Five years had passed since Brent had accepted his uncle’s support. He’d gone on his church mission and come back with enough stories from it to talk Maria’s ear off. Brent still had the argument with his brother that compelled him to move away. Brent had devoted everything to making this play out in his favor. It was a Sunday morning and Brent was woken up by the sound of his Alarm. He opened his eyes slowly to take in the bright morning sunlight, but it burned at his pupils. He shut his eyes instantly the moment he felt the rays hit his corneas. His head fell back against the pillows on his bed. The sensation felt nice and his mind began to drift again as if he’d not even woken up. Though his moment of peace was cut short by the sound of the doorbell.

  He shot up in his bed and pushed the covers away, but stopped for a second to let his pajama-covered legs get used to the morning atmosphere. A knocking sound came which pulled at his attention. He finally managed to get up after it occurred to him that the knocking and ringing would sooner compel one of his roommates to answer the door and complain to him about it later. He got out of bed and answered the door in his T-shirt and PJs. “Did you just wake up?” Maria’s voice came before Brent could even work up a greeting. “I thought I told you last night. Today is the day I’m giving a talk in church. Hurry up and get dressed so we can go. I wanna get there before everyone else arrives.

  “Sorry,” Brent replied, turning around and making his way back toward his room. He didn’t even bother to shut the door behind Maria. One of the clients we take care of didn’t want to go to bed until Midnight last night.” He continued as he opened the door to his room and went straight to his closet. He shuffled through his closet, removing the first formal piece of clothing he could find. “There,” He said while hugging a pile of clothing close to his chest. “I’ll try to keep it short.”

  “Where are you going?,” Maria asked with a confused look. “Are you going to shower? Did you not see the time? We have to be there in twenty minutes. We don’t have the time for that.”

  “Oh,” Brent replied with his gaze dropping to the floor. “I’ll just get dressed then.” he continued, pausing for a second to wait for her.

  “Well?” she asked, breaking the short silence. “What are you waiting for?” Brent replied with a gesture toward the door. “Darling, we've slept together. We’ve been sleeping together. There’s nothing waiting for me tat I haven’t already seen.” Brent stifled a chuckle and began getting ready.

  Brent didn’t like church all that much. He never had liked going since he was little. Which begged the questions as to why he insisted on spending two years in service of it. All to help convert people to it. Brent made himself comfortable in the front row of the congregation. The music fell silent and bustling of the crowd settled into a quiet that filled the sacrament room.

  Brent turned his gaze to Maria who was sitting on the stands that overlooked the conversation. He straightened out his tie and stared in admiration. Finally the beautiful blond was his. The thought made him forget everything. Maria simply smiled at him and held her posture. He bowed his head for the prayer while sitting reverently on the long lightly cushioned bench. A vibrating feeling tickled his upper thigh, but Brent chose to ignore it. He held his head down reverently waiting for the prayer to be over. The vibrating stopped for a minute, but persisted for a few more minutes. Brent tried to ignore it, even as he watched Maria get up to speak to the congregation. Brent finally caved into his curiosity halfway through Maria’s speech. He reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone.

  The screen flashed a notification that read “Missed call from Mom.” Maria shot Brent a disapproving glance and pulled her eyes back to the paper she was reading her speech off of. The phone went off once more, vibrating in his hand. Maria gave Brent another glance from the podium. Brent tried to mouth the words “I have to take it,” to her before taking off out the door of the sacrament room. Maria responded with a rolling of her eyes as Brent disappeared from sight.

  Maria’s voice echoed over the loudspeakers that carried into the foyer. The atmosphere in the foyer was a lot more alleviated than the chapel. Brent answered the call as soon as the door closed behind him. There was a short pause followed by the delicate tone of his aunt’s voice. “Brent?,” she asked in an urgent tone. “It’s your Aunt Rose. I’m calling about your mom. She was in a car accident on her way up here.”

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  “An accident?,” Brent asked, relaxing on the couch in the foyer. “How long ago was this?” The expression on his face showed concern.

