A steady beating monitor fills the silence of that lonely room. You glance
at the lines on the monitor, silently praying for it to keep beating up and
down, not to skip or even to stop beating. Your gaze turns over to the
hospital bad, and sadness fills your heart. You see a man, early 20's,
peacefully sleeping and the only sounds that you are the bustling of the
hallway, and the hiss and sounds of the other machines trying to keep this
man alive. You look closer at this man, ravaged by cancer, and you could
just wish you could exchange places with him and as your eyes scan the
room you notice three people fast asleep on chairs. The first one you
observe is another teenage boy…you watch him as he tosses and turns,
you just long that you could make life easier for them all. A cough
suddenly fills the air…you fix your eyes on the bed where you see these
pain-filled eyes, weary and tired. You slowly murmur, through that lump in
your throat, "What's your name? "Chase…Altman", he hazily murmurs as
his eyes slid shut in exhaustion. A few hours later, while you are making
your rounds, you walk past his room, you hear a low groan…you gradually
crack open his door, and you stare wide-eyed as Chase puts his hand
over his heart…then abruptly his heart monitor starts to whine, and you
strain to hear his pain-filled voice mutter, "I'm going to see mom", then
Chase's monitor lets out a loud flat line showing that Chase was gone. You
dash into his hospital room, and rush over to the bed, leaning over him,
searching for a pulse; some sign of life, there isn't anything. Sighing, you
slowly turn off the monitors and the machines, and silently pray, thanking
God for let his suffering and agony cease.
This poem is in memory of my friend who was like a brother to me who passed away from kidney cancer this past October. R.I.P. Chase Altman, (1989 –2009) I miss you…my brother
