Post by spottedpaw on May 8, 2009 15:40:55 GMT -6
A year ago from today, at exactly 8:47pm, my mom's fiancee was in a motorcycle wreck. After many months of rehabilitation, along with physical therapy, and many tears, he was awarded with the gift of walking again. He had had to get his lower left leg removed, which it seemed to everyone he knew, that they had lost their lower left leg, too. I wish to tell everyone here this: Never take anything you have granted, even if you despise it to the greatest limits, because by the quickest heart-beat, it can be taken away from you to never return. That night, I had to sleep over with my brother at WillowWhisperSong's house. I sobbed myself to sleep, many times waking up and staring out the window, worrying about my mom, who had seemed to bury herself in the doldrums when the call came. It was probably the hardest part of my life.
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A scream pierced the air. Then there was silence.
I felt hollow, and half-dead. There were voices around me yelling and shouting, but somehow I was blind to it all. Where am I? I thought frantically. My children! Are they ok?! It was all running through my head too quick. Then, I felt a jolt, and another, and another. Darkness hid my sight and silence filled my ears. Then I remembered it all. I was riding in the car, and my children were with me too. The radio was on and we were listening to "Are You Happy and You Know It?" Then there was a smash right next to me and...nothing. Then I saw my grandpa and me up on his knee. And the time I broke my arm when I fell out of that apple tree. And the day my dad went to New York and we were in the airport and I was crying. And my cat; and the time when we picked him out of the cats at the pet store and brought him home. My life flashed before my eyes, and I saw the light…
"My mom! My mom!" I screamed as I was roughly strapped into a stretcher. Blood was welling from a gash on my forehead. I couldn't even feel my right leg. My left arm looked bruised and scarred and I could see my shirt was stained with blood. I felt a sharp pinch and they hooked my IV up. The doors closed and I was left with strangers. "Where's my mom?!" I screamed to the man standing next to me. He looked at me for a while and then whispered, "She's away; far, far away." "What do you mean?!" I yelled as tears started streaming down my face. He stared at me again, and turned away. I felt my small amount of strength left drain from me as the IV kicked in. It was like it was swirling down a deep funnel and I was left at the top calling and pleading for it to come back. My eyes closed. I forced them to open, and I only saw a glimpse of inside of the ambulance before they closed again...
I awoke with a sudden "Beep, beep." next to my ear. I looked around. I was in a plain hospital room. It had white curtains on two windows and two grey chairs a couple feet away. I was lying in a small bed with straight white sheets. There were large machines around me making strange noises. As I looked toward a light brown door, a man walked in. He had a white lab coat on and a clipboard in his hand. "Ah, I see you are awake." he said. I just looked up at him, confused. Who is this man? I thought. He understood my questioning look and said, "I'm Dr. Reaf. You’re a mighty lucky girl to be here right now." I didn't care if I was here or somewhere else, I just wanted to know where my mom was. "Where's my mom?" I said. He quickly changed the subject and said, "The name's Atlanta, Atlanta Duffy? Age 7? Date of birth: 9/12/01? You were born in Detroit, Michigan right?" I nodded to each question. Then I remembered something that could have almost mattered as most as my mom's whereabouts. "Is...Is Clause here... too?" The words were choked out and I had to take a couple of breaths before I could regain myself again. The doctor stared into space for a couple of moments, and said, "Short blond boy, about 4? Does he have freckles?" I looked at him and was about to jump out of my skin. "Yes, yes! That's the boy! Clause Duffy! Oh he's here. In room 445." the doctor answered his own question almost at once. "Oh that's him! He's my brother. Is he ok?" I asked. Dr. Reaf checked his clipboard, and said, "Minor injuries; a scar below his left eye. He’s well bruised, oh, and a broken arm, and some scratches up his legs." I couldn't believe it! Clause was here! "I must see him!" I yelled. "Oh no young lady, you’re not well