Just a Moment in Time? by Ed Gruber

Is each second just a moment in time?

Or is it something else?
As we followed the Oncologist out of my little brother’s room we were prepared for the worst.
He put the X-rays up for us to see.
There was a small area at the top of one lung. It didn’t look like much.
“The cancer has metastasized to his lungs.”
Five seconds.
Five moments in time.
“It doesn’t look very big. How will you treat it? Radiation, chemo or surgery?”
Nine seconds.
Nine moments in time.
The look on his face and the cracking of his voice hit like a sledgehammer.
“That small area at the top of the one lung is the healthy tissue. The rest of his lungs are full of cancer.”
Seven seconds.
Seven moments in time.
Unendurable sorrow. A complete loss of sensation. Vertigo. Shortness of breath.
“What kind of treatment will he have to endure this time? He’s been through so much already?”
Six seconds.
Six moments in time.
“There’s nothing left to treat. He only has days to live. I’m so sorry.”
Eight seconds.
Eight moments in time.
Four shattered lives.
Eternity.

Ed Gruber is the Facilities Manager at The King’s College. He loves riding and fixing motorcycles, working with youth, and eating twice as much as he should.