Short Stories

Cancer

Her frail fingers grasped the crisp white sheets that lay beneath her sickly body. The monitor that used to sit so silently beside her was now blaring - louder than she could handle. Her mother sat at her side, spouting non-committal words of comfort. The flowers that her friends and family had brought in, sat wilting sadly away in the sun-deprived corner of the sterile room. The nurses and doctors buzzed around in a blur; speaking in their technical terms. She wasn't scared of what was coming - she had come to terms with this day quite a while ago; yet her tears that swam down her porcelain cheeks seemed to send other ideas to the people in the room.  The phone that sat beside her was vibrating, as she knew everyone seemed to care. People didn't want to lose a friend, a sister - a lover. She knew she had no control now though; it was over. The light in the room began to dim, but she guessed it was just her eye sight. Her nails clawed at the stale bed; in a failed attempt to hold on - quite literally. She had accepted this as her fate, but it never made it any easier. The tip of a needle pressed to her forearm - her gasp of pain went unnoticed though, as doctors were too busy to see their attempt was hurting their patient - they didn't want to lose her.