Kind of a "what if?" kind of story. Toad is mortally wounded at a hospital, the last few minutes of his life upon him. What will happen?
The light slowly came to my eyes. I sat awake in the hospital bed. The white sheets tried to beckon me to sleep again, but they could only do so much. And besides that it hurt. It hurt very badly. It felt like a thousand pounds of dynamite exploded in my chest every time I took a breath. Eventually, I got used to the pain. I lay down, thinking about what happened. I will surely die. I will die. Die. That word kept replaying over and over in my head. But then, I had a thought. If I only die once, then who am I going to die with? I can't just die alone. As soon as the question came, the answer came just as easily. I pressed a button on the side of the bed. A nurse rushed in within a few seconds.
"Yes, Toad? What can I do for you?" I looked at the heart rate monitor beside me. Fifty-four beats per minute. I wasn't going to survive for long.
"I want some company for my death." The nurse nodded. She knows. She knows that I'm dying, and she knows who I want to be with. She rushed out of the room to find her. I lay awake for a couple more minutes. I slowly turn my head towards the heart rate monitor again, listening to the slow but steady beats. But they weren't steady for long. They were going slower, the change imperceptibly slight. Fifty-three beats per minute now. The door opened again.
"Here she is." I felt a kind of joyous presence inside me as the nurse walked in. Toadette, the love of my life, quickly followed. She walked up beside my bed and sat down on the floor next to it. Her hand reached up to the bed, and I took it. We both now sat there, listening to the monitor. Fifty-two beats per minute.
"So..." Toadette began, "you wanted some company?" She said this in this kind of seductive voice that I couldn't put my finger on. All I knew was that I liked it.
"Yeah. This is all I really want." We sat and listened for a couple seconds. "I mean, you know the saying." My voice was kind of light, only hindered by my aortic injury. As it was, there were stitches on the skin over my damaged heart. And it wasn't emotionally damaged, like so many other people. "Live each day as if it were your last. And the time has finally come." I bowed my head, looking down at the bumps in the blankets, my feet underneath. Fifty-one beats per minute. Fifty, forty-nine, forty-eight. They were slow changes, about one every minute, but they were there. I was going to die within an hour. I was sure of it. I was going to internally bleed to my damn death. I hate cursing, but this deserved it.
But then, out of nowhere, Toadette leapt up beside me on the bed. I recoiled in surprise, but then quickly smiled. I looked at the monitor again to see if that had made a difference. It had. Fifty-seven beats per minute was the reading. She started to move closer, and out of instinct, I moved in her direction as well. I had done this so many times, but this time seemed different. This would be our last time together, and I wanted to make it the best. She started to nuzzle my face and neck, and I softened at the touch. I embraced her, held her as tight as I could. I tried to draw closer, ever closer, but I couldn't. She was pressed up against me that tightly. I felt her lips graze mine and I quickly turned the graze into a beautiful kiss. I was ready to stay with her, even if it extended into the afterlife.
She pulled away and gave me that ever-beautiful smile that always sent me over the edge. I felt myself smiling back, and we lay down, me on top of her. I looked at the monitor once again, and was shocked at the reading it produced.
Seventy-two beats per minute. And it was rising. I never thought I would see it do that. Because of that, I was no longer waiting for the end. I was waiting for a new beginning. She smiled at me again, and I felt myself falling in love with her all over again.
"You know, that wasn't supposed to happen, right?" she asked, and shot me a wink.
"Yeah. But it happened. And all that matters is that I can stay with you..." She wrapped her arms around me and held me close. And I knew, because of that, I was no longer in the grip of death. I was in the grip of life, in the grip of love. Well, practically, in the grip of Toadette was what I was thinking. I laughed internally, then it just came naturally. She giggled with me, that soft giggle I hear from her every time we touch.
Then, out of nowhere, I heard a flatline. I turned to look at the monitor, and it showed zero. What happened? I was certainly not dead! I looked closer, then saw that it was not plugged in to the tube connecting it to me.
"Stupid twenty-first century machines. They always ruin everything." I mumbled, then laughed. I gently inserted the plug back into the slot. It instantly continued its reading. Now the display read seventy-nine beats per minute, and the line was steadily moving up and down again. We looked at each other, smiled at each other, and resumed our position, but this time with her on top, looking down at me. I saw her smile become brighter with happiness, and then saw her holding me tight once more. I felt her hands on my back, caressing it in the most pleasurable way. I felt that I was in paradise, even though I had not departed.
She leaned closer, ever closer until her lips were on mine. It was fantastic. I felt like a battle was won inside my soul; medics versus affection. The joyous victory propelled me to kiss her back. She cooed in affection for me and it felt special in a way. I loved her, and she loved me. That was all that mattered. I was joyous. I was free.
I was alive.
The End
I literally came up with this as I woke up. Again, this isn't that great, but I certainly appreciate feedback! Thanks for reading, and I'll see you all next time!