Finally Free
draft 1
Room 200 was empty. There sat the bed just as she had found it in the beginning: empty. Sheets cleaned and changed, ready for the next occupant.
He was gone. Home. They'd taken him this morning before she had come to work. And her last day was today as well. Rebecca joined her side and took her hand.
"You might see him again," she reassured, smiling softly in the darkness.
"I sure hope not," Amy growled. "I hope he never comes back here, and I never have to see his face again, or answer more of his annoying questions, or suffer through another game of chess."
"If you say so," Rebecca squeezed her hand. "Come on, let's go get some coffee before our shifts start. Amy, come on."
Amy felt Rebecca tug her toward the door, but her eyes were fixed on the bed. Things would never be the same. And how could they be? James had been here so long, and she had seen him almost every day. And he had paid for her schooling. There was no way to ever forget him. Every time she spent money, no matter how little, she remembered him typing in that final zero, hitting send, and the notification popping up on her phone to let her know she was sixty grand up. And James wouldn't just live in her bank account.
"Amy, coffee. Come," Rebecca tugged with more enthusiasm. And Amy submitted. Because she really did wish James never came back. That he could get back to his life, that he would heal as best he could. Maybe he could find new purpose in his life.
As for her, things had certainly improved. And she smiled at Rebecca as her girlfriend slid her a mug of coffee and they enjoyed the short time of peace before work started.
--
And one day James did come back. And certainly not how she had expected.
