On a Monday morning, doctor Gardell entered the patient's room to set the freshly-picked flowers in a vase. She picked those flowers from her backyard with so much care and delicacy that the flowers themselves blushed from the idea of being gifted, and the desire to find out the reaction of the recipient grew in them, but it was nothing near their expectations as the recipient was sleeping silently and it seemed that only a miracle could wake him up.
The recipient of the flowers who was also the doctor's patient was lying in the bed and despite the quick chattering of the doctor, the patient was not answering as he was asleep, at first sight, but the doctor knew that he couldn't wake up because he did not have the sufficient life energy in him yet.
After putting the flowers in a vase, the doctor sat near the edge of the patient's bed and picked a photo from the table next to the bed.
In that photo, a mom was hugging her son who was blowing the candles of a cake with a big 9 drawn on them with MandM's.
"Soon, my life, soon you will wake up from your long sleep and we will buy you a big cake with strawberries just as you love",- whispered the doctor while the tears that escaped her eyes were slowly drowning in the kid's hand.
"Mom, I am home!" an exciting sound filled the house with life, but the doctor's heart filled with terror, as she feared that Mike may come up and find out about the secret room, where she was sitting now. So she got up, went out, locked the door with a key, opened another door that led to an open wardrobe and after getting out of the wardrobe in her room, she closed it and went down to greet her son who just got back from a school trip.
- You are late, did anything happen? - announced the doctor while getting down the stairs
- Yeah, sorry mom, we wanted to play a little longer in the park so Mrs. Austin let us stay a little longer
- Mrs. Austin should talk with parents before making such a decision. I was nervous. Anyways, I am glad you had a good time. Now, let me see your hand for a second,- Doctor spoke with a sweet tone.
- Mom, it is the same as it has always been,- mumbled Mike while automatically giving his hand to his mother and opening his palm.
- Great! We have some inches left, we will cut them today,- a wild smile appeared on her face.
- Mom, Tom saw today the line in my palm and got surprised by it being so short. Also, Mrs. Austin taught us today that the line is called lifeline and it shows how long you are going to live. But if it is so, why are you cutting it off, mom?
- I have told you, honey, it will grow back and you are doing an amazing job by letting me cut it.
- But
- No but young man. I have been waiting for you, now wash your hands and come down to dinner. I have made your favorite dish.
Yes, mom.
"I am saving my child" whispered the doctor as to answer Mike's question after Mike left the room.
After dining together, Doctor brought out a box in which she had some scissors that looked out of this world.
- Are you ready? You know it is not going to hurt
- I know, I am ready mom.
She took the scissors and cut an inch from Mike's lifeline.
After Mike went to bed, she took the inch and went back to the secret room, where Dan, her son was waiting for her.
" Here sweety, mommy brought you another year of life. I won't let anything happen to you darling",- she spoke gently while getting the line and sewing it to Dan's lifeline which was reaching to the middle of his arm. She thought that this way the energy of life will grow in him and when it reaches the necessary point, he will wake up.
During this process, she felt a little breeze in the room and decided to turn on the heating after finishing the sewing. But, no heat would help her to get rid of the cold in that room, as that cold was coming from Dan's soul who got separated from his body a year ago and couldn't leave this world because his mother was continuously extending his life by adding another lifeline. He was standing next to his body and watching,his eyes full of tears.
- Please stop, please let me die, please let me go,- he was mumbling through his tears but the doctor did not seem to hear anything and that is when he screamed and that scream was so loud and yet it did not reach her ears. But flowers heard him, maybe that is why they drooped in a minute.
She finished and left the room leaving Dan's ghost standing alone next to his body wondering why is his mother torturing him so much and not letting him free.
In the room next to the Doctor's, Mike was sleeping. His lifeline was hardly visible...
His funeral was held on Wednesday and the only attendant was the doctor as for his classmates and the world he was visiting his father and would stay there for a while. That is what the doctor told the principal of the school.
While standing next to his coffin doctor was wondering what state to visit next and what name to give another child, that she will take from their parents and use another tool from the box to vanish their memory and create whatever she wants.
In a big city like this, people forget everything too quickly, but in small cities in the south, fliers with MISSING written on them covered every inch of the city. Little kids were portrayed on these missing papers and one could easily recognize Mike on them.
