Everyone Dies Alone

By Joseph Giordano

Everyone Dies Alone

I’ll be in Intensive Care. Sad-eyed loved ones will gather. I’ll rally to coax a smile, but they’ll be relieved to leave.

I’ll long to have my life back, but in the stillness of three am, I’ll accept my fate. The cycle of pain will return. I’ll reach for the nurse’s call button, the source of soothing morphine. In the dim yellow lights of the vital-signs monitor, a lady in blue will appear. My thumb won’t press the button. The lady will beckon; I’ll reach for her.

Life is precious, until it’s not; but I won’t die alone.