yet. Maybe some time in two weeks; how's that?" said the doctor. I was quite disappointed. I had to see my brother! The doctor glanced up from the clipboard, and said, “Alright missy. Time to rest, you’ve had too much excitement for one day!" I decided not to object. There was no time to keep on talking to the doctor; I had to make a plan to see Clause! Just before Dr. Reaf stepped out the door, I quickly asked: "By the way Dr. Reaf, what room number is this anyways?" He stared at me for a couple of heartbeats. I faked a yawn just to trick him some more. He smiled, and said, "Room 471." When he finally closed the door at last, I turned over, and thought, Clause, if you can hear me, I'm coming…
A week and a half went by at medium speed. I was now allowed to go to the hospital playroom, where other sick or injured children played. One strange thing though, was that I never saw Clause. But, I met a boy named Evan. He had curly dark brown hair, and crystal blue eyes. He was about my age, and had been here longer than I had, and was in room 472. We became friends pretty quickly. Our favorite hangout was behind the large wooden ABC blocks. We talked about news at the hospital, and one day he told me why he was here. One day, about two months ago, he and his father were out driving in the car. His father was drunk and had driven them into a ditch. He had suffered a broken ankle, and had some bruises and cuts, but was in rehabilitation now. On the other hand, Evan had so many broken bones in his left leg that he had to get it removed. He had already gotten a prosthetic leg, and he was only at the hospital still, because the doctors wanted to make sure the leg healed properly. But he was as cheery as ever, and happy that he had a friend that didn’t go, “Beep, beep.” all the time. We joked and laughed and played like nothing bad happened. One day, I asked him if he knew anything about hospital geography. He echoed my question and said: “Oh yeah!” We laughed, but then got straight down to business. He asked me why, and told him my plan of rescuing Clause. We got some crayons and a couple sheets of paper and he started drawing a birds-eye-view of the hospital. He labeled the rooms, and we started making a route of how to get to Clause first. We were going to sneak into Clause’s room, during the night, and talk to him about getting out of the hospital. Evan told me that he could not come with us if we got out, because he really needed to stay at the hospital, in hopes for survival. Since, I was in room 471, and Clause was in room 445, it was sort of a long way to get to Clause. But that didn’t matter; we knew we would figure something out…
Three days later after many hours of planning, it was the night of, “The Talk”, Evan and I called it. When it was bed time for both of us, we pretended to go to bed. After the doctor said, “Goodnight”, we quickly got up, and snuck to the door. When there was no doctors or nurses or any kind of human in sight, we opened the door and slipped out. Getting to Clause’s room was a breeze, but sometimes there were interruptions, and we had to hide, and quick! When we finally saw the sign above a door that said: “Room 445”, it was a dream come true! We burst through the door like maniacs, (as quiet as possible though,) and Clause abruptly woke up with a jerk. “Atlanta?! Is it you?!” he asked straining to see through the dim light. “Yes, Clause! It’s me!” I said, full of excitement. I ran over to him and hugged him as hard as possible. Evan grinned at the reunion, and said: “Okay, Okay, enough gushiness! We need to get down to business.” I giggled at Evan and Clause gave him a questioning look. “Do I know you?” he asked. “Oh sorry, buddy. My name’s Evan!” Evan replied. “Okay, Clause, why I’m here is because we need to get out of here! You and me, I mean.” I said. “Why?” he asked. “We don’t need to be here. We have to find Mom!” I told him. His chin quivered as he thought about our Mom, and I gave him another tight hug. He smiled and cleared himself. “But are you sure?” he asked. “Positive as ever!” I told him. He thought for a couple of minutes and then said, “Okay. Let’s do it. You are right that we need to find Mom.” “Oh thank you Clause!” I cheered quietly. He grinned and I smiled back. “Okay, when do we leave?” I asked Evan. “Hmmmm… Ummm… Two days from now, right before midnight. How’s that?” He said. I nodded, and so did Clause. The plan was made. The only thing left to do was wait for the night.
