Hope Is A Gift

• Dominique Lubrin, Grade 11, Our Lady of the Sacred Heart College
• Short Story
• 2016

Excellence Award in the 'Top Secret 2016' competition

Rasping, shallow breaths reverberated through the room. A fragile heart thumped weakly inside an aged body. An IV line pierced deep under paper-thin skin where veins and arteries was illuminated with a soft blue glow. Shadowed eyes were closed on a deceptively calm and content face. Bandages stained with blood were wrapped around wounded limbs like suffocating snakes strangling their prey. Annoying artificial beeps penetrated the thick silence.

The hospital room was plain white, a bland and boring colour which reflected the abyss of bleak optimism and pessimism that suffocated any faith for a bright future. There was a heavy, tense aura that chained the hopes of the patient’s loved ones with despair and sorrow. Their hands were clasped tightly together, knuckle white and impossibly rigid. Their lips pressed in a strained pursued line, nervous with worry. Regrets and what ifs echoed, irritating and unforgiving in such a parasitic manner. They ravaged deep inside their minds like a hurricane of dejection and distress.

A chair clattered noisily down the floor as a teenager, with a slight resemblance to the comatose victim, abruptly stood up. The flames of determination fanned the hopes and faith in the youngster. “Why are we all sad and stuff? We’re just thinking that something bad’s going to happen to grandma! We just have to be optimistic….” The young adult self-consciously trailed off as blank stares gazed at the the source of the outburst, shocked over its unexpectedness. Awkward, speechless seconds of silence occurred before a reluctant assurance that everything would be alright planted itself firmly inside their hearts.

A tentative knock thumped against the door before a greenhorn nurse, unsure and innocent, popped her inside the room. She softly spoke, “The doctor wishes to speak with the patient’s next of kin.” The words acted like a sharp pin bursting the sweet bubble of optimism.

A stern woman stood to the side of the busy, harried hallway with people urgently moving to an unknown location. She was dressed in the typical lab coat with a label attached to it, alerting anyone of her position as a senior hospital doctor. Her face profound lines etched painfully due to hurtful and depressing past experiences. A slightly middle aged man rushed swiftly towards her.

In his haste, he stumbled over his words. “Is something wrong?”

“No, no. There is no cause for any worry. I actually have good news for you,” reassured the medical practitioner. “A fax just came in with promising information. The hospital has received word this morning that there is a donor organ suitable for your mother. A surgery would be able to be scheduled as soon as possible.”

A gentle smile touched the doctor’s face like a bright ray of sunshine piercing through stormy clouds. The man stood, stiff and shocked, unable to compute the sudden influx of information. A few seconds passed, then relieved sobs teared out of the man’s throat. There was light at the end of the tunnel.