The Lonely King

Thirty-Four

I have only ever stepped foot in a hospital four times in my life.

The first being when I was just six years old.

"Honey, come over here really quickly," my mother told me as I stepped out of the pool. I skipped over to her with a happy smile on my face due to all the friends I made. She reached her hands out to help me sit on her lap, her eyes trained on my chin. Her fingers gently angled my jaw up, so she could have a better look.

"How did this happen?" She mumbled. She pulled away her hands from my jaw and pulled me up so she carried me.

"What is it, mommy?"

"We need to go get some stitches for you. How did you hurt the bottom of your chin?"

"I did a back flip into the pool!" I exclaimed excitedly.

She shook her head. "You should be careful, sweetie."

Instantly, a pout formed on my face. "I know, but I just wanted to have fun."

"Be more careful next time,"

~*~

The hospital visit went really well, and the doctor was so nice. He even gave me a teddy bear, who has a bandaid too! The doctor said I was very brave and told mommy I got three whole stitches. It took me a while to figure out what they were, but for sure it would make me better.

Mommy even gave me money to buy a candy bar! I raced down to the vending machines as mommy was talking with the doctor and bought a heath bar. They were my favorite. I turned back to see mommy still talking with the doctor, but I had to go to the bathroom. It shouldn't be too hard to find it on my own.

I walked through a couple hallways before finding it, and once I was done with my business, I walked back. Suddenly, there was a bunch of yelling from a different hallway. I was curious, so I went around the corner, and I was certainly not expecting to see this.

A woman was laying down on a rolling bed with lot of doctors around her. Red blood stained her white T-shirt and dripped down her light hair. Her skin was pale and her eyes were closed. The annoying noise of the heart monitor was echoing in my ears louder than the doctors yelling.

My heart was beating so fast and my eyes started watering. Why does she look so hurt? Kids on the playground sometimes had a few scratches after falling, but this was a bajillion times worse.

The noise from the heart monitor changed to a long, never ending beep. I knew what that meant. I've seen it in tv shows before that I secretly watch when mommy and daddy aren't around. It meant she was dying. I watched as the doctors kept pushing down on her chest and moving away at times to use these two metal things to shock her, but none of it was working.

Tears dripped from my eyes as I watched the scene unfold. It was when they gave up and said 'time of death 3:57 PM' that I ran away. My heart never beat this fast before. This was the scariest thing I have ever seen. I ran faster and faster to mommy, and when she picked me up and I snuggled closer to her, I felt myself relax.

"Honey, what's wrong?" She asked.

"I got lost," I sobbed, deciding not to tell her about the incident.

~*~

When I was 14 years old, I got sick.

Very sick.

It was a virus that I had to just let my immune system fight. I was in bed for weeks and I lost almost 15 pounds. I had a fever almost everyday. I coughed every five minutes. I couldn't move my arm up because I was too weak. And on top of all that, the boy next to me died.