The Pick-Up
The more steps the twins took into the hospital, the more their hearts were squeezed and suffocated. They could feel this was the night everyone had been dreading and fighting to prevent, the night their mother would pass. They got to the waiting desk that sat right outside their mother's room and froze. The first few weeks she stayed here for treatment, they'd come rushing in with smiles on their faces and stories to tell because they knew that would make her forget about the hospital bed and the IV tube in her arm and the constant beeping of machinery for a moment, and a smile would grow on her face too. It wasn't until her stay extended past a a month did the light in her smile fade and she started to lose herself. Seeing her lose strength every day started to become unbearably painful for the children. Now, they dreaded facing her. Their grandpa sighed sympathetically at them when he noticed they stopped. Olivia looked up at him and managed a smile, "We'll come in, just give us a minute, okay?"
"Alright, just know nothing can make her happier than you two. So only a minute," he smiled softly and continued into the room. Olivia turned to see Peter already sat down and put his headphones on. She jumped up onto the chair next to him and wrung her hands.
"She's not gonna be mad about your eye."
"I know."
"You plannin' on going in?"
"Of course."
Olivia pulled one headphone away from his ear, "What, after you finish your brooding songs? I don't think so."
He swatted her hand away, "I'm not brooding."
Usually Olivia would continue to bicker with him, but she knew there was no time for that. "Well I'm gonna go in.... Just promise you'll come in soon."
Peter rolled his eyes, "Promise."
;
"No. No!" Peter screamed as his grandpa dragged him out of the room. Olivia followed him with her face scrunched up in pain and wet with tears . She stayed quiet so she didn't cause any more trouble for their grandpa, and watched from the doorway. The walls felt like they were closing in, like the ground beneath her was crumbling down. She sensed Peter run down the hall and ran after him as if they were attached by a rope.
"Peter, stop," Olivia pleaded weakly once they ran out of the hospital, slowing to wipe her eyes. She knew they weren't supposed to go outside, but she didn't want to be there either. "Peter-"
"No. Mom, no." Peter reached the middle of the field and fell to his knees, choking on tears, "Mom!"
Olivia wiped the tears from her eyes again, but they wouldn't stop coming. She looked up to the sky and remembered her mom's words, "Whenever you look up and see something beautiful, whenever the stars are bright, know I'll be right beside you, and I will see it too. So never stop looking up. Never stop seeing beauty."
But there was nothing beautiful tonight. She'd looked up at the sky from the field almost every night since their mom had stayed there, and the stars never failed to dazzle. But tonight, the sky was completely black right above them. Maybe it was some weird cloud, or a trick of the light, but Olivia couldn't help but want to get her brother back inside safely. "Peter, please--"
Suddenly the dark part of the sky lit up and tipped down with a deafening groan, shining down spotlights, all centering in on Peter. He tried to look up, but the light was blinding. "Peter!" she screamed. Her knees almost buckled in terror, but she forced herself to run towards him. No matter what would happen or where they'll go, they'll be together, and that's all that matters. That's what mom would want.
With a split second left, she dove into to blinding light and wrapped her arms around her brother. That was the last moment they'd remember of Earth.