The Sorrow of Mary

Mary did not need the time to wait and see if her boss would mind.  She didn’t care.  The worst nightmare that any mother could have was happening right then and there.  She had nothing else in mind as they ran out to the car.  That ray of hope that she had been nursing in the last twenty-four hours diminished and a powerful anxiety took its place on Mary’s fragile psyche.

The three were silent as Mary’s father drove quickly to the hospital.  Although it was only a five-minute trip, the time seemed like an eternity to Mary.  She couldn’t even think of what could have happened or how or why.  All she knew is that her daughters were in trouble.  Mary couldn’t hear anything, not even as her dad laid on the horn to clear the way.  She was completely without sense of the happenings around her.  The only thought that could find its way into her mind was: “God, please let them be all right.”  The buildings and street signs moved by in a blur.  Even objects directly in front of her became cloudy and unrecognizable.

Mary’s father drove right up to the emergency entrance, and Mary and her mother jumped out and ran inside.  Mary was directed to a waiting room, but she could not wait.    She ran through the halls looking for the rooms.  She found the room where Emily was.  Mary peered into the room to see more than six doctors, in blue coats, working on her little girl.  All she could see is her little feet and part of her arm sticking out of the bodies of blue.  Her body was burgundy red as her blood was drying on her skin.  Before she could even realize what was happening, an instrument with an overwhelming reputation came into her sight.  Even the smallest child recognizes a defibrillator from seeing it on television.  Mary watched in terror as a doctor placed the paddles on the girl and her little form jumped as the electricity surged through her delicate body.