Clotho and Lachesis cut Jimmy V's cord

Clotho and Lachesis, the two small, bald beings who serve the Purpose as agents of death, perform their most characteristic act in Room 315 of Derry Home Hospital: the ritual severing of a dying man's life-cord. The event is witnessed by Ralph Roberts and Lois Chasse, who have been drawn to the hospital by the two beings and now stand in the doorway, holding hands like lost children. What they see transforms their understanding of the little bald doctors from figures of dread into something far more complex.

The Setting and the Participants

The room belongs to Jimmy Vandermeer, an old friend of Ralph's from his traveling-salesman days, now dying of cancer. Faye Chapin sits beside the bed, idly looking through get-well cards, unaware of the two supernatural presences at the foot of the bed. Clotho and Lachesis stand solemnly in their clean white tunics, their auras gleaming and flashing around them like the robes of emperors. Their eyes, dark and pupil-less, are flecked with deep golden glints and shine with intelligence and lively awareness. When they notice Ralph and Lois, they smile and speak directly into their minds: "Hello, woman" and "Hello, man. We've been waiting for you."

The Act of Severing

Clotho steps to the left side of the bed, Lachesis to the right, walking through Faye Chapin as they go. Their faces are lit with love, caring, and gentleness, reminding Ralph of a Rembrandt painting. Their auras mingle and overlap above Jimmy's chest. The dying man opens his eyes, looks past the two beings at the ceiling, then shifts his gaze toward the door and smiles, recognizing Ralph and Lois. He speaks of the day they tried to get into a tent revival, then his eyes slip closed. Lachesis places his hands against Jimmy's cheeks and moves his head slightly, like a barber preparing to shave a customer. Clotho leans closer, opens his scissors, and slides the long blades forward to hold Jimmy's black balloon-string. As Clotho closes the scissors, Lachesis leans forward and kisses Jimmy's forehead, saying, "Go in peace, friend." There is a small, unimportant snick sound. The segment of the balloon-string above the scissors drifts up toward the ceiling and disappears. The deathbag in which Jimmy lay turns a momentary bright white, then winks out of existence. Jimmy opens his eyes again, looks at Faye, begins to smile, and then his gaze turns fixed and distant. The dimples that had begun to form at the corners of his mouth smooth out.

The Meaning of the Act

After the death, Clotho and Lachesis turn to Ralph and Lois and explain their role. "Do you see and understand that what we do we do with love and respect? That we are, in fact, the physicians of last resort?" Clotho asks. Ralph and Lois both answer yes. The phrase "physicians of last resort" cuts through Ralph's anger and feels true. They have freed Jimmy V from a world where there was nothing left for him but pain. Ralph realizes they must have stood in Room 317 with him some seven months earlier and given Carolyn the same release. He understands that they go about their work with love and respect, but the question of whether that gives them the right to put him and Lois through hell remains unresolved.

The Aftermath

Faye Chapin, unaware of what has truly happened, shakes Jimmy's shoulder, says "Jimmy? You all right, Jimmy?" then "Oh shit," and leaves the room, not quite running. Clotho and Lachesis walk toward the door, their auras sweeping over Ralph and Lois for a moment, registering in taste and texture as the taste of sweet apples and the texture of dry, light bark. They leave the room side by side, speaking gravely and respectfully to each other. Faye returns with two nurses, who pass through the beings without noticing anything untoward. In the hall outside, life goes on at its usual muted pace. No buzzers go off, no lights flash, no orderlies come sprinting with the crash-wagon. Death is too common a visitor here for such things. Ralph guesses that Jimmy V would have been happy enough with his exit — he had died with the dignity that simple, expected things often hold, with one or two moments of consciousness accompanied by a slightly wider perception of what was going on around him, and then poof.