[ WP ] `` Death , I 'm a little busy right now ! ''

`` Death, I'm a *little* busy right now.'' 
 
 *I understand. However, he is out of time. * 
 
 `` No. There's time. Nurse, hand me that clamp.'' She tied off the bleeder, and motioned for a sponge. She sopped up some blood. `` He's not finished yet.'' 
 
 *I'm afraid he is. * Death held up an hourglass, shotglass tiny, all but empty of falling sand. *You have done what you could, but it was not meant that he lives. * 
 
 `` God*damn* it, Death ( increase oxygen levels 2.5 percent. Hold. ) I am *not* giving up. Not *now! * Not this one!'' 
 
 *The choice is not yours. Or mine. * 
 
 The heart rate monitor began beeping. `` No. *No! * Nurse, hand me the speader. I'm going to massage-'' 
 
 *No. * In an instant, Death was beside her, looking down at the tiny form of the infant on the table. He laid a weightless hand on her arm. *No. There comes a time when there is nothing left to do but allow the suffering to end. This child's time is done. Let the pain end. * 
 
 Ignoring the figure, she relentlessly massaged the tiny heart, until Death reached into the still body and hooked out the soul, thin and blue and so impossibly bright. Whirling to face Death, she asked with controlled fury, `` Why? Why him? Why not his fucker of a drunk father? *Why? *'' 
 
 Death shook his skull and, compassionately, smoothed the infant's hair. *I have no say in the matter. It is not my decision to make, nor mine to question. I am only the collector. * 
 
 Tears streamed down her face as she looked down at the infant, nearly lost among the operating equipment. `` I know,'' she said quietly, `` but that does n't mean it's right.'' 
 
 *This time, * Death said enigmatically, and strode out of the room.
