Tricia searched for answers, as she was determined to know who Patrick Nielsen was and why her mother had grown so attached to him.
Patrick on the other hand was yet to regain consciousness. His ribs were broken, and nothing other than a miracle would get him back on his feet!
Lucille on her part didn't want to give up. She believed that everything would be alright, and her daughter would have her father back, this she had in mind.
"Hang in there, Patrick," she spoke amidst tears—"Your daughter needs you. I need you! I know that I've wronged you all these years, but if you would just open your eyes, I promise to make everything go back to the way it was, to the way we were. Remember the time you promised you were never going to leave my side? I know you must have forgotten, but never for once did I, Neil. Our love was the most magnificent thing that could conquer all odds, but I ended up ruining it. You have no idea how I lived knowing that I was the cause of everything that happened between us. And now, I really hope you can forgive me."
She loved Patrick—she still yearned for him. But all those years she was with Raymond, she couldn't bring herself to feel anything for him. She couldn't deny the fact that she needed him, and was eager to tell her daughter that her father has been there all along.
All this started with her, she told herself. The one night in LA, which should have been a normal one, turned out the opposite.
She had met him again—her long time college sweetheart, who she had never thought she would see. An all-too-familiar pain had tightened her throat the moment she had seen him in the conference meeting. It was exasperating for her, and she wondered how this one guy she thought she had long forgotten could still quicken her pulses.
She had wanted to avoid him then, but her inner mind had already taken control. It really was him, she thought to herself—a fiery bolt so great taking control of her body with such force; the shock... a paralyzing one—one she had never felt in years.
His name was Patrick Nielsen. "But you can call me Neil," he had said once upon a memory.
She remembered those days they would walk in the moonlight. And how she'd call him all kinds of names—darling, love—all she could never forget.
It was her blinding love that made her commit the greatest sin of all. And now, the consequences were all hers to bear!
☆
"No! No, please. Let me go!"
"You have failed me, Lucille."
"I didn't mean to, Raymond. Please don't do this. Don't kill me!"
☆
"So, you say you keep having this dream about Dad?" Tricia's question rolled in as Lucille narrated the dream to her.
"Mm-hmm. Baby, do you think your Dad's trying to tell me something?"
"I don't know. I'm not the one going out with his coworker."
Her mother's countenance fell on hearing her say that. "Baby, I didn't call so you could start criticizing me or anything,"
"Don't blame me! How is he anyway?" she asked, half-concerned.
"He's... stable!" came her mother's reply.
"Good. Gotta go now."
"You're in a rush,"
"Uh, do you have any other thing to say? I've got class, you know?"
"Oh, well. Take care, okay?"
"Sure thing."
The line went dead.
Tricia's been giving her the cold shoulder, and she couldn't help but feel bad about it.
She sighed and looked back at the sleeping figure... he was yet to move a muscle, she observed, her chin rested on her clasped fingers.
Her stare lingered worriedly, bitter tears welling up in her eyes. If she had not run out like that, none of this would have happened, she wept helplessly.
"Lu-Lucille... Lu-Lucille..."
She raised her head at the call. "P-Patrick?"
"M-my d-daugh ...ter. M-my..."
"Oh, Patrick. Please stop talking. I'm going to call the doctor right away." she spoke breathlessly.
"Tricia," he muttered. "Tricia—"
His breathing became abnormal, as the beeping noise that came from the machine drowned out his voice.
"Patrick! Patrick, no. No! Doctor! N-Nurse! Nurse!" she screamed on seeing him jerking back and forth.
Patrick was going to die, her negative mind roared to life. She ran as fast as her legs could carry her, calling to the attention of the two nurses she saw in the hallway.
The machine had already stopped beeping, and Patrick was no longer moving.
She didn't want to believe the voice that was telling her that he had left this world. She didn't want to believe, until the doctor confirmed it.
"Please, ma'am. You have to wait outside." one of the nurses said to her the minute the doctor came in.
She insisted that she stayed, while they did everything to save her lover's life.
She watched as the defibrillator was placed on him, and the reading came proving he was really gone.
Patrick, you have to fight this! It's not your time yet. You have to fight this! You can't leave me now. No! No, you can't leave me! You promised not to leave me. You promised you'd never leave me! Patrick... Patrick!
☆
I could see everything that was going on. Lucille was clearly calling out to me but I couldn't touch her in anyway. Our love story shouldn't end like this. It shouldn't! I needed to be with my daughter. I had to see her one last time—
"Patrick! Patrick, look at me!"
I turned to see who was calling me. It was the least person I expected to see. "Mother?"
"Yes, son. It is your mother," she smiled. "You have to come with me. Come with me, Patrick. Your father and I have been waiting for you." she stretched out her hand, beckoning to me to come.
She was dressed in a white robe, her head graced with a golden crown, as her skin shone brightly, as though decorated with gold.
I'd never seen anything like it, and couldn't understand why she was demanding that I go with her. I knew my time was yet to come, as I couldn't leave my daughter just yet. How can I watch while she lives without a father? No! I must go back.
"Patrick, you must come!"
"I'm sorry, mother. But it's not my time." I said, and with that—she was no more!
☆ T.B.C ☆