I saved someone
Hillary POV
I yawned for the umpteenth time today as I became bored with the therapy session with my patients who refused to pay for their sessions. All they talked about were their personal lives and solutions to them as if I were God.
All they had to offer were talks. They took the liberty of coming again because I would always listen to them.
“That’s it, Gary. You are going to be fine.” I told my fifth patient, who kept talking about his wife and children. Gary was a fifty-year-old man who lost one of his legs in a factory accident, and ever since then, he had lost every bit of respect he deserved from his family. They rendered him useless, and Gary, who used to be a hardworking man, became a man who had no value to his family.
“I haven’t eaten for days, Hillary. They won’t give me anything. ”
I stared at the man who I thought was better than me, but after listening to his stories, I found out that there were some people I was still better than. “I feel so weak, Hillary. At this rate, I might die.”
“You are not dying, Gary.” I dipped my hand inside the brown bag on my desk and took out a dollar bill. “Find something to eat, Gary. You’ll be fine. ” I handed over the last $10 in my bag to him.
“Hillary!” Gary burst into tears, and I rushed to console him. “Thank you. I should be paying you for the therapy sessions, but every time I come, you always help me. Thank you. ” He joined his hands together and raised them.
“That’s okay, Gary. “You are welcome.” I smiled at him and took his hands into mine. “Go eat something.”
As he was about to reply, my phone rang in my bag, and I left Gary’s side to pick up the phone. I greeted my dad’s specialist joyfully, but I was met with a piece of sad news. “What happened to my father? I’m on my way. ”
“Is everything okay?” Gary questioned.
I didn’t bother to reply as I rushed out of my office. Tears spilled down my face as I ran down the street. The hospital was just a few blocks from my office, which gave me an advantage as I didn’t have to take a bus. As I ran towards the hospital, I thought about how my father had been with me from the beginning, ever since I lost my mother to an accident that killed her on the spot.
When I got to the hospital, my father was covered up in white clothes and was being moved to the morgue. I rushed inside the ward and pulled the clothes off my father’s body. “Dad!” I kneeled beside him and burst into tears. My heart broke when I saw my father’s pale face. His once happy face had turned into a frown, and he wasn’t breathing. He was dead. My father was dead.
“Dad! You promised to stay with me! ” I grabbed his hand, which had grown cold, and placed it on my cheek. “Why are you, cold dad? Why? You promised to walk me down the aisle, but you left me. ” I cried. I couldn’t believe my father was dead. I slapped his bare chest, thinking he would wake up, but it was futile. “Wake up, Dad!” I expected a movement, but all I got was a lifeless body that had stopped breathing. “Dad! Stand up! ” I continued to slap his chest, hoping that a miracle would happen.
“That’s enough, Hills.” John tried to pull me away from my father’s body, but I stayed glued to him. “He is gone, Hillary.” He dragged me. “Let him rest in peace.”
“Dad!” Tears continued to stream down my face as I thought of how my father had died. He died in pain and sorrow. He didn’t fulfill his promise to me. Was that how people die? My father was gone, and all I had of him were the memories we shared. If I could make one wish, it would be for my father to be resurrected.
My life would be incomplete without my father because he was all I had, but Death had something else in mind for him. Death took my father away from me.
“You have to pay up your debts for you to bury him,” John said to me.
Was that how people were buried? People you see every day die just like that and are buried afterward, which means you’ll never see them again.
“You lied to me, John.” I accused him because he told me my father would live for at least three months.
“I’m sorry, Hills, but he was in pain and died because his body couldn’t take the pain anymore. Before he died, he called your name and said he loved you. I am sorry, Hills.”
I burst into tears as I couldn’t hear my father’s last word. I didn’t listen to him speak, and losing him without talking to him for the last time hurt my heart. “Dad!” I cried and ran out of the ward as I couldn’t watch as my father was pulled away on the stretcher. I didn’t know where I was running to, but I found myself on the hospital rooftop. I didn’t even take the elevator but ran all twelve floors.
I was mad at myself for not realizing that my father could die anytime. I was also angry at God for taking my father away from me. The cool breeze on the rooftop blew my braided hair as I stared at the sky. I took a deep breath and pointed to the sky. “God!” I yelled. “You are cruel and unfair. I wouldn’t say I like the universe you created because people die, and it’s all because of you. Why did you take everyone I love away from me? ” I sniffled as my nose ran down to my lips. I wiped my nose with my hand and continued yelling. “Why me?”
