She'd occasionally felt as though she didn't belong here, but tonight she felt more of an outsider than ever before. While she was relatively comfortable around Tristan's friends, she couldn't escape from the feeling that she was seen as little more than an intruder, someone to ultimately be kept at arm's length. They were always nice enough, but never seemed to want to let her in fully.

As she roamed the lonely late-night hallways, she found herself standing outside the hospital chapel. She felt drawn toward the flickering candles and quiet warmth of the small room. It was the only part of the hospital she'd seen that didn't have fluorescent lights glaring off every surface. With a deep breath she walked through the threshold and sat down on one of the benches against the back wall.

Out of habit she made the sign of the cross, though it was a gesture from a faith she no longer felt part of. All around her were the signs and offerings of hope, if not in this lifetime then at least in lifetimes to come. She was no longer allowed that hope-her time here, now, was all she was allotted. With soul bound to body there were no second chances, no rebirths, no blissful ages spent drifting in the clouds.

Deanna closed her eyes against the taunting artifacts, each a grim reminder of the fate she could never escape. It seemed hard to believe that only a few short hours ago things had been so different. The night had traded the torrential downpour for a cloak of stars glittering in a black velvet sky while the man she loved had traded the world of the living for the world of the dead without so much as a backward glance in her direction.

She knew without sight or sound that she was no longer alone. Abigail's presence could be felt without any sensory input; the air would suddenly feel faintly charged and carry the slightest scent of night-blooming jasmine. She'd spoken very little to the old woman during the night, talking only long enough to find out if she preferred her coffee black or with cream and sugar.

Abigail: "You're lost."

The bluntness of the statement was startling, almost jarring. The entire evening boiled down to two words, the truth of which cut through the remaining shock. Deanna silently turned to the woman sitting next to her, stunned by the pallor of her skin and the exhaustion in her eyes.

Abigail: "I'll be fine, it is not yet my time. I've come here for you."
Deanna: "That sounds… well, rather unsettling if you must know."
Abigail: "It's meant as anything but. You're lost, you don't feel as though you belong here."
Deanna: "Am I that obvious?"

Abigail: "To me, it pours off you in waves. I'm afraid the others don't even really see you."
Deanna: "No, they don't."
Abigail: "You truly love him, and you're hurting very badly right now."
Deanna: "It's a little hard to escape from the feeling that if it had been me, he'd just let me go."

The words, finally spoken aloud, caused a sickening sensation deep in Deanna's stomach.

Abigail: "Perhaps, perhaps not. That's not what destiny had in store for you, so it matters not."
Deanna: "What does destiny have in store for me?"
Abigail: "I can only say that your time in this place isn't done, and that these people who don't see you now will see you, and will need you more than any of you can ever know. Your path brought you here for a reason."

Deanna: "It's all so frustrating, you know? It feels like I'll always be on the outside looking in, and it infuriates me that I even worry about it at all. Why should I care what anyone thinks of me?"
Abigail: "You're drifting, looking for a home. It's nothing to feel ashamed of."
Deanna: "I'm not ashamed, I'm pissed off. This whole night has just made me so goddamned angry."

Abigail: "You're well within your rights to feel that way."
Deanna: "Things were starting to go really well, and then it was like all hell broke loose."
Abigail: "Not yet."
Deanna: "I can't imagine things could get much worse."

Abigail: "If there's one thing I've learned in my time on this planet, it's that things can always get worse. They also get better."
Deanna: "Better for who?"
Abigail: "That's always the question, isn't it?"

Deanna's gaze focused once again on the understated cross hanging against the far wall. She wondered just how many people had sat in this same spot looking at the same cross, their worlds torn asunder as they grasped for any fragment of hope offered to them. Abigail remained silent at her side until Deanna turned her attention back to her once more.

Abigail: "We should go find James, it's better if he's not alone right now."

Deanna nodded quietly, helping Abigail to her feet. Together the two left the quiet sanctuary of the chapel and were once again bathed in the harsh lights of the hospital.