Page 76 - North Star Magazine 2022

They do so, but he doesn’t come back. The doctors inform us that the ICU is empty; therefore, they can clean him up for us, so we can say our last goodbyes.
Before we leave back to the ICU Waiting Room, I watch them begin shutting down operation and take the tube out my dad’s mouth. My father’s head swifts up from the doctor’s movements. Then, his head tilts slightly with his eyelids slightly open. His eyes are glazed and frosty as a mortem fog takes over.
Part 3: Our Last Goodbye
The doctor comes out to explain more about his death after cleaning about it. “He seemed to have an underlying heart disease.”
My dad did go to the hospital before with heart complications while I was Kindergarten, but that was long ago. We were in Michigan and everything seemed brighter back then.
“He fought with us because he was in shock. His blood pressure was so low that not enough oxygen was getting to his brain.”
But I thought he was fighting you guys because he was confused. Plus, he doesn’t like doctors, I thought. His behavior was contributed from his body failing to keep up? He did have high blood pressure and Type I Diabetes...
We are taken to the vacant ICU. Once again, I can’t look at my father’s face. After all these dreadful hours, my mind finally breaks itself like a saw to the wood. My eyes dart to the bathroom as nausea hits me. Not once, but twice. I don’t move since I know it’s a panic attack and don’t want the doctors to be concerned about me. I start seeing a tall shadow appearing and disappearing in the ICU. The shadow is always moving and standing. There is nobody around producing that shadow.
“I love you 3000,” my brother says while crying. Avengers: End Game is one of the final movies that dad watched with us.
We looked at his body for an hour and a half. The hospital gives us a small pot full of flowers and the nurse strokes my hair. My curly hair is the playful type. My mom and sister like to play with my hair. It feels nice and comforting. I don’t mind the nurse doing that.