An Atom Of Life

What???

Josie:

The diary ended. There was nothing written anymore. Many questions ran through my mind. What had happened that day? How did Joey die? Why didn’t he write about it? Why had he left?

And then the answer hit me, Dr. Lambert. She asked me to come see her when I had finished reading the diary. She knows the answers. Finally I will be able to find the answers behind the disappearance of Uncle Aaron. I got up and went to the hospital.

I asked for Dr. Lambert after reaching the hospital, they paged her and I waited.

“So, have you finished reading the diary?” – Dr. Lambert came from behind and asked

“Yes.” – I replied

“Confusing, isn’t it?” – She said

“A lot.” – I replied

“Come with me, my shift has ended and I am going home. We will talk there.” – She said

We reached her home, she made tea and then we sat.

“Tell me all what happened that day.” – I said

Dr. Lambert nodded and started her story…

“That day is still etched into my mind, after that day I never saw Aaron smile. He just stopped smiling after her death.”

“Joey had an accident, as she was coming home from work she was hit by a drunk driver. When she came at the hospital, she was already dying. I paged Aaron and Dr. Lively went to operate on her, I went into the trauma room and was shocked to see her. There she was, the girl who had brought meaning to Aaron’s life lying completely lifeless and then I heard Dr. Lively call time of death. As I walked out of the room I saw Aaron standing outside waiting for me.”

“He asked me what had happened and I just couldn’t bring myself to tell him the bad news. I just stood there looking at him, trying to tell him. Just then Dr. Lively came and asked Aaron to come with him. I don’t know what happened but after few minutes Aaron came out of the room, his face stern. It was like all the happiness had been sucked out from him; he just stood there staring at the wall with his hollow eyes. And then he started walking towards the door, I walked after him. He just kept walking until he reached outside, it was raining that day. He stood there in the rain for a moment and then fell on his knees, his hands on the ground supporting him and he cried. He cried for the last time, he cried for her. And then he got up and walked towards his home, and I saw his eyes, they were hollow and sad.”

"He didn't even get closure, no last moments. They were happy and then he wasn't. Like you see in the movies, there was nothing like that. One moment he had her and was going to propose her and the next there wasn't a person left to propose to."

At that point she stopped; there were tears in her eyes.

“So what happened after? – I asked

“He came the next day. His face stern, no one ever saw him smile after that day. He became an emotionless puppet, never smiled and never showed the slightest sign of care. He became the perfect doctor, not letting his emotions come in the way. But he had lost so much; he didn’t talk about anything beside work. Sometimes he used to sit in the on call room and just stare at the wall for hours, tears in his eyes but they never flowed out. In all the years I had known him, I had never seen him like this. He used to play with my kid, cared for him so much but after that incident he stopped caring for himself but he still came. Every time I called him on thanksgivings or Christmas, he always came. He sat in the corner, talking to my son but he always came. But he became reserved and even after 4 years passed he was still the same. And I questioned God that day, why do people like Aaron who deserves love the most always suffer? Why?”