Love at First Death

"BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP"

The ear piercing monotonous screech of the ECG was the only sound in the room with 9 souls and 10 bodies. His head dropped in disappointment; even blinking as fast he could, could not stop the drop of tear from leaking out and dropping to the crimson-stained floor.

He had trained for this; he had attended lectures; he had been told what to do in such a scenario, but  alas, as beautiful as it is to witness the miracle of birth, it is far more wretched to watch life being snatched away.

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"Over here! Hurry up, we're going to be late!" 

That soft spoken silky voice. It was her. Rampaging her handbag in search of her student ID with one hand and the other waving in the air.

"Classic Amaya," Teo exclaimed to himself ever so calmly in his classic 'strut-style-walk' as he walked along the hospital corridor. "Calm down, didn't you read the class reps' message? The prof isn't here today, we'll just have to go and clerk some patients today to keep ourselves occupied."

"Great," Amaya's frantic look changed to one of disappointment as she slumped her shoulders. "Just great, guess who pulled an all-nighter for her presentation today?" She asked, sarcastically.

"Can you stop complaining you midget and lets get going to the wards" Teo said as he rolled his eyes, it was as if he knew the exact words she'd utter.

"Oi, call me a midget again and I'll use that steth on your shoulders to strangle you" Amaya retorted, as sensitive as ever while Teo was trying his best not to burst out laughing. Amaya an Teo were inseparable friends ever since they started med school 2 years ago, something between them just 'clicked' and their form of showing appreciation for each other was to diss each other into oblivion.

They both then dragged themselves across the halls and to the elevators of the once great Edwards Hospital and Medical School. The only thing great about it now was the name and the brilliant doctors it turned out every year. The place itself was in a mess, with shoddy repairs, broken tiles and once majestic colorful building replaced with a new 'glorious' look with it's paint all eroded and the grey plaster beneath it exposed.

"You do the honours today" Amaya said as if presenting the elevators buttons to Teo.

The elevators, don't get me started on the elevators. Out of the 10 elevators, only 2 worked at any time. It was like a game of roulette, you wouldn't know which 2 until their respective buttons lit up as soon as they'd reach the ground floor. Even then, it was a race to get into them before the doors closed and it went back up into the black hole it arrived from.

An eternity later they finally reached the OBGYN ward and proceeded to Room B12. Teo slowly opened the door to the room and saw a frail looking girl just sat on the bed. Sitting, just frozen, eyes open, deep in thought, ignorant of the fact that Teo and Amaya had just entered the room. Or maybe she didn't really care.

"Hi ma'am, how are you?" Teo asked after clearing his voice to make sure it was as soft as it could be.

The girl just turned her head almost in slow motion to face him, and moved some of her long silky black hair that were on her face. Nothing, she said nothing, just stared at him. Teo felt as if the girl was gazing not into his eyes, but his soul. She just sat there, her hands in her laps, her forearm covered in scars, they both knew how'd she'd gotten them.

"My name is Amaya what's yours?" She said as she bent down and held the mysterious girl's hand and looking directly into her eyes.

"Ja... Jane." It was less of a reply and more of a whimper, as if she'd spent all of her energy to utter that one word.

"Jane, this is Teo," She said pointing to Teo to come over "Teo will just ask you a few questions if you're alright with that Jane" said Amaya as she left Jane with Teo and scavenged the patients profile.

Amaya's hands trembled as she read those two words in the file, 'Sexual Assault'.

"Now Jane, what brought you to the hospital?" Teo asked.

Jane just looked at him, smiled and with a calm voice said "I was in an abusive relationship and when I decided to leave I was slut shamed, raped, beaten and left in the dirt to die like the worthless human I am."

Teo and Amaya were shocked at how calmly she had uttered those words, the words only someone who was on the brink of insanity could say with such calm. Yet there she was, just seated and smiling after telling her story as if it were something to be proud of.

Teo was flabbergasted but he knew he had to say something to de-escalate the situation. "We're here to help you Jane, you'll be fine in no time." Teo exclaimed with his chest out as if to assure her.

