Chapter 5 – Wake Up Call
After Matthew’s death, Morgan tosses and turns in her bed in chains. She’s felt like she’s had them the entire time and nothing’s changed since then. She wants to hurt herself. Endlessly punch her stomach until all of her imperfections and stupidities come out.
“Are you finally going to wake up?” the other her says as it sits by Morgan’s bed, “You’ve been sleeping over this issue for a while now. How long has it been since Matthew died? How many times have you played all of the events leading up to it in your head? What’s the use of looking back at the past? You can’t change it.”
Morgan stays silent.
“Let go of these chains.”
“What about my fears of death and decay? Those will never go away.”
“Those are just part of life. You’ll have to deal with it.”
“I can’t.”
“Then the least you could do is let go of the past.”
Morgan takes a deep breath in before letting go of the chains again. Again, they burn her skin and make her scream and cry in agony. Before she knows it, it’s over.
“Pansy.”
“Shut up. What am I going to do now? Just live my life and keep healing people until they eventually die anyway?”
“That’s the reality of being a doctor.”
“I hate it.”
“Ha! What are you going to do about it? Death and decay will always have power over mere human medication and science.”
Maggot serpents rise from the cracks in Morgan’s house and attack her. She grabs a nearby kitchen knife and tries to kill them all, but they keep on coming until they completely fill the house. They then swallow Morgan. Inside their body, Morgan gets cut up by the maggots’ mouths and sharp teeth until she is spit out some alley in Hillside City. Her clothes are ripped up not and there are cuts on her body as if what happened was completely real and not a strong delusion. With no clue what to do and in a sorry state, she whimpers in the alleyway while holding herself. A man in a red jacket and black jeans and shoes finds her and walks up to her. Morgan raises her head to look at the man who’s now holding his hand out to her with a welcoming smile on his face.
“Do you need help beautiful?” he asks.
The man’s pitch-black hair and piercing green eyes catch her attention. Something about him attracts her to him. She grabs his hand and he pulls her up.
“My name is Nick if you don’t remember. I’m sure you don’t remember the names of all your patients.”
“Nick…”
“You saved my life, Morgan when I thought it wasn’t worth anything. You’ve changed my life for the better and trust me, I’ve made the most of it. Now it’s my time to save yours.”
Morgan is amazed by Nick’s words and is silent.
“Haha, you can let go of my hand now.”
“Oh…sorry.”
She didn’t realize that she didn’t let go of his hand, but she felt like she didn’t want to let go.
“Let’s get you back home. Where do you live?”
Morgan tells Nick her address.
“That’s pretty far. What are you doing here at this time of night?”
“I-I don’t know.”
“It’s fine. I understand your situation because I was in a similar situation to you. My house isn’t too far from here, so let’s get you there first. You wouldn’t want to be out here like this.”
“I’m sorry. I look like a mess, don’t I?”
“Didn’t you hear what I said? I said you were beautiful and I mean it.”
“Oh…ha, that’s right.”
It’s difficult for Morgan to walk, so Nick helps her walk. She can’t help but feel like protected, but also ashamed at the same time.
“You don’t have to help me like this, Nick.”
“Nonsense. Do you think I’m embarrassed to help you like this? Let them judge us. I don’t care.”
Morgan is silent for the rest of the walk as she admires Nick for his selfless care for her. Once they get to his house, he sits her down on his couch and runs to get a pair of clothes and first aid supplies. He gives her what he finds and fixes her cuts and bruises. The patient is healing the doctor.
“Where did you find these clothes at?” she asks him, “You don’t cross-dress, do you?”
“Haha, no not at all. They’re all my wife’s clothes. My dead wife’s clothes.”
“Oh…”
“I’m sorry I brought that up.”
“It’s fine.”
Morgan is more interested in the fact that he’s single. He looks as young as Matthew, but that’s no longer a concern on her mind.
“What do you do, Nick?”
“I’m a boxer. You might’ve heard of me in passing.”
“Oh, that’s right. You’re really famous, aren’t you?”
“Not really if you don’t remember that I box, but that’s fine. Ok, you’re all fixed up. I’ll drive you home now-”
Morgan pulls him closer.
“No, I’d…like to stay here for a little while.”
“Okay…Rest as long as you like. Do you want anything?”
“No, just sit with me.”
After Morgan gets dressed, she lays her head on his shoulder and moves her hand over his, so he feels like he shouldn’t move. Nick turns on the TV since she isn’t allowing him to move. As Morgan slowly falls asleep, Nick tries to slowly move, but she quickly grabs his arm and holds onto it with both her arms. The two then fall asleep together with Nick eventually resting his head on Morgan’s.
