Silent Words

Scene 8

I woke up to the sound of the door opening. I was on Lillian's bed. I rubbed off dried tears. Looking in front of me I spotted Dr. Philips. She was still asleep. Carefully, I untangled her arms from around me. Then I got up, maybe some coffee to wake up to? She definitely needed it. These past few days she just got worse and worse. 

Like she hadn't slept in so long. Or if you did, something happened in your dream. Brain activity. Believing you've done physical activity. It's all about belief sometimes. I came back with a cup of coffee to find her sitting up, holding her knees to her chest. She saw me and scooted up, now sitting normal on the side of the bed, taking a drink of the coffee.

I had to explain it to a different therapist that she had fallen asleep and that I wanted to do something for her. After a moment, she agreed with me. Even got my name. "I'm sorry about what happened last night. It was unproffessional of me.." All I could do was look at her. "Bad things happen. It's just a matter of what it takes to keep on living."

She nodded to me, we were both at a silent peace. "You talked about Karren last night. I would like to talk about her now." She was taking breaths in in the middle of her sentence. I had no idea what she was getting at. But if what she had to say needed to be heard, then I needed to hear it. And so she told me about Karren.

Karren Philips. What a lovely tale. She started out a determined young girl. As she got older, she started being true to her word. Band, she could play so much beauty. Her friends brought out the best side of her, including her family. No bad side had ever been shown from the girl. Except a few slight times. Worth it, she said. The only time she ever lost control... Worth it. Or, at least... when she lost it, more than never, everyone had a share, she had a good reason. She was into everything, yet, she didn't get to experience one as an adult. Not. One. She did get to experience one thing she didn't know of. It was called Epilepsy.

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I was on a walk with Lillian. An actual walk. Turns out, the day I saw her, hallucination. She'd been away getting surgery done. She was older than me, two years. Lilly's age. And she was taller than me. Just like Lilly. She definitely reminded me of Lilly, which is one reason why I had a certain thing to say to her.

We both laid down on the grass in our favorite corner. "So, we're all caught up. You aren't even gonna try to live? You're just ready to let yourself die?" She asked, her voice weakening. "I never thought you were a quitter. Especially the day I watched you run." I looked at my fingers, shaking as if they were being electrocuted.

"I've been thinking about that, believe it or not. I thought. I've never truly lived. Never saw the world, helped it, made a difference to it, saw anything in it. Until I met you. You became not only one of my main lights after Lilly, you became the thing that brought me to life. And now, the reason I've been thinking I might want to live."

She looked over to me, uncertainty all over her as a smile formed. "I'm honored. And, you're right. Especially the fact that I'll always be with you. Right here." She touched where my heart was. Then I watched the light in her eyes going out. All her muscles gave out, and she lay their, beautiful as ever.

Delicate as could be. But that wasn't the situation. I tried to touch her, but my hand simply went straight to the ground. And, colorful as she was, she simply, little by little, lifted into the sky and dispersed into the air. Fading away like noone ever had before. Ever so delicate, as if, the slightest thing could disturb it. I was too shocked to move. And suddenly my mind came too and I just sat there. Soon enough, I'll get to fade away too.

Dr. Philips ran to get to the phone, tripping over a few things. Her daughter, lying on the floor, a few feet away. A seizure going on. "M-Mom!" She called, her teeth clenched through the pain. Although, a small smile was on her face. Her mother, reaching for the phone, finished the phone call rather quickly and ran to her daughter. She could already see the light leaving her eyes, her eyes coming slowly to a close. "Hey, hey, it's just a seizure, like all the others." Karren shook her head, a smile forming. "No, it-it's the last one. I-I can feel it." A smile was still on her face. Relief. All the pain coming to an end. For her anyways. Then the young girl closed her eyes. They reopened an hour later in the hospital. Her mother, tears making her face puffy. Somebody rushed into the room. Her father. "Daddy!" She opened her arms wide, engulfing his coldness in a hug. She had a bright smile on her face. "They found this late. This is why it's so bad." Mom was crying. "I would still be right here, wouldn't I?" But neither parent said anything. It was all her. "You don't get it. Life is all about balance. Which goes where. So you're on a fence. But finally, you can fall off the fence and not fall on either side. You can fly."

The parents were astonished by the words. A natural poet. That's when Dr. Philips decided what kind of doctor she was going to become. She was going to help people be ready for such thing or be ready to live. "And... guys?" Suddenly, her heart rate was speeding up. "I'm ready to fly." And that was her last comment. True last words. Situational last words. One last beep. One that could last for days on the cardiogram if you let it. So the parents stood there, hand in hand, in shock. Watching everyone run around in slow motion. The only thing they heard was time of death, 8:32.