Echo

Chapter 11

He was my boyfriend. Thats who the guy is. His name was Patrick.

I hope wherever he is he will remember who I was. This is it.

There is only a 10 foot circle left. Circled around that car crash. I sit on the road and watch the slow progression inch by inch being eaten away.

By the end of today it will all be gone. I try to hold in the tears.

I dont want to die.

I draw my knees up to my chest as I hear the voice crying out again.

Its always the one that stands out against the others. They sound so upset and I want to comfort them.

Because I realized none of the voices were ever in my head. They come from the blackness. The one that always spoke to me is the one that is crying out now. My heart fills with saddness as I realize that they probably know that I'm dying.

I feel the tears falling and I pull the picture from my pocket and trace the face of Patrick in the picture.

I wish I could see him again.

I hold the picture to my chest and cry louder. The muddled voices are becoming clearer. To bad its to late now.

"Stop no please don't. No please! Pete! Wake up!" My eyes snap open as I hear the desperate cry pierces the air. I wipe the tears away.

"Patrick?" I whisper. "Patrick!" I yell out sitting up and looking around the clearing. Five feet left.

I feel a sense of pure terror fill me. A sense of claustrophobia fills me. I shuffle to stand in the very middle of the circle and clutch onto the picture. This is it.

I take a deep breath and sit down on the pavement. I close my eyes and breathe deeply. The cries continue.

More noises filter in. Beeping steady but slow. Another person talking very far away calm and low.

I feel a weird sense of calmness fill me and I decide to shuffle around and lay down. Because this is it and I should accept that.

My feet go numb and I realize they are being eaten away into the blackness.

I take deep breaths and focus on the voice I have gotten to know and love again. I can feel it slowly inching up my legs.

The tears return as I feel sharp stabing pain in my feet. I hold the picture tighter and take more breaths. This won't last long.

I hold the picture up to my face and open my eyes and look at it. I smile sadly at the happy faces.

Wherever I end up I hope he is there. I close my eyes one last time and feel the blackness close around me.

The noise continues. I feel someone clutching my hand. "Please another month. Don't do this! I will pay for all of it everything!" I hear someone beg. I hear beeping and something deflating and then inflating.

"Patrick we have decided. Its over its been six months and there has been no sign of him recovering! Plus we already know you have spent everything you have on him. Please Patrick he is our son we know whats best. Do it doctor." Patrick is here? I want to open my eyes but they feel stuck closed. I feel other things. Things in my arms and in my throat.

I feel the grip tighten on my hand and I hear him crying. I want to comfort him but everything is black and I cant move.

I hear footsteps coming toward me. Then the beeping and deflating noise stops.

And I cant breathe. There is something blocking my breathing. I start choking and try to move an arm to get it out.

God dammit someone get it out! I choke harder and suddenly its being pulled away. I take in a deep breath and my eyes fly open. I cough and roll over and throw up on the floor.

I feel people staring at me and the room is so quite a pin could drop.

Well this is new.

I roll over slowly and my eyes latch onto the hand still holding mine with a death grip. My eyes trail up from the white knuckles, up the sweater covered arm, over the shaking shoulders and up to the pale face who looks so shocked I want to look behind me and see what has him so suprised.

But I am stuck staring in equal shock. I reach out a hand and touch the soft pale flesh of the man from the picture.

"Patrick?"

A/n and that ladies and gentleman is the emotional ending I have been waiting for. Man this was a fun one to write. I hope you all enjoy the extra long conclusion and let me know if you guys want an epilogue or something.