A Death Experience
“Betty has cancer!”, cried Jessie over the phone. “She was admitted last night to the emergency ward and they did a quick operation on her and discovered she has stomach cancer.”
There was a pause, Jessie was choking with tears. Her voice was quivering and she had to restore her composure before continuing.
“She doesn’t know. We don’t know how to tell her. She had severe stomach cramps and still thinks it is something to do with her gastric problem, except that she thinks this time it is more severe.”
I tried to calm Jessie, struggling for words momentarily. A little unlike me. Jessie used to say she had been impressed with the way I seemed to be able to think on my feet and admired how quick I tended to be with words. (In the Shadow of Death page 1)
PENGALAMAN KEMATIAN
“Betty kena kanker!”, teriak Jessie melalui telepon. ”Tadi malam ia dibawa ke unit gawat darurat dan mereka cepat-cepat melakukan operasi lalu menemukan kanker di perutnya”.
Sunyi. Jessie tercekat dengan tangisnya. Suaranya gemetar dan mencoba mengembalikan ketenangannya sebelum melanjutkan.
“Betty belum tahu. Kami tidak tahu bagaimana memberitahukan hal ini kepadanya. Ia mengalami kram perut yang hebat dan ia masih mengira bahwa lambungnya yang bermasalah, hanya saja kali ini lebih parah dari sebelumnya”.
Saya mencoba menenangkan Jessie, yang berusaha untuk berbicara lagi. Saya sedikit berbeda kali ini. Jessie biasa mengatakan kalau ia terpesona dengan cara saya yang tampak seperti dapat berpikir selagi saya berdiri dan mengagumi bagaimana cepatnya saya berkata-kata.
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