Last Words

She knew she was dying.
  (Last words of Elvis Presley: "I hope I haven't bored you.")
The faces crowded around her bed, albeit distorted by her poor vision, remained recognizable. Her two daughters, one son. Five grandchildren. Those little buggers.
  (Last words of Sir Walter Raleigh: "I have a long journey to take, and must bid the company farewell.")
The electrocardiogram machine at her bedside beeped out her faltering sequence of heartbeats. She drew in a sharp intake of breath; her chest responded with a stab of pain.
  (Last words of Salvador Dali: "I do not believe in my death.")
One of her grandchildren, apparently a girl — she could vaguely make out her drooping ponytail — interlocked her small, stubby fingers with hers, sobbing. 
She desperately wanted to tell her it was going to be okay; grandmother would be perfectly fine; but, alas, that would be a lie.
  (Last words of Steve Jobs: "Oh, wow. Oh, wow. Oh, wow.")
    The ECG continued beeping out her weakening, faltering heartbeat.
    Beep…beep…beep…
    (Last words of Princess Diana: "My God, what happened?")
    Another figure—her son—gently brushed away thin locks of gray hair from her eyes and stroked her cheeks. More sobbing.
    (Last words of John Lennon: "I'm shot.")
    She attempted to open her parched mouth. She needed to say something, something her family could hang on to, something they   could remember her by. Something. Something. 
    (Last words of Benjamin Franklin" "A dying man can do nothing easy.")
    Beep…beep…beep…
    (Last words of Nostradamus: "Tomorrow, at sunrise, I shall no longer be here.")
    A word was at the tip of her tongue. But, when you're ninety-eight and dying, the process of producing that one word was beyond exhausting.
    (Last words of Thomas Edison: "It's very beautiful over there.")
    She took a deep breath, and —
    The ECG machine stopped beeping and instead produced an infinite, flat line on the heart monitor.