While I continued ranting, I heard a movement on the rooftop. I thought I was the only one on the rooftop, but somebody else was with me. The man stood beside me using a crutch as a supporter. I couldn’t see the man’s face, but from his body language, I could tell he was muscular. The man helped himself to the rooftop’s edge by sitting down and dropping his crutches. I found his movements dangerous as he sat down as if he had had three lives.
“What are you doing?” I questioned him, but he didn’t reply. But instead, he shifted and was almost falling. “Are you insane? What the hell are you doing, you fool?” I rushed to grab his right hand and tried to pull him, but he didn’t budge. His hand felt as if it had no life. “Why are you trying to end your life?”
“It’s none of your business,” he said sternly. “Pretend you never saw me.” He said it as if he was threatening me.
“I am not going to do that.”
“Then watch me fall to my death.” He jerked his hand free from mine and tried to jump. Before he could try to jump, I grabbed his left hand.
“Are you crazy?” I shouted and held on to him. He was too strong, and I felt my hand slipping away. Tears sprung to my eyes as I thought of what would happen if another person died on my watch. The man tried to free his hand from my grip, but I didn’t give up. “God, I’m sorry for what I said to you. I’m sorry. “Please help me save this man.” I prayed silently and pulled the man with every ounce of strength.
I successfully pulled him off the edge, and he fell backward and landed on top of me. “Thank you, God!” I shouted as I was out of breath. I saved someone.
I saved someone.
“Are you enjoying this?” The man’s husky voice brought me out of my thoughts as I had forgotten about the weight of the man on top of me. He was as heavy as a large rock.
I pushed the man off of me, and he landed beside me. “I saved someone!” I shouted, and I pointed to the sky. “Can you believe that universe? I saved someone! ” I closed my eyes and muttered a prayer to God. Even though I had lost my father, I was happy that I had saved a man from ending his life.
I stood up from the ground and offered my hand for the man to take, but he refused and tried to stand on his own. That’s when I noticed that something was wrong with him. “You need this?” I offered my hand to help him, but he slapped it away with his left hand. That was the second time I noticed no movement on his right hand. It was as if his right hand was dead.
“Don’t be selfish. I just saved you! ”
“I never asked for your help.” There goes his powerful voice again.
“Look, I know you are probably tired of living, but I’m here to help you.” I offered my hand again, and this time, he took it, and I helped him up.
He shook terribly as he tried to maintain his balance. His right hand and feet were as stiff as a rock, and I didn’t detect any movement from him. It was none of my business, so I didn’t bother to ask him.
Heavy footsteps sounded on the stairs as I saw five huge men coming to the rooftop. When they saw me, they rushed towards me and grabbed the suicide man from my hold. “Hey, I saved him first.”
“Who are you?” One of the men asked him. His voice was as powerful as the suicide man’s, and he was heftier than the rest.
“I should be asking you those questions, you men in black.” I retorted. “This man here tried to commit suicide, and I saved him. It would help if you were thankful for that. ”
“What? You tried to kill yourself, Lou! What the hell is your problem? ” The hefty man who asked me who I questioned the suicide man angrily. “You made us leave so you could commit suicide!” He yelled.
The suicidal man didn’t say anything, but I saw him trembling as if he was having trouble standing. “I think he needs to rest on something,” I said to the men. “I don’t know who you are and don’t want to know. He might owe you some money, which may lead him to commit suicide, but go easy on him,” I advised. “He is going through a lot.” I pointed to his body. “He needs help.”
“Stay out of this!” The suicide man warnedProperty of Nô)(velDr(a)ma.Org.
Hell no. I wasn’t staying out of it because I saved his ass. “Listen, suicide man. “I saved your ass, and if you needed help after settling your bills with the people you owe,” I pointed to the men whose faces I couldn’t see as it was too dark on the rooftop, and the only illumination was the moon. “I give people therapy sessions, and most patients don’t pay as they can’t afford it. Just come and register, and you can pay anytime you wish. ” I dipped my hand into my pocket and handed over my business card, but none of them took it, so I dropped it on the ground. “Go easy on him, m, or I’ll be a witness if anything happens to him.” I walked away and started crying again when I thought about my dead father.
He would be so proud if he heard that I saved someone from dying.