Feather

There and Gone

I saw her. Just lying there, dying. She was pale and bony and...helpless. She was small, young in body but looked old in the deep wrinkles of her face, she was a vegetable. The elderly couple, who I assumed were her parents, were sobbing and gasping for air and gripping at every word that traveled through the doctor's lips. They were old and frail. The woman had crow's feet and stress lines, while the man's eyes were bloodshot and glazed. The doctor looked worn and subjective, as if he has been up all night, in labor, caring for the woman in a vegetated state. Eventually, he robotically shifted and turned snail like towards the IV bag and refilled it.

I couldn't bare watch them cry anymore. I quickly spun on my heel and glided down the hallway, as I wondered what was wrong with her. A few seconds after, I could hear nurses shouting and running behind me while the machines beeped like a time bomb, maybe they were time bombs. No, maybe just a timer, letting someone know their time was up. I spun around to see the doctor and a few nurses rushing a bed down the hall. It was the woman, strapped in her bed, still lifeless. Her parents ran out of the room. I heard them call after the woman in the bed. I guess her name was, Nia.

I watched as they brought "Nia" into a room down the hall. Then, I looked back at her elderly, heartbroken parents. They saw me, when their eyes cleared up, they just stared. The father looked at me with disbelief, or something, I couldn't tell. Her mother looked confused, worried, and... scared. Why? Worst part was when the woman broke down and cried even harder. I couldn't watch, so I left. Not knowing that that moment would be the most important, in my entire life.