Gone

Chapter one: Gone

A nurse taps on my shoulder to wake me up. I look at the time on my phone 12:39am. The nurse frowns at me, "I'm sorry, but Garret won't make it through the night. He's hanging on for you. You can go back and say goodbye."

I swallow the lump in my throat and follow her back to his room. I slowly walk towards his bed as the nurse starts to walk away. I look back over my shoulder second guessing whether or not I'm ready for this. Then I here his chocked back voice "Mel, come lay with me."

The lump that I swallowed earlier came back bigger, stronger, and threatening to burst. I walked over and whispered "Garret, I love you."

He's words become choppy "Mel..... I..... Love....... You....... Too........please ....... Lay...... With....me."

I nod and slowly crawl in the hospital bed with him. His arm slips around my body, his other hand grips to mine tightly. "Garret?"

"Yes?" he strains

"Just let go, I'm ready to do this on my own. Please stop fighting death. it's going to be scary but I'll be okay. please end you suffering. You can let go."

I see a weak smile appear on his face. His grip on my hand loosens, the heart monitor flatlines. The lump in my throat bursts and the tears flow out of my eyes. The doctors and nurses rush in, they pull me out of his room and place me back into the waiting room. I sit in the empty room and cry. How am I going to survive without him? He's the only thing that has been keeping me alive. What am I going to do now? The doctor walks in and apologizes saying that he's gone.

I head home the only word that repeats throughout my mind is the word gone. Gone, what does it mean. What if gone is only a part of our imagination? What if he's still here? What if he never left?