Katherine's Call for Help in the Deafening Silence

She slightly pulled back her feet and grasped harder to the cold railings in front of her. The blood broken up in her ears, her heart pounded in her chest, her hands trembled, and her legs shivered. The sudden churning of her stomach reminds her of that moment when her father first brought her in Baguio. She laughed at herself when she realized that what she was doing is purely ridiculous.

“Of All the many ways, why this? Very stupid Kath, Very stupid.” She forced to open her eyes and faces the view below her. Her view suddenly shifted from blurry to disfigured. 24 story building, 300 feet tall. Great. She told herself. She can’t almost see the people below; she can’t even tell if it’s a person. It appears to be as small as the dwarves from the story her father used to tell her. She snaps back to reality and took a deep breath, walk slowly towards the sill, but at this moment, each step she made, seems to weigh heavier and heavier.

“One more step and I’ll push you off this building!” A loud screeching voice of a woman suddenly appears from the thin air of Baguio. Her knees went out after the shock and that made her loss her balance. She almost let go to the railings and fell off the building. A sudden chill swept through Katherine as if a cold wind cut through. She was just about to face the woman but a pair of hands grabbed her by her shoulder. The next thing she knew; she was lying down the ground with a heavy body on top of her. On top of her is a woman with mouth gaped open and eyes widened. She pushed it off, and started to get up. She shoved off the dirt from her pants. “You scared me!” The phrase made the lady form a notch between her thick brows. Before uttering one word, the woman put her hands into her hips. “What about me? Did you not think that a sight of woman standing at the edge of a building does not scared the heck out of me?!” The woman answered. She eyed the woman and then she realized that she was right after seeing the shock marked across its face. She lowered down her eyes and bit her lower lips. She also doesn’t know what she was doing at the top of this building.

“I wasn’t really going to jump.” She said in almost a whisper. She then heard a laugh from the woman standing in front of her. “Then what?” She lifted her gaze and got irritated so she rose a brow at her as she folded her arms. “Why are you meddling with my business? You, what are you doing here, you’re also going to jump huh?!” “Nope, I was just going to take this cigarette.” The woman showed her a box of cigarette and a lighter. “Duh, I love my life.” She found it sarcastic and can’t help not to laugh. She slowly sat down at the pavement, leaning, turned away at the wall, hugging her knees. “You were just burning your lungs with that. You really love yourself huh.”

The woman chose to ignore her comment and also sat down beside her. She put her cigarettes and lighter back at her pocket. “You were really not going to jump.” Katherine looked at the woman with disbelief so she hurriedly stood up to prove the woman wrong but as soon as she lowered down her gaze, her knees weakened so she just sat back beside her. The woman gave her a smirk and shook her head. “So why here, why not through cutting, hanging, or overdose? You have a lot of choices. If you really wanted to die, you should have jump the moment I yelled at you.”

“And you even gave suggestions, huh.” The woman smiled at her and lifted her hand for a handshake. “Jane, the person who saved your life. Katherine smiled back. She somehow finds comfort at the person she’s talking to. “As if you saved me mid-air. Katherine, or just call me Kath for short.” She also extended her hand for a handshake. “So Katherine, why did you decided to end your life? Please don’t tell me your boyfriend dumped you. I’ll kill you myself.” She jokes. A sad smile form on her lips. I wish it was that simple. Her gaze remains fixed at the floor while playing with her hands. “I went to the doctor earlier, and” She took a sudden pause and breathe deeply before continuing her sentence. “I was diagnosed with Acute Myeloid Leukemia.” Katherine said weakly. No one was talking. The only thing they can hear is the deafening sound of silence. It was as if, they were in an operation room and the flat line finally beeps. She looked up to Jane to see its reaction.