Saying Goodbye
This Time
“You have to stay! You said you’d never leave me, you said you wouldn’t let this get the best of you, Will, you said you wouldn’t give in,” she collapsed against the metal bed frame, sobbing and reaching for his hands, Will only turned away, licked his chapped lips.
“You just can’t leave me now, Will. I love you too much to let you go.”
The skeleton of a 23 year old man lay in the bed alone, staring at the ceiling, ignoring the sound of the hospital room door clicking quietly shut. A heart monitor beeped steadily beside him, showing no pulsating green line, but instead a small blinking red light mocking him with each breath he took.
He shouldn’t be alive, she shouldn’t be begging for him to stay with her.
None of this should ever have happened.
He slowly gathered every ounce of strength in his frail body and slid himself off of the bed, unhooking the IVs and oxygen mask, slipping on his clothes that had been resting in a nearby chair for the past two weeks of him being in the hospital.
The once too tight jeans hung from his bones.
Rain bore into his skin as he stepped through the hospital doors, taking in the warm scent of a summer he’d been missing lately. Too many days of hospitalization and the hospice before this had left him cut off from the changing seasons.
This time though, it was different, this was said to be the last time he stepped foot into a hospital; mostly because he was never expected to walk back out.
His knees shook as he walked through the dimly lit city, looking for the one place that he could simply be alone, where he could say his last goodbye.
The morning grew nearer and nearer with each step he took, and his heartbeat quickened at the thought of the panicking of doctors and nurses because of his sudden disappearance. Red and yellow streaked the horizon over the low buildings, as he finally reached the streets he was longing to walk again.
The sun had dried out the rain in a matter of minutes; sweat seeped through his pores at the creeping heat. Weakness climbed up along his spine as he tried to make it to her doorstep as quickly as possible.
His knuckles bruised as he rapped them on the thin wood of the door, her eyes widened at the site of him, at nearly five in the morning, bruised and bleeding from his chapped lips.
“Jenny, please, let me in,” she took his weight and led him to the couch, lying him down gently, going back to close the door, rubbing her eyes and kneeling by his face, running her fingers along his protruding jaw line and sunken cheekbones. Tears ran down the both of their faces, soaking into fabric and skin.
“Will, please don’t go, not now,” he closed his eyes, raising his arms to bring her face to his, colliding their lips gently for mere seconds. He sighed lengthily, coughing and sputtering, blood dotting the pale skin around his lips. Jenny sighed and choked out sobs, wiping away the crimson with the end of a towel, squeezing her eyes shut as she took William’s hand in hers gently.
“I’m so sorry, Jenny, I can’t fight this anymore. It’s taking me, now or never, it’s not going away dear,” translucent drops fell from her crystalline eyes, as she buried her face in his soft neck, kissing lightly, savoring his skin while she could still feel it warm.
“I’ll let you go, Will, but I won’t forget,” William smiled slightly, running his fingers across her face, tucking a strand of auburn behind her ear. She twirled his chocolate brown hair in her fingers, kissing his face as gently as possible, feeling the fading warmth of his skin against her lips.
“Don’t forget me Jenny, baby. I’ll always love you, I promise.” Jenny smiled with tears streaming down her cheeks, holding William’s hand in her own.
“I promise, Will, I’ll never forget you,” William smiled softly at her blurring face as he shut his eyes for the last time.
“You just can’t leave me now, Will. I love you too much to let you go.”
The skeleton of a 23 year old man lay in the bed alone, staring at the ceiling, ignoring the sound of the hospital room door clicking quietly shut. A heart monitor beeped steadily beside him, showing no pulsating green line, but instead a small blinking red light mocking him with each breath he took.
He shouldn’t be alive, she shouldn’t be begging for him to stay with her.
None of this should ever have happened.
He slowly gathered every ounce of strength in his frail body and slid himself off of the bed, unhooking the IVs and oxygen mask, slipping on his clothes that had been resting in a nearby chair for the past two weeks of him being in the hospital.
The once too tight jeans hung from his bones.
Rain bore into his skin as he stepped through the hospital doors, taking in the warm scent of a summer he’d been missing lately. Too many days of hospitalization and the hospice before this had left him cut off from the changing seasons.
This time though, it was different, this was said to be the last time he stepped foot into a hospital; mostly because he was never expected to walk back out.
His knees shook as he walked through the dimly lit city, looking for the one place that he could simply be alone, where he could say his last goodbye.
The morning grew nearer and nearer with each step he took, and his heartbeat quickened at the thought of the panicking of doctors and nurses because of his sudden disappearance. Red and yellow streaked the horizon over the low buildings, as he finally reached the streets he was longing to walk again.
The sun had dried out the rain in a matter of minutes; sweat seeped through his pores at the creeping heat. Weakness climbed up along his spine as he tried to make it to her doorstep as quickly as possible.
His knuckles bruised as he rapped them on the thin wood of the door, her eyes widened at the site of him, at nearly five in the morning, bruised and bleeding from his chapped lips.
“Jenny, please, let me in,” she took his weight and led him to the couch, lying him down gently, going back to close the door, rubbing her eyes and kneeling by his face, running her fingers along his protruding jaw line and sunken cheekbones. Tears ran down the both of their faces, soaking into fabric and skin.
“Will, please don’t go, not now,” he closed his eyes, raising his arms to bring her face to his, colliding their lips gently for mere seconds. He sighed lengthily, coughing and sputtering, blood dotting the pale skin around his lips. Jenny sighed and choked out sobs, wiping away the crimson with the end of a towel, squeezing her eyes shut as she took William’s hand in hers gently.
“I’m so sorry, Jenny, I can’t fight this anymore. It’s taking me, now or never, it’s not going away dear,” translucent drops fell from her crystalline eyes, as she buried her face in his soft neck, kissing lightly, savoring his skin while she could still feel it warm.
“I’ll let you go, Will, but I won’t forget,” William smiled slightly, running his fingers across her face, tucking a strand of auburn behind her ear. She twirled his chocolate brown hair in her fingers, kissing his face as gently as possible, feeling the fading warmth of his skin against her lips.
“Don’t forget me Jenny, baby. I’ll always love you, I promise.” Jenny smiled with tears streaming down her cheeks, holding William’s hand in her own.
“I promise, Will, I’ll never forget you,” William smiled softly at her blurring face as he shut his eyes for the last time.