Of Life and Death

eight

I stop by the woman first. She's laying in a bed, tubes connected to her arm. Her husband is sitting in a chair beside her bed, holding her hand and waiting for her to wake up.

I stand on the opposite side of the bed and rest my hand over her heart. The blinking death aura fades permanently from her." Good luck Amanda." I whisper and leave, grinning when I hear her wake up.

I make my way to the little girl. She's asleep but her parents look more relaxed than before. Not calm but not as scared. I'm sure the doctors told them that their daughter would be okay.

I lay my hand over her heart and wait. Her voice calls my attention. I turn towards the child." Are you here to make me better?" Her big brown eyes look into my soul and warm my heart.

" No. I can't do that. But I can make the pain go away." I answer. Her eyes light up." Can you really?" She asks." Yes. But it means you can't see your parents again for a long time." I warn her. She loses some of her excitement." Why not? How long?" She questions.

" Because you'll be somewhere else. And it will be a very long time." I explain. She stops and looks at her parents." Will they be sad?" She asks me." Of course. But they will get better." I tell her." And you want to take me." She says.

" No. I don't want to take anyone. But sometimes I have to." I reply. She frowns." Does this mean I'm sick? And that I'll go away to the better place like my brother?" She asks." Kinda. You will go away like your brother but you're not sick, just hurt." I explain.

She looks at her mom. Then she looks at me." Can I stay?" She asks." Yes." I answer. She looks at her body laying on the bed. She walks over to her parents." Bye Mommy. Bye Daddy. I'll miss you but I get to go see Jackson. Please don't be too sad." She says. She turns back to me.

" I don't want to hurt anymore. I miss my brother. The doctors say I have it too, the thing that made him go away. I have a few more years they said but Jackson said it hurt. I don't want to hurt. So take me to my brother. Make the hurt go away." She says to me.

My heart breaks for the little girl that lost her brother and then found out she was going to die the same way. I guess this was a blessing for her. I make my way to the bed and rest two fingers on her head.

The heart monitor flat lines and her parents scream for a nurse or a doctor. The little girl grabs my hand and I walk her to the door." Go on. It'll be okay. Just look for a little girl like you. She'll take you to where you need to be. You won't hurt anymore. I promise." I tell her.

She waves good bye as the door closes. Doctors are trying to revive her but it won't work. Her parents are crying. After a few minutes they announce time of death: 6:37 p.m. A scream leaves the mother and I can't help but burst into tears.

I go back home to try and calm down. The only good thing is that I'm not guilty. She made her choice and she was happy with it.

At home I crawl into my bed and turn on the TV. I watch cartoons. Every minute is easier. Not for the first time I wish I could visit the ones I reap. I sigh and get out of my bed. It's too early to sleep. I change out of my dress and into a pair of sweatpants and a t-shirt.

I head downstairs to get a snack and a drink. I open the fridge and pour myself a glass of tea. I grab a bag of chips and turn back around to go to my room.

" Do you hate me?" His voice scares me so much I drop my glass of tea, which shatters." I do now!" I snap. Tea and broken glass is spread six feet around me, effectively trapping me. Life cringes and looks at me with puppy dog eyes." Sorry." He says.

I glare at him from my prison of chilled drink and glass. He carefully steps on the glass, his shoes protecting his feet. He teleports me out of the mess." Thanks but I still have to clean it up." I sigh. I head to the downstairs bathroom and grab a towel. Life watches me.

I use the towel to push all the glass in a pile and soak up the tea. Life finally decides to help. He picks up all the glass with his hands. He throws it in the trash and then looks at his hands. There's a few small cuts.

" Come here." I sigh. He does as I order and lets me clean his cuts. They're not very deep so they stop bleeding with a little water. " Thanks." He says and looks at me.

" You're angry with me." He states." Well yeah. You come into my house, make me break a glass, after you made me pick if someone lived or died." I say.

" That's why I came. I needed to know if you hated me. You were nice to me then I did that." He explains." I have a door. You could have knocked." I point out." I..I guess so. I just didn't think about it." He admits. I sigh." I need to get you a book about everything you missed in the last four thousand years."

He smiles." The answer is no by the way. I don't hate you." I tell him." Why not? I made you kill a child." He asks confused." That little girl chose to go. She said she didn't want to hurt like her brother." I say. He looks at me stupidly.

" I'll never understand humans." He says." Then stop trying." I reply. He nods." I guess I should go. Bye." He says and disappears. I shake my head and get another drink, this one in a plastic cup. I go back to my room to watch the cartoons.