“I’ve got her! Dhanya, listen to me. Weʹre close. Whatʹs the address?.. Well, ask somebody! Who the heck is giving the party — they must know where they live!ʺ
Beth turned to Ivy. ʺUnbelievable! Sheʹs trying to find the person whose booze theyʹve been drinking.ʺ Ivy shook her head, and drove slowly down the road they had just scouted. It wasnʹt going to be a fun ride back to the inn, she thought.
ʺIvy, look out!ʺ
Headlights came out of nowhere. The person was driving crazily, as if no one else was on the road. Ivy stepped on the brake, then saw that stopping wouldnʹt help. She had to evade, but the road was too narrow. She accelerated, trying to get to a driveway and pull in.
ʺOh my God!ʺ Beth screamed. Ivy yanked the wheel hard to the right. One moment she could feel the road under her car, the next, it was gone. Two wheels rose in the air as the car rolled, the world of night and trees turning around her and Beth.
ʺBeth? Beth?ʺ Dhanyaʹs voice sounded small and far away as the cell phone bounced around the car.
The driverʹs side slammed into something solid. Steel crumpled inward. Before she could cry out, Ivyʹs world collapsed into a black hole.
FOR A MOMENT, IVY WAS AWARE OF NOTHING BUT darkness. It felt as if all of the nightʹs weight bore down on her, then, unexpectedly, the pressure eased.
ʺBeth? Beth, are you okay?ʺ Her friendʹs eyes fluttered open. ʺBeth. Thank God,ʺ
Ivy said with relief. ʺWeʹve got to get out of this car. My side is smashed in. Weʹll have to use yours, okay?ʺ Beth gazed at her wordlessly. ʺYou with me?ʺ Ivy asked, uncertainly. Beth continued to stare at Ivy. ʺIʹll help you,ʺ Ivy said, trying to pull herself up, but she couldnʹt move. ʺOn second thought, you may need to help me. Iʹm caught somehow.ʺ
Beth looked at Ivy as if she couldnʹt comprehend what she was seeing. ʺWhat is it?ʺ Ivy asked. Beth began to shake. ʺBern? Answer me.ʺ
But it was as if her friend couldnʹt hear or understand what she was saying.
ʺAnswer me! Beth, please!ʺ
Beth opened her mouth. She screamed and screamed.
ʺIf s okay, itʹs okay,ʺ Ivy told her, trying to calm her. But Beth started to sob.
ʺWeʹre going to be okay. Oh, angels, help. Tristan, help. Tristan, we need you,ʺ
Ivy called out.
At last she was free of the thing that restrained her. ʺAll right, now.ʺ She touched Beth, then pulled back, surprised. She couldnʹt feel Bethʹs shoulder. She reached out again and gazed in disbelief as her own hand passed through her friendʹs.
Then Ivy began to understand why Beth had screamed, why she was sobbing.
Free of her body, Ivy was light, as weightless as a moonbeam and floating steadily upward. Looking down, she saw her body in the mangled car, the airbag deployed, and the metal frame of the windshield bent inward. She saw her head against the crushed frame, blood darkening it.
The only pain Ivy felt was an intense yearning for those she loved. Below her, a night mist enveloped Beth and the twisted car. Along the narrow strip of road, another car raced away. The land and sea merged in darkness.
The longing to say good‐bye was all that tethered Ivy to the night below. She spoke the names of those she loved, asking the angels to watch over them: ʺPhilip, Mom, Andrew, Beth, Will, Suzanne..
Tristan. Tristan.ʺ
ʺMy love.ʺ
Ivy held still, suspended within a cathedral of starlight. The old world that turned beneath her grew still, as if time had stopped.
ʺTristan?ʺ
ʺMy love.ʺ
ʺTristan!ʺ Ivy closed her eyes, so that his voice would become stronger in her.
ʺCan I really hear you? Is it possible? Oh, Tristan, even in death, I want you near me.ʺ
ʺEven in death, my love.ʺ
ʺAlways, Tristan.ʺ
ʺAlways, Ivy.ʺ A gold shimmer enveloped her. ʺYou told me I had to move on,ʺ
Ivy said, half crying for the loss of him, half laughing with the joy of finding him.
ʺYou said I was meant to love someone else, but I couldnʹt.ʺ ʺNor could I.ʺ
ʺEvery day, every hour, I have held you close in my heart.ʺ
ʺAs I held you,ʺ he said. ʺDonʹt leave me, Tristan,ʺ she begged. ʺPlease donʹt leave again.ʺ She felt his warmth wrap around her. ʺI need you.ʺ
ʺIʹll always be with you, Ivy.ʺ
She felt his kiss on her lips. ʺDonʹt let go!ʺ
ʺI promise you, Ivy, Iʹll always be with you,ʺ he said again. His love reached into every part of her, his pure heat burning within her. Suddenly, she felt her heart beating — beating wildly, like a caged bird, against her ribs.
ʺWHAT ELSE DO YOU REMEMBER?ʺ THE WOMAN police officer asked.
Ivy gazed out the window of the hospital room at the pale yellow clouds of early morning. ʺThatʹs it. The car — the vehicle,ʺ she corrected herself, since that was what they were calling it, ʺcame from the other direction straight at us. Braking wouldnʹt help. He was going too fast. I had to avoid him.ʺ
ʺHim?ʺ
ʺOr her. Or them. Head‐on like that, and in the dark, all I could see was the headlights.ʺ She remembered looking down on a vehicle and assuming it was a car — but the perspective of someone floating above her car and the road on which the accident occurred wouldnʹt make sense to the police. It barely made sense to Ivy — she knew rather than understood what had happened.
The moment Ivy had become conscious again, her spirit had felt extraordinarily light, while her body had seemed a heavy and clumsy thing to her. She had clung to the memory of being with Tristan, afraid it would slip through the grasp of her earthbound fingers.
ʺDo you remember anything about the sound of the vehicle?ʺ the police officer asked.
Jolted out of her thoughts, Ivy stared at the woman blankly until she repeated her question.
ʺNo,ʺ Ivy said. ʺBeth was screaming, telling me to watch out. Thatʹs all I remember hearing.ʺ
They had already gone over why she and Beth were driving on that road. Ivy knew that both of them had been given toxicology tests.
At that point, the nurse entered her room. Andyʹs genial face was the first Ivy remembered seeing after arriving at Cape Cod Hospital six hours ago. She couldnʹt recall anything about the ER, but had been told that Beth, Will, and Aunt Cindy had taken turns staying with her and sleeping on the waiting room sofas, and that her mother was on the way.