She left
I was there at the very end, I saw the very last processes of life, I felt the pulse fade, I saw the eye lids give, I heard the desperate gasps for air, I smelled hope leave, I was there at the end and all my senses were alive but I was so freaking numb, I was numb physically and it penetrated right to the core of me, leaving me a cold shell, like her when she left...she left yesterday in a journey of close to five minutes and I stayed there to the very end and for the life of me I don't know why I stayed. Maybe I stayed because of how she stayed and carried me on her back when I was around three or four, and then I got too old for her to carry me so she beat the hell out of the sling I brought to her to carry me in and told me if I ever brought the sling to her again she would beat me as much. I never touched that sling again.... Maybe I stayed because of how she treated four boils I had on my backside when I was seven and I wouldn't let the doc touch me, but she soothed me...