The Storm
The stale hospital air, the bustling of staff and nurses, and the beeping of hospital machines were all things that filled the senses of Haley and Milton when they walked into the Mayo Clinic Hospital. Haley saw as they walked people with machines and tubes coming out of every square inch of their bodies. She felt the looming presence of the Grim Reaper hovering over the floor like a stormcloud and it only got more intense as they reached their destination. The doctors came in days before to say Haley and Milton’s father was the sickest patient on the floor. They slid the glass door open around the privacy curtain and were greeted by Beth, their aunt.
“Hi guys,” she said as she stood by their dad who was in a coma state and looked dead already.
Milton replied, “Hey” and sat down
Haley nodded and sat down next to Milton
They made light conversation with Beth as they did the day before just sitting in that room and to Haley, what felt like a wallowing state.
Finally, Haley and Milton’s grandparents came in and they greeted them as well. It wasn't until two doctors walked in; the room fell silent the doctor announced that,” The cancer had spread to Daniel’s, their father’s, brain, and he was officially brain dead.”
Haley and Milton were filled with emotion, but as they looked at each other they both knew it was time for them to convince Beth to put him in hospice. This was something their dad was against at first as he wanted to fight, but after this news, there was no fight left. They wanted to do it as this was their last day in Jacksonville and everyone was there as a family and wanted to avoid a call about the news during school.
After the doctor left, Milton spoke up, “If we could all go into the conference room down the hall Haley and I have something we would like to discuss with you guys.” They all followed them down the hall into the room that was stuffy and small it was more similar to a private waiting room than a conference.
Haley started, “With the doctors telling us dad is brain dead we would like for him to go on hospice today.”
Beth replied, “I know what the doctors said seems scary, but what you have to understand is doctors have come and told me 5 different things before, so just because they said he is brain dead does not necessarily mean that it is accurate.”
This response was not taken well by Haley and Milton and was followed by back-and-forth arguing and sobbing between the kids and Beth, the grandparents flipped-flopped between sides.
Until a break in the storm that filled the room, a nurse walks in to say, “Daniel has just passed.”
Beth lets out a screech and throws the coffee on the ground running to the room; everyone else follows. Haley watches as she walks into the room Beth, a grown 52-year-old woman, is in the fetal position sobbing and screaming. Haley and Milton cry as they console themselves as all the nurses fill the room trying to calm Beth down, not his children whose dad just died. Haley stared at her dad. He looked the same as before, like a skeleton, a zombie even.
Finally, the sobbing turned into a sniffle and the dust started to settle, the body was still in the room and Beth was sitting with it holding his hand. Haley sat on the couch looking out the window at the ducks down below; she pondered on the bliss the ducks live in. They don’t know about the weight that crushes the heart of the person on the fourth floor, about the shadow that she lives in, and how she just wanted to scream at them that today is not a day to happy and free.
There was a stillness in the room that lasted for two hours until Haley and Milton met their mom, who was not married to their dad, in a conference room, and had been kicked out by Beth earlier that day. They talked with the head nurse about hurrying the process to get out of there.
The nurse said, “As long as you guys are ready, I’ll tell her she has to start packing.”
They needed to move the body anyway and couldn’t do it until everyone had left. The nurse told Beth who said she would start packing, but did so very slowly. Haley knew this could not be the end, there was bound to be a blowout too much had happened and she knew Beth blamed them for not being in the room when Daniel died. She thought, “What is thunder without lightning? What is calm without chaos? What is stillness without a storm? And what is Beth without damaging words?”
Finally, it happens.
The grandfather starts by asking, “So are you kids leaving tonight?”
Milton responds, “Maybe, we might stay another night, we aren’t sure yet.”
Beth chimes in, “But I thought that’s why you wanted to do hospice today and dragged us all out of the room because it had to be today.”
Haley jumps in, “Yes, but after everything we might wait as it is 3 o’clock and it is a long drive home.”
Beth starts with, “Well I’m sure your mom is glad to not have to be back up here.”
Haley in a stern voice goes, “What is that supposed to mean?”
Beth states, “Grammy had said your mom wanted your dad to die and is now probably glad he is dead.”
Milton and Haley start to feel flames of rage burn up inside.
Haley says, “What are talking about?”
Milton says, “You’re lying my mom never said that.”
After some back-and-forth screaming and Beth just repeating, “She’s glad he is dead.”
Haley leaves the room and slams the door that echoes through the hall. She walks down the hall to the room to her mother who is in the conference room and is shaking and trying to breathe as she explains to her mom what happened. The hospital room had fallen silent with Haley’s abrupt exit. Finally, Haley comes back in as the nurse is telling Beth to pack everything up as it had been three hours at this point and the body needed to be moved. Beth started to pack in a hurry now.
Haley had just noticed the storm outside, it was sudden as the skies were clear before. She related it to God’s anger at the situation that just happened, it was an intense storm, something that felt right out of the Old Testament with Moses and the Pharoh of Egypt. This was the storm, the cloud, the breaking point it hit like a ton of bricks down Haley’s spine this is what led up to all the little manipulative moments, all the gaslighting, and all the pain. This was the climax of the story she didn’t even know she was living. She watched as thunder turned to lightning, calm turned to chaos, stillness into a storm, and Beth solidified into an evil person with her damaging words. This day is remembered as the fall of a hero and the rise of a villain.