One Last Dance

Inspired by a song. I hope it'll touch your hearts. :)

One Last Dance

                I slowly closed my eyes as a concoction of exhaustion and stress attempted to pull my soul up into the world of dreams. It should have been a great feeling, except that my brain and my heart were using up all the energy that’s left in me to fight the drowsiness. It’s like my entire body’s numb and paralyzed but my brain’s still lighting up and processing all the information around me while my heart’s doing its own thing.

                Tick-tock. Tick-tock. Tick-tock.

                It was 11 in the evening, so it was expected that the lobby’s deserted. All I could hear was the clock ticking and tocking repeatedly and tirelessly beside me. I silently wished at that instant that I was that mechanical clock. My heart had been banging inside my chest for almost 3 hours now, so it had been such a miracle that it still hadn’t died on me.

                I tried to relax while I waited for the doctor’s footsteps to come out of the well-decorated door. A series of colorful lights adorned its rim while a picture of old Saint Nicholas was plastered at the center of its upper part. However, these didn’t really ease up the coldness and the dullness that the room inside emanated. It will always be an Emergency Room to the people’s eyes no matter how much they’ll decorate it.

                Just then, I heard footsteps getting louder and louder signaling that the person was coming towards my way. But it didn’t come from the cursed door. Just a few meters to my right, my mom was briskly walking towards me. Her eyes were swollen red and tears flooded her cheeks. I felt my heart crush inside me as I gazed at her face. I knew she was broken inside. I jogged towards her and wrapped my arms around her shaking body.

                “Mom,” I mumbled.

                “H-how? W-why? W-what happened?” my mom squeaked in between sobs.

                “It’s all my fault,” I whispered. Yes it was. My heart cried for that person inside the room, but it wasn’t enough for my tears to actually reach my eyes.

                “Tell me what happened,” she replied. I sighed in response, but she still waited for an answer.

                “I’ve already told him that I don’t want to see his face again, ever!” I said sternly. When all I heard from my mom were her sobs, I continued.

“So why did he have to show up?” I added wearily and paused for a while.

“I lost my temper and in the process, I shouted at him and when I walked out of him, I accidentally shoved him out of my way. But as I left the room, I heard my friends cry for help, and that was when I knew that something bad happened to him,” I explained, my voice shaking, but I tried real hard to put on a straight face - to hide the emotions that I was feeling. Guilt was consuming me, eating me up alive.

“Oh, Lexi.” My mom hugged me tight.

“Mom, why are you even crying for him?” I exclaimed.

“He was my husband, Lexi, and he is your father,” she patiently replied.

“But he left us mom.” I tried to convince her that he’s not worth the tears. That he didn’t deserve all the stress that we were feeling right now.

“I have forgiven him for that and I think it’s about time that you should forgive him too,” she said solemnly.

“My hatred for him has been going on for 3 years now,” I scoffed mockingly. “I don’t think that’s even possible. He left us for a s**t who also left him. I guess he got what he deserved.” I smirked, but my mom wasn’t happy with my words. She cried harder, clenching her chest.

“Don’t you ever say that. He loved me, Lexi, and most specially you!” my mom yelled.

“Then why did he leave us?” I argued.

“Because it wasn’t working out,” she admitted softly.

 “Then why did he have to leave me too?” My mouth twitched. It was a sign that I was about to cry. But I pinched myself so hard that I forgot the pain that I was feeling inside.

“It killed him Lexi. But he left you to me because he knows how much I’ll hurt if you’ll be away from me too. God knows how much he reached out for you all throughout these years my dear. But you were the one who shut your door,” she said, shaking her head, tears silently trickling on her cheeks.

I swallowed the lump that was forming inside my throat. It didn’t matter, I convinced myself. Nothing will change the fact that he left us.

We were startled by the sound of the door opening. A man in white, who I assumed was the doctor, stepped out of the door. I could feel the cool wind run out of the door, embracing my tiny arms. I shivered as the doctor walked towards us. Mom was crying more loudly now.

“Mrs. Wilkins?” he started.

“That’s me,” she mumbled weakly.

