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The Empress
#WritcoStoryPrompt12
The old woman was near death. I could hear her try to draw in painful gasps of breath. I felt helpless as a doctor in this remote part of the world. Was there nothing I could do?
Fifteen years of specialising in human health had brought me to this moment and I was helpless. The empress lay before me, a well respected woman who had been nothing but kind throughout her life. Footsteps shuffled back and forth in the room as they expected me to spit out the life saving answer. They had paid me thousands to be here from the other side of the world, for they had heard that I was the most specialised in this area. They were not wrong, I had saved hundreds when others had given them a life sentence. However, experience also teaches you another thing. Sometimes the harbinger of death calls and there is no way of distracting him. I felt like a fraud to be letting down an empress and her country after the fortune they had spent on me.
Although the woman was struggling to breathe, her eyes were twinkling with knowledge. She was aware of her surroundings and despite the pain, she did not seem at all scared.
I thought she had lost her ability to speak but a slender white finger beckoned me closer to her.
"So much money.... house empty... let me... go" she whispered in between hoarse breaths.
She had everything and yet she had nothing and I recount this story for it was baffling to see that an empress had everything we would ever wish for, and yet what she truly wanted was on the other side, for what use is an empty house if it is not a home?
I looked at her as she took her last breath, and shook her hand gently. It was an honour serving her.
© BellaSparkles
The old woman was near death. I could hear her try to draw in painful gasps of breath. I felt helpless as a doctor in this remote part of the world. Was there nothing I could do?
Fifteen years of specialising in human health had brought me to this moment and I was helpless. The empress lay before me, a well respected woman who had been nothing but kind throughout her life. Footsteps shuffled back and forth in the room as they expected me to spit out the life saving answer. They had paid me thousands to be here from the other side of the world, for they had heard that I was the most specialised in this area. They were not wrong, I had saved hundreds when others had given them a life sentence. However, experience also teaches you another thing. Sometimes the harbinger of death calls and there is no way of distracting him. I felt like a fraud to be letting down an empress and her country after the fortune they had spent on me.
Although the woman was struggling to breathe, her eyes were twinkling with knowledge. She was aware of her surroundings and despite the pain, she did not seem at all scared.
I thought she had lost her ability to speak but a slender white finger beckoned me closer to her.
"So much money.... house empty... let me... go" she whispered in between hoarse breaths.
She had everything and yet she had nothing and I recount this story for it was baffling to see that an empress had everything we would ever wish for, and yet what she truly wanted was on the other side, for what use is an empty house if it is not a home?
I looked at her as she took her last breath, and shook her hand gently. It was an honour serving her.
© BellaSparkles
