Dad died. The thing lit up. The health monitor thing I ordered online and put on him the other day. It said he was dead on VoiceChat. Well it said his heart stopped. The monitor thing did with a push notification. Which meant he died.
I couldn’t tell the difference when I looked at his body. It’s like, how would you even know. Without the monitor thing. That he was dead. He didn’t say anything on VoiceChat in the last couple days anyway. He just laid flat on his back on the cot that we’d set up in the corner of the living room. Pushing the bedsheet up and down with his breaths. Then he wasn’t doing that anymore. He couldn’t even see the TV from that side. It’s like, what’s even the point at that point.
He had told the doctor who’d come that he didn’t want painkillers. That was the last time he’d used VoiceChat. But the doctor gave them to him anyway. The bad breathing sounds he had been making made it sound like it was hard for him to breathe or something. Then the doctor gave him the painkillers. He didn’t make any more noises after that. Just kept pushing the bedsheet up and down. I was glad because the noises were scary for some reason. I didn’t like them. I didn’t like that he was making them. So it was good that they stopped even though he wasn’t dead yet.
The doctor’s VoiceChat spoke to me while he was giving Dad the painkillers.
<< I’M SORRY TO TELL YOU THIS. BUT YOUR FATHER IS GOING TO PASS AWAY. THERE’S NOTHING I CAN DO TO SAVE HIM. HE IS SUFFERING GREATLY. AND IT WOULD BE CRUEL TO PROLONG HIS LIFE ANY LONGER. I’M SORRY. >>
Then VoiceChat told him to put his hand on my shoulder. That was a Gesture from the latest update that meant he didn’t want me to feel bad. That felt pretty good. It was cool to see the new feature again. His VoiceChat subscription must’ve been expensive. He had full access to Gestures. I could never afford a Voice like that. Mine didn’t include Gestures. I had tried to memorize some of the ones that I’d seen other people use. So I could use them too. The ads were true. People did like you more when you used them. But it was really hard to remember them all. If you didn’t have the pack installed.
<< HE HAS TERMINAL CANCER. AS YOU KNOW. UNFORTUNATELY THERE’S NOTHING MORE THAT YOU CAN DO. HIS ORGANS ARE SHUTTING DOWN. AND THERE’S NO WAY TO STOP IT. HE WILL BE GONE VERY SOON. I’M SORRY. >>
I wondered if the doctor paid monthly or annually for VoiceChat. Probably you could get a discount for a Premium Voice like his. If you paid annually. I bet you could. I got excited for a moment thinking about saving money on an annual VoiceChat subscription. With all the Premium features like the doctor’s. But of course I couldn’t afford to pay all at once. Like he probably could.
The doctor’s VoiceChat told me some details about the painkillers. The names, the dosages, the side effects. But it’s like, in one ear and out the other. It goes in, I know it does. I hear the Voice just fine. But I can’t ever seem to hang on to it. It’s like it just comes right back out on the other side of my head and falls on the ground. Thankfully VoiceChat stores it all in the Cloud by default. Not even a Premium feature. Otherwise it would all just fall on the ground.
“In one ear and out the other.”
I think I heard Dad say that once before he got VoiceChat. I forgot that he didn’t have the app yet when I was a kid. It was weird that he didn’t use VoiceChat before. And then again at the end. He just made those bad breathing sounds and pushed the bedsheet up and down. I was glad that was over.
Mom was watching a movie upstairs when Dad died. She got the notification on her phone too. Her VoiceChat app always called mine a few minutes after she got a notification about Dad’s health thing.
<< I JUST GOT THE NEWS. BUT I DIDN’T HAVE THE HEART TO CALL YOU RIGHT AWAY. CAN IT BE TRUE. HAS YOUR FATHER REALLY JUST DIED. OH HONEY. MY DEAR. MY PRECIOUS CHILD. WHY. WHY. WHY WOULD THIS HAPPEN. >>
Mom’s Voice blared through the speaker of my phone. It sounded worried but it was too loud. I had been listening to loud music earlier. I turned the volume down a few clicks. I didn’t understand why her Voice was asking why. She knew why. She probably hadn’t updated VoiceChat recently. It got a lot better after the last update.
