Little Ducky

Chapter 18: What Does It Mean to Be Alive?

Sqaishey's POV

The hours run into days, and the days run into weeks, which run into months.

And I'm still stuck in this stupid coma.

I think I'd rather be dead then endure hours of nothingness. But then again, death still could mean an eternity of nothingness.

But I'm not giving up hope.

Nothing has changed in the last week. I can hear movement from outside, and sometimes from my own room, but other than that, no one talks to me.

Stampy hasn't even come to visit.

My days are running out, and he hasn't come to see me for a couple of weeks.

At least he would stop the everlasting boredom of being in a coma.

My brain overflows with ideas, dreams and scenarios, all rolling into one another. A train station in Feather Adventures is being built, and I take the train. I chug up a steep uphill slope and then plunge into a black abyss. A light shines, then I'm jumping on the clouds in heaven. I fall through and then become Stampy and see myself die in my bed.

I feel myself becoming weaker by the minute, breathing becoming harder.

Maybe I'm actually beginning to die.
Maybe I'm already dead.

What does it mean to be alive though? Can you think when you're dead? Can you see if you're dead? Can you hear if you're dead?

I concentrate on my breathing. In. Out.

My heartbeat. Rhythmic and melodic.

For the first time in months, my eyes close.

A soft low beep plays, ringing in my ears.

I see a figure standing at the door; without opening my eyes. Stampy.

He screams, sounding airy and faint. I've come out of my coma...

I think.

Stampy's POV

I lay quietly in my bed, listening to the three kids' heartbeats next to me. They're alive.

I cuddle them as tight as I can, without strangling them. Charlie is still wearing shoes and laying on Sqaishey's pillow.

Penny and Blaire hug my stomach from either side; Penny on my right, Blaire on my left.

'Ring ring!' breaks through the silence and I pick up my phone.

Glancing at the caller, it's Netty. I wonder why she's calling at this time of night.

"Hello?" I whisper, not wanting to wake the silently sleeping children.

"Hi, Joe. Are you seated?" She says shakily.

"I'm lying, Annette. In bed. It's 1:30am." I say matter-of-factly. "What's up?"

"I got a call." She says, swallowing.

"From who?" I ask.

"The hospital."

I freeze in shock. Surely... She's not... They said they would notify me.

"Is she-" I breathe, my eyes tearing up.

"She's dying. They say she only has a few more hours." Netty chokes, close to tears herself.

Silence. Deadly silence.

"I-what...Why were you notified? Why-why didn't they call me?"

Netty sighs into the phone, the sound of her breath creating a shaky static at my end.