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drug she has been taking all along,     the sheets, the bed, the floor, the
 right?" I asked.                        chairs. It was haunting. And that
                                         smell. I don't know how to describe
     "We don't think so. Either the      it, but we all know what it is. It's the
IV that she used was contaminated,       sterilization; it makes it smell like a
or one or two of the chemo bags          morgue.
was impure. Whatever caused this
attack tore into her internal systems         A few hours later, you woke
very quickly, Our tests show signifi-    up. You looked over at me, and I
cant liver and kidney damage. Sir,       thought, you have never looked so
there's no easy way to say this. She     beautiful. Your eyes were a pas-
doesn't have much time left. We've       sageway to our past, to our history
done all we can. She's resting now,      together. Looking in them, I got
you can be with her."                    lost, remembering meeting you in
                                         Driver's Ed, our wedding, and the
     Had I been in a more conscious      births of our children. We have been
state of mind, I would have thanked      through so much together, and yet,
him. Instead, I blindly stumbled to-     I have never loved you more than at
wards your room.                         that moment.

     I didn't recognize you, laying           "Brian, what happened?"
there. The drug had completely rav-           You're dying.
aged your body, tearing out your
beautiful hair, and left you com-             "You had an allergic reaction to
pletely defenseless. Your skin had       what they thought was your chemo.
a yellowish tint, and only a skel-       but it was something else."
eton of your former self remained.
I hadn't realized how much weight             "Am I ok?"
you had lost, but you couldn't have
weighed more than 90 pounds dur-              It took all my strength to stam-
ing those last days.                     mer out, "No ..."

    I sat down in a chair next to you,        Don't leave me. Don't give up,
                                         you can do it.

    looking around the room. There            October 14, 2061: It was ten
    were wires and tubes everywhere,     0'clock in the morning. Your condi-
    monitors beeping and IVs dripping.   tion had drastically declined during
    But what I remember most, and        the night. Your liver had stopped
   what still haunts me to this very     functioning. It was now a matter of
    day is the atmosphere of your room.  minutes, not hours.
   All of the blinding white: the room,
                                             You laid there serene and calm,
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