It Means Light

"What if when we die the light at the end of the tunnel is the light to another hospital room, there we are born and the only reason we come out crying is because you remember everything from your past life and you're crying at the fact that you died and lost everything. As you grow you forget your past life and focus on the life you have now, but patches of memory stays behind and causes deja vu."

-Samuel Murray 2k17

She scoffs.

"How desperate do you have to get to believe this kind of thing"

"Well, you never know, right? I mean we are..." He trails off as he erupts into a coughing fit, looking as if all the air is being punched out of him.

She rushes to press the button to summon the nurse. As the nurse pumps more drugs into a shaking him, She realizes that maybe it wouldn't hurt to believe a seemingly silly theory, she realizes that it probably wouldn't hurt to believe anything when the only friend she hasn't pushed away is going to die soon.

With that thought on her mind she heads through the door connecting the two of their rooms. It is dark, except for the moonlight reflecting off of the red and green streamers, reminding Her that it is 5 days until Christmas.

She tiptoes to the chair beside his bed, and sits down.

"Hey." He whispers.

Her eyes scane over him. His hospital gown clings to to his collarbones, and the skin on his face is thin and stretched out, but despite that he still has the light in his eyes that she originally associated with him.

"Hey." she returns.

They don't speak any more than that, and immerse themselves in their individual thoughts. He always knew that life is unfair, though he has never been the one on the receiving end, but he is glad is on the receiving end now. She always knew that life is unfair, she knows from personal experience, but it is a different matter when someone you care about is the victim of the unfairness.

As they sit in the comfortable silence a tear slowly rolls down her cheek, creating a shiny streak down her cheek, the light from the moon reflects off it. He notices but doesn't say anything. The light draws his attention to the window and he notices the snow floating down from the sky.

"Look," he exclaimed to the girl, "it's snowing!"

"You're right!" She replied, with the same level of excitement.

"I want to go outside."

She nods, understanding his wish.

She helps him out of his bed and into his wheelchair, disconnecting him from his IV drip. They try to be as quiet as they can going down the hallway, as to not wake up the staff of the hospital.

When they push through the front door it seems like they had been transported to another world. The street lamp illuminates the snowflakes making it look like tiny orbs of light floating down from the sky. They both gasp in awe and he moves to stand up, she quickly goes to support him but stops when she sees the look of wonder in his eyes. They begin to walk around in the snow while laughing without a worry in the world, though it doesn't last long. The moment the wonder fades, he begins to feel tired, black spots dots his vision as he plunge towards the ground.

As they doctors and nurses rush around his hospital bed, she holds onto his hand and hopes with all her heart that he would make it through. After multiple hours of staying by his bedside, she jolts awake when she feels a small tap on her hand.

"Hey." he says.

"Hey." She replies, unable to keep the tremor from her voice.

"Don't cry, don't be sad."

She shakes her head.

"Don't worry, I have a feeling that we will see each other again very soon."

She nodded.

"See you later?" She doesn't say.

"See you later." He doesn't reply.

His arm went limp and the light from his eyes slowly fades.

She sits there, maybe still in shock, maybe just from sadness, when she hears a baby crying nearby, she gets a strong urge to go there, and so she does. 

As soon as she enters the room, the crying subsides, she walks towards the bed and she sees him, with the light in his eyes that reminds her so much of her recently deceased friend. She asks if she could pick up the child, the mother says yes. 

When he picks him up, a new wave of sadness washes over her. 

The baby giggles.

"What's his name?" She asks the mother.

"Arion," The mother replies, "It means light."

The End