crossed her features. "My husband."
Something about the way she said husband sent warning bells through me.
"So there's a catch," I muttered.
The angel nodded. "Yes. First, you only have six months. Elodie's body is dying from months of slow poisoning. Divine intervention can heal and sustain it temporarily, but not forever. Six months from the moment you return."
"Second?" my voice was shaking now.
"Elodie's life is… complicated."
The angel's expression turned sympathetic.
"You must be willing to endure it until you complete your mission."
"I see. But -" my mind was racing. "Six months. That's not enough time to-"
"That's what you prayed for, isn't it? Someone has to stop them. Someone has to save those children," Elodie reminded me of the same words that left out my mouth with my last breaths.
"I know…" I sighed, still undecided.
"If you refuse, you will still go to heaven," the angel said softly. "Your rest is earned. Your place is prepared. You can refuse this mission with no shame, no punishment. Free will is sacred, even here."
"And the children?"
There was silence.
"And Elodie's sacrifice?"
"Wasted," Elodie replied. "My death meaningless. But that's not your burden to carry, Yuna. You've already died once for them. No one can ask you to die twice."
I looked at her - this woman whom I have never met who was offering me her life because she believed it could matter.
Then I thought of Samantha who died only hours before me.
Then the twenty-three other children who were still being used as guinea pigs for HelCure.
Six months to save them.
Six months to complete a mission that got me killed the first time.
Six months in another woman's body, possibly seeing Knox while married to another man.
It was insane.
Impossible.
Absolutely guaranteed to end in heartbreak and death.
But I'd never walked away from a dying patient in my life.
Why start now?
"Okay," I wiped my eyes, stood boldly and met the angel's gaze directly. "I'll do it. Six months. Your mission. But I need you to promise me something."
"We don't make bargains," the angel said. "The Lord makes the final decision."
"Can you please ask of him that if I can't save those children… If I die again without finishing - someone else will take my place. My death - both my deaths - will matter."
"Your deaths already matter," the angel said. "More than you know. But rest assured, the mission will be completed. By you, or by others who follow. The children will be saved. And Elodie's sacrifice will be remembered in heaven forever."
"Then I'm ready."
I took a deep breath - my last as just Yuna Bane, a pediatric surgeon who died fighting for justice. "Send me back. Let me finish this."
The angel placed his hand on my head. Elodie stood beside him, smiling.
"Yuna Bane," the angel pronounced. His voice echoed like church bells. "You are granted six months in Elodie Humphries' body to complete your divine mission. Use the time wisely. Fight righteously. You are not alone."
Suddenly, light exploded around me. They were blinding but beautiful.
I felt myself dissolving, reforming, being pulled through dimensions I didn't have words for.
The last thing I heard was Elodie's whisper.
"Thank you. Save them all. Save him. And tell Knox… tell him I forgive him."
Knox?
But before I could ask, the light around Elodie fractured. Darkness swept in and she was gone.
Then nothing.
Then -
I opened my eyes.
A face hovered above me.
Familiar.
He was achingly familiar.
"Knox…"