Where The Flowers Bloom Forever

“Your loved one is in capable, caring hands. When the time comes, we’ll be there for you, too. And remember: we’ll see you in the morning!”

Each one looked the same as the last; they had all started to blend together in a way that made me feel like a monster. Bankers, lawyers, government officials, evangelists, and drug dealers with faint smiles of comfort on their faces. They have ten hours after their nails turn deep blue to say their goodbyes. Their thoughts begin to wander into the past as their brains become increasingly starved for oxygen. Then, they take their dose of Vivica and drift off to sleep. You can almost tell how they made their money by how many people were there in their last few hours.

Around one year had passed since I began working as a collector. Only a few days remained before I was able to claim my free dose of the drug. It was the whole reason I’d taken the job in the first place. The pill offered salvation and the job offered a way to afford it; I didn’t care how many bodies I had to evaluate, handle, and deliver.

I don’t remember why I decided to take another call that day because I had been on three calls already, but I suppose I was eager to bring my total closer to one-thousand.

The map showed five calls within a square mile of my location, so I picked one of the red blips and got in the hearse. It took a couple minutes for the heater to kick in and I doubled over to make the most of my body heat. The hearse played its first message over the intercom while I was still in the parking deck. The soothing voice of a computer-generated woman comforted and made promises to anyone who could hear and some dreamy classical music followed for a period of about a minute before abruptly going silent.

“Another one?” shouted the man at the booth as I approached the wooden arm. He was about forty-five and on the heftier side. Though I saw him every day, I didn’t know his name.

“Yeah- I’ve got some time on my hands,” I said, smiling.

“Good luck, Palmer.”

People always looked at the hearse as it went by. They looked even more intently if one of the messages was playing because they all knew what it meant. They weren’t even officially called hearses because the folks we picked up weren’t technically dead, but that’s what everyone started calling them. It was bad PR, but there was nothing Vivitec could do about it.

When I arrived at the apartment complex, I was surprised to see the state of disrepair it was in. Vivica wasn’t a cheap drug; one dose cost nearly four years of pay for an average person, so it wasn’t common to take a call in a neighborhood like this one. I double-checked the map to make sure that I had the right spot for this sleeper and confirmed it twice. I went through hypothetical situations involving rich relatives as I climbed up the concrete stairs towards the unit.

I knocked on the door twice before letting myself in; whoever was inside was alone when they took the pill. The apartment was completely dark except for one lamp in the far corner of the living room. The walls were covered in an assortment of cross-stitched kittens, Bible verses, and pictures of a family of three. The whole place smelled like candles even though there were none burning.

I rounded the dividing wall between the dining room and the living room only to be surprised by an alert pair of eyes belonging to a middle-aged woman. She smiled brightly as I walked forward. I tried my best to disguise the confusion I was feeling, but she obviously noticed and said, “I haven’t taken it yet!” with a cheerful lilt.

I walked a bit closer to her.

“How long…”

“Eight hours,” she said. She showed me her fingernails and they were as blue as her sweater.

“Ma’am, you really should be taking it soon-- is there anyone else around?” I asked as I looked into the kitchen around the corner. The refrigerator had more magnets than I’d ever seen sticking onto its yellowish door.

“No. It’s just me and the lord right now,” she said. I was looking at a picture on the table next to where she was sitting. Her husband and son both had dark brown hair and freckles. The man in the photo had kind eyes and a goatee. The child had a narrow face and a somewhat vacant expression. She realized what I was looking at and smiled.

“Both with Jesus now,” she said.

“I’m sorry to hear that, but we’re gonna make sure you stick around, though. A cure is well on its way, you know. Don’t quote me on it, but I think they might be less than a year from finding something big.”

She seemed to consider what I’d said and looked impressed for a moment.

“I’ll take it in a few minutes. I’d like someone to talk to for a little while.”

“Ok,” I said without moving.

“What do they pay you to do what you do?”

“Eh, the daily pay isn’t too good, but we get a dose after a year.”

“Only one,” she said grimly.

“Yeah,” I said, trying not to look ungrateful.

She leaned back in the olive-green chair she was sitting in and started playing with the stained antimacassar. She closed her eyes and smiled faintly while apparently enjoying a memory. She whispered something and opened her eyes again.