"Oh yeah?" Jane who was so calm until this point, suddenly changed her tone and interrupted before Teo could finish. Her face red in anger and her blank look changed into one of blood-lust. "What makes you think you know me? Stop living in a fantasy world. It will all be better if I just kill myself. How could you know how it feels like? How could you possibly know?" Jane said as tears started flowing from her face which still had that look of resent.

"I KNOW how it feels," Amaya dropped her file, sat next to Jane and stared at the wall "Every day, every second. The fear. It's the fear that gets you. The fear that at any second that someone whom you trusted will walk back in and deprive you the right to resist, the right to be human while you just watch it happen, powerless. I learnt that lesson at the ripe age of 12, so I KNOW what you're talking about" she clenched her fists and closed her eyes, as if to hide from all the memories that were just hitting her.

Teo was lost for words, he had never, in all his time with Amaya seen this side of her. She was always smiling and happy. He always assumed she had it all going for her; topping in class, motivational stories in Instagram, inspiring speeches in student elections. Never had he seen her break down like this, not like this. At that moment, maybe, just maybe, Teo felt like the Amaya he knew was all a facade.

"I'm... I'm sorry... It's ok we don't have to do this now, let's go outside and get some fresh air" Teo finally gathered his calm and said.

Amaya got up and headed for the door that Teo was holding open for her. She looked at Jane who was in the same position as she was in when they entered the room, her eyes now sore from all the crying. "I just wan't the pain to end, just let me die," Jane let out a cry while looking at Amaya who was leaving the room "How do I end this pain?" she whispered to herself just before the door shut in-front of her.

Teo and Amaya stood on the edge of the balcony of the 10th floor as they waited for the lift to come. Teo could see Amaya's still blank face, it was one of despair and pity, he didn't' know if it was for Jane or herself.

"Hey, you know if you want to talk, I'm here for you" Teo reassured Amaya.

Suddenly, Amaya burst out laughing, a long laugh... almost maniacal. "Hah, you thought that was real?"

"But what you said... about your childhood... does it still not haunt you?" muttered Teo.

She gasped for air as she continued laughing and pointed at Teo "You've underestimated my acting skills, SOMEONE had to defuse the situation and I handled it perfectly. Plus I told you I'd make you regret calling me a midget!"

"This is your idea of a prank? It's not funny at all, people don't joke about such things, especially not infront of someone like Jane, suicide isn't a joke" Teo's mind was a circus at the moment trying to analyze all the information that was being input into his head, he didn't know what to believe anymore.

"Yeah, I know, suicide is not a joke, suicide is never an option," Jane gathered herself and calmly replied. But her head was filled with the last words Jane said to her and they played back in her head on a loop.

"I think you need some space, I'll head out now. Call me if you need anything, but Jesus, none of the silly 'acting' from now on" said Teo in an assertive tone.

"Haha... Sure, see you tomorrow same time here on this balcony then, we'll check up on Jane tomorrow, hopefully she doesn't do anything irrational" said Amaya.

"Yeah, hope to see her tomorrow too, don't worry, she'll be fine" assured Teo.

The wind blew Amaya's hair on to her freckle laden face, which until this point Teo hadn't bothered observing closely and he realized was one of the finest anatomical facial constructions he had ever seen. Especially her eyes, her hazel colored eyes which were ever so gleaming whenever he saw her. As he thought to himself "This girl, she's really... something." Teo couldn't help but notice that Amaya's fists were still clenched as the elevator doors shut in-front of him blocking his view of Amaya.

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"BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP"

The loud screech which still continued to play brought back Teo from his thoughts. His head bowed, standing over the lifeless body of the suicide victim that he had just seen yesterday. Despite the surgeons' best efforts, they couldn't possibly repair all the damage caused by a fall from 10 floors onto concrete, it was a miracle that the body was still identifiable.

Teo held back his tears and with his crimson colored gloves which were once white, he closed the victim's eyes. The hazel eyes that he would see for the last time, the hazel eyes that he had admired so much, the hazel eyes that hid so much pain from plain sight.

"Amaya!" Teo's head lowered even further, as he finally let go of his tears and as the saline waterfall started, he thought to himself "How do I end this pain?"

                                                                 


                                                                                               THE END