A Mended Heart: A tragic Love Story

Chapter 2: Commitment

*Beeeeeeeeeeeeeeep*

That dreaded flatline again. But this time amazed and bewildered by what she just witnessed, Dr. Elkanah said to hell with protocol. She was inspired by Ezeekiel's love, his determination to not let Marsha go. That love brought her back to life, if only for a second. If this miracle was possible, this little glimmer of hope surfaced, she had to do everything in her power to try and save her life.

Bulldozing Ezeekiel out of the way, Dr. Elkanah, the surgeon and all the nurses were hands on deck, trying everything they could to save Marsha. Ezeekiel backed away from the bed, taking slow deliberate steps. His eyes never leaving Marsha's body. This time he knew she was gone. His tears and sobs quieted as he morned the passing of his wife. Leaving the room, the doctors still worked helplessly, but Ezeekiel did not look back. His heart was broken. Passing by Gabe, he brushed the welcoming arm of embrace off.

Ezeekiel was on a quick spiral downward. All he could see in front of him was a black void that took him back to when he first failed his Military training.

******

After the July 4th Veteran rally of 2007, Marsha and Zeek became close. That night even though his duties ended at 4:00 pm. He stayed and worked with Marsha until 6:00 pm, and helped her clean up. By the time they were finished it was approaching 7:00 pm, so they stayed for the fire works. Marsha had just turned seventeen and graduated high school one year early and during the same time completed one year of college credits. She was one of the youngest sophomores in NYU history.

At the time, her hair was styled in a bob, dark brown in color, cut medium length to her neck. Funny enough that was what caught Zeek's attention; her nice slender neck. He hovered around the check up station, pretending to organize the cholesterol charts and blood pressure needles. Whenever Marsha leaned over to take the pressure or pull blood from a Veteran, Zeek would steal a look down her nurse uniform. As soon as she finished he would avert his eyes but not before Marsha caught him. This continued for a couple of minutes before Marsha eventually smiled at him and ended the charades.

"If you're going to pretend to do something, you might as well do something useful." She said with a little giggle.

"Huh, you're talking to me?"

"Yes handsome young man, she's talking to you."

"Well thank you Mrs. Peterson."

The two of them laughed as Zeek's cheeks turned red with embarrassment. After ten minutes of alternating the same two set of charts it was obvious he wasn't on this shift. After that he spent another five minutes shifting them from horizontal to vertical position. By that time he was no longer creepy just cute. Mrs. Peterson had given Marsha enough confidence to speak to him first.

"What should I do... uhh... miss?"

"My name is Marsha and you can come behind me and assist me with these tubes and samples."

"Okay, nice to meet you Marsha, my name is..."

"Ezeekiel, yes I see it on your uniform"

Marsha continued to tease Zeek and give him a hard time. Maybe it was because of how cute he looked when he was nervous. His eyes widened and his lips perched and his cheeks became flush. Zeek took his right hand and ran it over his jet black waves hair cut, with a nice caeser fade running into his sideburns. As he did so, his shirt became untucked from his pants and raised up just enough to expose the bottom abs of his presumed six-pack. Marsha's eyes quickly adjusted downward to the top of his navy blue "Express" boxers that was snug and tight to his men's area. She swallowed some saliva that settled in her mouth as she was now the one that had the nervous energy.