Wilted Flowers

"To abandon leaves a wound, to abandon without reason leaves a scar."

"MY MOTHER used to tell me tales when I was young. It wasn't until I was a teenager that I realized they were tales from mythology."

Her voice was hoarse. The heart monitor gave monotonous beeps. Her oxygen tube was almost silent. It would be if there was more conversation.

I shifted in my seat. I never did like the smell that all hospitals had like some trendy perfume. No number of flowers would fix the antiseptic or rubbing alcohol still prominent in the air. But no, this was something different. The smell of sickness, death looming just around the corner. I didn't think it was possible that a room could have such a foul smell.

Still, I persevered, because this was Anna after all. Despite all of the awful things, she did help me when I needed her most. The least I could do was visit her.

My nose wrinkles. "What kind?"

A beep. "Mostly Greek. But I don't remember most of it. The one I do remember most is Orpheus and Eurydice. Ever heard it?"

I picked at the strings of my hoodie. "No."

She smiles. "Good thing I know it like the back of my hand."

I tried to return her smile, but my muscles wouldn't comply. I ended up frowning.

If Anna had noticed, she made no sign that she did. In fact, it looked as though she were even more eager.

"Orpheus was a musician, and Eurydice was a beautiful young nymph. They, of course, fell in love. They were star-crossed lovers, if you will." Anna paused her story to let out a round of violent coughs. I stood to help her, call for a nurse, anything, but she motioned with her hand for me to sit back down. "I'm fine," she wheezed, although her pale complexion and coughs said otherwise.

She cleared her throat, sighed, and then continued. "Eurydice was fleeing from a total creep one day," a laugh filled the air, but it soon morphed into a cough, "but she got bit by a venomous snake." Anna said these words almost sadly, like she too was grieving the loss of Eurydice. "Orpheus was devastated, and in a desperate attempt, went to the Underworld after her."

I furrowed my eyebrows. "I thought you had to be-"

She held up her hand. "Ah-ah-ah, I'm not done yet." I closed my open mouth. She let out a sigh of exhaustion. "Orpheus went to Hades and played whimsical songs from his lyre. Hades was so impressed that he agreed to let Eurydice go back with him to the Land of the Living. But there was one condition," she held up a finger, "Orpheus couldn't look back."

"You know, I thought it was going to be more difficult. But this-"

Anna frowned. "Well, when you put it like that it doesn't sound special."

"Fine," I said. "It's special, just like those flowers over there." This prompted Anna to look by her nightstand. Wilted flowers bowed in a ceramic vase, only intensifying the feeling of death.

"Why do you still even have those?"

All happiness ran from Anna's face, like she hadn't noticed the flowers wilting. Her voice seemed small and caught as she tried to muster up an explanation. "I-I tried to take care of them the best I could, but-"

"Anna." I looked to the heart monitor, the line peaking at quick rates. "It's okay, flowers die. They die pretty fast, actually. I don't even know why they're sold at hospitals, it's not like-"

"They're all I got." Anna looked out the window, but I saw the way her hazel eyes shine with tears. "My mom got them for me a few weeks ago."

I shifted in my seat, taking in a breath of the stale air. "When's the last time she visited?"