Siamese

Mark opened his eyes sleepily. Turning his head to the left slightly, he could see that his mischievous brother, Matthew, was still asleep. Thank goodness, he added silently.

 When he and Matthew were born, the doctors had been unable to separate their bodies without permanently harming or killing at least one of them, so their mother had chose for them to remain connected. When they were younger, this was fun, but eventually it began to frustrate Mark, the younger-by-one-second twin. Nothing was private, not even his deepest, darkest secrets. They even shared clothes. And just to rub it in, Matt, who didn’t care much about anything, made himself a reputation that kept everyone away from him, and therefore Mark. Oh, well, thought Mark. At least he’s a late sleeper.

 “Mark?”

 I stand corrected.

 “Yes, Matthew?” Mark answered tiredly.

 “Are you awake?”

 “I am now.”

 “Good, because I wanted to get up early today.”

 “But it’s five o’clock in the morning!!!”

 “I know, but I bet Nathan I could get up before five o’ one.”

 “Why five o’ one?”

 “Because that’s what the bet was.”

 Mark sighed exasperatedly. Nathan was Matt’s “best friend,” a.k.a. Mark’s worst enemy. He continuously dared Matthew to do stuff that he knew Mark would hate. Like getting up at five in the morning.

 “Mark?”

 “All right, all right, I’m up.”

 “Ok, let’s go.”

 “Go where?”

 “To meet Nathan, of course! He wouldn’t believe me if I just told him I woke up at five o’ one, so I have to show him.

 “You mean we.”

 “We what?”

 “We woke up at five, not just you.”

 “Oh, yeah. That.”

 Aggravated, Mark unwillingly was pulled out of bed by Matt. Unfortunately for Mark, Matt’s brain was the best connected to most of the nerves in their body, so he could move all of his side of the body and most of Mark’s.

 After they pulled on their personally-made outfit, they quietly slipped out of the house without their parents noticing. Mark was in a considerably sour mood and didn’t talk much. As the Siamese twins crossed a broad, dark road, Matthew’s unwelcome voice penetrated Mark’s spiteful thoughts.

 “Mark.”

 Mark ignored him.

 “Mark!!!”

 Surprised at the urgency in his brother’s voice, Mark lifted his head defiantly. “What do you want?”

 “MARK, watch out!!!!”

 Mark pivoted just in time to see a truck come speeding at them, unable to stop. A fiery pain erupted in his left torso, and everything was suddenly black.

 Mark forced his eyes open, wincing as dried mucus pulled at his skin. At first all he saw was white, white ceiling, walls and floor, but as his eyes became accustomed to the light he realized that he was in a hospital bed. He turned his head to the left out of habit, expecting his brother’s familiar face to greet his gaze, but there was an unusual emptiness. He realized that he was no longer connected to anyone and that there was a pain in his left side, but he didn’t care.

 He sat up straight in bed, wincing, and demanded to everyone within hearing range, “Where is my brother? Where is Matthew?”

 Unexpectedly, he saw his mother and father come rushing out of the crowd surrounding him and watched their knees buckle underneath them. Finally, his mother managed to choke out a broken, slightly incomprehensible sentence.

 “Mark, Matthew - Matthew is with Jesus now.”

 Mark stared at her, and suddenly, he understood.