Don't Give Water! "75 Years Hiroshima" Dr.Soko DAY24/50

A Dying Man

"Water... please give me some water."
He wore in a national uniform. His body was in a ditch, looked like a dead person. His complexion was pale and he was not sweating. His clothes were badly torn. He did not have a burn wound but his arms and legs have purple stains. 

As she approached, she heard breathing sounds of high pitch. Each time he breathed, the center of his chest made a dent. The limbs are weak  like wilted grass.


"Mr...I am sorry, I do not have water."
"Uh..uh..."
His arms and fingers drooped down.
Nobuko quickly put his hand under the man's body, and picked up the water bottle from around his waist.
"I'll borrow this."
Nobuko ran into the direction of a private house with a well where she had been drinking water. 

She ran into the house. She desperately paddled the well pump and drew water into the water bottle. Then, she rushed to the man in the ditch.

He stayed there with an unchanging posture. Nobuko grabbed his  clothes around the shoulder and pulled up. His eyes opened  a little.

"I brought water for you! Here it is."
There was no reply from him.
Nobuko supported his head with her arm, applied the water bottle to his mouth. Nobuko was relieved to see the soldier's throat move up and down as water flowed out of his mouth.

At that time, Nobuko was tapped on her shoulder by someone.

"You shouldn't give him water. He will die if you give water, okay? All the people who got bombed die right after they drink water.  Don't do it. Don't give him water!"

”Don't Give Him Water!"

Surprised by the words, Nobuko dropped the water bottle to the road. Water spilled from the water bottle was sucked up to the ground.
Nobuko stretched her arm to pick up the water bottle, and looked back at the voice.
There was an old woman with deep wrinkles on her forehead.

If a someone who had the bomb wants to drink water, don't give water. You know, many people died immediately right after drinking water. People who entered the river and drank water were all dead as soon as they drank water."

The old woman said so, and she left putting a hand on her bent waist.

When Nobuko turned her eyes on the man, he was opening his eyelids and looking at Nobuko. He seemed not to be able to emit a voice. His eyes were as if he wanted water. His mouth was opened, and his fingertips of his right hand stretched slightly toward Nobuko.

Nobuko placed a water bottle on the ground and gently laid the man's body on the ground. He closed his eyes and his hands hung down like wilted plants.

Only the squeaking breathing sound told that he was alive.But the sounds gradually became sparse, and suddenly, the soldier made two big and painful breaths. 

Nobuko thought.

"I have to do something!"

His chest lifted with breathing, that looked like painful.  But Nobuko could do nothing. 

The only thing she could do was to keep an eye on him.

Nobuko waited, but the man never breathed again.

The 15 year old girl saw a man passed away, alone. Soon, regret filled her heart. 

He wanted more water, but Nobuko let him die without giving water more. She regretted so from the bottom of her heart. At the same time, she thought she may had killed him.
Nobuko thought he might have died because she gave him water, as the old lady said.

He would have been a little more alive if she didn't drink water from the beginning. Nobuko thought that was her fault. She was sad, very sad.

"I am sorry"

Nobuko recognized herself that she mercilessly had to leave behind the dead man there. Nobuko once again knelt beside the man. Her trembling fingers placed his hands together on his chest. She put a hat on his face, and put the water bottle next to his body.

She closed her eyes and prayed for him.

"Sorry, I'm really sorry to leave you here. I have have a reason to go.  I don't want to let go of my grandmother. I can't give up on my grandmother. So, I am sorry I couldn't do the best for you. Please sleep peacefully in heaven."

She started walking again. The sun shined Nobuko's face. No matter if it was dazzlingly hot, the man's matter couldn't leave Nobuko's head.

"Ah, he may have died because I made him drink water. I did.."

Tears clouded the sight in front of her. 

Then, a next rational question came up into her mind.

"If he didn't drink water, could he have been alive now? He had been already very sick when we met. Perhaps he was destined to die, whether to drink or not."

"If so, I should have given him more and more water. That's it. If I was that man, and if I thought I would die, I want to drink water as much as possible and die. Even if I died soon.
Oh, then why didn't I give him the final water at that time? I wish I had given him plenty of water until he was satisfied."

"Why didn't I give him water more..!"

Tears spilled over to her eyes with sorrow.

Nobuko stopped and wiped his tight eyes with her arm.
"I decided. When I meet someone like that man again... If I meet someone who wants water again, I'll give him as much water as I want."

Aunt Nobuko vividly remembers the man she met 75 years age. And she still feels him "I am sorry".