The Body

Somehow, tantalisingly, frustratingly, I managed to remove my hand from under his arm. The night had been so long, I had never felt anything like it before.


The way his breath had mingled with mine, the warmth engulfing us as I had bent over him to remove his clothes, was still fresh in my memory. His face looked so angelic in the morning light, but had been so strong and filled with determination a few hours ago.


His every moan had been laboured, coming and going with difficulty, yet his eyes had burned with energy as if challenging God himself. He had held my hand so tight I had feared I would lose it, but I could not utter a word to stop him.


"What was this dark magic that he has cast over me?", I asked myself as I let out a deep sigh. His entire being had been imprinted on my brain, in my thoughts, under my very skin, so much so that even his scent had refused to leave

me.


I stared at his still body for one last time, trying to remember everything about him before I left. I scanned him from head to toe, drinking in every line on his muscular body, the sweat on his abs, the sinews of his calves, the veins on his throat........





And then my eyes travelled to the oxygen mask on his face.


"Nurse," someone shouted from behind me, snapping me out of my reverie, "is the patient ready yet? We need the bed as fast as possible."


"Almost done!", I shouted back and turned towards my fifth death of the day. "What a waste", I mused, as I covered the body with a white sheet.