Three Hours and Forty-Six Minutes
How many things went wrong that night?
How many accidents and failures?
I had taken a nap
On waking in that precious, vulnerable moment
I checked my phone
And read your panic texts
"Hello"
"I'm getting worried here"
"Help"
And 5 missed calls
The first error
I called you and came downstairs
By which time helplessness had me in its grip
I was agitated
You were agitated
I was angry and made you take medication
The last thing you said to me was "I'm going to get some bananas"
The last thing I said to you was "Leave it until tomorrow"
I didn't hear you leave the house
I didn't notice your absence for 10 minutes
I couldn't find my phone
I thought you had taken it
I texted you at 5.59pm
From WhatsApp on my PC
I rang you at 6.00
I texted you at 6.01
"Did you take my phone?"
I rang you at 6.01
I texted you at 6.02 threatening to call the police
I rang you
I rang you
I rang you
When the line disconnected
I would ring again
And again
And again
After 16 minutes I decided to call the police
You can't do that on a computer
I decided to find a phone box
They don't exist anymore
It took me 20 minutes to walk to the station
The pain doubling a 10 minute walk
I had to use a staff phone to make the call
That conversation took too long
I took a cab home
I had been gone an hour
I resumed calling you
3 minutes later I saw a flashing light
In the waste paper basket under my desk
My phone had fallen in there
It was the officer thinking he had reached you
Because I told them you had taken my phone
6 minutes later I rang you
And I rang you
Again
And again
And again
The calls cease at 9.45pm
When the officer came round
"I'm afraid I have bad news.
Would you like to sit down?
We found David.
I'm afraid he deceased."
Three hours and forty-six minutes