At what cost? | Teen Ink

At what cost?

March 6, 2023
By Anonymous

 Jenna dashed home from basketball practice. It was Friday, 19th of October, and Jenna just turned 16 yesterday. She had massive plans for the weekend! She and her 2 best friends were throwing a house party late at night, after her parents and little sister had left for their 2-day long ski retreat in the mountains of Colorado. Jenna’s mind was racing with plans, “maybe I can finally get to know Alex closer,” who was her crush for months now, whom she after hours of agonising anticipation, mustered up the courage to invite to her function.

 Jenna quickly traveled the usual long walk home with excitement sizzling down her spine. The early winter night setting in second by second, the street got darker. Suddenly, as she turned the final corner to her house, a wailing ambulance flew by her, as she saw a multitude of the blue and red lights of police cruisers flashing on her patio and driveway. Unaware of what had happened, Jenna sprinted faster than ever, as adrenaline rushed through her brain and her thoughts congested with theories about what might have happened. At last at the front door, she burst through them as tears trickled down her shocked face. In front of her was a group of paramedics assembling a stretcher, while two policemen frantically attempted to resuscitate her sister, who lifelessly lay on the floor, as Jenna watched her mother and father sob and scream helplessly, as they overlooked their suffering daughter’s fight for life.

 It was now 30 minutes after the ambulance left with Jenna’s sister’s powerless and frail body. The seconds felt like minutes, and the minutes felt like hours as they passed. The wait for news about her sister’s fight for life was agonising, and all Jenna could think about now was the memories she and her sister shared before, when all of a sudden, the phone rang.

“Hello, who’s speaking?” Jenna’s mother Teresa frantically asked, with her voice cracking throughout each word.

“This is Garden Cove medical center, and I would like to have a moment with you regarding your daughter’s health emerge...”

“What happened? Say something! How’s my daughter? Please, please, I beg you say something good!” Teresa cried out to the phone, interrupting the nurse, as more tears trinkled down her primly presented face, delicately shrouded in makeup.

“Your daughter ma’am, well... I’m sorry to inform you, however, we do not know if she will be able to recover from her coma. The only thing keeping her vitals on currently are our life support machines. Our doctors in our ER unit believe her condition is beyond critical, hence we would advise that you personally pay a visit now, after which we would recommend you and your family to make the decision to remove her from life support, in order to relieve the devices for newer patients, with higher chances of survival.”

 Jenna's mother collapsed on the ground, her phone hitting the ground beside her. Quickly, Jenna’s father rushed over to help her up, while her mother mumbled under her breath, “She’s dead.”

 Jenna ran upstairs, bawling her eyes out with an endless stream of painful tears, while she felt her soul leave along with them. Huddling up in her bed, she continued crying, turning over to her side to look around her room, where the pictures of her and her friends stood, as she seeked to find comfort. However, as her eyes ran through the years of her happiest memories, she suddenly noticed something colourful on the ground. Still shaking from the indescribable trauma she had just experienced, Jenna walked up to the objects.

 Immediately, regret flooded her body as she recognised the pills her girlfriend Emma gave to her on Wednesday for the party. Multiple were trinkled out from the plastic bag, which layed on the floor beside the dozens of multi-coloured pills. Jenna now knew what had happened to her sister, as she counted multiple of the PEZ like pills missing. Her hands trembled even harder, as she struggled to place them back in their bag. Jena then stumbled over to the toilet, tripping over her own feet as she flushed the bag down the loo.

 Soon, it was time to leave to the hospital for the final goodbyes. Everyone dressed in black and held their own bouquets of flowers for the last time they would all meet Jenna’s sister. As the family walked through the doors of the ER that same fateful night, Jenna saw her sister lying on a gurney, with dozens of probes and needles attached to her tiny body. The little girl’s eyes were rolled back, and her eyelids foamed up. Nonetheless, Jenna couldn’t bear looking into her lifeless eyes, as her mother and father embraced their daughter and clutched her still tiny hands. Meanwhile, the steady beat of the heartbeat monitor went flat, the lights in the room went dark, and an eternal, eerie sound of emptiness enveloped the family.



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