Prometheus

Hope

Hope perspective

They say when you die that your whole life flashes before your eyes. In a sense they are right I guess. I saw the life I had always wanted. I saw a life where my parents had never died. I saw a life where Dora grew up in her own time, where she was just an innocent child. My small home in the mountains wasn't stained in blood. I saw my life with Hunter. It smelt like mint. It was so real I could almost touch it. Almost.
In a way it's kind of a sick joke. You can feel your whole life slipping away and with the last bit of energy you have, your oxygen starved brain decides to torment you one last time. But in all honesty I wouldn't have changed those last few seconds for the world.
When I felt the darkness closing in I wasn't scared. I was ready. In a way I felt that I had lived longer than I was ever meant to. In a way.

"Do you have to go?" Dora I asked tears rolling down her face. I smiled, I was gonna miss her. "Yes honey but I'll see you again soon. I promise." I bent down and hugged her so tight I was surprised she didn't turn blue. I was running out of time. I could feel it. I looked up at my parents and hugged them, kissing them both on the cheek. My mother offered a weak smile. "It's gonna be ok." I said wiping away the tear that slipped down her cheek. Hunter was standing in the door way, I walked over to him and took his hand in mine.Mint. "I love you." He said, kissing me gently. "I love you too" I said as tears slipped down both of our faces. "Look after them." I whispered. I turned around and walked away, closing the door behind me. I didn't look back.
Slowly the black began to loom over the mountain range. Swarming towards me rapidly. I walked towards it. And closed my eyes as I felt it's warm embrace. It really was going to be ok now. There was no pain. There wasn't anything. Just warmth and then nothing.

"Clear!" I heard a voice yell through the dark. Beeping sounded around me. "Clear!" The same voice sounded again. What was happening? This isn't what death should feel like. I felt my body jump up suddenly. I was ready. Let me die. Why wasn't I dead? Mint. I could smell it. This was real. "Come on Hope, please!" Hunter. I felt his callous hands take mine. "You can't leave me. You can't leave us. Your all Dora has left." He begged.

I'm coming. I thought. I couldn't give up. They needed me. I maybe ready to die but they aren't ready to let me go. I'm coming.
But my eyes were to heavy. It was like a thin veil was separating me and them. I tried to reach them but they were just out of my grasp. "She's stable." The same voice from earlier said.
I expected the hallucinations to come back. I wanted them to. But instead I lay here- wherever here was. Able to hear everything around me. Able to hear the nurse talking to someone who never seemed to bother with a reply. Able to hear the steady beeps of the machines, reminding me I was still alive. Able to hear everything but not being able to tell them that I was just right here. Knowing That if I was just a little stronger I would be able to grasp at the thread of consciousness that dangled in front of me. I'm not sure how long I was stuck in this limbo. It could have been a few hours, days or months but it was longest period of my life either way. Each second was torture. In all my life I had never been so alone.

Through this hell I held onto the belief that I could make it through. I let lazy memories dance through my mind. The veil remained firmly in place.
I had heard about people that live on life support for 20 years before waking up. Was that what was going to happen to me? Would they just turn it off eventually?
A voice broke through my thoughts. It was mans voice, familiar but I couldn't place it. It was rough, as if they hadn't spoken in a while, as if they had been crying. "You owe me a dance missy, you have to wake up." They whispered, so quite I almost felt I shouldn't have heard it. That some how I was encroaching on their private thoughts. I knew it was meant for me though. I knew that voice.

Mint.

Slowly, ever so slowly the veil began to lift. I could feel the coarse sheets against my skin. I could feel it scratch against my skin whenever my arm twitched involuntarily. I began to feel the sensation to my limbs return and I could move them. The relief that flooded through me was so strong. I wanted to jump in the air and scream. I felt dampness on my hand. Tears. Someone was crying. Instead I managed to choke out a hoarse whisper. "I'm right here." Instantly I felt a warm hand took my own. "Hope?" They questioned. I knew that voice. I would know that voice anywhere. Mint. Mint flooded my senses and my eyes shot open. I was alive.

The bright lights burnt my retina as I stared up at the white ceiling. I turned my head to my left. He was there. Relief and joy painted his tired featured. He really was handsome. I lifted my hand up to his cheek, "are you real?" I asked.
He cupped his hand over mine, "I'm real." He whispered and I let out a breath I hadn't realised I was holding.