"Terry, wake up."

A very sleepy Terry Sauter opened her eyes and looked around her room. It was very late at night and everything was still and quiet. Terry's family had all gone to bed hours before, as had Terry.

"Who's there?" she asked.

"It's me, Ryan. I've come to see you."

Terry sat straight up in bed and stared across the room where she saw her husband Ryan standing in the corner surrounded by a bluish glow. He was smiling and looking very healthy and fit, unlike the last time she saw him. "Ryan!" she cried, jumping out of bed. Terry flew into Ryan's arms, hugging him tightly. "Oh, Ryan! It's so good to see you! I've missed you so much!" Terry reveled in the feel of his body, the smell of his cologne, so familiar and so missed.

Ryan hugged her to him. "I've missed you too my love."

"It's so good to feel you in my arms again," said a tearful Terry. "But how is this possible?"

Ryan died on Xanor II of an incurable disease a few months earlier. It was devastating to Terry, as it was the first time she had experienced true, genuine love, only to have it disappear within a few weeks.

"Hey, just my physical body died, not my personality. I'm just in another state of existence now. Sort of like another dimension, only not physical."

"I'm so glad you're here!" said Terry releasing him, but taking his hand in hers. She didn't want to let go of him for fear he would disappear.

"Terry, I can't stay long. I came to help ease your grief and pain and to encourage you to start living again."

"But I miss you so much! And it hurts so bad! Nothing helps either!"

"I know, my love, but with time things will get better. But you must try. If you don't you will miss so much of life and all the wonderful opportunities still ahead of you."

"I don't know how to live again, Ryan. I truly don't."

"Yes you do. You have wonderful family and friends. They are here to help you through this if you will only let them. They love you and want you to be happy."

"I can't be happy without you Ryan!"

"You were happy before me and you will be happy again. Remember Terry that I love you and will be with you always. But I must leave you now."

"No! Ryan, don't go, please! Stay a little bit longer!" Terry had thought of nothing and no one else since Ryan's death and now that he was here, she couldn't bear to let him go again.

"I have work to do as do you, sweet Terry. Besides, I am just a thought away. Every time you think of me, I'll know." Ryan began to slowly fade away.

"Ryan! I love you! I love you!" Terry shouted as she suddenly awoke to an empty room.

"It was just a dream." she said. " He wasn't really here." Deflated, she settled back under the covers and then she noticed a fragrance in the air-- something similar to oranges. "That's Ryan's cologne!" said Terry as she deeply inhaled the fragrance. "No one else I know wears that kind of cologne! He was here! It was real!" With a smile on her face and her heart uplifted, Terry snuggled back under the covers, feeling comforted and better than she had in months, secure in the knowledge that Ryan was not really gone after all--that he would still be looking after her.

"Goodnight Ryan," she said, " and thank you for coming to me. I love you." With those words, she fell gently asleep.