Chapter 152: Last Words

"Lisa…" she said, her voice sounding so weak.

I felt so scared that I started crying, my tears flowing freely down my cheeks. My grandma also had tears in her eyes, and I knew that she probably knew that she didn’t have a lot of time left.

"Grandma…I…" I began speaking in between my sobs.

However, my grandmother just shook her head as if she didn’t want me to say anything. I bit my lower lips as I closed my eyes from the pain. More warm tears rolled down my cheeks as a result.

"Lisa…listen to me…well…" she said in a whisper so soft that I had to lean in to hear her speak.

Unfortunately, I had sense that her next words to me may be her last. I nodded my head and brought my ear closer to hear lips so that I could hear her better.

"You’ll be happy with Hayden. He’ll…take care of you…just like…when you were young…" she whispered as her breathing became more labored.

"What?" I said in confusion.

My grandmother was breathing in fast shallow breaths at this point and all I could do was hold her hand tighter in mine.

"I love you…Lisa…" she whispered.

"No…doctor…doctor!" I called for the doctor loudly as my hand reached out to press the button that had the bell symbol on it.

"I love you…grandma…someone please help!" I wailed loudly.

The door burst open, and the doctor and a few nurses quickly came into the room. The doctor began checking on my grandma while another nurse gently peeled me away from her side.

"Please leave for now…" the nurse said gently as she led me away and out of the room.

I couldn’t take my eyes away from my grandmother. What if this is the last time that I’m going to get to see her? What if there isn’t a next time?

My eyes were glued on her as the nurse continued to pull me away. Then the door of the ICU closed in my face, and I was back outside in the cold and lonely corridor that led to this room.

"Please wait here, the doctor will be here to see you soon," the nurse instructed before she quickly disappeared back inside the ICU.

…

I wasn’t sure how long that I’ve been sitting here all alone on this cold bench in front of the ICU. Most probably, not a lot of time had passed by. However, it felt like an eternity has gone by in the span of a few minutes as I waited eager to hear about my grandmother’s condition.

Finally, the doctor emerged from the ICU room. I stood up from the bench immediately when I saw him. My lips felt dry, and I didn’t dare ask the question that was plaguing my mine. The doctor must have gone through situations like this enough times already to know what I wanted to know.

Slowly the doctor shook his head with a regrettable look on his face. That was more than enough for me to understand that I had lost my grandmother forever. She’s gone…and she’s not coming back.

"Thank you…" I whispered softly as the doctor walked past me.

I bowed my head to him before I trudged back to the bench and slumped down on it in my grief and despair. It was always just the two of us against the world and now it would only be me against the world. I was now truly alone, and the sorrow and loneliness ate at me. The empty and silent corridor felt desolate and cold.

I pulled my knees up and hugged them as I curled into a ball before crying silently all by myself. Thankfully no one else was around to see me breakdown like this.

My entire body trembled as my own sobs wrecked my body. It became harder to breath, my chest felt tight, and my head felt like it was going to burst open. How can this be happening? She was just fine. A week ago, she just attended my exhibition.

Suddenly, the bench shifted, and I felt the presence of someone next to me on the bench. I have to dry my eyes; I didn’t want a stranger to see me like this. It was so unfortunate that someone else was here and needed to use the bench. I could understand, this was the only place anyone could sit in this corridor.

Before I could lift my face, I felt my body being pulled to the side and realized that there was an arm around my shoulders. Shocked and surprised at this sudden development, I blinked my eyes rapidly and raised my face.

"I’m here to pick you up…" the voice that I had missed and wanted to hear so much said.

"…Hayden," I whispered his name in pure disbelief.

My eyes widened in shock. In my grief, I must have conjured him up like a mirage in a dream. Hayden is here sitting next to me with his arm draped around my shoulder. How can this be?

It doesn’t matter if he’s really here or not, I thought as I threw my arms around him and buried my face into his hard chest. He’s so warm and he smells so familiar. I miss him so much. Unable to stop myself, I continued crying as he held me in his arms. I held onto him so tightly like I was hanging on to dear life.

The steady sound of his heart beating close to my ear helped to calm me down somewhat and so did the warmth radiating from his body.

Hayden stroked my hair softly and I knew that he was trying his best to comfort me. Although I knew that nothing could bring my grandmother back, being in his arms like this did help to ease some of the pain. At least, it was a thousand-folds better than crying all alone.

After I had calmed down somewhat, my body stopped trembling in his arms. Hayden continued to stroke my hair softly as I relaxed in his embrace. I had cried so much that I ran out of energy. Suddenly, I felt very tired, and my eyes hurt a lot.n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

--To be continued…