The Drive

The vibration of the rumble strip brought Susan's eyes back to the road.  She had been drifting again.  Three hours into the nine hour drive and she couldn't keep her focus for more than a few seconds at time.  The call had come after she was already laying down for the night.  She needed to come immediately, tomorrow might be too late.

It was now after 3:00 AM and each mile brought her closer to her daughter.  Lacey had been crossing the street, headed home from a sorority party, when the drunk ran her over, never stopping.  She was now connected to several machines.  Susan imagined the beeping and her mind began to wander.  Each imagined beep, brought a snippet of memory from Lacey's childhood.  A quick glimpse of pigtails trailing as she ran.  A tear sliding down her cheek, when her first date stood her up. The night they had sat up together crying, when the cat had been put to sleep.  Each memory replacing the last until the rumble strip again broke the spell.

It was a little after 9:00 AM, when Susan pulled into the parking lot of the University Hospital. Her mind screamed for her to run for the doors and to fly up the stairs, but her body just didn't respond.  She felt every one of her forty-three years as she gingerly walked to the information desk.  She was given a room number and a sad look.  She followed the signs, blind to the directions she was going, until she realized she had reached her door. As her eyes finally focused on where she was, she realized someone very near her was screaming. As the darkness came, the last thing she saw was the word "Morgue," stenciled above the door.