“Your husband suffered from a major heart attack, and when I checked his records, this wasn’t the first time he had it,” he stated softly, as if we were fragile things that he didn’t want to break. My mom gasped in disbelief beside me. I, for one, was also as surprised as she was. My dad was the strongest man I’ve ever met.

“And due to the previous attacks and this one, his heart has been deteriorating. He survived tonight, but I can’t guarantee that he’ll last long. The tests have shown that his heart is getting weaker and weaker with each passing minute.” He continued. I stood there unable to process all the information that he just spouted, but my mom was weeping uncontrollably.

“Can we talk to him now?” I asked when I finally found my voice.

“He’s resting, but you can stay beside him till he’s conscious. He’s being transferred right now to Room 212,” he replied.

“Thank you,” I said sincerely. He nodded with a smile in response. I pulled my mom with me and guided her to dad’s room. When we reached it, she immediately entered the room, while I stayed outside the door. She convinced me to stay beside my dad, but I told her that I couldn’t see him right now. I was still shaken up and I knew that my heart wouldn’t be able to take it. So I sat on the bench outside the room until I drifted to sleep.

           

     A light tap on my right shoulder woke me up. I grumbled lazily and looked up to the person who disturbed my sleep. My back was hurting and my neck was feeling stiff. Mom was smiling at me when I fully opened my eyes.

                “Your dad’s finally awake. He wants to talk to you,” she said excitedly. My heart started to pound again. What would I say to him?

                “Be careful, okay? Keep your feelings in check,” she warned me as I was about to enter the room.

                “Then come with me, please?” I begged her. I was scared that I would just burst into tears when I see him. She must have seen the fear in my eyes since she nodded almost immediately.

                Once we entered the room, I saw my dad sitting patiently on his bed. His face brightened up like a light bulb when he saw me with my mom. I walked towards the right side of his bed while mom was on the other side. I couldn’t look him in the eyes so I focused my eyes on the bed instead.

                “I’m glad you’re here.” His voice cracked. I looked at him only to find tears streaming down his face. I didn’t bother replying.

                “I’m sorry that I had to leave you,” he was sobbing real hard. It was the first time I saw my dad cry that much. I looked away as a tear escaped my eyes. It was my first tear in three years. I had been feeling numb since the day dad left us. I was too angry back then to even cry my heart out.

                “I had to do it. I know it’s not much of an excuse, but now I know that I should’ve worked harder to make it all work out,” he continued.

                “I’m sorry if I weren’t there whenever you needed a dad to be there for you. I’m sorry if I wasn’t there when I had to scrutinize your first boyfriend. I’m sorry if I wasn’t there to give you a ride to your prom night. I’m sorry I wasn’t there when you and your mom had to fight. I’m sorry that you had to tell your friends that you came from a broken home. I’m sorry if I wasn’t there when I had to defend you from the haters. I’m sorry…” His sobs made his words slurry, but I perfectly understood them. My heart was breaking into pieces. I was also feeling sorry for not giving him the chance to get closer to me. Tears were now racing fast from my eyes.

                “Alexandria,” he called softly. I wiped away the tears rapidly before I looked at his direction.

                “I know I don’t deserve anything from you, and I know it will still take a long before you’ll forgive me, but can you please do me one last favor?” he pleaded.

                “What is it?” I whispered.

                “Can you dance with me?” he begged. I saw my mom stand up at the corner of my eye,

                “You can’t Alex. You’re body’s too weak,” my mom told him. But my dad just smiled.

                “When you were born, I swore to myself that I’ll dance with you at your eighteenth birthday,” he smiled to himself. “I know you may say that it’s a day late, but I clearly remember that you were born on the 16^th at 6 in the evening, so technically your day doesn’t end till tonight at 6,” he grinned. He always does that whenever he outsmarts me. He slipped out of the bed, his knees shaking. He walked towards me, and knelt in front of me. I gasped when I saw what he did.

                “Can I be your last dance?” he smiled hopefully. I nodded slowly as I made him stand up. I didn’t bother hiding the tears that escaped from my eyes. My mom rummaged my bag for my iPod. Normally, I would be furious at her for doing that, but at that moment, I just didn’t care. It took her a few more minutes before she played a song from it. I knew that she was clueless about the songs that were in my playlist so I was hoping that she’d find a good one. Just then, music started serenading the coldness of the room. The song “Dance with my Father Again” vibrated from the speakers of my iPod.

