Saying Goodbye

So when you're near me, darling can't you hear me, S.O.S.

The small room was quiet, the electronic rhythmic beep the only noise. The light was respectfully muted. They held hands, though one grip was considerably weaker.

‘I try to remember the days we were happy,’ he said, though she did not listen. ’Why is it so hard to remember that once we loved and laughed and lived? Surely, we have spent more time outside of this room than in it? Have these walls made us so distant that your mind is closed the possibility of love?

’I wish I understood, but it is beyond me. Maybe in time, we will both recall how nice and good we were together. For now, I wish only that you would hear me.

’Please. Please remember that love. The love you gave me, the love I returned. If anything can spare us further pain, it must be memories of our love. For what am I, without you?

’I can feel your skin on mine, so near, yet you seem miles away. Your heart is dying, I know. Perhaps it has already died, beaten by a life too cruel and uncaring to comprehend.

‘If only I could heal you. If only I could return you to your former positive and life-affirming self. If I could return to you the love you gave me, perhaps that could save you.’

He said no more. The beeping stopped.

With a prayer and a tear, she was led from husband’s bedside.