Harv'

At Death's Door

-Chapter One-

At Death's Door

A solitary star in a sky of brightening blue. Thick blue clouds in the distance, peeking over the heads of the high-rise flats like the jagged peaks of a mountain range. The golden trail of five aeroplanes, resembling shooting stars but for their slow and easy progress through the heavens. These were the things Harvey Locket saw on the last day of his life.

         'Can you hear me? Nod if you can.' A sound, faint and yet so close to his ear. Harvey blinked, and in the place of the sky he saw a face now, looming over him. 'Good,' the face said, the lips moving and issuing the vague echo of what Harvey recognised to be a voice. 'Can you tell me your name? Don't close your eyes. Listen to my voice and try to stay awake. Can you do that for me?' Harvey blinked weakly again, and then nodded with a small jerk of his head. 'Good. Can you tell me your name?'

         'Harvey.'

         'Harvey, nice to meet you. Harvey. Try to keep your eyes on me. I'm here to help you. It looks like you've been hurt. Can you tell me what happened?'

         'Angel...' Harvey mumbled; everything was distorted. The world seemed to be spinning around him, a chaotic mish-mash of sights and sounds plucked from his memories, of hopes and dreams long since abandoned and left to rot in the deepest, remotest part of his mind, emerging from the depths to taunt him in his dying throes. And all of it, all of it intruded upon by swelling darkness that was beginning to encroach on his vision. It was then that he felt most afraid, with the blackness enveloping him and the pitiful thump-thump that he knew to be his heartbeat sounding ever paler to his ears.

         'Harvey, can you hear me? Harvey. Look at me.' The voice grew in pitch, and the face wavered back into his line of vision; the darkness seemed to disperse a little in the presence of the face. 'My name is Jason Jacobs. I'm a police officer. You've been stabbed and an ambulance is on the way. You need to stay awake, do you understand? Keep your focus on me.'

         'Stay with me,' Harvey breathed, and tears were suddenly upon his cheeks. He could not understand why they had arrived, only that they were there whether he liked it or not. 'Don't leave me.'

         'I'm not going anywhere Harvey. I'm staying right by your side.'

         'Pro...' Harvey struggled; the lump that had clogged in his throat had seemingly cut off his vocal cords. 'Promise?'

         'I promise. Would you like me to travel in the ambulance with you?'

         'Please,' Harvey sobbed.

         'You betcha. But you have to make me a promise too Harvey. You have to promise to keep your eyes open, okay?'

         'Cross my heart...' Harvey choked on his words. The face that seemed so close to his own appeared to smile now.

         'Do me another favour,' the voice said, 'don't finish that sentence.' It was that very same voice that followed Harvey into the back of the ambulance and to the hospital. Harvey was aware of very little, other than the voice and the smiling face and the peculiar sensation of being hoisted onto a gurney by many hands he could not see. The face never left his sight, and the voice stayed with him all the way to the operating table.

         'They're gonna fix you now Harvey, do you hear me? They're gonna fix you, but I need one more thing from you before they do. Promise me you'll stay alive. Promise me you won't give up.'

         'I promise,' Harvey whispered, and the last thing he knew before he closed his eyes was the smiling face of Jason Jacobs.