by Samuel Winchester

Created on: June 27, 2008

The Dying Moment

Beep! Beep! Beep! The heart monitor was like a drum to Jonathon. Its driving beat seemed to count out the time his mother had left with him. For three days he had not left her hospital bed side. With all the wires and attachments it didn't look like his mother any more. It couldn't be. Not her, that energetic lady he had come to love. This was all so unreal. He thought back and remembered when it had happened. They had been in the yard together; she had been pruning roses while he pulled weeds. He had heard a choking sound and turned around to see his mother falling over. He had run inside and called an ambulance immediately, but the damage was done. The hole in her heart that the doctor said must have been there since she was born had finally had its way. It had won; the enemy, his mother, was vanquished.

A nurse came in jerking Jonathon back to the present. She checked on some monitors, took some brief notes, and left. Jonathon was relieved when she had finally gone. He wanted to attend to this private vigil by himself. No one had been able to get him to leave. He was still in the same clothes he had been working in; he had ridden with his mother to the hospital in the ambulance. Beep! Beep! Beep! The monitor continued its monotonous, heartless, count down of a life.
Jonathon was an only child and his mother was a stay at home mom so his dad sometimes worked long hours to provide for the family. Often his father would not get home until 8 or 9:00, so Jon was usually alone with his mother. They had formed a tight relationship like few have. Even now Jon's dad had to keep working, more so than ever, because of the hospital bill. So Jon continued his night and day vigil alone. When he slept, which was not often, he did so with his head on her bed. His dad had tried, but had been unable to get him to come home at nights. The hospital staff had decided to allow this break from procedure, in light of the fact it couldn't last more than a few days. It would all be over after that. Beep! Beep! Beep!
Father and son had stood together in the hallway as the doctor gave them the prognosis: no more than a week. Jon had broken down, rushed past the staff into the room, and collapsed next to his mother's bed. His dad sat there with him for the entire night; neither one of them said anything; there was nothing to be said. Beep! Beep! Beep!
Suddenly Jon heard a gasp, silent, yet easily heard by ears that had listened so long in vain for any sign of hope. Jon

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