The Day They Stood Alone

The phone call changed her life.

She woke up thinking it was a normal Thursday.

Her alarm went off, her day began.

She showered and did her makeup,

Got dressed and did her hair.

The most perfect sock bun sat on top of her head.

She walked across campus to class with her phone in her bag.

When she noticed the missed call from her mom,

She called back.

The words “I’m here to pick you up” sounded so unfamiliar.

Out to the car she went,

With fear in her eyes,

And a pit in her stomach.

They pulled up to the hospital.

The fear grew stronger,

And the pit doubled.

The long walk down the hallway,

The family members everywhere.

Aunts, uncles, cousins, and grandparents.

The perfect picture of an Irish Catholic family.

They walked her to room 214.

She saw machines, tubes, and so many nurses.

The beeping sounds, the crying mother staring at her son,

And him.

Lying there helplessly,

With his brown hair pushed to one side,

His bright blue eyes closed,

And his smile hidden away.

She didn’t know what to do or what to say.

She stood there while they talked to her.

She heard nothing.

Back down the hall she went.

Her little brother stood at the end of the hallway.

Bright blue eyes and reddish-blonde hair.

Staring back at her with the same fear in his eyes.

How was she going to tell him?

The soon to be teenager,

Would he understand?

The news broke from the doctor like a shattered window.

They stood there staring at each other.

Speaking no words.

Daddy, don’t leave us.

The confusion of what would come next,

The shock and pain of letting him go

And the heartbreak that a father should never have to cause.

What were they going to do?

As he lay there helpless, day in and day out,

It was time.

There were no more signs of life.

Only the machines that did everything for him.

The beeping stopped, the nurses gone.

The only thing left was a brother and a sister.

Confused and broken,

Standing in a room where there used to be three.