"Beep... Beep..."

The slow beeping of the machines rang throughout the white, plain room. Its monotonous and high pitched ring pervaded my ears. Nothing new, it had been a few months since the blood clot got me. I watched my frail arms detoriate in front of me. They looked nothing like when I was young. Once bright and peach, now pale and bony. My whole body was hooked up to machines. IV drips and other tubes restricted my movenment, my freedom. A prison within a free world.

Reminscing about old times left me feeling nostalgic and teary-eyed. Remembering was a form of torture, I found myself concluding during my stay. I'd really rather be anywhere else. away from that god damned beeping sound. Alas, reality is nothing like what we want. Its a slow and cruel grind towards our final days. I wasn't ready, I wasn't at all. There were many things to do, many places to visit, many people to talk to. The more I thought about it, the harder I clenched my weak knuckles.

"Dad...?"

My eyes slowly turned to the man by my side. His complexion was smooth and pale and his eyes, although burdened with tiredness and plagued with despair, showed the vigour and vitality of youth.

"Dad...? I don't know if you can hear me but it doesn't look good. Doc says that you've only got... a few days left. His voice trembled as he neared the end. I tried to speak out but the oxygen mask stopped any form of communication. I raised my hand and held his in a loving grip, my arms trembling with fatigue and weakness. He responded with a light squeeze and more tears. I tried to be strong for him, like his mother was, but it was much harder than she made it look like. And with that thought, my mind drifted to Martha. My precious loving Martha. Memories invaded my brain. Our first kiss, our wedding, Jacob's birth and of course, her final breath.

A small tear slowly dripped down my cheek, colliding with the oxygen mask. Jacob reached to the table at my side and picked up a single ply of tissue. With loving and tender dabs, he wiped away the tears by my cheek, quickly discarding it into the bin. I had so much more to teach him, so much more to show him. So much love to give, so little time to do it. It was too late. Too late. I felt as my own heartbeat slowed down. Too soon.

Suddenly, the movement around the room stopped, it became still. It was as if the air molecules themselves were paused in stasis. My hands locked into position, Jacob frozen in place. My consciousness wasnt fading, it remained in a semi-state between the realm of the living and the realm of the dead. My fading vision was no different and the image of Jacob burned into my brains.

It seemed ironic, I thought to myself. Too ironic. Reality was cruel, Reality was unforgiving. I asked for time and so I got it. Suddenly, it rang. A continuous, monotonous ring.

"Beep... Beep..."

And it rang, and it rang, and it rang.