A Hard Lesson Learned
Vanessa, Part 8.
Carlos only made sure Vanessa wouldn’t say anything to anyone. However, Emily thought he should’ve found another solution. There’s always a way to fix things.
Emily didn’t think twice; she ran to see her friend. She went to the hospital every single day until one day…
Dear Reader,
Emily didn’t know what to do. Vanessa was recovering, and her father had asked her to stay with her while he went to work meetings.
Vanessa wouldn’t respond; she was like a vegetable and needed breathing support, although she could wake up anytime. The doctor had ordered someone from her family to be always there. If Vanessa didn’t wake up over the following four to six months, disconnecting her would be an option to bring to the table.
One day, Emily was with Vanessa, she was doing her homework when the doctor showed up.
“Hi, you’re Emily, I guess,” he said.
“Yes, sir,” Emily said.
“I’m Vanessa’s doctor; I’m glad you’re here; his father told me you’d help him; he really needs your help,” the doctor explained.
“I know, but he doesn’t have to ask me, Vanessa is my best friend, like a sister to me,” Emily said.
The doctor told Emily that was what Vanessa’s father had told him.
“Is she always going to use that thing to breathe?”
The doctor said he hoped not and informed Emily that he was there to check on Vanessa’s generals and perform a breathing test.
“Let’s see if she can breathe on her own; there is no physical reason for her not to,” the doctor said.
Emily nodded. “Is there anything I can do to help?”
“No, thanks, the nurse is coming.”
The doctor checked on Vanessa’s pulse and temperature; everything seemed right.
A nurse entered the room. She had a tray with some equipment, which she put on the bed.
“We’re going to remove the vent, and if Vanessa breathes, we’ll close the respirator hole in her throat,” The doctor explained to Emily.
“You’ll close her throat permanently?”
“Not yet; we need to make sure she’ll continue breathing; if so, in a couple of days, we’ll proceed to close the hole in her throat permanently.”
Emily didn’t want to leave. She was on the couch by the bed, just looking at the procedure.
The procedure was successful, Vanessa breathed by herself. Yet, she was still asleep.
The doctor was very happy, he called Vanessa’s father.
“Yes, she’s breathing by herself, and Emily is here,” the doctor said on the phone. Then he approached Emily.
“Now I need you to stay close and push this button if she stops breathing, please.”
“Yes, doctor,” Emily said.
The rest of the day was quiet. Vanessa kept on breathing, and to everyone’s surprise, she woke up in the middle of the night. Her father was there to hug her. At dawn, Vanessa’s father called Emily and asked her to be with him and Vanessa for a meeting with the doctor.
The doctor explained to Vanessa that she wouldn’t recover movement or the ability to speak. Vanessa’s eyes were filled with tears.
“However, Vanessa, there is a group you can join. They are developing new technologies to help people like you communicate. I think you should join. For now, why don’t you create a yes-no code, like winking once means yes, and twice means no.”
Vanessa winked once.
The doctor and Vanessa’s father left the room to discuss the many details before discharging Vanessa.
Emily stood with her. Vanessa turned her head; she didn’t want to listen to Emily.
“It wasn’t me; I didn’t do anything; I thought they were going to shoot me too. I told you to stay away from this, but you wanted to control things,” Emily said.
Vanessa looked at Emily with anger in her eyes.
“I can’t leave, I’m helping your father,” Emily said.
Vanessa winked twice.
“I’m sorry I have to stay.”
Emily turned on the TV. “Let’s watch this movie.”
All of a sudden, the door opened; it was Principal Emma. “You? How dare you? This is all your fault; you are the sniper!”
Vanessa’s father and the doctor entered the room to stop Principal Emma.
“She is the killer, stop her, not me,” Principal Emma screamed.
Vanessa was winking one time, then stopped, then another time, and so on. The doctor and Vanessa’s father saw her winking and understood she was saying “No.” But Emily understood. Vanessa was supporting Principal Emma.
The hospital guards took Principal Emma out of the building. Vanessa’s father followed them. “Never get close to me or my family again, you bitch, I’ll put a restriction order,” He screamed very close to Principal Emma’s face.
Back in the room, Emily took a tiny dart from her purse; it was so small that not even Vanessa noticed she had it in her hand until it was too late. Emily approached Vanessa’s feet and injected her between her toes.
Vanessa’s eyes were about to pop out of their orbits. Then she started vomiting a white foam that slowly turned pink. Emily ran to call the nurse.
“I don’t know what’s happening, Vanessa is having an attack or something,” Emily told the nurse.
The nurse ran to see Vanessa; the doctor followed her. Finally, her father also arrived.
“I’m sorry, we lost her,” the doctor said.
Emily would not say a word, she only had her eyes wide open, no crying, no nothing. Vanessa’s father was in shock, although he thought his girl wouldn’t have to suffer anymore.
“She reacted to something and choked with her own vomit,” the doctor explained.
The doctor called Lucinda. “Please come pick Emily up; she needs to go home and rest; she was present when Vanessa died.”
Once home, Emily cried. “Vanessa supported Principal Emma; she wasn’t my friend anymore. I had to do it.”
“You did right. Look, you have an envelope here,” Lucinda said, giving Emily the yellow envelope.
Emily opened it and smiled. She took the phone and confirmed the work. Then, she showed Lucinda the photo of Principal Emma.
“This work is urgent; it’s tonight. I gotta get ready.”
With love, Victoria.
© 2025. This text is copyrighted and belongs to Monica Paul. All rights reserved.
