The Right to Grieve

There might be something wrong with her sense of sight. Sevannah let her eyes roam for the second time as her classmates scurried out of the room, leaving her all alone, still seated in the last row. Her surroundings looked freaking dull, everything was less vivid than they were before. The letters (E,D,U,C,A,T,I,O,N,I,S,F,O,O,D,F,O,R,L,I,F,E) stuck on the wall, just right above the whiteboard in front of the seats, were supposed to be tomato red. Now the colors were of overcooked pepperonis. I'm going blind, she thought. But that didn't scare her a bit.

"Ms. Jones," a deep voice startled Sevannah just when she stepped out of the classroom.

"Mr. Cosner!" She exclaimed, her right hand instantly going across her chest.

It was their professor. He may had been waiting for her to come out.

"Oh, I'm sorry. Can I talk to you for a minute?" Mr. Cosner softened his voice. He was known as the Samuel Jackson of the university. But with thicker hair.

Sevannah hesitated for a second before nodding. They set off to his office, a couple of walks down the hallway. Right then and there, Sevannah already knew what he wanted. Just like the rest of them.

"I'm sorry for your lost." Mr. Cosner said as they settled in the lounge area. He was seated at the smaller couch while Sevannah was on the longer one.

"I-- No. Not me," she shook her head. "You should tell that to his parents, sir." She said, lowering eyes.

"I've already visited them yesterday." He paused. "Sevannah, I know it's difficult for you, too. Yes, there's nothing more painful than losing your child, but Zarus has been part of your life as well."

His deep, relaxing voice made Sevannah turn her gaze back to him.

"This is not a contest on who's hurting more, who has more right to express sorrow and misery. And Sevannah, I believe what you're feeling is probably worse than anyone else feels."

In movies, this was the most emotional part: the girl would cry her heart out and the mentor would comfort her, telling things were gonna be okay. For Sevannah, it wasn't the case though. She couldn't cry. She wanted to but her tear ducts had stopped functioning. There was really something wrong with her. Eye cancer? She silently wished so.

"Mr. Cosner," she finally spoke. "Thank you. I'm sorry for skipping so many school days. I was just trying to-- trying to understand the situation. I will try my best to catch up for the finals." Sevannah tried to smile.

"Sevannah. There's something you need to know." He said and her brows twitched in confusion.

He continued, "The faculty and the entire management had a meeting last week. We talked about what happened and how we could help our students-- at least. The school has decided to hire a specialist who understands this kind of--"

"Who? Like someone who can ressurect the dead?" Sevannah interrupted, her face warming up in sudden annoyance.

"A psychiatrist, Sevannah." Mr. Cosner said, ignoring her rude remark. "A specialist for anxiety, depression and sudden change of emotions." He explained, emphasizing the last phrase.

Sevannah just shook her head while letting out a sarcastic laugh.

"You can meet with the doctor once or twice a week, right after class or whenever you want to. I can talk to your other professors. We're also planning to sign up other students who need this very special treatment. It's all free, you have nothing to worry about." Mr. Cosner sounded like he was a hundred percent sure it would work.

Sevannah stared at her professor with a straight face. That gave Mr. Cosner the chills.

Finally, she said, "I'll think about it, Mr. Cosner. I need to go now, my job is waiting."