Stolen Moments by Samantha Morgan

Author:Samantha Morgan [Morgan, Samantha]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2020-02-13T16:00:00+00:00

Melia woke up to a frantic Luka. “She can’t breathe!”

Snapping up into a seated position, Melia rubbed the sleep from her eyes. She jumped out from under the covers and followed Luka to the master bedroom, where they found Susan coughing violently as she leaned on her bedside table. Her frail body seemed to be disappearing into the pillows and fluffy sheets of her bed. Susan’s body shook with every ragged breath. Melia quickly ran to the closet Susan had cleared to keep her medications in. She grabbed Susan’s pain pills and a small oxygen tank. She listened to her lungs and told Luka to lower the temperature of the room a few degrees.

“It sounds like there’s some fluid build-up in there. A lower temperature sometimes helps to relieve that discomfort.” She quickly set up the oxygen tank and slipped the mask over Susan’s face. Once her breath stabilized, Melia offered her a glass of water and her pain pills. Susan tiredly and gratefully beamed at Melia, but was unable to speak. Melia rubbed some warmth back into Susan’s hands and arms. She nodded to Luka to do the same with Susan’s lower body. Once Susan had fallen asleep, Melia propped up her pillows and motioned for Luka to leave her alone.

“Dyspnea,” she said quietly as she lowered her eyes. “It’s common in end-of-life cancer patients.”

Luka nodded and rubbed his eyes. “I was told that sometimes last breaths can be really pained and difficult. I guess I thought she was dying.”

Melia nodded. In the kitchen, Luka handed her a glass of water. He looked her over, a shiver running up his spine. She had been in total control; calm, cool, collected. She had worked so quickly and so compassionately; it was a bit exhilarating to see her at work. Almost as quickly as he had this thought though, he thought of his wife was upstairs, sick — and he felt ashamed.

Melia stared into the cup of tea Luka had handed her. She blinked back tears. Susan’s faltering health had caused her unexpected grief and she often went to the bathroom or to her room to cry. Luka walked into the living room and sank into an armchair. Melia followed silently and sat down on the sofa across from him. For a few moments that stretched into an eternity for Melia, they sat in complete silence. The only sounds were the crickets outside, the ticking of a clock somewhere nearby, and the steady rise and fall of Luka’s breath.

“The worst is the waiting.” Luka sighed and put his mug down on the coffee table between him and Melia. “Throughout the night I wake up often to check if she’s still breathing. Every morning, I wake up and wonder if this is the morning I’m going to wake up and she’s going to be dead. I worry constantly whenever she coughs, whenever her breath becomes uneven. I worry every second I’m not with her.” Luka fell silent again. He brushed back his disheveled hair and covered his face with his hands.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.