Rest in Peace

Short Story

The body lay sprawled upside down atop the table, dead.
"Can she be saved?" Mary asked through a veil of tears.
"I don't know." Michael answered. "But I'll try."
The roommate frowned as he hunched over the body to examine it. They
had three heavy early morning classes and needed it alive! Mary tucked
her dark hair behind her ear and wrung the tissue in hand as she
watched.
"Screwdriver." Michael announced and put his hand out.
A screwdriver with a gold handle and a brown flashlight lay beside
the machine. Mary took the screwdriver and slapped it in the middle of
Michael's hand. His full lips flattened into a straight line of
concentration as he meticulously unscrewed the silver plate and put it
aside.
"Flashlight."
Mary took the flashlight and handed it to Michael. He flashed the
light inside. Michael dipped the screwdriver inside the many-colored
nest of entwined wires and began to work with a surgeon's precision. A
quiet candle vigil had gone on outside the dorm room since word first
got out.
"Handkerchief." Michael held his hand out again. Mary plucked
Michael's handkerchief from out of his shirt pocket and softly patted
the beads of sweat prominent on his forehead. A few minutes passed and
Michael stood upright. He shook his dark hair away from his face and
swiped a tear from his eye.
"It's no use," he sighed. "She's gone."
"No!" Mary sobbed. "She can't be dead." You've got to try it
again".
Michael opened his arms wide and she walked into them. He held
her small body against him as she continued to cry.
"It's ok," he said. "She's in a better place."
Mary lifted her face from Michael's chest.
"I'll have to tell everyone outside." Michael said.
"I'll go with you."
Michael and Mary held hands and opened the door. They looked up at
them, their eyes watery and hopeful.
"We're sorry, but there was nothing we could do," Michael
announced. Loud, howling, hysterical sobs filled the hallway as everyone in the
dorm began to mourn a morning without their morning coffee.
The End. 2004