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Written by Mark'ee Drankard
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There is place where we all must go one day some sooner than others. We all
value the pleasure's of life living it to the fullest, not realizing those
who cannot. - Markee Raheam Drankard
Maria shuddered as the wind blew against the house. She by
now had come to
realize that she felt utterly alone, especially when her husband
John was out
of town. She listened carefully as the creaking of trees outside
made her sit
up in bed. Through the stillness of the house she heard her nine
month old
son Justin crying.
"I'll be there in a minute honey," She whispered rising
out of bed.
Maria slipped on her robe and house shoes slowly making her way
to Justin's
crib.
"Shhhhhh," She said quietly.
"I'm here honey."
Justin quickly became calm as Maria rocked him back and forth.
"Hush little baby don't say a word," She sang continuing
to rock Justin.
Minutes later Maria sighed as she laid Justin back in the crib.
Maria swung around as the phone rang. She grabbed the receiver
off the
nightstand and answered with a swift hello. "Hey honey how's
it going?" said
the voice on the other end.
"Hello John I just finished putting Justin to sleep."
"We both miss you and want you to come home."
"I'll be in tomorrow," John said radiantly.
"I was just calling to say I love you."
"I love you too," Maria answered.
With a quick reply Maria hung up the phone and made her way back
to the bed
room where she soon fell asleep.
Maria was awakened by the sound of Justin crying. She glanced
at the clock
which read 8:07am. She threw back her long black hair and called
out to
Justin.
"Don't worry honey I got him," John said stepping into
the doorway.
Maria stood up and kissed John on the cheek.
"I'm so glad your back," She said shaking Justin's tiny
fingers.
"Me too," John spoke up. "Me too."
As Maria and John sat on the sofa Justin rolled around on the
floor happily.
"He's getting bigger every day," John said eyeing Justin.
"Soon he'll be walking," smiled Maria.
As the couple turned away from Justin playing on the floor they
did not
notice that he had stopped moving. "You know," said
John. John cut himself
short as he caught view of Justin. "Justin," he called
out walking over to
him.
"What's wrong," yelled Maria swinging around.
"I don't know call an ambulance."
Twenty minutes later Maria and John rushed through the emergency
room towards
the pediatrics section. At the door they were met by Dr. Conner
who motioned
to them to sit down.
"What is it doctor?" Maria whispered.
"Well, we have a very big problem, Justin is going to need
a liver
transplant" "Our x-ray revealed he has several holes
in his liver."
"Oh my God," cried Maria sobbing loudly.
John comforted Maria by holding her hand. "I'm sorry Mr.
And Mrs. Malone but
he has to have the operation within a month."
John stood up and patted Dr. Malone on the shoulder.
"Please do whatever you can to save my son's life."
"We will do all we can Mr. Malone I promise."
SEVEN YEARS LATER
"Hurry Justin your gonna be late for school," Maria
shouted at the bottom of
the stairs.
"I'm coming mommy," Justin called back down.
Minutes later Justin ran down the stairs carrying a backpack.
"Did you take your medication?" Maria asked handing
him a lunch box.
"Yes I did," Justin replied.
"Well let's get going shall we?"
Justin opened up his desk and took out a pencil as his best
friend Walter
walked by.
"Hey Justin," Walter greeted.
"Hello Walter," Justin said giving him a high five.
"Did you do your homework?"
"Hey man, of course," Walter yelled throwing his hands
in the air.
Just then the bell rang as a crowd of kids poured into the classroom.
Justin glanced into his desk once more and suddenly vomited inside.
"Are you ok?" Walter asked jumping up.
"Yeah it's the side effects of my medication," Justin
answered
"Better clean that up."
Justin and Walter sat at the lunch table trading baseball cards.
"Now we're even," blurted Justin tucking a card into
his pocket.
"I'll be glad when this day is over," Walter said stuffing
a cookie into his
mouth.
"Well, time to go Walter."
