Miracles

There aren't enough miracles in the world to go around.

Miracles

Paige Simpson sat in the white room of the hospital. She barely noticed the suffocating clean scent of the building as everything was disinfected. She watched as her Daddy’s chest rose and fell with each labored breath. Her blue eyes stared into oblivion as she listened to the steady beats of the heart monitor. Her red hair hung over her face, as if it sucked all the negative feelings in the room.

Like every day Paige visited her Mommy was in the bathroom where she cried until she had no tears left. She thought Paige couldn’t hear her through the walls, but she could hear every muffled sob. Like every day young Paige clasped her hands in a silent prayer. She had always been told that if you prayed hard enough, God could work miracles. So she sat, and prayed as hard as she could so Daddy would get better. She couldn’t let him go up to Heaven yet, he needed to take her to school. He needed to make his yummy pudding for her birthday. He needed to tuck her in, read to her, and keep the mean monsters that hid under her bed away. Daddy couldn’t go bye-bye.

Despite the child’s wishes, his time neared at a rapid pace. The nurses knew, the doctors knew, the mother knew, the father knew, and deep inside, Paige knew that his would be his last night amongst the living.

A weak grip on her hands brought her out of her prayers and her blue eyes met her father’s green and he smiled. His body was frail and weak, and yet his smile retained its warmth just as his eyes had retained their spark.

“What are you doing, sweetie?” Henry asked in between breaths. His gravelly voice had just been above a whisper, hardly able to be heard, but Paige’s ears had been trained.

“Praying so you don’t go bye-bye.” A child’s answer can be so simple, yet be more devastating than any tragedy. Henry had to close his eyes from the pain that shot through his chest from the comment.

“That’s true, but think about everyone that needs miracles. No matter how much you pray, there are only so many miracles that can be given. Even if I’m spared, a child no older than you will have to go to Heaven. Someone who never got the chance to live will have to go bye-bye. That wouldn’t be fair, would it?”

“I don’t care. I want my Daddy.” Tears threatened to spill over at any moment. She didn’t understand why her Daddy couldn’t be saved. She couldn’t understand. How could a young girl be expected to understand that there simply aren’t enough miracles in the world? She rested her head on her father’s chest and hugged him the best she could as tears soaked into his hospital gown.

“You don’t really mean that. A nice girl like you has to care a whole lot.” Henry said as he slowly, painfully ran a hand through her hair. “I’ve had my chance to live. The moment I held you in my arms I did everything I ever wanted. I can go happily. Save your miracle for someone who hasn’t had the chance.” Henry lied. He couldn’t go happily. He would never see what his daughter would grow up to be. He would never see her graduate high school, he would never be able to walk her down the aisle, he couldn't even watch her grow up into a beautiful young women he was sure she would become; but if she knew this, if she knew how much leaving hurt him, it would just make it that much harder on her.

Henry was tired. His time was an end. His eyes close on their own accord as they ignored the will of their master to stay open. His breathing grew shallower by the minute until it stopped completely. Paige’s eyes widened with panic as the beats of the monitor turned into a steady drone. The nurses and doctors forced her out of the room as they tended to Henry, all she could do was scream for her Daddy to come back.

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John Gavert awoke and immediately released a pained moan. He could tell that today was going to be one of those terrible ones. He had nothing but a terrible book to entertain himself with, one which he has already read through many times. His friends started high school that day and wouldn’t be able to visit until later in the day and his parents still had to work. He closed his eyes and attempted to return to the land of dreams, where his hair remained in the black, messy state it once was in and it didn’t hurt to move. In his dreams he could still run and play with his friends. In his dreams he was free from the confines of his white prison cell. In his dreams, he was free from the suffering of cancer.  

After a short while, he discovered sleep was impossible. His body ached too much. He stared out his window at the black clouds that reflected his mood perfectly. He had nothing to do but stare until he could finally sleep.

John turned in surprise as his door creaked open. There, a young child who couldn’t have been out of grade school walked in and sat in one of the chairs along the wall, just to the right of the bed. She bowed her head and allowed her fiery hair to fall over her head as she clasped her hands together.

Bemused, John asked, “what are you doing here, kid?” He couldn’t gather any reason as to why a stranger would be in his room, a small kid at that. The answer caused his heart to skip a beat.

“I’m giving you Daddy’s miracle.” John turned to face the window once again, he wasn’t sure how he was supposed to respond, and he wanted to hide the tears the slowly spilled fell, despite his best efforts to keep them contained. A warm light that that broke through the darkness of the clouds to shine directly upon his face told him that maybe this day wouldn’t be as bad as he thought.  



 

 

Reviews

[Bright Ocean Star]

WIR, It takes a lot to bring me to tears, but you managed to do it in just a few paragraphs. Awesome write, my friend. This is full of heart and oh, so sad. "There aren't enough miracles in the world to go around" is heartbreaking, but if that father saves that boy's life, he may have earned his place in heaven. Phenomenal piece, beautiful beyond words. 100/100

[RAOrourke]

Paragraph three I think this should replace one of the his.

when the child and he look at each other you have :and he smiled have you thought of as he smiled...it really just changes it to help the reader come into the story and experience the exchange.

"into a beautiful young women he was sure she would become;" into the beautiful young woman he was sure she would become...the changes your sentence as well.

"His time was an end" His time was at the end...

Overall very well written piece filled with emotion and wonderfrul descriptions. Great job

Courtesy of the Constructive Critics

[WhereItResides]

Thanks for the review! I will take those changes into account.