Hospice

Reckoning

Ominis adored nothing more than getting his mother her favorite snack from the vending machine. The payout from their last few bets had been immense, leaving Ominis and Sebastian rich as poor kids could be. While he pocketed most of the money to use for a rainy day, he siphoned some into the simple pleasures of life. It was worth the pleasant silence with his mum, rather than that oppressive mess that his meals usually entailed—always waiting for his mother's venomous fangs to clamp down on him. Ominis wished his cheese Danish and lemonade mother could be his always mother.

But Ominis also adored time spent with Sebastian and Anne. While Anne was sometimes too ill to leave her bed, he and Sebastian would enjoy time together in the playroom or out at the park.

"Can you read that guy's mind?" Sebastian asked as they sat in the sunshine, nibbling on ice creams.
"Which guy?"
"That dude jogging—quick, before he passes!"

Ominis honed in on the sound of running steps and probed into the shallow parts of the man's mind.

"Music lyrics," said Ominis. "Must have earbuds in."
"That is so cool," Sebastian gushed. "Did you ever think of doing something with that power? Something great?"
"Not really. Before all this, I pretended that I couldn't do it at all. I just want to be normal."
"Normal is boring! Look at me, I'm normal and I practically put myself to sleep."
Ominis giggled. "You're not boring."
"Neither are you. If there's one good thing that came out of being in hospice, it's that I got to meet you. We'll stay friends after this, right? Whether you get out first or Anne and I do, we'll keep being friends, won't we?"
"I wouldn't have it any other way."

"I'm just waiting for my name to pop up here!" said Tony during their Sunday death bet.
"You joking?" asked Sebastian. "We can't bet on you unless we wanna lose."
"Take a chance, kid!" said Phil.

Ominis took his opportunity while a nurse scolded Marcus for pulling his IV out for being "damn itchy". Between telling off her patient and being overworked, it was difficult to squeeze into her deeper thoughts. He passed by a 'I'd rather be working with the children', to her regretting saying that. After all, as she well knew, having to watch children die was a horrid part of being a pediatric nurse.

'Norice loves the children so much, but I couldn't imagine being her. She gets so attached to them. I hated hearing her cry last night over that sweet new girl, Anne.'
Ominis' heart skipped a beat as he continued listening, hearing Norice's voice through the nurse's memory.
'I can't believe how bad she's gotten over the past week!' sobbed Norice. 'She's so sweet, she doesn't deserve this. I don't think she's gonna make it to next week and I don't know how to tell her brother!'

Ominis stopped immediately. He couldn't bear to hear the distress and fear in Norice's voice, and he heard Sebastian in his mind crying the same way. Ominis' stomach churned violently and he felt a burning and tingling creep up his throat.

He hurried out of the room and into the bathroom. Hunching over the toilet, nothing actually happened. But sick sat atop his stomach, threatening to come up.

"Ominis?" came Sebastian's voice. "Are you okay?"
Ominis swallowed, and spoke as calmly as he could. "Yeah. I'm—" He swallowed again as his stomach flipped. "—okay."
Sebastian's footsteps stopped outside of Ominis' stall. "You don't sound okay. You looked like you were gonna barf."
"I think it's something I ate."
"Need me to get a nurse?"
"No, I... I'll be all right."
"Okay, if you're sure."

While it shocked Sebastian that Ominis didn't want to put a death bet down, he didn't press it. Ominis took every chance he could that week to visit Anne. She couldn't get out of bed, so he and Sebastian would play games with her on the blankets. During a rousing game of checkers, she shouted, "Look, a distraction!", before he heard the gentle clinking of illegal moves.

"Made you look."
"Anne, I'm blind."
"And I'm the winner so what's your point?"

They all had a grand laugh at this. Ominis held onto his tears. Such intense emotions from his joyous laughter nearly brought them out.

One day in the cafeteria, he and Sebastian got Anne's favorite foods. Ominis kept quiet all week about Anne's supposed doom, and perhaps that was best given it was Saturday evening and Anne was still around. Maybe the pediatrician had catastrophized, and maybe he would be wrong. Sebastian, wonderfully oblivious to it all and ever the optimist, kept up with the latest gossip and relayed it to Ominis on their way back.

"Did you hear? Tony coded last night. I overheard one of the nurses say so. He barely made it. Isn't that crazy? I didn't think that old geezer was actually mortal."
"Maybe we should've bet on him."

Despite Sebastian's laughter, Ominis regretted saying that the moment the words left his lips. He didn't think he should be encouraging these death bets. With all the mind-reading and horrible vicarious memories that came with it, he wasn't so sure how much longer he could continue.

"Sebastian. Maybe we should stop with these death bets."
"Stop? Why?"
"I really don't like reading other people's thoughts. It's invasive and horrible."
"But Ominis, we should be honing your skills, not running away from them!"
"I get that, I really do. But here, in the hospital... I've heard things I was never supposed to hear."

Sebastian stopped walking. Silence overtook them, leaving only the ambience of the hospital. Beeping. Scraping. Low chatter. Gentle sobs.

"What did you hear?" Sebastian asked.
"All kinds of things—"
"You're hiding something from me. What did you hear?" Sebastian repeated, forceful and desperate. Ominis heard the deep frown in his friend's voice.
"Sebastian, I... I'm sorry. I heard from one of the nurses that... Anne isn't doing well."
"Not doing well?" he demanded. "What do you mean 'not doing well'?"
"Please, don't make me say it."

A sudden harsh shove made Ominis stagger back. His heart pounded and he braced himself for another push, or worse.

"Why didn't you tell me!?" Sebastian said. "I could've known this whole week, I could've been there for Anne, but you just kept it a secret!?"
"I'm so sorry, Sebastian, I didn't know what to say."
"I'm sick of people treating me like some fragile little kid! I thought you of all people would understand that, but you kept me in the dark just as much as everyone else!" Sebastian sighed hard. "I gotta go. I gotta be with Anne."

He stormed off. Ominis wasn't sure if he should follow, and decided to eat his food in the cafeteria.

Sunday morning, Ominis awoke to an utter ruckus down the hall. He shot up out of bed, snatched his cane, and hurried toward the noise. Nurses and doctors rushed around, shouting orders and information as a machine beeped loudly and continuously in the background.

"Continue chest compressions! Get that IV on there!"
"Anne, no!" Sebastian cried.
"Get the kid out of here!"
"C'mon, sweetie—"
"Let go! I need to be with my sister!"

Ominis stayed back, unsure of navigating the absolute chaos before him. His palms grew slick on his cane as he listened to Anne's monitor and its long, horrid beep.

"Please don't die, Anne!" Sebastian begged.
"Sebastian!" Solomon shouted.

It sounded like Sebastian was being dragged away as his cries and distressed straining came closer to Ominis.

"Ominis!" Sebastian called before he collapsed against him.

He sobbed and trembled in Ominis' arms. The shock of it all stole Ominis' voice.

The dead silence of the hospital bore into him. He and Sebastian sat around Anne's body. The monitor plug had been pulled after an hour of unsuccessful resuscitation. Sebastian's keening had faded. All that was left was a ringing in his ears.

Ominis didn't understand how it was fair. How could someone as young and full of life as Anne die while his bitter mother continued living? How could someone so innocent be consigned to such a cruel fate while nasty people such as his mother walk freely? He grit his teeth and gripped his cane. If self-control hadn't been ingrained in him at a young age, he would've gladly given into his temptation to smash everything in his grasp. He pulled his knees up to his face and sobbed in the cold darkness of the lifeless room, choking on the faint scent of sweets.