Emoji Mini-Event

Would Have Been

Written by: SirenSleeper(Aka, Guitar_Happy)/ Emoji(s): Mask, Ring

*** *** *** *** *** *** *** ***

I couldn't hear anything other than the sound of my own heartbeat. It echoed loudly, drowning out the chatter of every person I passed. I could even hear the stream of blood flowing through my veins if I focused. But even if I couldn't hear those around me, I could still hear my own worried thoughts. 

I ran down hallways, ignoring nurses and doctors telling me to slow down. I knew where I was heading. The young woman at the reception desk very clearly, although indifferently, directed me to room 924. 

When I was on the elevator, I couldn't recognize the person in my reflection. Her face was ghostly white, her eyes bloodshot, her hair a mess. She wasn't even properly dressed to be in public, what with her gray pajamas and house shoes. How could that have possibly been me? But there I stood, frantic and barely holding myself together. 

I was rushing down the halls so quickly that I almost missed his room. I stood on the opposite side of his door for what seemed like forever just listening to the beeps on the monitor. They were slow and steady, not another sound in the room. He groaned a few times but I couldn't tell if he was awake. 

I finally stepped into his room. He laid on those white sheets with an oxygen mask over his face and his broken limbs wrapped in bandages. The sight was heartbreaking, but no more than the pain he must have been feeling. I kept a straight face and neared his bedside.

With a shaking hand I reached out and touched his face. At the contact he slowly opened his eyes. When they focused in on me, his entire body seemed to relax. It was as if a giant weight had been lifted from his shoulders. I had to smile. "I would have said yes." I whispered, recalling the private phone call I heard him on only days ago. "There's no earthly reason why I would have rejected you." 

Tears pooled in his eyes and the speed of the beeps from the monitor increased. His arm didn't move, but his hand grazed over mine so lightly it was as if he hadn't done it at all. Then suddenly the beeping was rapid and his hand fell from mine completely. The hospital staff ran in, someone gently pushing me out of the room and trying to calm me down. 

It was a short time after that when they called his time. I stood there for hours, even after they wheeled his body from the room. I stood there. When I finally left, I knew there was a piece of me missing that I would never get back.