“He got me the pill doing the same thing you’re doing. He left it for me without saying anything-- showed up at the front door in a blank envelope about a month after he passed.”

“He wanted you to survive. I’ve seen at least a hundred couples do the same thing. One of ‘em doesn’t tell the other because they know they wouldn’t take it if they only had one. Between you and me, I’m planning the same thing with my wife. I don’t think I’ll get it anyway. I’ve been in a thousand houses with no sign of infection.”

“Never say never, sweetheart. I haven’t left the house since it started and here I am.”

She looked down at her outstretched fingers. This was the first time I noticed how hard she was breathing. When oxygen stops getting to your vitals, your body struggles to compensate by breathing harder. She was in the final stages of drowning above water.

She looked up. “Please tell her. She deserves to know.”

“She’d never accept. We haven’t been on the best terms since she left me.”

“Separated or divorced?”

“Temporarily separated. I’m working on fixing it.”

She looked at me as if she expected more information. Being two hours from death diminishes your shame, I suppose.

“She left me when I started collecting-- thought it was disgusting that I’d risk myself. She called me suicidal and left for her parents’.”

I realized that I was opening right up to this person who I’d be hauling away in just a few minutes. I didn’t see the harm in it since she wouldn’t be awake to tell anyone until there was a cure; there was no guarantee that she’d even remember this conversation.

“Ah. I felt the same way when Ron told me he’d be collecting. I thought he wanted to die after we lost our son. I can’t blame the girl.”

“I just want to do what’s right by her.”

“It’s not your fault. It’s a terrible thing what they charge for these things.” She held up a heart-shaped locket. The light of the lamp glinted off the polished surface. “Pray with me.”

“I’m no good at it.”

She held her hand up and nodded toward the couch next to her. I navigated past a side table and sunk down into the ugly, orange cushion. I didn’t want her to feel bad, but I hesitated as I reached out and touched her hand. Even though she was sick, her presence was reassuring.

“Heavenly father, watch over us and deliver us from this hardship. Bless this home and bless--”

She shook my hand. I opened my eyes to find that she was looking at me with one eye closed.

“Palmer.”

“Mr. Palmer,” she continued. “ Help us, heavenly father, make it through these times with fellowship and love in our hearts. Help us see the good in the world. Bless the folks at Vivitec and all of their good works. Help them to see the value in each life.”

She shook my hand again. I took this to mean it was my turn.

“ Yeah... yes, heavenly father, please bless this home and --”

“Beulah.”

“Beulah. Make sure her rest is peaceful after she takes the pill. Please make it so that she dreams of her family and of the world she’ll find when she wakes up. Help me to not get sick and to last long enough to get a second dose. I don’t want to ask for too much, so that’s where I’ll stop.”

I didn’t believe in God, but I hoped that I’d convinced Beulah.

“In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.” She squeezed my hand tight and then let go. “That was wonderful Mr. Palmer. He hears you and I know in my heart he’ll watch over you.”

She reached over and took her bible from the table. Opening to a page she had marked for quick reference, she began to read. It was difficult for me to follow, but I could tell it was about sickness.

“ The Lord will strengthen him on his bed of illness; you will sustain him on his sickbed. I said, ‘Have mercy on me Lord; heal me, for I have sinned against you.”

I sat and listened quietly while a yellow cat rubbed up against my left leg. The raspy sound of a space heater made me realize how tired I was and Beulah’s weak voice was scarcely louder than a whisper. I could tell that her voice was normally beautiful, but her condition made it difficult to listen without feeling tears form in my eyes.

“Because of my integrity you uphold me and set me in your presence forever.”

Hours later, I woke up to find that Beulah was asleep. I felt terrible for falling asleep while she read, but the day had truly been a long one. My thoughts turned to my wife and the empty apartment I’d be going back to. It was now utterly black outside.

Her dark lips were pursed in a satisfied expression as I took the Bible from her hands and noticed that the locket was tucked between the pages. Pressing a button on one side of the heart, I recoiled when I saw a face belonging to a man other than her husband. In the bottom of the locket, below the smiling face of her greatest sin, was a small white pill.