I Want to Eat Ramen | Amano Writing Club

My father collapsed.
Inside the ambulance, my mother and I were holding his hands.
My father kept his eyes closed and did not move.

It was the third day since he was admitted to the intensive care unit.
During the five-minute visiting period, I watched my father's face.
Connected to tubes, my father looked small. He looked like a completely different person.

On the fourth day, my father opened his eyes.

On the fifth day, my father moved his mouth.
I couldn't make it out.

I leaned my ear in close.
"I want to eat ramen."
I thought I had misheard him.
"Huh?"
"The one in front of the station..."

Is his consciousness clouded?
Looking into my skeptical eyes, my father said in a raspy but clear voice:
"Soy sauce ramen, noodles firm."

Laughing through my tears, I went to report this to his attending physician, who was also my father's friend.
"My father said he wants to eat ramen. The soy sauce ramen in front of the station."

The doctor laughed too.
"That's great. When your father gets better, let's go together."

I am participating in Mitsuru Amano's Amano Writing Club.

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