On the day of the departure, I was as jumpy as a frog who had eaten 400 chocolate flies. Evan had directed Clause and I to pack secretly the clothes that the doctors had put in our drawers, in our rooms. Check, I thought, with a smile. Right at bedtime after Dr. Reaf had said, “Goodnight,” I said, “Thank you for all you have done.” He smiled and shut the door. I couldn’t sleep at all as I waited for the signal from Evan that it was midnight. He had said that he was going to knock three times on the wall of my room, and had told the kid that had the room next to Clause to knock on the wall of Clause’s room at midnight and he was going to give him some peppermint from the front desk. “Knock, knock, knock.” came the signal. Okay, ready?, I thought. A check list zoomed through my head. I headed to the door, to say my last goodbye to Evan. When I opened the door of his room, I found him calmly sitting on the edge of his bed. I walked over to him, tears flooding my eyes. “Thank you… Thank you, so much. I will miss you. Please get well soon.” I said. He smiled through his tears and said, “You are a great friend. I’ll miss you too. Wait for me; I’ll catch up someday. Be careful!” he replied. “Goodbye,” I said. “Goodbye,” he said back. We hugged for the last time, and I went to the door, and waved. He waved back. We smiled together, and I closed the door. Evan had instructed Clause and I to meet at the back door in the back of the building. I ran through the building silently dodging everything in my path. When I saw Clause there, I waved. “Ready?” I asked. “Yep.” came his reply. “Okay…” I said. We darted out the door, and were consumed by darkness.
I had never thought where we were going to go after this but I had the greatest idea ever. Where we would sleep tonight would be against our mother’s grave. A creepy idea at first but in the end it works out fine. After Clause and I crossed the gate, we went in search for the tombstone. Ah-ha! I thought, and pointed it out to Clause. We smiled, and settled down for the night. I pretty much silently cried myself to sleep that night. We’re all finally together again, I thought, and for some reason, I could feel a warm, loving, presence next to me, -but it wasn’t Clause.
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"To be what we are, and to become what we are capable of becoming, is the only end of life."
-Robert Louis Stevenson
Empty Memories
-Robert Louis Stevenson
Empty Memories
A scream pierced the air. Then there was silence.
I felt hollow, and half-dead. There were voices around me yelling and shouting, but somehow I was blind to it all. Where am I? I thought frantically. My children! Are they ok?! It was all running through my head too quick. Then, I felt a jolt, and another, and another. Darkness hid my sight and silence filled my ears. Then I remembered it all. I was riding in the car, and my children were with me too. The radio was on and we were listening to "Are You Happy and You Know It?" Then there was a smash right next to me and...nothing. Then I saw my grandpa and me up on his knee. And the time I broke my arm when I fell out of that apple tree. And the day my dad went to New York and we were in the airport and I was crying. And my cat; and the time when we picked him out of the cats at the pet store and brought him home. My life flashed before my eyes, and I saw the light…
"My mom! My mom!" I screamed as I was roughly strapped into a stretcher. Blood was welling from a gash on my forehead. I couldn't even feel my right leg. My left arm looked bruised and scarred and I could see my shirt was stained with blood. I felt a sharp pinch and they hooked my IV up. The doors closed and I was left with strangers. "Where's my mom?!" I screamed to the man standing next to me. He looked at me for a while and then whispered, "She's away; far, far away." "What do you mean?!" I yelled as tears started streaming down my face. He stared at me again, and turned away. I felt my small amount of strength left drain from me as the IV kicked in. It was like it was swirling down a deep funnel and I was left at the top calling and pleading for it to come back. My eyes closed. I forced them to open, and I only saw a glimpse of inside of the ambulance before they closed again...
