Vices

"Wait! please don't go!" he cried. "Why are you leaving me?"
He turned to the woman who stood behind him.
"Why are they leaving me?" he said, desperation lacing his voice.

He turned again to see them all finally file out of the room. In the silence he felt slightly awkward, he did not know what happened now. He could feel his mind racing, spinning round and around. He calmed, forcing himself to take stock of the situation.
The room was white, with gentle shades of blue and pink so carefully mixed in. There was a single large pane of glass, but it was covered with shutters that matched the baby blue parts of wall. The room was dark and he could not make out much of the furniture, but the shape of the few pieces suggested discomfort and fear.
"Why fear?" he whispered

CRASH! CRUNCH!
metal on metal, sparks flying, a loud annoying sound, barely noticable yet ever present.

He reeled, gathering his senses again.
"Keep taking stock" he thought
There were two beds in the room. Like the other furniture, they seemed small and not overly cozy. One bed was concealed behind a pink curtain, yet he could see the base of the bed. He could tell it matched the bed he could see. In this bed, a figure was curled up, holding a pillow, terrified by whatever nightmare consumed his dreams. Finally, he turned again to look at the only other waking person in the room with him.

She was attractive. She wore a white dress which more or less fit her, forming to her body. Over the dress, covering her upper body in a conservative fashion was a white shawl. The shawl seemed to raise up from her back and flow down over her shoulders fanning out to blunted tips near her waist. Auburn hair fell down past her shoulders. She looked up at him, sharp blue eyes demanding him to realize something.
He was hit with a wave of emotion.

A great need, a reason to rush, some dire emergency called to him. He felt love and care, he was late.
A rush of sound, the screech of rubber on road
CRASH, CRUNCH
the world flipped all around, he had what he imagined he would feel if placed in a drying machine.
The sound, that ever present, annoying tone in the background that would not seem to fade.

He returned to the room. He was still missing something, but he was more aware. He looked the woman in the eyes, those clear blue eyes.
"I was being careful... I had to get home though, she was just going into labour." he could not remember who it was, or why it was important, but he knew it was. "I had left work, I was driving and..."

His wife, the woman he loved. They had met at a book signing, one thing had moved to another and suddenly they were married for ten years. She had just gone into labour with their third child. A lifetime filled his head, his lifetime.
CRASH, CRUNCH
The lights, he had gone on a green light. From the left the truck slid on the ice. The horns rang sharply into the crisp winter air. The sound of those horns kept going, as the world slowed.

In the room again, realization hit him. "I was just trying to make it in time." He looked at his hands, he didn't feel different, nor did he look different. He looked back to the woman. "Why?"
She didn't answer, but her eyes, those intense blue eyes flared with inner light.

A lifetime of mistakes and errors. He had blundered through many things, many choices. Some were right, some were wrong. He did terrible things and yet did things of great heroism and nobility. He could see these balancing before him, yet he knew that he had more good than bad. He had always prided himself upon it. His greatest pride was in his children. He saw them grow, his oldest boy becoming a fine young man and marrying himself a charming young girl he'd met at college. His daughter and her odd yet lovable sense of punk style. He had never understood that, but he didn't have to, that was love. He saw the tiny form in his wife's womb, felt the heart of his third child, second son, beating. Tears welled in his eyes.
CRASH, CRUNCH
The truck hit his car, they rolled, another car was pulled inadvertantly into the chaos. He was upsidedown, the horns blasting as his ears rang. People ran all around, the driver of the truck was loaded into an ambulance.
He was loaded into an ambulance.
The world was black.

The room became sharp again. The hospital room. He nodded, knowing that his body lay behind the rosy curtain. Oddly enough he knew that the form on the uncurtained bed was the truck driver. He also knew what nightmare haunted the man. 
He approached, gently placing his hand on the sleeping man's forehead.
"Sleep, don't worry, it wasn't your fault. My family is strong, I know that now. Please, sleep and recover."

The man seemed to calm visibly at this and he sensed a fulfilment in the sleeping form, an easing of pain and guilt.

He turned to the angel. He did not wish to look upon the broken form behind the other curtain, he understood his fate. A single tear rolled down his face and he spoke.
"I tried my best." He said, his voice breaking. "I tried to be here for them, I tried to make it on time."

Finally a smile broke upon her face and a warm light filled the room. Her eyes were filled with that smile and spoke of kindness and understanding. All had been accomplished they seemed to say. With a voice sweet and deep she spoke the first and last words he would hear upon the Earth
"Come now," she said, reaching out her hand "There are no such vices in Heaven."