Shower Stories

Love Worth Dying For

Rosebud Sampson
2.24.10
Love Worth Dying For

She couldn't help the tears that streamed from her deep violet eyes. She only loved one person in the entire world and he was lying in the bed next to her. She glanced over at him, but his eyes were closed. She wanted so much to see his gorgeous, grassy green eyes; she couldn't. She wanted to stay awake until he woke up, but the drugs the nurse gave her were making her too drowsy. She finally slipped back into unconsciousness listening to the rhythmic sound of his heart monitor.

The woman woke up with a start when she heard chaos surrounding her. For a fleeting second, she thought maybe, just maybe, her family came back. But no, they'd disowned her forever because of her choice to stay with him. Her eyes fluttered open and her heart began racing immediately. Doctors were surrounding him, shouting things at each other while the monitors went berserk. Momentarily, everything just stopped and during the silence that followed, she felt as though her world was crashing down on top of her. She couldn't breathe, she couldn't move. She was paralyzed. And then the machines began buzzing once more.

But not until she saw his chest rise and fall again with deep breaths, did she allow herself to breathe. Her heart was still beating rapidly and she could suddenly feel every burn, bruise, cut, and broken bone in her body. She opened her mouth and tried to scream, but her throat was too sore. She was trapped, and there was no way for anybody to know. Tears spilled from her eyes as she stared at him. He seemed peaceful, despite his injuries. There was not a single mark on his beautiful face, but he still wasn't waking up. The woman felt the bed shake violently and it took her a few moments to realize that she was the one shaking.

"Doctor, the woman is awake," a nurse said giving the woman a sympathetic smile. The doctor took one look at her and rushed forward.

"Well jeez Maggie! She must be in agony. Poor thing can't even tell us her name. Give her more pain meds." The woman tried to shake her head, she tried to tell him no, but he didn't listen. He gave her the drugs anyway, under the wrong assumption that he was helping her. She would rather be in pain, watching over him, than sleeping. Once again, she found herself falling into a deep, dreamless slumber.

When she awoke once more, she immediately glanced over, staring at him silently, willing him to wake up so she could see his deep green eyes. She wanted to be able to use her voice again, but her throat was far too sore, and her voice box didn't seem to be working right anyway. If only she could ask a nurse what was going on with him, her Danny. She waited patiently for a nurse to come in and check on them, before she pointed to her throat.

"You want some water?" the nurse asked. She nodded a yes. "Oh yeah. Sure. I'll be back in a moment." The nurse was gone for only a minute before returning with a plastic cup full of water. The woman gulped it down quickly not caring about how stale it tasted. It proved to soothe her unbearably dry throat, and that's what she'd wanted.

"What's... what's wrong with him?" she whispered, nearly inaudibly. The nurse gazed at the woman with sympathetic eyes.

"He's had a lot of internal bleeding. We're hoping he'll pull through, but it looks unlikely." The woman stared at the nurse. She wanted to hate her. Danny couldn't be dying. He was the only person she ever loved. She couldn't even imagine life without him by her side. What would she do if he was no longer a part of her life?

"Will you push me closer to him? So I can hold his hand?" she asked quietly as she continued to gaze at him lovingly. The moment she settled her hand onto his, a warm feeling spread throughout her. As she closed her eyes and felt the heat of his skin and listened to the sound of his slightly labored breathing, she felt whole again, as if it were just moments before the treacherous car accident. Almost the second she opened her eyes to gaze at his perfect face, his machines began to go awry once more.

Doctors and nurses rushed in, shouting words that were unintelligible to the woman. She hoped for the machines to go back to normal again, that it was just another scare. But there was never going to be a "normal" ever again. Not that their life was any kind of normal in the first place.

After her family kicked them out, they went from town to town, staying at motels and hotels. She tried to always find the nicest place for them. Only the nicest things for her Danny. She'd buy him the world if she could afford it. But she was poor and she couldn't afford much.

The doctors pushed her away, allowing her quiet protests to go unheard. She felt the unwanted tears leak from her eyes. But they didn't start to stream heavily until she heard the flat line. She was hoping - willing - the machines to start up again, to start beeping normally. They remained silent. She watched helplessly as the doctors hung their heads in defeat and recited the time of death. The woman wanted to scream at them and tell them that they lost nothing. She was the one who lost something. Not just "something" either... she lost her Danny. Her Danny. How was she supposed to continue on without him? He was all she had to live for.

She reached out for him; she tried to see through her river of tears, to no avail. She sat up hastily, ignoring the pain, and ripped her wires out of her bruised skin. She didn't register the pain. At that point she didn't care. All she wanted to do was hold him one last time. She stumbled forward completely ignoring the doctors. She pulled him into her arms and held him tightly as her tears fell onto his peaceful, beautiful face.

After only a few minutes, she curled up next to him and closer her eyes. She wasn't ready to face the world without her Danny.

The doctors tried desperately to revive her, it was useless though, she had no will to live. Her heart was far too broken.

* * *

Two white caskets lay side by side. One considerably smaller than the other. The funeral contained just one of the woman's nurses and a doctor who had tried in vain to save them. The hospital tried to contact their family, but they had no name. Only Danny. That was the only name the woman provided them with.

They were buried together on a sunny summer morning. They were all each other had in the world. Mother and son never to part.

The End