Mom held her phone up towards her face. So I could see that she was there. Her eyes were fixed on the bigger screen though. Up and to the left. On my phone screen I saw lights and colors flashing across her face. Figures reflected in her glasses. I wondered what movie she was watching. I wished she would turn the phone around. So I could see.
<< IT’S TRUE. HE’S REALLY GONE >> my Voice responded automatically. << IT’S A TERRIBLE THING. MOTHER PLEASE TRY NOT TO WORRY. MY FATHER DIED PEACEFULLY. HIS LAST WORDS WERE ABOUT HOW MUCH HE LOVED YOU. AND HOW MUCH HE TRUSTED ME TO TAKE CARE OF YOU. I WILL DO MY BEST TO MAKE YOU PROUD. I PROMISE. PLEASE COME BACK SOON. I DON’T WANT TO BE ALONE. >>
None of that was true. I wondered where the app had pulled it from. I had never experienced a death in the family. So I wasn’t sure what kind of stuff my Voice would say. It didn’t have the best automation settings for new situations. But I liked what it generated most of the time. And it’s like, how are you supposed to know what you’re supposed to say. When it’s a new thing you haven’t done before.
<< I’M SO SORRY I WASN’T WITH YOU. WHEN YOUR FATHER DIED. OH MY GOODNESS HONEY. I’M SO SORRY YOU HAD TO GO THROUGH THAT. AND ALL BY YOURSELF TOO. OH MY PRECIOUS CHILD. I SHOULD HAVE BEEN THERE WITH YOU. AND MY BELOVED HUSBAND. ON HIS DEATHBED. >>
It sounded like her Voice was sad that mine was sad or something. I didn’t feel sad though. I wanted to know what movie she was watching. But our Voices were already doing this conversation about Dad being dead. And they were both set to Autopilot. Mom probably had hers muted anyway. So there was no way for me to ask about the movie. I felt frustrated for some reason.
<< DON’T BLAME YOURSELF. I WISH YOU COULD HAVE BEEN HERE WITH US. IN HIS FINAL MOMENTS. I DON’T WANT TO BE ALONE. MOTHER HE’S NOT IN PAIN ANYMORE. I COULD SWEAR I FELT HIS PRESENCE LEAVE THE ROOM. THE INSTANT HE RELEASED HIS FINAL BREATH. IT WAS AS THOUGH HIS SOUL LEFT HIS BODY. AND ASCENDED STRAIGHT TO HEAVEN. I COULD REALLY FEEL IT. MOTHER IT HURTS REALLY BAD. BUT I’M RELIEVED THAT HE’S FINALLY AT PEACE. AND ONE WITH GOD. >>
<< OH HONEY. I AM TOO. HE’S IN A BETTER PLACE NOW. YOUR FATHER WAS SUCH A WONDERFUL LOVING MAN. >> Mom took a big bite of something while her VoiceChat was talking. A sandwich. It made me hungry to see her eating. << SUCH A KIND AND GENTLE HUSBAND. AND FATHER. HE LOVED YOU WITH ALL HIS HEART. I DO TOO. >>
I thought I recognized one of the actors reflected in her glasses during a close-up shot. But I couldn’t think of the name. And then the movie kept going.
<< I LOVE YOU TOO >> my Voice responded. << I MISS HIM SO MUCH. ALREADY. MY HEART ACHES. I DON’T WANT TO BE ALONE. >>
<< ME TOO HONEY. I LOVE YOU. I’LL BE THERE AS SOON AS I CAN. >>
VoiceChat disconnected. I opened up FoodieFriends and searched Mom’s recent order history. She had gotten a chicken sandwich and fries from the place down the street. I ordered a chicken sandwich and fries too. That sounded really good.