I awoke with a sudden "Beep, beep." next to my ear. I looked around. I was in a plain hospital room. It had white curtains on two windows and two grey chairs a couple feet away. I was lying in a small bed with straight white sheets. There were large machines around me making strange noises. As I looked toward a light brown door, a man walked in. He had a white lab coat on and a clipboard in his hand. "Ah, I see you are awake." he said. I just looked up at him, confused. Who is this man? I thought. He understood my questioning look and said, "I'm Dr. Reaf. You’re a mighty lucky girl to be here right now." I didn't care if I was here or somewhere else, I just wanted to know where my mom was. "Where's my mom?" I said. He quickly changed the subject and said, "The name's Atlanta, Atlanta Duffy? Age 7? Date of birth: 9/12/01? You were born in Detroit, Michigan right?" I nodded to each question. Then I remembered something that could have almost mattered as most as my mom's whereabouts. "Is...Is Clause here... too?" The words were choked out and I had to take a couple of breaths before I could regain myself again. The doctor stared into space for a couple of moments, and said, "Short blond boy, about 4? Does he have freckles?" I looked at him and was about to jump out of my skin. "Yes, yes! That's the boy! Clause Duffy! Oh he's here. In room 445." the doctor answered his own question almost at once. "Oh that's him! He's my brother. Is he ok?" I asked. Dr. Reaf checked his clipboard, and said, "Minor injuries; a scar below his left eye. He’s well bruised, oh, and a broken arm, and some scratches up his legs." I couldn't believe it! Clause was here! "I must see him!" I yelled. "Oh no young lady, you’re not well yet. Maybe some time in two weeks; how's that?" said the doctor. I was quite disappointed. I had to see my brother! The doctor glanced up from the clipboard, and said, “Alright missy. Time to rest, you’ve had too much excitement for one day!" I decided not to object. There was no time to keep on talking to the doctor; I had to make a plan to see Clause! Just before Dr. Reaf stepped out the door, I quickly asked: "By the way Dr. Reaf, what room number is this anyways?" He stared at me for a couple of heartbeats. I faked a yawn just to trick him some more. He smiled, and said, "Room 471." When he finally closed the door at last, I turned over, and thought, Clause, if you can hear me, I'm coming…
A week and a half went by at medium speed. I was now allowed to go to the hospital playroom, where other sick or injured children played. One strange thing though, was that I never saw Clause. But, I met a boy named Evan. He had curly dark brown hair, and crystal blue eyes. He was about my age, and had been here longer than I had, and was in room 472. We became friends pretty quickly. Our favorite hangout was behind the large wooden ABC blocks. We talked about news at the hospital, and one day he told me why he was here. One day, about two months ago, he and his father were out driving in the car. His father was drunk and had driven them into a ditch. He had suffered a broken ankle, and had some bruises and cuts, but was in rehabilitation now. On the other hand, Evan had so many broken bones in his left leg that he had to get it removed. He had already gotten a prosthetic leg, and he was only at the hospital still, because the doctors wanted to make sure the leg healed properly. But he was as cheery as ever, and happy that he had a friend that didn’t go, “Beep, beep.” all the time. We joked and laughed and played like nothing bad happened. One day, I asked him if he knew anything about hospital geography. He echoed my question and said: “Oh yeah!” We laughed, but then got straight down to business. He asked me why, and told him my plan of rescuing Clause. We got some crayons and a couple sheets of paper and he started drawing a birds-eye-view of the hospital. He labeled the rooms, and we started making a route of how to get to Clause first. We were going to sneak into Clause’s room, during the night, and talk to him about getting out of the hospital. Evan told me that he could not come with us if we got out, because he really needed to stay at the hospital, in hopes for survival. Since, I was in room 471, and Clause was in room 445, it was sort of a long way to get to Clause. But that didn’t matter; we knew we would figure something out…
