Christina sat up with a wince. "You mean I don't have to die?"

The older woman scratched her head. "Well, it's not that simple, my dear. If you decide to come with me you will definitely go to Heaven and spend the rest of eternity without worry. You know...no crying, no pain, paradise just as everyone imagines. In fact, you will most likely see your son again, one day."

Lowering her eyebrows in confusion, Christina cocked her head at an angle. "Most likely. Why? What does that mean?"

"Everyone has choices to make, dear, even your child," Mariya replied. "Look, you can come with me and leave this terrible life behind for paradise...or, you can choose to stay and take a chance."

"Take a chance?"

Mariya exhaled. "Basically, I leave and you let things run their course. Mr. Fate will then make all decisions from there based on the final outcome from this accident. You know...whether you make it or not and that will determine where you end up."

"Where I end up? Don't I go to Heaven either way?"

"I'm sorry, sweetie. There's an order to all of this." Mariya's eyes widened as she glanced at her glowing watch. She lifted her wrist and tilted it toward Christina, tapping the timepiece's pulsing red surface with a finger. "See, I have to go, my dear. I really need a decision."

Christina grabbed the woman's arm with a bloody hand. "Wait! What do you mean, where will I end up if I don't make it?"

"Reincarnation," Mariya said with a shrug. "It's not as bad as it sounds and if you really think about it, it's not like you would remember all of this, anyways. As I said, there is an order to these things. Not all spirits can go to Heaven; we do need some of you to hang around down here on Earth to keep making more humans and more souls."

"I don't understand."

"Okay, I'll try to explain this a bit better, but after that you have to choose, agreed? I really do like you, Christina, but I seriously have to go. I have a job that never ends and I can get backed up really, really quickly. So, are we on the same page?"

Christina nodded in agreement.

"Good. Now, listen very closely," Mariya said as she stared into Christina's tear filled eyes. "If you choose to endure this accident in an attempt to stay with your son, the instant that human medical technology fails to save you, your spirit will be re-harvested by Mr. Fate and used to shore up any soul shortages he might have existing around the world. Now, let me be clear about this, you will have no choice where your life force ends up. Like I said before, if everyone went to Heaven by default, the Earth would eventually be empty. This process that I'm describing keeps the factory gears turning, if you get what I mean."

Christina covered her mouth with a hand. "I get it."

"I can't make your decision for you, but keep this in mind, sweetie. If I'm here, it means that the odds of your survival are not in your favor..."

Christina painfully reached up and retrieved the school program from the sun visor and pressed it to her chest. "Alright Mariya, here's what I choose..."