It was then I realized she was checking out and she was
gonna leave. A curious darkness floated past my shoulder
pushing forward for a better look. I felt what I couldn’t see.
“She’s not ready to go!” I growled, and whatever it was
receded into the corner by the window. As I prepared to
head back to the East Bay that night, something held me
there. Kathe Kollwitz’s image of Death Seizing a Woman
burned in my brain. He was waiting to envelop her; and,
like an erased drawing, they would both disappear. Maybe
if I stayed, if I never left her side, perhaps I had some power
to alter Destiny. All I had to do was stay awake forever.
I kissed her goodbye. “See you tomorrow. I’m taking requests.”
As I left, the hospital corridor grew longer as I walked. I had
never felt so mortal. "Sis, I'll be at the Plaza if you need me!"
I wasn’t ready to leave Sonoma. Not yet. I stopped into the
hotel bar near where she used to live. I sat in the corner and
played her favorite music again. A young girl walked in and
laid a garland of flowers around my glass, smiled into my eyes,
and left.
Angels everywhere.
from Chapter 11, Romancing The Smoke
