Lessons of a Reaper

Is it love you're looking for?

Alana looked at the clock. It's perpetual ticking reminding her of how long she had been in this morbid setting. It had been a few days now and the doctors had said she was recovering at a healthy rate. They promised her release soon but rather than be ecstatic with the news of freedom, she couldn't help but feel a sting of sadness at the thought of never seeing Death again. She would often look forward to his occasional visits, even if it was to just update her on her sister. Her parents tried to keep her away from Alaya, perhaps to save her from feeling any worse that she already did, but no matter how guilty she felt, she never let that stop her from sneaking into her room and watching her. Alana fought off the memories of the crash for as long as she could but the longer Alaya was in the coma, the stronger the guilt grew; she should have made Alaya wear her seatbelt. Her parents told her little of Alaya's recovery so she assumed it wasn't promising, she didn't have the strength to ask if it was severe. Ignorance is, after all, bliss.

Pulling herself out of the vacuum of miserable thoughts, she forced herself out of bed and went for some fresh air.

The cold air was a refreshing change from the smell of chemicals and disinfectant which polluted the corridors of the hospitals. The sound of passing cars and layers of voices as they engaged in conversation was a nice change from the repetitive commands of the nurses and doctors as they governed the wards. In the distance Alana could see the entrance to the Emergency Department, a woman in a stretcher emerged from an ambulance that had just pulled in. Her partner beside her held her hand every step of the way, disregarding the inconvenience this caused to the paramedics as they had to manoeuvre around him. As they passed the doors and entered the building, a figure caught her eye.

Although Alana did enjoy her regular visits outside, the need for fresh air wasn't the only reason for her wanderings. She would often go out with the hopes of seeing Death, and weirdly enough, to accompany him when he reaps a soul. She found her last encounter to be insightful, albeit rather scary at the time. With all the strength she could muster, she rolled herself over to Death as he followed the couple into the building.

"Hey, wait up!" she shouted, arm muscles burning with the workout she was putting them through. She was getting better on the wheelchair but by no means was she Usain Bolt.

She had completely forgotten that Death was invisible to all but her, so when the man turned his head to look at Alana, still not breaking hold of his wife's hand, she smiled apologetically "Sorry, wrong person". Luckily for her, Death did in fact heed her command and stopped, he waited as she caught up to him.

"What it is?" He asked.

It took her a while to reply as she sat there, taking a few moments to catch her breath. With each breath she took she managed to get out "nothing. Just wanted to-" she stopped to catch a few more breaths "see if you was going to take her soul. Thought I could come with you. You know, keep you company". No way was she admitting that she was hoping for another insightful lesson again. She would not give him the satisfaction, his superiority-complex was overbearing at times as it was, she didn't need to add to it.

"Yeh, you're right. I would never have been able to do it without you." His flat tone carried a heavy weight of sarcasm. She was slowly starting to notice how his speech changed over the last few days. He'd become more colloquial, more human almost. It was less robotic and emotionless.

"Hey! I'm just curious, it looked severe."

"She has sepsis but they do not know that yet. Whether she will die of it, I do not know yet."

Alana looked at him in confusion, "So why were you following them if she wasn't going to die?".

He responded with silence, and then proceeded to go in the opposite direction of the woman and paramedics. "Where are you going?" she asked, trailing behind him, frustrated with his lack of answer.