At the Stroke of Madness

CHAPTER 70

Out of the darkness Maggie thought she heard a hum, a faint whine that wouldn’t go away. That kept getting louder, though was still in the distance. An annoying whine. Was it a voice? Was she only imagining it? Hallucinating?

She was too tired to care.

Her eyelids burned as a flash of light came at her, then was gone. Laser beams, another flash and then darkness.

“Gone.”

Yes, they were gone as quickly as they came at her.

“She’s gone.”

No, wait. It was a voice. She could barely make it out. Quiet and muffled, the words didn’t make sense as they came through a wind tunnel.

“She’s gone.”

Her muscles were stiff. Her arms frozen at her sides. There was no willing them to move. Another flash of light and this time it came with a flash of color, blue and a blur of orange.

“No pulse.”

She was too tired to ask what the voices meant. She couldn’t ask if she wanted to. She had no control of her body. It seemed gone, stolen out from under her. She couldn’t feel it or see it.

“She’s gone” came the words again, and this time that alarm in the back of her brain said, “They mean you! They’re talking about you.”

But no. She wasn’t gone. She needed to tell them.

“No pulse.”

No, wait, she wanted to yell but couldn’t because she was floating off in the distance and had no command of her body. They needed to listen to her chest. They wouldn’t be able to get a pulse at her wrist. Her heartbeat had slowed down. It was a faint murmur, but it was beating. She could feel it.

“No dilation.”

Please, wait. Why couldn’t she see them? If they were looking into her eyes, why couldn’t she see? The flashes of light. That had to be what it was. Her eyes wouldn’t respond. But she was still here. How could she let them know she was still alive?

“She’s gone.”

No, no, no. Her brain seemed to be screaming it, but it was no use. They believed she was dead. She couldn’t see beyond the black. She couldn’t make her muscles respond.

No, wait. Maybe she was dead.

Wasn’t this what dead felt like? A faint consciousness with no control over her body. No body to control.

Oh, God! Maybe they were right. Maybe she was gone. Gone forever. She felt herself slipping again. She’d close her eyes and sleep some more. Or were they already closed? She slept and woke again when she heard something. Nothing. More sleep. What felt like hours. A warm darkness slipped in tight around her. Liquid warmth ran through her veins. And she felt herself leaving again. Yes, maybe this was what it felt like. No second chances. No warnings. Gone.

Then suddenly she thought she saw…no, it couldn’t be. Through a blur of gray haze she saw her father and then she knew it was true. She really was dead.