Silence

It surrounds me

Someone talking in the other room

Someone is laughing

But the silence is around me

Crushing me.

I can’t breathe.

I wait a moment, I blink

She’s twelve

He’s seven

I remember the night in the hospital

My sister screaming in pain

Waiting to be born

I heard her cry

Her son had complications

The four words muttered softly

“Your son has autism”

Followed by

In the same blink in time

“I’m sorry”