I Watched You Die

I hope you know I cried for you.

When I got the call from my friend that he was in the emergency room late one night, I hurried there to be with him.

The hospital he was at was quite a distance from my home, but still, I didn’t hesitate because I knew he was scared to be alone while the doctors tried to determine what was happening to him.

We sat there for hours behind the flimsy curtains that made walls for his “room”, waiting for the results of the blood tests. His room was near the nurses’ station so I could eavesdrop on all the chatter between them and the doctors.

I could also hear the radio transmissions between them and the ambulances. The call came through that they were bringing in an overdose victim. Their ETA was only 2 minutes.

My friend said he needed some privacy so I stepped out and closed the curtain behind me. I was leaning against the wall when the paramedics brought in the overdose victim.

It looked grim as they were doing CPR while rushing the man into a room on the other side of the nurses’ station. In all the commotion, they neglected to close the curtain.

My eyes were transfixed, unable to stop myself from watching, as they did everything they could to save him. CPR was continued, along with the oxygen and other things I was not familiar with.

After what seemed like hours, but was certainly only minutes, they “called it”.

He was gone.

As I watched him die, I sensed his soul leaving right before they called the time of his death.

The mood was somber and quiet as the nurses began their process of what they do after a patient dies.

The white sheet covered the man’s face, and all the discarded wrappers of things they used to try and save his life were picked up off the floor.

I found myself wondering what brought him to that place.

Did he have family that would miss him? Did he have children that would grow up without a father? Or would his mother cry herself to sleep every night because her only son was gone too young?

Dear Man, I hope you know that I prayed for you as you lay there helpless.

I cried for you as your life ended and your soul departed this earth.

I prayed for your family and friends that God would comfort them and they would find peace someday.

My friend got all his test results and ended up being okay, so I like to believe that I had been sent there that night just to pray for this other man when he took his last breath.

KEY MESSAGE: Life’s moments can have unexpected endings.