Final Breath

Bruce Gorman is a terminally ill man in his mid-40s confined to his condo, surrounded by hospice equipment as he faces his imminent death. An IV in his hand, pills on the table, and an oxygen tube connected to his nostrils all keeping him alive. Bruce is lying in his hospice bed, weak and fragile, while his hospice nurse, Carrie Ellis, a compassionate woman in her twenties, tends to his needs. What seems like a typical end-of-life conversation quickly takes a sinister turn. Carrie attempts to comfort Bruce and engages with him in a conversation about death, trying to ease his fear of what awaits him on the other side. Bruce reveals to his nurse a disturbing regret, the desire to have taken another life, bemoaning the fact that he could have been a famous serial killer.

Nurse Carrie tries to disengage from the uncomfortable conversation but it quickly escalates when Bruce decides to act on his long-suppressed violent urges. Without warning Bruce lunges at Carrie, wrapping his arms around her neck and choking her. She cries out desperately and kicks her feet in the air, wiggling to get free. Bruce holds on tightly keeping Carrie face down with her feet in the air while they struggle with each other. After much struggle Carrie gets upright and manages to grab her pen from the nightstand, wielding it as a weapon. But Bruce is still too strong for her and overpowers her hand, knocking the pen to the floor. He wraps his arms around her neck again and they struggle on the bed until eventually Carrie loses consciousness.

Bruce drags Carrie close to him on the bed and wakes her up, taunting her further and committing to finishing her off. He takes the nurse’s stethoscope and wraps it tightly around her throat strangling her slowly. Carrie claws at the ligature self tightly around her neck and the two struggle. Carrie’s eyes water from the intense pressure and her tongue protrudes from her mouth. Her face gets red from the pressure and she cries out in terror while struggling with all her might. Carrie manages to get a good elbow hit on Bruce and break free from his grasp. He latches back on to her ankle before she can get away and the two tumble off the bed and to the floor.

Bruce keeps ahold of Carrie struggling on the floor and pinning her face-down on the ground. The nurse begs him to stop but he is too far gone into his dark delusions. He takes the oxygen tube still trailing along with him and wraps it tightly around Carrie’s neck. She grabs at the tube and pulls, her feet kicking and sliding along the floor with no leverage. Bruce uses all his weight to keep her pinned down and under his control. Carrie is no match for Bruce’s burst of strength, and as her fight dwindles she slowly succumbs to the darkness. Bruce flips her over to make the struggle face-to-face in an effort to watch her lights go out. Carrie’s bleary eyes water and drool escapes from her mouth as she eventually gives in to the relentless pressure. Bruce watches with twisted delight as the lights go out from her eyes and the life leaves her body.

After much twitching and spasming Carrie goes completely still with a look of terror frozen on her face. Bruce revels in the fact that he has finally fulfilled his darkest fantasy, he has taken a life. Exhausted but euphoric, Bruce collapses next to Carrie’s lifeless body, laughing maniacally. His victory is short lived as Bruce is overcome with a coughing fit and unable to get back up onto the bed. As Bruce tries to crawl back to his bed, he finds his foot tangled in the very oxygen tubing he used to kill Carrie. Struggling to free himself, his weakened body begins to fail him. The more he struggles, the tighter the tubing wraps around his foot and Carrie’s neck, sealing his fate. With no energy left, Bruce collapses to the floor, taking his final breaths before convulsing and dying with a twisted smile on his face, tangled in his own deadly creation.