5 — "Mom! I'm here"
958 Words
By the time Lu Chen reached the public hospital, the rain had eased into a steady drizzle. The streetlights shimmered off the wet pavement, painting the world in cold gold.
His arms were throbbed, his fingers were numb, and his legs shook with every step.
But he kept walking, carrying his dead mother.
At last, when he reached the sliding doors of the emergency ward, they parted mechanically— as if the world had no idea he was carrying his entire heart wrapped in a blanket.
A security guard saw him and stood up.
“Hey—what are you—?”
Lu Chen’s voice cracked.
“Please… I need a doctor.” Lu Chen answered.
The guard took one look at the lifeless shape in his arms and exhaled sharply.
He didn’t cause trouble, he didn’t ask questions.
Instead, he simply called out:
“Doctor Zhang! Emergency assessment!”
Moments later, a middle-aged doctor emerged from the trauma room, wiping sweat from his forehead. He frowned at the sight of Lu Chen— who was already drenched and shaking.
“Lay her on the gurney.” The doctor said
Lu Chen hesitated, because his mother felt safer in his arms.
Seeing that, the doctor softened his tone. “I can’t help her while she’s in your hands.”
Slowly… carefully…
Lu Chen lowered her onto the cold metal surface.
Her hair was damp from the rain, and spilled across the sheet like dark silk.
The doctor checked her vitals— touching her neck, listening with his stethoscope, and examining her eyes.
It took less than ten seconds, but to Lu Chen, it felt like the longest moment of his life.
At last, the doctor straightened, his expression gentled.
“…I’m sorry.”
The words shattered something inside Lu Chen that he hadn’t known was still breakable.
“She passed several hours ago,” the doctor said quietly.
“There was nothing you could’ve done.”
That wasn’t true, Lu Chen knew it wasn’t true.
If the clinic had helped…
If they hadn’t been turned away…
If he were stronger, faster, richer…
If he hadn’t left her alone…
But he said nothing.
Instead, he only nodded, swallowing the pain that threatened to drown him.
The doctor placed a hand on his shoulder.
“She didn’t suffer at the end,” he added gently. “Her breathing faded peacefully.”
Hearing those words, Lu Chen closed his eyes.
For a moment, that was the only comfort left.
They moved her to a covered stretcher and began preparing the release documents. Soon after, a nurse approached him.
“Do you have family who can assist with the arrangements?”
Lu Chen shook his head and answerd.
“No.”
“Friends?”
“No.”
“Anyone…?”
“…Just me.”
She hesitated, then handed him a thin file of papers.
“You’ll need to sign these to authorize her transfer to the city cemetery. The hospital offers basic burial support for cases like hers.”
Cases like hers. Charity burials, the ones society forgot.
Lu Chen accepted the papers with shaking hands and said— “I’ll sign.”
Two hours later, beneath a sky paling with early dawn, Lu Chen stood at the outskirts of the city cemetery. There were no visitors, no priests, no relatives, just him.
And a small, simple grave cut into the muddy earth.
A cemetery worker cleared his throat, uncomfortable.
“You can say your last words before we lower her.”
Last words.
How was a lifetime supposed to fit into a single moment? He thought. He stepped forward, his shoes sank into the wet soil.
Then he knelt— not because anyone told him to, but because he could no longer remain standing.
He placed a trembling hand on the plain wooden coffin, and began..
“Mom…”
His voice broke immediately.
“I’m here.”
The morning breeze brushed through his hair, cold and quiet.
“I wanted to give you more,” he whispered.
“A better life, a real home. Medicine, safety.”
His breath shuddered.
“I wasn’t enough.”
The world was quiet.
Too quiet.
“I’m sorry.”
Tears slid down his face, raw and unrestrained.
“I’m so sorry.”
He leaned forward, resting his forehead against the coffin’s cold surface.
“I promise… this won’t be the end of me,” he whispered.
“I’ll live, i’ll grow, and i’ll become someone you can be proud of.”
A single tear struck the wood.
“And I’ll come visit,” he continued softly.
“Every year, every birthday, every day I need you.”
He squeezed his eyes shut.
“Rest on, Mom.
You deserve peace—
more than anyone.”
Slowly, he stepped back.
The workers lowered the coffin into the earth.
The thud of soil against wood echoed through the cemetery—
soft, rhythmic and final.
Lu Chen watched in silence until the last mound of dirt was packed down, smoothed into a small, fresh grave.
A simple wooden marker was placed at its head.
Madam Lin
Beloved Mother
May She Rest in Peace
Lu Chen stared at the words until they blurred.
Eventually, a worker approached him.
“Son… you should get some rest.”
Lu Chen didn’t respond.
He remained there long after they left.
Long after the sun climbed higher, bathing the cemetery in gold.
He stood until the wind dried his tears.
Until his legs stopped trembling.
Until breathing no longer hurt.
Only then did he whisper:
“I’ll come back.”
He turned and he walked away.
And for the first time in his life—
he knew no one was waiting for him.
- Writer
