[ WP ] A mortal mother , close to death , pays a visit to her immortal son .

It took all her effort to make the 34 steps from her front door to the taxi. The ride to the hospital was too short for rest. 
 
 As she shuffled into the sterile white room she sighed. So many tubes. So much noise. So little peace. 
 
 But this was the life that he had chosen. 
 
 He sat in the colorful gown she had made him, tethered to an army of machines. 
 
 He did n't notice her at first. 
 
 His gaze embarked without purpose on a routine pilgrimage from the nearest readout to the winter window to the eternal television, and then settled for a space at a sacred spot on the opposite wall. 
 
 `` Alex.'' 
 
 She spoke his name with a tenderness that made the hardened nurse want to make a phone call. 
 
 At the sound of her soft voice, his face rose like a wilting flower watered. `` Mom! I'm so glad you came!'' 
 
 `` I have n't missed a day in the last fourteen months,'' she said briskly. Even her pause seemed brisk. `` So. How many lives have you saved today?'' 
 
 `` Sixteen.'' 
 
 `` That's wonderful, sugar plum. How many tomorrow?'' 
 
 `` We'll see about tomorrow.'' 
 
 After a space his smile crumbled. 
 
 `` I wish you'd let me save yours.'' He could n't keep the drops of sorrow from welling in his throat, and his voice wavered, drowned in a sea of wanting. 
 
 This time it was her face that softened. Craggy lines fell into felt folds. `` I know you do, sweetheart. But it's my time.'' 
 
 `` Time does n't matter anymore!'' 
 
 `` It does to me,'' she said simply. `` I'm tired. I want to rest. I want to go.'' 
 
 The nurse removed herself to make her phone call. The bent old lady shifted her cane to her other hand. The son wept. 
 
 `` Alex, tell me you understand.'' 
 
 `` I do. I understand. I love you.'' 
 
 `` I love you more.'' 
 
 `` Goodbye?'' 
 
 `` Goodbye.'' 
 
 She labored to turn, and with a lingering look she left his room for the last time. 
 
 She went home to rest. 
 
 Alex fell back against his pillows and sobbed. He cried, inconsolable, like a baby for its mother. He felt for the first time that death could be a friend. 
 
 Forever is a long time.
