I saw Death today. He smiled his skeletal smile at me as I guarded your soul.

He paced patiently while I held your limp hand, not yet lifeless. I watched over you, in the blood and the dirt, not willing to let you go.


Despite the cuts on your face you managed a smile. A mangled smile, yes. A hollow imitation of your open grin. But it was still a smile, in the midst of all that pain.

Then they came. They took you away from me, thinking that they could fend off Death. But they couldn’t see him, they didn’t understand how close he really was. Then the doors slammed, the lights flashed, and the tires screeched as you were taken away from me forever.

And as the doors were closing, Death climbed in for the ride. I saw the panic and urgency as they felt his presence. I knew it was too late.

In that cold, uncomfortable room I sat, waiting for someone to come and tell me that which I already knew. I couldn’t help but wonder how long they would try before accepting defeat.

The receptionist watched me uneasily, unsettled by my bloodstained clothes. She had seen this before, but had not grown used to it yet. I chose to ignore her glances, instead gazing at the double doors that your body lay behind, somewhere in the maze of rooms I would never see.


I was too numb to cry. I may have even held on to a little bit of pathetic hope. Either way the tears did not fall as they should have, as you see in movies and soap operas. Maybe that was what unsettled the receptionist.

However, I could not cry. Not for the receptionist, and not for myself. Not even for you.

I only wished that I could see you one last time. Not your cold, dead corpse, as I was sure to see at your funeral. But the living, breathing you. I didn’t care that I would have had to see you dismembered on a metal table. Maybe it would have shocked me into crying. Shocked me into feeling something.

And then a nurse came out. She looked as tired as me, as if she had also known that every effort was useless. But even when she confirmed what I had known all along, I could not cry.

I saw Death today. He smiled his triumphant smile at me before walking away with your soul.