  “It happened a year ago,.,” Rose continued. “When she couldn’t afford to pay the bills for the house she was living in, She moved in with us. On her way home from work one day she hit black ice and rolled off the side of the freeway. She was on her way back up here because the hospital up here is the only one in the state with the equipment to perform her surgery.”

  “So she got in another one?,” Brent replied, leaning over and resting his head into a cupped hand. His thoughts were racing between her replies.

  “Mmhmm. She’s in much worse condition from this one, I’m afraid.” Rose paused and let out a deep breath. “They’re saying that it shows no signs of improvement.”

  “Thank you.” Brent said letting out a deep sigh. “I’ll start heading up there to see her.” Brent could hear Maria’s voice still echoing through the foyer. Part of him wanted to stay and listen to her speech, but his thoughts soon pushed him out the door. He took off out of the parking lot with a sense of worry and urgency. Rose didn’t sound all that hopeful to him. A feeling in the pit of his stomach told him that it was for a reason.

  What was usually an hour long drive took what seemed like an eternity. Brent drove with a sense of urgency. The traffic due to crashes or construction did nothing to ease his worries. The long waits and impatient honking from other drivers only made it worse. They gave him more time to think and worry. Fear managed to creep into his thoughts. Fear that he might not get there in time to see his mom. Fear that her condition would get worse or her system would shut down. The thought brought tears to his eyes, but he managed to hold back his sobs to maintain his composure. The longer the miles took, the more he began to worry.

  When he finally pulled into the hospital parking lot, he wasted no time in getting out of his car. When he finally found the line for the front desk, it seemed to carry on forever. He tried to give Rose a call in order to get the room information, but all he got was the voicemail. When he finally got to the front of the line, he waited patiently for the nurse to beckon to him. “I’m here to see Lara Moore.” Brent said, searching the nurse’s eyes for a glimmer of hope that she might know some good news that he didn’t. “I’m her son.”

  “You’re just in time.,” She replied, forging a smile. “She’s in room 407 on the fourth floor. Second turn on the right.”

  “Thank you,” Brent said, turning and heading straight for the double doors. He stepped into the elevator and pressed the button for the fourth floor. He took a step back and leaned against the back wall of the elevator. Even the Elevator ride seemed to last. The bell would ding as patients and nurses alike shuffled into the Elevator. By the time he finally got to his floor, he was stuck behind a crowd. He pushed through the crowd eagerly trying to get out of the elevator. He was certain that he managed to step on a few toes, but he didn’t care. He race down the hall, taking care not to run, but to dodge every other person he came across.

  He had just managed to take a right turn when he heard the words “Time of Death 3:35 pm” in the distance. A horrible sinking feeling hit him when he heard those words. He followed the faint, muffled sound of the voice that said those words. A tall brown haired doctor with Curly hair, stepped out of the patient’s room. Brent searched for the room numbered with the worst of thoughts plaguing his mind. ”Who are you?” He asked, fixing his stance in front of the gold colored plaque.

  “Is this room 407?” Brent asked, tilting his head to try to see past the tall doctors torso. He nodded and took a step to the right, revealing the gold plated sign that said the room number. “I’m her son. Is she?”

  “I’m afraid so.” The doctor dropped his head to the floor. “I’m sorry. I just unplugged the heart monitor.” The doctor paused hesitantly reaching over to try to comfort the young blond. “If you want to, you can stay until the Pathologists get here.” The doctor said, turning and making his way down the corridor.

  Brent stepped into the room and immediately set his eyes on the patient bed. There she was, the familiar shape of his mother’s torso draped in hospital sheets. He took a step closer and peeled back the covers. The sight of his mother’s face shattered his heart into millions of pieces on the spot. He managed to cover her face back up and fall back into a cushioned seat, before the tears rose to his eyes and started streaming down his cheeks. Brent couldn’t hold his sobs back any longer. He let himself become lost in his thoughts as he sat there. His hands cupped over the bridge of his nose. His tear soaked eyes scanned the corpse on the bed that supported her body. He tried desperately to hide the pain, but it was overwhelming. It felt as if his heart had been stripped from him.