"Yes exactly, I wasn't to blame," Cora repeated Lisa's words to herself
"That wasn't even why I didn't tell him at first. After he broke up with me, I couldn't think straight. I was perplexed. I didn't care about anything. I just wanted to climb into a hole, roll into a ball and die, you know.
It took me a while before I could think about the life growing in me that I needed to take care of. By then it wasn't necessary anymore. I mean his girlfriend was pregnant with him. Doesn't that mean the one I was carrying belonged to me?..."
"Yes Cora, I agreed with you hundred percent"
"Then why was he making it seem as if I did something bad to him?... How could he be that selfish, to only think about himself and not others? What kind of a man is that?
"Everybody is entitled to their own opinion and how they choose to see some things from their own point of view so don't let that bother you"
"Okay! That is why he should try and understand my own point of view too and not see things from only his own. He should also think about my own feelings for once?..." Cora said in exasperation
"Yes he should, Cora. That is why you should let him know how you feel about this because he has absolutely no right to make you feel guilty about your decision! No right whatsoever!"
"Yes! He had no right whatsoever" Cora said and smiled. "Thanks, cuz," she said again and went back to putting her head on Lisa's shoulder.
"What am I gonna tell Isabella though?" She asked after some seconds of silence had passed between them.
"He made it clear to me that he had no intention of waiting, he said he's telling her as soon as she wakes up.
The few times Isabella asked me about her father, I told her; 'daddy has gone to heaven.' Now how do I correct my mistakes and make things right?"
"You worry too much Cora, give it a rest! Isabella is a kid, she might not even remember what you told her before about her dad"
"You think she wouldn't remember?..." Cora asked, not too sure about what Lisa said since she knew the kind of person her daughter is.
"Yes, now stop worrying. Let's go get some coffee, we both can use the caffeine." Lisa stood up and started pulling Cora's arm to get her to stand up.
"No. I'm not sure if I should leave her by herself..." Cora said reluctantly, looking towards her daughter's room.
"Relax cuz, she's with her dad so stop worrying," Lisa said and finally managed to pull Cora to her feet.
"Okay but what about him? Shouldn't we get him something. Should I go ask if he needs something?"
"No, don't ask. Just get him something. Or rather, why not ask at the nurse station if he could take something right now?" Lisa said.
"Okay..." Cora agreed
They arrived at the nurse's station.
"Hi... Uhmm, I was wondering if he could take something while donating?... We're on our way to get some coffee so I wanted to know if he could also take some?"
The nurse didn't need to ask who the 'he' was since she was there when the woman made it clear to everyone that she and her daughter's father were not married.
"No, he can't take coffee. Caffeine is a diuretic and causes loss of fluids from the body. In fact he should avoid all caffeinated drinks; colas, coffees, etc, for the next eight to ten hours after donating because he needs to hydrate his body after the process is done.
And you don't even need to worry yourself about what he could take, the hospital would take care of it. But if you would rather get the refreshments yourself then get him water and juice and also some high sugar snacks."
"Got it, thanks," Cora said with a smile
"You're welcome." The nurse replied
Meanwhile, while Cora and Lisa were walking toward where they would get their coffee, Isabella woke up...
The last thing Isabella remembered was jumping on the trampoline at the park while urging Ana to join in the fun. Now she wondered how she went from jumping on a trampoline to lying on a strange bed. She studied her surroundings and found the setting of the strange room she was familiar with.
The IV lines that were attached to the back of her hand reminded her of that time when she fell sick. Her mom was not around and her grandparents took her to the hospital. Just that the tubes attached to her hand at that time were not red, it was clear.
She also wondered who the strange man sleeping beside her bed was. Is he also sick? She thought since she could see the same tube that extended from the back of her hand went into the inside of his arm.
After waiting for some seconds and her mom didn't show up, Isabella began to cry softly...
Where could her mom have gone? Where is everyone? Where is Ana? Where is her aunty Lisa? What happened to them? Why were they not here with her? Who is the strange man sleeping beside her? All these questions she continually wondered to herself...
"Mommy..." She called out meekly for her mother
Zach who was still brooding with his eyes closed didn't know Isabella had woken up. His eyes flew open when he heard her soft cry for her mother. He immediately stood up from the chair and sat on the bed beside her
"Hey, honey... Why are you crying? What's the matter?"
"Hi... Isabella replied softly and tried to force a smile through her tears, cleaning her tears with her bare hand.
"Who are you? Are you sick too? I'm sorry I shouldn't be talking to you. My mom said I shouldn't talk to strangers"
Zach chuckled
"Your mom is right, you shouldn't talk to strangers but I'm not a stranger. Your mom would never have left you alone with me if I was a stranger, see"
"You're not a stranger?..." She asked and wondered to herself for a while before asking again "Who are you then?"
"Well... Why don't you guess?" Zach said with a smile "We have the same hair color and eye color? My cheeks are dimpled and so are yours..." He hasn't even finished talking when Isabella gasped out in surprise
''No way!'' She said, her eyes widened with surprise.
Zach laughed softly at the look on her face. "No way what? You still haven't guessed..." He teased since he could see in her eyes that she already guessed right who he was
"You're not my dad, or are you?"
"And she guessed right! Smart girl!... I am indeed your dad"
"No way!" She said louder this time. Her eyes couldn't get anymore wider otherwise she would have widened them the more
"Yes, way..." Zach replied to her and couldn't stop laughing.
"OMG!... You came back! You came back from heaven!?"
"Heaven?" Zach asked in confusion. His smile faltered, wondering what she meant by 'he came back from heaven!'
"Yes! Mom said you couldn't come to my birthdays and soccer games because you went to heaven. I thought people that go to heaven don't ever come back?" She asked wonderingly with a frown on her face before asking again...
"Did you come back because I'm sick? Will you be going back after I get better?" She asked with dread. Kids couldn't hide their emotions like adults and Zach could clearly see the fear of him leaving written all over her face.
His anger towards Cora erupted within him once again but he managed to keep his temper under control. Like how could she tell their daughter he died when even Google search engine would show her where to find him.
He looked down at Isabella and kissed the top of her head
"No honey I'm not leaving and I'm never, ever going to leave you again, alright?"
"Do you promise?" She asked hopefully while looking straight into his eyes. Her green eyes that looked exactly like his own desperately pleading with him for commitment.
He held out his pinky finger to her then to signify that a promise has been made and Isabella locked her own pinky finger with her father's bigger one
"I promise not to ever leave you, honey," Zach said and smiled reassuringly. He was pleased to see that the worried frown Isabella wore before had disappeared and was immediately replaced by a radiant face.
"You know honey when mommy said I went to heaven... What she was trying to say was, that I was always traveling around in my helicopter. You should know that, I'm always flying around in heaven with my helicopter and plane because of work''
"Oh really!?... You have a helicopter!... And a plane too!?"
"Hmm mmm! Would you like to see the helicopter that I used to fly down here?"
"Wow! May I really? May I?"
"Of course, you may. We will fly in it when we're ready to go home"
"Can we leave right now!? Will you come and live with us!? We have a spare room that we don't use "Where's mommy? Let's leave right now so you can live with us!" She declared in excitement