The door opened, and without even looking she knew the one who came was her mother. Her little footsteps as silent and graceful as a fox's. She spent every day of her life working so she could pay the hospital bills and see grace healthy.

She would hold her tears so that grace wouldn't see it. For her precious mother, grace has to be happy for her at least. She thought she had to show her mother that she is healthy and fine.

"How do you feel today? The weather is brilliant." her mother's soft but rusty voice was very visible.

Recently she was working overtime and whenever she came to see grace, grace would get sad seeing her mother withering day by day. She faced her because she knew her mother would feel worried over her mood a lot. Always saying she should feel positive and happy so her body would have the strength to fight with the sickness.

She smiled a little, but she was not happy. The bags under her mother's eyes and her pale arms under the old wrinkly shirt told her everything grace needed to know. Her mother lost so much weight even her jeans looked baggy.

Grace felt a pang in her heart and tears stinging her eyes, but years of practicing and managing her expressions for her mother didn't disappoint her. Smiling, her best grace answered her.

"I am feeling better these days. Maybe because of the sunny weather. The back garden looks beautiful in spring."

Her mother gave her a tired smile after putting the flowers she brought to the vase on the table next to the couch. She sat down, with a sigh leaving her chapped lips.

"It is good you are feeling well. You know I always say.."

Grace already knew what she would say.

"If you don't believe in yourself then who will believe you? I know mom, I memorized it already. I told you I'm better these days and I don't even feel that back pain anymore."

She said with a soft voice while smiling a little to show that she was telling her the truth.

Her mother looked at grace's eyes for a while before smiling that motherly smile she always showed. "You really must feel good if you are insisting this much. I need to go back to the shop to handle some things. I will come back in the evening to have dinner with you, okay?"

"Okay, be careful and tell aunt terry to visit me some time too. I missed her a lot. Tell her to be careful around the potted plants on the shop too." Grace smiled her sweetest smile that she shows rarely when she feels a little less depressed.

She wasn't lying these days, she really felt good, happier even. Her mother seeing grace's bright smile gave a sigh of relief and smiled too.

"She missed you a lot too. She wanted to visit for a while now but these days we are a litt-"

Suddenly grace felt like all the air was getting sucked out of her. A heavy feeling was spreading all over her body.

She started trembling, and the feeling was getting lost, first her toes, next her feet, then her legs and torso, now her chest. A burst of liquid came out of her mouth. A crimson red painted the white sheets she hated.

She couldn't comprehend why this was happening, she was okay, she even felt better since three days ago.

Death.., such an unfathomable word. Why was she even surprised? An inevitable ending. But she still felt unwilling. This life.. had so much to offer. Why must she leave experiencing nothing but four walls of the hospital? So unfair!

The beeping of the machine and screams of her mother, doctors running around. It was chaos but to grace; it felt so serene. She had wanted to die. When they gave her those medicines and when they took samples from her spine. She wanted to die when no amount of painkillers could ease her pains. But she never thought dying would feel so.. empty and easy.

After a while voices just stopped coming. Grace knew she was nearing the end. It would devastate her mother. How would she live? Like a dead person on the inside? Grace didn't want that. She had to tell her. Tell her before she lost her life. She opened her mouth to speak, but all that was coming out was blood. The metallic taste of blood filled her. She felt like she was drowning.

She looked at her mother, a blurry sight, but she could see the mess her mother becomes. A tear rolled down from grace's eyes to her hollow cheek.

" I am okay...D-don't be..sad." She took gulps of air.

"I..I don..want you...to be sad. "

It was getting harder and harder for her to speak. The suffocating feeling of not being able to breathe was making her eyes water.

"It's okay...It's okay.am...all right..I.. need to go... I love you.. thank you..."

Everyone in the room knew it was the end. There was so much blood, they wouldn't be able to save her even if they made an emergency operation. A part of the job they hated. They would only handle this much blood in the operating room. Seeing this devastating scene, in broad daylight, affected all of them more than it should.

These last three days were her last shine before her life burned out. They all knew grace for years. It felt like someone from the family was leaving. She had grown up here in front of their eyes. They had wished to send her out of here on her two legs.

Some nurses started crying and the doctor responsible for grace was feeling the worst he ever felt. Grace was like her daughter from age 5 to 25. She was with him. Sometimes she would ask how it felt to be outside of the room. How is school? And animals? He would tell her everything he knew.

Memories of a half a lifetime. He felt tears clouding his eyes when he heard the girl speaking to her mother.

A few seconds later only sound in the room was the continuous beeping of the machine and the screams of a mother. The doctor had to announce the time of death and the name of the deceased. But he couldn't open his mouth without wailing. A nurse turn off the buttons one by one until the beeping stopped. Then she announced instead of him while crying " Grace Lily Govain, time of death 14.21 pm. fourth of October 2018."