EMPTINESS

Melted

People come and people go, that's how my life has always been.

Watching them come and watching them go, it repeats itself together but I'll always end up alone. Emptiness, that's how my world revolve in.

As soon as the hospital doors opened, I started running all my might through the lobby, feeling the tears on my eyes dwelling on me. I halted at the nurse counter and breathlessly asked for my sister's room number and began running again. I kept on running and running, feeling my adrenaline gushing up as I made my way through the hospital hallways. It felt like I was on a maze, a never-ending halls appearing as I ran more.

Slowing down a bit, I took notice of the room numbers. 7012, 7013, 7014, 7015. I was looking for 7025, the number I kept repeating on my head since the time I asked my sister's room number. 7016, 7017, 7018, 7019, 7020, 7021, 7022, 7023. My heart clenched as the room number's increased. Arriving it the end of the hallway, I saw the room at the corner and I felt my heart fall. 2024. I looked around me, looking for the next room. Where's the hell is room 2025?

Regaining my composure, I turned my heels and ran again, heading for the other end of the hallway. 2025. My sister's hospital room. I've finally arrived. Staring at the room number by the door, I tried to control my ragged breathing. Slowly, my hand nervously held the handle of the sliding door and kept on my place for a few seconds.

I am nervous, scared, terrified. Several negative feelings were compiling up on me. Is she going to leave me? Was she hurt so badly? Was she suffering all this time?

Slowly sliding open the door, I saw my sister. She was lying on the hospital bed she always hated, with a bunch of needles and oxygen mask. My body became numb and the next thing I knew, I already fell on the carpeted floor. Visions in front of me blurred as I felt a wet feeling on my cheeks pouring down.

"Eonnie..." She turned her gaze on me as I called her. She sadly smiled at me under the oxygen mask covering her mouth and nose as her hand opened, reaching for mine. I weakly stood up, slowly walking towards her. I gently interlaced my hand with hers and tried to constrain myself from the urge of bursting in tears.

I studied my sister's figure in front of me. Her face is so pale like a lifeless doll, her body she was so proud of before is now skinny, bones obviously showing, her eyes that was the shiniest thing in the world is now a pair of sad ones, her red plump lips is now pale, chapped up underneath the mask, and her warm hand that always served as my heater is now a cold, icy one. How could my sister in front of me right now be the same as the one I saw a month ago? She was the liveliest person I've ever met, she was the living happiness. And now, merely because of this cancer sickness, she became lifeless, sad, and fragile.

"Wh-whyy didn't you tell me?" I stuttered when I asked her. She didn't respond to my question and just stared at me. I let out a deep sigh as I bombarded her with more questions.

"Cancer huh? Why did you never tell me? You didn't tell me a thing. You were working all day long and I never noticed anything. We're you aware of this? Hell, of course you were! I mean, who wouldn't? Since when did this start- no, since when did you knew?" I waited for an answer as I breathed for air but words from her never came, she just sadly smiled at me like the dummy she had always been so I continued.

"Does your boyfriend know this?" I stared at her blankly. I wanted an answer and she knows it. Few seconds of staring became minutes but even so, I never stopped waiting till I saw her slowly nodding. "So he did. I was the only one who never knew." I turned my head away, closing my eyes. I still don't want to let the tears fall, not now. Knowing my sister hated tears.

Opening back my eyes, I looked around the room. It was quiet and empty. The person I expected to see with my sister is nowhere to be seen. I scrunched my brows as I questioned her something she never wants to answer.