Dar

There is absolutely no magic in the world.

When the Giver had come, I had been lured into a world of endless possibilities, a world where I couldn’t be harmed. I was the master of my happiness.

And now I sit in a hospital room with nothing to do or say. I am wearing a white gown that smells of stale fabric softener. The doctor informed me that I am sick, sick beyond measure. It’s the same disease that killed my aunt Hattie. She had leukemia too.

I am going to die. There is no way around it.

My parents are flying in at this very moment. I am at a loss. The night before, Artemis and I were blissfully making love in my bed. And now I feel weak and tired. My body is already giving out. How did this happen? Why did this happen?

I suddenly hear footsteps at my side. I turn to see the Giver. His shoulders are slumped and his eyes are red. “Where have you been?” My voice is raspy.

He comes to the side of my bed and kneels down. I watch as he takes my hands into his. “Hattie, you know that I love you very much, don’t you?”

I watch his face. He has this agonized expression, as if someone is twisting his insides. And then I really look at him and something clicks.

“This is why you came, isn’t it?” I whisper, “Because I was dying?”

He looks at my incredulous face and then gives me a curt nod. I yank my shaky hands away from him.

“What have you done to me?” I cry softly.

Artemis shakes his head and says, “That’s my job. I come to make the last of it beautiful. I told you, when someone needs a break, they send me.”

“I didn’t think it would cost me my life! Take it all back. Take it back!” I sob.

“I can’t Hattie! I’ve tried,” he says and leaves his hands outstretched, as if he is trying to offer me something.

“What did you do? Why?” I mumble incoherently. The Giver was supposed to be the best thing that ever happened to me. He was just the preamble to my death.

“I went to the Leaders. I begged them to let you stay. That’s what they did with Adele.”

I lash out at him. Even in my fragile state, he has to shield himself from my clawing hands. “What are you talking about?” I shriek.

He stands up and backs away. I watch as he tugs at the ends of his dark hair.

“I was Adele’s Giver a really long time ago. She was sentenced to die of typhoid fever. And I loved her and it turned out she was set apart to be a Giver like me! Just like when I died in France of consumption. I had a Giver then too and when I was about to take my last breath, they chose me. It’s a cycle, Hattie, don’t you see? Some Takers are chosen to be Givers. Not you, Hattie. I'm so sorry.”

It takes me a long time to process this. And so I look up with narrowed eyes and whisper, “Is this what you do then, Artemis? You fall for your Takers and just let them die? I had to wake up alone and come here to find out I was a few months away from the end. Alone!”

He cringes. “I couldn’t be here when you found out. It’s protocol. Givers can’t be present in order to avoid Takers begging for their lives.”

“Then why the hell are you here?” I ask scathingly.

“Because I love you. I’ve loved you since the second I met you. I don’t fall in love with every Taker. I am wiser than to do that, wiser from Adele. I vowed to never care for a Taker the way I care for you. And I violated that completely. I love you, Hattie.”

His face is stone as he waits for me to reply.

“It doesn’t matter anymore. Leave me alone. And never come back.”

He rigidly takes a few steps back. We make eye contact for too long of a period. I can feel tears falling down my cheeks, but I ignore them. He then nods and disappears into thin air.

And I am alone again.

And it’s like the Giver was never even there to begin with.