Survivors

5. Birth and death

The bright white hospital lights were blinding my eyes as I waited with father behind the door of the room. A nurse came out and I heard Anna yelling.

"You may assist the patient giving birth", she said.

Joe pushed the door wide open but I grabbed hold of his sleeve.

"Why is mummy screaming?" I asked, worried.

"She is giving birth", my father answered, holding my hands with a face covered with excitement. He then kissed my forehead, "Wait here, when I come back you'll say hello to your little brother Ethan". Father smiled and disappeared into the room as the doors flapped back and forth.

I couldn't help thinking that my Mum was in pain, I covered my ears to block out the screaming. A few instants later, no more sounds were heard and I stood back up from the chair I had been sitting on and tried peeking into the room through the window. I jumped and jumped, but it was still too high for me, so I waited. Was it someone crying I heard? I was full of joy when I listened to a baby whining, but someone else was whining too, and it was my father.

"Anna wake up! Please!" he said as I glued my ear on the door. He kept on crying for a long time. I attempted to push the door open but it was locked and I began pounding on it. "Daddy? What's going on?" I asked.

The door then unlocked and opened. Father rushed past without giving me the slightest glimpse.

"Sir? The baby" a doctor said, standing behind the door with a quizzical look.

"Daddy, what's happening? I'm scared" he took a long time to answer me, he just didn't move, his back facing me and the room.

"You want to know what's happening, oh, I'll tell you what's happening" father said as he swivelled around to face me, his eyes were bloodshot, and tears were stacking up beneath his chin "Ethan killed your mother".

I walked into the room, staring at my mother, who laid on her bed, immobile. Staring at the wall like a statue, she was covered in blood stained white sheets.

"Mommy ?" I wasn't feeling comfortable, something wasn't right. "Why are you sleeping with your eyes open?" I ran to her bed and stared into her eyes. "Mummy speak!" I shook her arm. It just wriggled on the mattress without any form of life in it. "Please answer me mummy!" I looked deep into her eyes in which could be seen no joy, no emotion, not even sadness. I sobbed, it's all I did for the following five minutes. An other doctor kneeled to me. "Your mother is fast asleep in the skies, and she is happier than ever to see you from above, She is proud of you, Jake. God has sacrificed her life for a reason, she will care for you with all the love she's always had for you, as she guides you on your path. Jake, you have been chosen to a life that no one in this world has ever had", he said as I shed my tears. "What does it mean?" I inquired, puzzled.

"Everything has been taken away from you, but something else far more enlightening will be given back to you in your future" He said before closing my mum's eyes. "Amen" He said after reciting some religious poem with his eyes closed, he then placed his hands on my shoulders as he kneeled once more. "Jake I know it's hard, but I see a strong soul in you" The man then disappeared, wandering off in the building.

I stood in the centre of the room, as intrigued as ever, as sad as ever. I started hearing yelling in the hallway and ran out of the room as a horrifying scene scrolled in front of my eyes.

My father fell to his knees and punched the corridor floor as hard as he could with only his bare knuckles. He shouted at the ceiling and puffed hard. "Why did you have to do this to me!" I was traumatised, was this daddy or another man? I didn't recognise him. He had turned into a raging bull, pounding the floor; I even noticed blood dripping from his fingers. He then threw tables against the walls, destroying everything that he saw.