The Law of Attraction [Chris Beck]

Chapter 23

15 Years Ago

They sat by the hospital bed, their mother sobbing as she clutched her recently deceased husbands hand. Down the hall a woman had died and the agonizing sound of the consistent beep turned into a long, sickening single beep. Then silence, followed by tears, cries for the nurses, panicked footsteps. Clattering trays, nurses chatting together, the crinkle of cheap bouquet plastic from the overpriced hospital gift store. But in room 206, there was only the sound of their mother crying. It had started out as overwhelming sobs that shook her entire body, and quickly faded into breathless cries that were hardly audible. Only the shake of her body gave it away that she was even crying anymore.

Alice stood up from her seat; Nick expected her to go wrap her arms around their mother. But the young teenager walked out of room 206 without a word. There was nothing to cry about; she knew that her father was going to die. They had not been given a lot of notice, only three months as the cancer was caught far too late. Three months where the family should have done everything together, but instead it was three painful months of hospital visits, her father frequently in agonizing pain. His death was finally a relief from that pain, and it was not his death that was clutching her heart.

It was the unfairness of life itself.

The time lost. The moments that would never happen. The goodbye she neglected to say in fear that it would be the cause of his death; if she didn't let go, how could he? Once she was outside of the hospital, she felt as though she could breathe for the first time since the arrived at the hospital around 3AM the night before. They had gotten a call from the hospital, saying that he was not likely to make it through the night. So they climbed into the car, Nick drove as their mother wasn't stable enough; he took care of everyone like a father should, as if he knew he had to take on that role even before he died.

And it was Nick who approached her as she sat on a bench in the parking lot, her blurred over eyes watching mindlessly as people shuffled and wheeled through the parking lot. "What was that, Alice?"

"Don't." She shook her head; she didn't need the lecture on trying to comfort their mother when Alice was just doing what she needed to in order to cope.

"Mum's in there right now, alone, with dad-"

"Dad's dead. He's not there anymore."

"Alice!" he shouted. "We're a family, you're supposed to be in there!"

"I'm supposed to be enjoying my summer, not spending it inside a hot hospital room watching my dad die!" She stood up. "It's not supposed to be like this!"

"That's life, Alice." He grabbed her shoulders. "Look, this is just as hard on us as it is on you. I'm so sorry you have to deal with this, you're way too young. You're a good kid, and you deserve an easier life than this. Just promise me... However you decide to get through this, you won't do anything rash."