Well, where to start. Ironically I have no words. This is the last chapter of Apartment No.4 and what a journey it has been! Spending so many hours writing and thinking, first with high school then uni to contend with.
I never expected to receive so much support and love from you all and I can honestly say that it makes me so happy to read your comments and see your messages that you send me. I wanted to write this book for you but also for myself. This book has essentially been my opening to the writing world and to be met with so much support on my first book makes me almost teary.
Thank you, everyone, for all you have given me, I cannot express my happiness in words.
Whilst this is the last chapter there will be an epilogue proceeding so keep an eye out.
THIS IS YOUR LAST CHANCE TO SEND ME QUESTIONS BEFORE THE Q&A CHAPTER THAT WILL BE FOLLOWING THE EPILOGUE. PM ME OR WRITE IT ON MY MESSAGE BOARD IF YOU DON'T KNOW HOW TO PM ME!
So much love! Enjoy
I tried to hold myself together but that proved incredibly difficult when the love of your life and the strongest person you know is struggling to keep himself together.
"I can't lose her," he repeated over and over through each sob into my now damp shoulder as he held me tightly.
"I know, I know," I held him tightly against me and caught the eye of the surgeon looking sullen and incredibly sorrowful.
"There has to be something we can do," I stated, my voice much stronger than I thought it would be.
"We can close her up and hope that she gets a transplant within 24 hours though the list for a kidney transplant is longer than my life," he said quietly as Mason's sobs became slightly quieter.
He pulled away from me, wiping his eyes forcefully and moving slowly towards the surgeon.
"She can have one of mine, I don't care, cut me open and give it to her,"
"Whilst that is something we would normally inquire about I'm afraid that wouldn't be possible," he reasoned, maintaining his calm attitude.
"Why the hell not? We're siblings!" He raised his voice again causing me to shush him and rub between his shoulders.
"Your blood types don't match, you're B negative while she's A positive the risk of her body rejecting the kidney is far too high."
Mason was still shaking in anger and the onslaught of emotions.
I snapped my head up to face the surgeon.
"She can have mine," I said, swallowing hard and ignoring the stare that Mason was shooting my way.
"I'm O negative, I'm a universal donor." Huh, I guess I had been paying attention to Mason.
"Ashley, you don't have to do that," Mason spluttered slightly, wiping his nose with his sleeve. He was just saying it to be polite as I could tell from the hopeful smile that grew on his face.
I nodded and turned to the surgeon.
"We can stabilise Claire and get the transfer done if we act quickly," pressed the surgeon, looking between us.
"Take me to where I need to be," I said, taking Mason's hand gently and pulling him to follow the surgeon.
I was lying on a hospital bed again, my stomach doing flip-flops while Mason paced in front of me.
"Ashley, you don't have to do this," he muttered over and over again which I contradicted over and over again.
"Mason, the surgeon himself said that the waiting list for an organ transplant is longer than his life, and he ain't that young. I'm the only hope for Claire to survive right now. I wouldn't be able to live with myself if I just stood by and did nothing."
He was silent as he came over to me slowly and sat beside me on the bed.
"I'm never going to be able to repay you for everything you've done for Claire and I," He murmured, cupping my cheek in his hand.
"You being with me is all the payment I need," I whispered, biting back any tears that were working their way up.
A nurse walked into the room and nodded, signalling that is was time for me to go through. My heart was filled with butterflies and I looked back at Mason, trying to not let him see how scared I was.
"Come back to me, Ashley Anderson," he whispered just a breath away from my lips.
He pressed them to mine and I was filled with sadness. It felt as though he was saying goodbye, but there's no way in hell I was going anywhere.
"You've put me through too much shit for me to go anywhere," I laughed and he smiled sadly.
A couple more nurses walked in and began to pull me out of the room.
"I expect an answer to why Cameron twisted his ankle when I'm back," I called out to him as he trailed behind me. I couldn't see him anymore and so I fiddled with the edge of the blanket to ease my anxiety.
I thought I heard him call out something just as we turned a corner that sounded like 'Gary Tea'. What the heck? That kid's such a weirdo. But he's my weirdo.
"Alright, Ashley if you could count backwards from ten for me we can go ahead with the procedure," said my surgeon after they'd administered the anaesthetic.
Brilliant, I always tried to get as long as I could before involuntarily falling asleep. When I had my teeth taken out I got to seven, my aim is now six.
"10, 9," I felt my eyelids go heavy and everything went black.
