Saved By An Angel

Chapter Four - Angels With Broken Wings (Part 2)

2 months ago…

‘Huff…huff…’ Erika panted hard to regain her breath. She was sitting on the bathroom floor. Beside her was the tub where she had just tried to kill herself moments ago. She was hardly in the water a minute when her parents had arrived home.

‘Erika-chan?’

‘I’m in the bathroom. I’ll be out soon!’ She yelled back in reply.

‘Alright.’ Her mother said uncertainly.

Watching the water drip onto the floor, Erika pondered over her decision. People who commit suicide usually saw it as an escape from suffering, rare were the ones who simply killed themselves for fun. In all her life, the only suffering she could be said to have experienced was minor physical injuries. Neither was she the kind of person who enjoyed inflicting pain on herself. In fact, with the carefree life she’s lived one would wonder why she wanted to kill herself. Why indeed. The answer was simple. There was no point to life. Humans inevitably are doomed to die. Whatever they’ve accomplished in this lifetime, whatever relationships they’ve created, they lose it at the moment of their death. In the end, once you’re dead, the world will still continue to go on. There will be people who remember you but eventually things are forgotten with time. So why even bother living?

* * * * *

Hiro peered into the room and found the doctor in deep conversation with an older couple.

‘Please, doctor, you have to help him. He’s our only child.’ The woman pleaded with the doctor desperately.

‘I’m really sorry Mr. and Ms. Mizushima. We’ve done all we could. There’s really nothing else we can do.’

‘I’m sure you did everything doctor, thank you.’ The woman’s husband said silently.

‘Otou-san. Okaa-san.’

‘Hiro!’ Seeing Hiro in the room, the woman hurried to his side and embraced him.

‘Okaa-san.’ Hiro stroked his mother’s hair in an attempt to console her. ‘It’s alright, okaa-san.’

‘No! No!’ The woman started screaming hysterically.

With a soft smile, Hiro pulled his mother to face him.

‘Okaa-san. Remember…remember when I was born? Remember what the doctors said? That I wouldn’t last the week? But look at me now. I’ve lived for twenty-one years. True, I’ve only ever seen the walls of this hospital, but…but in those years, I’ve experienced so many things, met so many people.’

‘Because you and otou-san gave your all for me. Because you taught me that there is a God. A God who saves. And because of that, death has lost its meaning.’

By then, tears streamed down Hiro’s cheeks and his mother’s sobs had died down.

‘Hiro,’ His mother gently wiped the tears from his eyes, ‘my son. I love you so much.’

Hiro clasped his mother’s dainty fingers and kissed them.

‘I love you too, okaa-san.’