In her dream, Morgan sees her other self in a surgery room.
The other her says, “Wow, you just can’t stop going after the young ones can’t you, you cougar? Rawr!”
“How old he is even?”
“From what I remember from his medical records, his age was twenty-one. It’s almost been a year since we last saw him, but he should be twenty-two.”
“Eh, that doesn’t bother me anymore.”
“What about death and decay? Take one more look at it before you decide anything.”
The other her points up at the sky and Morgan sees the Angel of Death as tall as ten towers stacked on top of each other. Seven charred hands on its left side drag people to Hell. The seven white hands on its right side lift other people to Purgatory and Heaven. It doesn’t stand in judgment but acts like a natural part of the world that appears to have a time limit on its function. Seeing this gives Morgan hope and a smile on her face.
“It doesn’t bother me anymore,” Morgan says with confidence.
“So you’re a big girl now eh? Most people don’t get over death until they experience it themselves. I’m sure you’ll make it through life just fine until then but remember what happens if you lose control of your life.”
“I already see your ugly face when I look in the mirror. I don’t need another reminder.”
“Haha! You’re funny. That’s a good sign for a better future.”
Morgan wakes up to a new morning, a new day, and a refreshed life. The sun is rising in the sky on a clear day. She quickly realizes that she’s sitting on Nick’s lap, who is still asleep. He appears to be at peace and happy for some reason. She slowly leans forward and softly bites his neck. Seeing that he isn’t reacting, she kisses his lips. Morgan looks outside the window behind them and sees Harley walking to the front door.
Morgan slowly gets up then walks outside to greet her by saying, “Hey, Harley. What are you doing here?”
With a smile on her face, Harley says, “First of all, I tried looking for you at your house to talk about what happened, but you disappeared. I had one of my girls search through the traffic cameras and we found you walking with Nick, that famous boxer. It seems you got into a bit of trouble and he helped you out.”
“Yeah, I just slept walk and ended up in an alley close by here and he helped me.”
“Are you sure you’re okay?”
“I am. I’m actually feeling way better now than I have before.”
“Okay, I’ll believe you since you’re the medical expert. Second, I didn’t know you were so flirtatious. What changed?”
“Huh?”
“I know for a fact that you weren’t seeing Nick before, but now you’re seeing him? I saw you biting his neck and kissing him while he was sleeping! I knew you were a cougar but wow!”
“He was a patient of mine and he helped me out when I needed someone most. I asked him if I could stay over and this is what happened.”
“I still can’t believe it. And whose clothes are you wearing? I never see you wearing pink so were you two-”
“Hey, I don’t judge you, you cock hungry bitch! How many times have I heard you talk about having sex with your husband and the different things you were going to do to him. If I were a psychiatrist, I’d have you locked up in an asylum for sexual deviancy.”
“Excuse me?! Don’t think for a second that I didn’t look at your internet history through the government’s database. The shit you get off to is enough to make me blush!”
The two friends butt heads while growling at each other. Nick groggy wakes up and sees what’s happening outside.
He opens the door then says, “What’s going on?”
Harley and Morgan then laugh at each other.
“We’ll save this for later,” Morgan says.
“I’ll beat the shit out of ya,” Harley says with a smile.
“You could try.”
Because of all that happened, Morgan quits her job as a doctor and becomes a writer. She writes science fiction, horror, romance, and stories concerning medicine, life and death, and guardian angels. The reason why she quit writing is because life is short. Why not entertain and teach people through stories so they can enjoy life and learn how to make the most of it? She’s put death and decay behind her and doesn’t worry about it anymore and just worries about her life now. Nick and Morgan get married within a month. They’re expecting kids since Nick never had children of his own with his previous wife. This is an excerpt from the end of Morgan’s latest book.
“Death is a natural process that affects us daily. With each second, our death inches closer, but that doesn’t mean we should let it bother us. We should make our life worth living by being the best people we can be and helping each other. Love is the best way of living until we eventually die and see the great beyond. Death is nothing but a transition to there. A sleep as we travel to our destination. Life will always have power over death and as such, I have power over it. You can too. Just let go of your fears and take control of your lives. It’ll be scary at first, but it’s worth it. As the saying goes, If you were to take a lesson from me, it’d be this. Remember the old saying, ‘love is as strong as death, its jealousy unyielding as the grave. It burns like blazing fire, like a mighty flame. Many waters cannot quench love, rivers cannot sweep it away’ (Song of Songs 8:6-7).”