As the two boys strolled down the sidewalk Justin stopped and
turned to
Walter with a look of concern.
"I'm tired of taking this medicine," He said uneasily.
"I know man but you have to," Walter assured him.
"I've been taking it since I was one year old."
"Sometimes I think about what would happen if I stopped taking
it."
"You can't do that," Walter replied continuing to walk.
"I just don't want to live my life like this."
"Walter are you listening to me?" Justin said grabbing
him by the shoulder.
"Yes I am, look your my best friend and I don't want to lose
you," Walter
uttered.
"Yeah well I'm tired of the headaches, the vomiting, the
stomach aches."
"I have to go sometime," whispered Justin.
"Don't ever say that," Walter yelled "Never."
"Well here's my house I'll see you at school tomorrow."
"Yeah tomorrow," Walter screamed as he took off running
down the street.
Digging into his back pack Justin took out his bottle of medication
and
tossed it into the bushes.
"Mommy I'm home," He called out opening the door.
Maria rushed up and kissed Justin as he dropped his back pack
on the floor.
"How's my little Angel," She said patting him on the
head.
"Good, I'm hungry."
Justin sat at his desk in his room scribbling in a notebook.
He bent over as
a sharp pain shot through his stomach. Standing up he reached
for a tissue
wiping a drip of blood from his nose. He glanced at several bottles
of
medication on his dresser and knocked them over crying. Maria
rushed into his
room and stared deeply into his sobbing face.
"What's wrong honey?" She said.
"Mommy I don't want to live like this any more."
"Please don't say that," Maria said quietly wiping the
tears away from his
face.
"I have to take this stuff for the rest of my life,"
Justin said picking up a
bottle off the floor.
"Honey your father and I love you very much you know that
right?"
"Yes mommy I do, but I'm tired of this."
As Maria began to hug Justin he fell to the floor and started
convulsing
violently.
"Oh my God," Maria screamed and ran out of the room
to call the paramedics.
Arriving on the scene promptly the paramedics lifted Justin
onto a stretcher
while he screamed out.
"NO," He yelled as they strapped him down.
"Mr. And Mrs. Malone," said Dr. Conner stepping into
the waiting room. "We
have Justin in intensive care for now on two times the amount
of his
medication."
"He has to continue taking it or he's not going to live very
long."
"We know that doctor," replied John. "But he doesn't
want to take it any
more."
"I'm sorry Mr. Malone but we can't make that call,"
Dr. Conner answered back.
"I see doctor so what your telling me is my son has to go
on taking this
medication even if he doesn't want to?"
"That's what I'm saying Mr. Malone."
"Thanks for all your help doctor," Maria said standing
up.
Two weeks later Justin sat in front of a television playing
a video game.
He winced as a throbbing headache set in. In Justin's bed room
Maria picked
up a note book turning the pages slowly. She stopped as she began
to read a
page in Justin's handwriting.
I can't go on like this. I know that everyone loves me and I love them. God
has given everyone a heart to feel the things that haunts us. I don't fear
dying anymore I won't be able to do the things I want because of this and I
just want to be left alone so I can finally be in peace. Our father who art
in heaven please believe in me... Amen
Justin Taylor Malone
A tear fell from Maria's eye as she closed the notebook and
stared up at the
ceiling.
Down stairs Justin had dropped his video game controller and stretched
out on
the floor. Maria rose up and slowly walked down the stairs and
into the
living room where Justin lived. She quietly lifted him up and
held him close
to her whispering in his ear.
"I love you," She said repeatedly.
A trickle of blood poured from Justin's ear and Maria sobbed quietly.
She
felt his body go limp while she pulled him closer. Justin let
out a quiet
cough followed by his leg twitching. Slowly second by second his
pulse faded
until there was no heart beat. John grabbed Maria around the waist
hugging
both her and Justin. Tears fell from the couple's eyes as they
sat in the
middle of the floor still holding on to the body of Justin Taylor
Malone.
