The Tiny Baby

My english teacher gave our class a pre-set sentence that we were to finish off and then create a narrative from.

The tiny baby looked sick and feeble in her sterile plastic crib; a heart shattering sight. I see her skinny chest rise and fall unevenly as her lungs get weaker. I see the needles poking into her thin arms and legs, doctors monitoring the results shown on the screen, looking worried and desperate.

So small, she doesn’t have a clue of what’s happening to her, of what’s going on around her. Her father is crumpled in a heap on the shiny corridor floor, covering his terrified face with shaking hands. The mother, a hysterical mess on the birthing room bed, past being calmed by three wisely old nurses. And me, her big brother. The person who is supposed to be able to save her from our parents, from overfriendly boys. I’m supposed to tease her, to give her a hug when she’s had a bad day and be the only person she can hate just as much as she loves. I’m not supposed to be standing over her, watching her die. Pitying me, the doctor does not try to stop me as I reach in and take my baby sisters cold hands in mine, pleading with her to fight, to survive. She doesn’t even have a name yet, it’s just not fair.

I see the doctor make note of the figures on the screen above her crib, then frown and walk away. I recognise his expression. It’s not the brilliant smile he had when he announced my baby sister’s arrival, when he told me what a big brother I was going to be and what a beautiful baby sister I had, no. It’s more like the pure horror that touched his face when she stopped breathing, and he almost couldn’t re start her tiny heart. I watch him as he heads towards my father, who looks up at him with sunken eyes that seem to have aged a lifetime in the past eight hours. The doctor says something in a low undertone, something I don’t quite catch, but can guess instantly what it is. He is telling my father that there is nothing more they can do, that it is time to let my sister go. He places a hand on my dad’s shoulder for a brief moment, before heading in to tell my mother the news. I watch again as he tears my family’s life to shreds. Mum takes the news a lot worse than Dad, who just seems resigned. She starts a whole new wave of hysteria, screaming and pushing the doctor away when he tries to put his hand on her shoulder. This is all too much for me, I turn away.

This puts my baby sister in my line of sight again, and this time when I look at her, I have to let go of her hands to stop myself reacting like Mum. I steer my eyes away from her, searching for something, anything, to take me mind off the situation at hand. My eyes catch a hold of the overnight bag Dad had packed for Mum last week, a “Just In Case, Case” he had jokingly called it. Suddenly, a plan forms in my head that makes my heart start pounding in my throat. Panicked, I look around to make sure no one can see. But no one is watching the sad big brother holding hands with his dying baby sister, they are all distracting themselves with the happy, healthy babies across the hall, not in the ICU. I gently pick her up, the way Mum taught me too with a baby doll, and wrap her in Mum’s fluffy purple dressing gown that I have pulled from the overnight bag. Placing her and the tiny rug that had been covering her into the bag, I slowly zip the bag up and sling it over my shoulder.

Walking calmly from the room, making sure no one saw what I had just done, I start to run, but carefully, so I don’t jostle the bag. I run down the hall and out the sliding glass doors, not even sure where I’m going. I just know that I have to save my baby sister; she doesn’t even have a name.

Reviews

[Daydreamer54]

Such a poignant story and very sad. You had wonderful detail and emotions. I enjoyed it a lot. *Sigh* I missed the times my english teacher gave us creative writing prompts.

[RaspberryBullets]

haha thankyou :)

[TC Dunn]

Great emotion in this piece… couldn't stop reading… when I found out that the baby girl was going to die I was so sad. This is a very heart wrenching piece, and I'd love to see you add more to it… like where it goes after the brother runs off with the baby. Great job here.