Beep...
Beep...
Beep...
the steady beat of my sister's heart
beeping through the machine
is the only sound in the room,
and the only thing that tells me
she is alive.
She looks like death,
as bad as that is to say.
She is desperately pale
and has shadows underneath her eyes
even though she has been asleep
for a week at least.
In a way,
she looks more peaceful like this,
at least,
more so than I ever remember her.
She still has the cuts and the bruises
from being dragged across town
the night of the hurricane,
but those are the least of her concerns.
The doctor says
she has anoxic brain injury
because she practically drowned.
I'm not sure what that is,
exactly,
but I know it's not good.
And it was all my fault...
If I hadn't run out into the rain
or stopped when Daiha had yelled at me to
then she would've made it to the cellar
she wouldn't be in a coma
she would be okay
she would be safe
it was all my fault...
all
my
fault..
it should be me laying there
not her.
I have to bite the inside of my cheek
to stop myself from crying.
Instead,
I try to focus on Daiha's ice cold hands
and only her hands.
not the tubes snaking out of her mouth
not the angry scars slashed across her arms
not how deathly pale she is
not the beeping of the machine
not how she is only skin and bones...
none of that.
I focus on her hands,
and just that.
the feeling of them encased in my own
focusing on warming them up
despite how futile it is.
I try
because it's all I can do.
It's only when my mom comes into the room
that I leave.
* * *
we moved into a smaller apartment
because our house was destroyed
in the hurricane.
it kind of just
toppled over
and caved in on itself
when the wind was too strong
too powerful
and ripped the foundation to shreds.
I wasn't sorry that our house
was destroyed
all it carried
was bad memories
from the moment we moved in...
the moment we moved
into that house
our family ripped apart.
maybe
now that the house is destroyed
our family can try to mend the pieces..
but that's only if Daiha wakes up.
Daiha needs to wake up
she has to
she's going to...
right?
YOU ARE READING
Breathe
Poetry-Sequel to Smile- The devastation of hurricane Jordan has left Delilah Smith in a tailspin. Her sister, Daiha, is in a coma, and doctors aren't sure if she's even going to wake up. When her parents aren't working they're spending all of their time a...