Three days later after many hours of planning, it was the night of, “The Talk”, Evan and I called it. When it was bed time for both of us, we pretended to go to bed. After the doctor said, “Goodnight”, we quickly got up, and snuck to the door. When there was no doctors or nurses or any kind of human in sight, we opened the door and slipped out. Getting to Clause’s room was a breeze, but sometimes there were interruptions, and we had to hide, and quick! When we finally saw the sign above a door that said: “Room 445”, it was a dream come true! We burst through the door like maniacs, (as quiet as possible though,) and Clause abruptly woke up with a jerk. “Atlanta?! Is it you?!” he asked straining to see through the dim light. “Yes, Clause! It’s me!” I said, full of excitement. I ran over to him and hugged him as hard as possible. Evan grinned at the reunion, and said: “Okay, Okay, enough gushiness! We need to get down to business.” I giggled at Evan and Clause gave him a questioning look. “Do I know you?” he asked. “Oh sorry, buddy. My name’s Evan!” Evan replied. “Okay, Clause, why I’m here is because we need to get out of here! You and me, I mean.” I said. “Why?” he asked. “We don’t need to be here. We have to find Mom!” I told him. His chin quivered as he thought about our Mom, and I gave him another tight hug. He smiled and cleared himself. “But are you sure?” he asked. “Positive as ever!” I told him. He thought for a couple of minutes and then said, “Okay. Let’s do it. You are right that we need to find Mom.” “Oh thank you Clause!” I cheered quietly. He grinned and I smiled back. “Okay, when do we leave?” I asked Evan. “Hmmmm… Ummm… Two days from now, right before midnight. How’s that?” He said. I nodded, and so did Clause. The plan was made. The only thing left to do was wait for the night.
On the day of the departure, I was as jumpy as a frog who had eaten 400 chocolate flies. Evan had directed Clause and I to pack secretly the clothes that the doctors had put in our drawers, in our rooms. Check, I thought, with a smile. Right at bedtime after Dr. Reaf had said, “Goodnight,” I said, “Thank you for all you have done.” He smiled and shut the door. I couldn’t sleep at all as I waited for the signal from Evan that it was midnight. He had said that he was going to knock three times on the wall of my room, and had told the kid that had the room next to Clause to knock on the wall of Clause’s room at midnight and he was going to give him some peppermint from the front desk. “Knock, knock, knock.” came the signal. Okay, ready?, I thought. A check list zoomed through my head. I headed to the door, to say my last goodbye to Evan. When I opened the door of his room, I found him calmly sitting on the edge of his bed. I walked over to him, tears flooding my eyes. “Thank you… Thank you, so much. I will miss you. Please get well soon.” I said. He smiled through his tears and said, “You are a great friend. I’ll miss you too. Wait for me; I’ll catch up someday. Be careful!” he replied. “Goodbye,” I said. “Goodbye,” he said back. We hugged for the last time, and I went to the door, and waved. He waved back. We smiled together, and I closed the door. Evan had instructed Clause and I to meet at the back door in the back of the building. I ran through the building silently dodging everything in my path. When I saw Clause there, I waved. “Ready?” I asked. “Yep.” came his reply. “Okay…” I said. We darted out the door, and were consumed by darkness.
I had never thought where we were going to go after this but I had the greatest idea ever. Where we would sleep tonight would be against our mother’s grave. A creepy idea at first but in the end it works out fine. After Clause and I crossed the gate, we went in search for the tombstone. Ah-ha! I thought, and pointed it out to Clause. We smiled, and settled down for the night. I pretty much silently cried myself to sleep that night. We’re all finally together again, I thought, and for some reason, I could feel a warm, loving, presence next to me, -but it wasn’t Clause.
THE END
Author’s Note: This story is of course fiction and I’m glad it is. No one could purposefully wish this type of tragedy for anyone. I do dedicate this story to someone who represented Evan, and that was my mother's fiancee. I also dedicate this story to the millions who have lost loved ones in car accidents. But, as we all know, the emptiness is covered up when you have someone there to help you, and to warm your heart.
Author’s Note: This story is of course fiction and I’m glad it is. No one could purposefully wish this type of tragedy for anyone. I do dedicate this story to someone who represented Evan, and that was my mother's fiancee. I also dedicate this story to the millions who have lost loved ones in car accidents. But, as we all know, the emptiness is covered up when you have someone there to help you, and to warm your heart.
