Sweet dreams

[Patrick]

Part 1 of 2

 

 

Four hundred and twenty eight....four hundred and twenty nine....four hundred and thirty....four hundred and thirty one...

 

It almost never worked. Counting sheep to fall asleep simply did not live up to the hype Mum and Dad had told me about. This was the third night in a row, when I counted past several hundred and still wasn't asleep. It sucked to be sick. Why did it always happen to me? Not only am I sick, but I have to lie in this hospital ward. I hate hospitals! They stink, and I don't have my toys!

 

Four hundred and fifty six....four hundred and fifty seven....four hundred and fifty eight...

 

I'm only doing this because Mum and Dad have told me to. A sheep jumps, and then another, and then another, and so on. It's supposed to work. Why doesn't it work for me? And why can't my head stop hurting? How am I supposed to sleep like this?

 

Four hundred and sixty nine....four hundred and seventy...

 

I can hear voices outside my room. Who can be up at this time of night? Curiosity overcomes me. I stand up from the bed, careful not to get entangled in the wires connected to the devices monitoring my bodily functions. It isn't easy to reach the door, but once there, pressing my ear against it's cold surface I can make out what the voices on the other side are saying.

 

"We came as fast as we could doctor. Are you sure?" My heart leaps with joy! Mum is here, and from what she says Dad is also here. I wonder why they come to visit me during the night though.

 

"Unfortunately, yes. There is nothing we can do." That is Dr. O'Brien. I don't like it when he looks at me. He always has an inquisitive look about him.

 

I hear the voices move closer towards the door. I have to get back into the bed! I have no time to make it, as I'm only halfway across the hospital ward, when the door is quietly opened. Within seconds I feel Dad's hands around me, supporting me back to my bed.

 

"You shouldn't have been out of bed, darling." He soothes me. As he and Dr. O'Brien put me back into the bed I can hear Mum whispering to Dad: "Do you think she overheard us?"

 

I can see on their faces that they think I did. I only wanted to know who was up at this late hour, and now I have made them sad. Everytime I had seen Mum in the last two weeks she was always happy, yet now she doesn't smile. Why do I always make all these stupid mistakes?

 

Dr. O'Brien talks to me. I try blocking out his voice, but can not.

 

"You should soon get better." He tells me. I don't believe him. He had told me the same thing during the last two weeks and I had only gotten worse. I like him even less for that remark.

 

"Doctor, could you please leave us?" Dad asks him. He always knows what I want. I like Dad. And Mum also.

 

"How are you feeling?" She asks me once Dr. O'Brien has left the room.

 

I make a complicated face, which between us has come to mean that I don't feel too well, but am happy that they are visiting me.

 

"How is Sam?" I ask. Sam is my pet gerbil. I love him nearly as much as I love Mum and Dad. It's really stupid that I can't have him with me here in the hospital as I'm sure, if he were here I would get better much sooner.

 

"Sam is..." Mum starts saying, but her voice trails off. "Damn it George, I simply can't lie to her. She has the right to know the truth." She says turning to Dad. It is the first time I hear her swear in front of me. Dad takes my hand, and locks his eyes with mine. It is his method of giving me bad news.

 

"We're sorry sweetie, but Sam...well...he has gone to Gerbil Heaven."

 

I can feel my pulse mount, and the machine next to me starts giving off faster beeps.

 

"Sam is dead?" I ask incredulously. I have just lost one of my best friends. Sam had been such a good listener. Why did he have to die?

 

"Sweetie please calm down." Mum says, trying to calm me, but I can feel she is more nervous than me herself. What can she possibly be afraid of?

 

"We're sorry but we could do nothing. Last morning when we wanted to feed him he didn't want any food, and shortly thereafter... We tried giving him some medicine when we saw what was happening, but it didn't work..."

 

"I want to see him one last time!" I exclaim.

 

"Honey, you know that you can't leave the hospital and the doctors don't want to let him in here." Dad says.

 

The machine is slowly starting to calm down as I direct my anger towards the doctors in the hospital. It is all their fault. If I hadn't had to stay in the hospital, I could have been with Sam, and then all this wouldn't have happened.

 

I know that I have to divert my thoughts. I can think about Sam once Mum and Dad are gone. I know that they have pretty busy lives and I don't want to keep them any longer than necessary.

 

"So how what did you do today?" I ask, as has become customary for me to do in the last two weeks.

Edited December 4, 2005 by Patrick Durham

[Patrick]

Part 2 of 2

 

 

"I had a pretty uneventful day at the office." Mum tells me.

 

Dad's story is a bit more interesting.

 

"Today as I was going to work I was stopped in the subway by a man, who said that he was recruiting for an organization which was helping poor children in Africa. He was really polite and I had a hard time telling him that I wasn't interested. Then, imagine my surprise when while coming back from work I see the same man in the subway. We had quite a long talk, and me and Mum might do some volunteer work, like collecting used clothes for them during the summer."

 

I smile. Dad is such a caring person. He doesn't only care about me, but all the other kids also. I start telling them what my day had been like.

 

"I woke up around six in the morning and had all sorts of tests done on me. The doctors didn't leave me alone during the whole day. Even half an hour before you came they were still looking at me and talking between themselves in doctorish, using lots of terms I didn't even understand."

 

When I say doctorish I can see a smile come to Mum's face, but it quickly disappears as a tear slides down her cheek.

 

"Why are you sad, Mum?"

 

She tries smiling before replying, but she doesn't succeed too well.

 

"It's nothing, honey." She says, but I know that she isn't telling the truth in order to protect me. I decide not to push the matter. Mum always knows better.

 

"Darling, is there anything you want?" Dad asks. I shake my head. I have everything I can have here. I even have a plush gerbil who reminds me of Sam, but will never be able to replace him.

 

 

 

It all comes suddenly. The machine next to me emits a frantic wail as if someone had poked a needle in its side. The pain comes a fraction of a second later. I only vaguely feel Mum grabbing hold of my hand, while Dad moves to open the door through which Dr. O'Brien is already rushing in.

 

Another of the machines gives a sudden noise, changing from the constant slow beeps to ever faster beeps. I don't understand what is happening to me. Suddenly my head feels as if it were ready to explode, and a cloudy haze descends in front of my eyes. I feel my other hand being taken.

 

The haze momentarily clears and I see Dad's face above me.

 

"Can she see me now?" I hear him say. I blink. He leans closer and kisses me. "I love you." He says before I see him succomb to tears. It is the first time I see him cry. When Mum leans in to kiss me I can see that her tears are flowing freely. Suddenly I realise what is happening. I understand why Mum had been so sad.

 

But I have no time to think any more about it.

 

I am going to see Sam very soon...