It's funny how you never remember falling asleep but you remember waking up, and there's that slight moment of panic before you realise where you are and what happened.
I looked about the glaringly white room and saw Mason sitting beside another bed to my right.
"Mason?" I croaked out, my voice feeling heavy in my throat. I felt a longing to have him by my side, to touch his hand or his cheek or to run my fingers through his dark hair.
He turned in his seat but I couldn't see his face as my eyes adjusted. He took my hand in his and sat carefully beside me on the bed.
"I'm here," he said quietly, brushing some hair from my face. My throat felt dry, as though I hadn't had any water for years and it took a lot of swallowing to get it to feel relatively normal.
"How did it go?" I asked once I felt I wouldn't sound like something from StarWars.
"She hasn't woken up. The surgeon said it went well but she hasn't woken up yet," worrylines were etched between his brows as he held my hand tightly in his.
"It'll be okay," I murmured as I reached up to touch his face as I'd been longing to do. I brushed my fingers over the scruff on his jaw and smiled weakly as my eyes fluttered open and closed and I willed myself to keep them open.
"You're alright?" He asked, fussing over me.
"Yeah I'm fine, just oddly exhausted," I tried my best to laugh but it came out as more of a rasping cough.
"I... I can't even begin to tell you how grateful I am. I just- I love you so much," he continued but I silenced him by pulling him down to kiss me.
"You don't need to tell me. I already know,"
He went on to tell me about the surgery giving me details on how long it was, all the updates etc etc. and after an hour and a half of talking, Claire still hadn't woken up.
"What was it you called out to me as I turned the corner?" I had a faint memory of his yelling something down the hallway and for some reason it sounded like 'Harry Bee'
"Oh, ah that, nevermind," he smiled coyly, looking at our intertwined fingers and playing with them.
"Oh come on, tell me, please?" I pouted causing him to laugh. He grazed his thumb over my bottom lip and flinched when I pretended to bite his finger
"I'll tell you another time," he winked lazily and I huffed.
Mason had spoken to the nurses nearly every fifteen minutes previous to me waking up to ask why Claire was still asleep and each one had the same response: just be patient.
He continuously looked back at her with concern on his face.
"It'll be okay," I reassured him, my hand on his knee as he looked over at her again.
She looked so peaceful. So innocent. It broke my heart to think of everything that she'd been dealing with while her brother was trying to go to uni and support himself while supporting her.
"So," I wanted to bring up a more comforting and fun subject so Mason wouldn't be so anxious while we waited for Claire to open her eyes. "I was thinking, we could take Claire to the beach when she's done a little bit of rehab, yeah? We could get fish and chips, and have a picnic, it would be really fun!" I was getting excited thinking about it, sitting on the beach in Mason's arms, Claire standing int he water or picking up shells, "I think she'd really like it and after we coul-"
"Marry me?" he asked suddenly, holding my hand between his at his chest.
"What?" I gasped, gawking at him while his eyes were wide and pleading.
"Marry me?" he asked again a little louder, his words almost begging.
"You're daft," I laughed breathlessly, "Is this a joke?"
"No, I'm serious. Marry me, Ashley,"
Oh god, he was serious. There was no humour in his wide eyes as he stared down at me. Surprisingly, I wasn't freaked out or scared, I was calm. In fact, I was almost giddy from happiness.
"Sure," I said and he raised his brows in surprise, "I'll marry you," I grinned like a kid at Christmas to the point where it hurt my cheeks. "Not yet, but I will."
"I don't care, you're marrying me!"
He stood and kissed me on the forcefully before staring deep into my eyes.
"Excuse me, but I think I may have walked into a private conversation," came the sound of Claire's tired and weak voice.
If everyone could ignore the fact that since Ashley had a miscarriage a few months previous and she shouldn't be having surgery and all the other medically incorrect occurrences in this chapter I would be very grateful! I know that in reality a lot of the things I have included ARE NOT correct in the medical world but it's not my field of expertise (I had to go off my own knowledge and do a bit of research) nor am I portraying anything medical as fact.
I've been stretching the story as much as I can and I feel like their story has come to an end, and this is how I wanted it to end. So please excuse anything that is not medically correct!
I apologise profusely if I have offended anyone!
Thank you guys so much for coming with me on this journey, it really has been a rollercoaster.
Don't forget to hang out for the epilogue and PM me your questions!
We're finally finished. Apartment No.4 has shut its doors.
Love you all so so much!