Quiet Reflection

Tick, tick, tick, tick...
Ruby kept her eyes pressed closed, she could imagine what time it must be but refused to look. It was still dark, that much she could tell but it was little compensation. She had been listening to the clock for what felt like ages. Possibly she could have dosed off without realizing but then again.
Haaaaaah... an almost imperceptible sound of air being released was mixed blessing. It came with a hellish stench that made her throat open, triggering her gag reflex. Ruby pulled the pillow out from under her head and covered her mouth and nose with it. Breathing in through the material helped, not much but it helped.
16 days, 22 hours and what..13 minutes. It was only a guess really but give or take an hour she was probably pretty close. 16 days, 22 hours, 13 minutes. That's how long it took for a perfectly healthy body to disintegrate. A life time’s worth of flesh and blood, bone and muscle to shrink and break down.
She reached over and felt the bony shoulder, choking back tears as she pressed the pillow into her face to keep quiet, keep strong, and let him sleep. Grief strikes swiftly and shows no pity when the one you love for a lifetime is dying. She heard the familiar creak of the hardwood in the hallway. Someone was up and moving around. If she heard the TV, it would be Doug, if she smelled coffee it was Charlie.
Her two boys had come home to help and be there, to say goodbye of course and help her settle. It wasn't going to be easy but it had to be done. She could smell coffee now and realized sleep was now long past. As she pulled herself out of bed she thought she could hear tiny voices. The voices of little ones laughing as they prepared cereal and toast for a special breakfast in bed. She hated breakfast in bed as a rule, but loved that they tried.
She smiled at the memory and moved quietly towards the door, she would let him rest for as long as he could. The morphine was doing its job for now. She closed the door behind her, leaving it open just a crack so she could hear and shuffled down the hallway to the kitchen and hugged her son.
to be cont.