                My dad placed his arms around my waist, careful that he’d leave a small distance between us. Maybe he was scared that I’d pull away from him. So I wrapped my arms around him and crossed the inches between us. I felt my father smile to himself. We swayed to the song’s rhythm silently, but I knew that my dad was crying since I felt his tears on my scalp. But I didn’t mind. It was the nicest feeling that I had ever had. I smiled to the only lyrics that I got from the song… “I’d play a song that would never, ever end. Cause I’d love love love to dance with my father again.” That was surely what I was feeling at that moment.

                As the song was about to end, dad pushed me slightly away from him and mumbled “I love you, Lexi. You’ll always be my little baby girl.”

                “I love you too, dad. And I forgive you.” I sobbed real hard as those words left my lips. It was like a thorn was pulled out from my aching heart. He started to cry again.

                “Thank you, Lexi. Thank you!” And then one last time, he smiled at me.

                That night, I slept beside him while holding his hand. It was the most peaceful sleep that I’ve ever had in three years. My heart was glad that my dad and I reconciled, but it was also sad that a near death experience had to happen before I could even realize how much we loved each other. Nevertheless, I was happy.

                When I woke up that morning, the first thing I wanted to see was my dad’s smiling face. So I stood up and kissed him on the cheek, hoping that he’d wake up and smile at me. But what greeted my lips was his cold skin. My heart started banging while my head was spinning. My lips were quivering as I reached out for his wrist, to check his pulse. Tears started flowing when I didn’t feel a single beat. I begged and begged for him to wake up, but he didn’t respond. I called out to my mom as I hugged my dad tight. Not now, please. Not now. I said to myself over and over again. I then saw my mom rush inside the room with a doctor behind her.  And that was the last thing I saw before everything turned black.

Author's Note

This is my first story, so please tell me how I can improve. Thank you! :)

Awarded "Hand me the Tissues" in the Tears of Blood Contest.

Reviews

[Tai Ryens]

Heartfelt story. It only adds to some of the sadness that I bare with now. It is truly a touching story, you've penned this really well. You take a father and daughter dance to deeper meanings, and I seriously love the fact that you add history to this short story. The emotions of the young girl were felt easily by me, and it is an excellent story.
One problem, why did everything go black in the end? Death? Faint? Pass out? Lights turned off? I don't get that.
Anyways, nice story. Keep it up!

[grace]

This was a masterpiece. I absolutely loved it. The storyline was amazing, very sad and heartfelt. So emotional and powerful, you should definitely write more stories. This is definitely one of my favourites, I am in love with this! it broughtt tears to my eyes. beautiful work:)

[13ReasonsWhy]

oh my gosh! im speechless.... this was so heartfelt. amazing. no words. 100/100. the loving relationship between daughter and father made me tear up! a story well written!!!

[Irfan Bashir Shah]

Improvement stands no chance here.
"One Last Dance" i will remember this for a long time to come.
Admirable!

[The Winter Grey]

Just... wow. I don't know where to start.

From a technical aspect, I must say you've improved a lot since some of your earlier writings. You will find no complaints of stiff writing or shallow characterization here, each are very well done. You really sucked me in to the world of these characters, made me feel for them. I could feel my own eyes welling up as I neared the end, because I knew what was coming. I wanted to look away from the screen, but as a testament to your true talent at writing, I didn't. This was heartwrenching and powerful.

[emma]

ohmygod i almost cried. that was beautiful and heartbreaking and amazing. i'm speechless, i can't come up with a better review...this was seriously wonderful, great work. :)

[TamiViolet]

You moved me...... as I taste the tears.... To love and be loved in return is just about all we can hope for in this thing called life... You really gave the characters dimension and colour... That one last dance... Now, I cry again after listening to Luther Vandross :-( Wonderful work, had to stop by and tell you that.

[KT]

Awww, now I'm sad.... :'( It's a very emotional and touching story, and you've written it very well. Great job!

[Coyote Poetry]

No improvement needed. You gave reason and the flow of the story was perfect. I like the way you led the reader. Giving history and the sadness felt by the young girl. I like the ending to the outstanding story.
Coyote