Chapter One - Paradise

Danny was hurting. The pain was so intense, it transcended description. "I'm not...I'm not...gonna...I'm so cold...not gonna make it," he said to Rafe's blurry figure, which was leaning over him, muddy and bloodstained. Not as much as I probably am, he thought wryly. Those few words had taken so much out of him.

"Yes you are. YES YOU ARE!" Rafe shouted back.

Danny was so tired...so weak.

Rafe continued. "You know why? You're gonna be a father, Danny! I wasn't supposed to tell you...Danny, you're gonna make it, you're gonna be a father..."

Danny drew on his remaining strength, and pulled Rafe closer so that he could hear him. "No," he whispered, "you are."

Then his eyes closed. This is it, thought Danny. I'm going, Rafe. Please forgive me...and he knew no more.

***

Or so he thought.

Danny awoke to find himself in a completely foreign place. He was lying on a bed of soft moss, and there were trees and flowers surrounding him. Some distance off, he could see people running around, and hear them laughing. Laughing? thought Danny bitterly. People are laughing, and I'm lying here, a few yards away, and I'm dying...

Wait, he thought suddenly. The pain was gone. He felt more alive than he had had for a long time. He sprang up, and took a good, long look at his surroundings. He was in a large, sprawling grove with a fountain in the middle. He couldn't see that far, but he guessed it was encircled by trees. There were songbirds all around him. The sun was warm on his back, and there was a light breeze tousling his hair.

"Where am I?" he whispered.

"Welcome to Paradise, Danny," said a vaguely familiar female voice behind him.

He turned around to see a face he recognised. It was Betty, and she was smiling slightly.

"Betty!" he cried. "How did I get here? I have to go home...I have to go to Evelyn, and I've got to raise my son..." He paused, and blinked a few times. "Wait, aren't you...uh..."

"Dead?" quipped Betty. "Yes."

"Oh, God," said Danny. No! he thought desperately. This can't be happening. "That means...I must be..."

"Dead as well," Betty supplied. Her eyes softened. "I'm sorry, Danny," she said sympathetically. "I had no idea Evelyn was expecting."

Danny slumped, and sat down on the grass. "What's going to happen to Evelyn? What's going to happen to my son?"

Betty seated herself next to him. "I wouldn't worry if I were you," she said gently. "Rafe will take care of them. He's your best friend. You can trust him."

Danny was silent for a while. Dying had seemed like such a heroic thing to do back then, but now...he wished he was alive. Then he wished he hadn't thought that. "You're selfish, Daniel Walker," he said softly, sternly, to himself. But still...Evelyn! And his son...he was going to miss out on living with him, raising him, being a father to him. It's not fair, he thought.

"Life isn't fair, Danny," said Betty.

Danny started. It was as if she'd picked the thought out of his head.

Betty smiled, a small smile. "I'm not psychic. When I first died I went insane. I'd be sitting right here all the time, crying my eyes out, shouting myself hoarse." She paused. "I know how it feels. Death isn't easy to take."

Danny couldn't answer. He felt drained. He was sure his face was ghostly pale.

The throbbing pain had returned, and it was twice as strong now. But this time, it wasn't in his body. His body felt fine, cruelly fine. Couldn't they have just let me go? I don't want to suffer this non-life! he thought, suddenly angry. Death had been something less than a release for him.

The pain was in his heart.

***

Danny was walking by himself. At his request, Betty had left him to be alone with his thoughts.

I never knew dying was like this! he thought. He felt betrayed. People all said that death was for the best, because now the person would be freed of earthly concerns. What a pack of lies, thought Danny. Death...felt just like living. With more limitations. And more troubles. He had had his fair share of problems bothering him when he died, but now, as a spirit, he felt so helpless, so unable to do anything about them. I'm powerless now that I'm dead, he realised.

He broke into a run, and sprinted wildly through the forested area he had hidden himself in. He wished he could fly. When he was alive, he'd used to jump into a plane and fly every time he felt upset. But there were no planes here - so he ran. He ran like his life depended on it. In a way, his sanity did.

Questions kept flying through his head. I'm too young to die! he thought repeatedly. How could I have let Evelyn down like this? How could I have let my unborn son down as well? Now he'll never know his father. Why did I have to die?

Perhaps it was fate that Evelyn had, eventually, ended up with Rafe. For all he knew, he could have been put on Earth for no purpose other than to be the catalyst in their relationship. Was it worth it? he wondered momentarily. "'Tis better to have loved and lost, than never to have loved at all," he murmured to himself as he ran.

The initial shock of death was still strong, but he could feel it leaving him already.

***

Author's Note:

I'm planning to write one or two more chapters to round this out. I'm afraid I don't have a remarkable memory, which is why I avoided retelling movie scenes as much as possible. Please forgive any mistakes. I do hope you liked it, and that it didn't seem boring or pointless. Please review! Suggestions for improvement and story ideas are also warmly welcomed. (So are flames, though perhaps not as warmly.) ~HuntressMinerva