We got into the emergency lane fast with Aunt Jane with us. We are just lucky that we have good neighbors and they are home.
"I should start planning to get a car and driver's license, after this"
When the car stopped I opened the door and somewhat settled Grandma for a second. I ran out and took the nurses' attention.
"Please! Help us, my Grandma is out there and in need of help! The car is just outside" I saw the nurses alerted and ran out with me, the others took a rolling bed out. When somebody asks the question
"Can you tell me what happened?"
"Minutes ago, she slipped in the bathroom and kept pressing her right side, I think that's where she got the bump and was in pain most" Everybody could hear Grandma's cry when the nurses tried to lift her to the bed. They are not too gentle but precise maybe to make it quicker.
One of the doctors ran out of the emergency entrance to put on her stethoscope and tried to check on Grandma while they rolled her in.
I saw Aunt Jane holding Chuna in her hands as they watched us roll into the hospital, the medical staff were fast and they were talking medical jargon to each other, about tests and blood pressure. Somebody poked her hand and put an IV on her and some medicines in a syringe.
Then somebody called to prepare the test room and we rolled her out of the emergency room again. This time when we reached a door, somebody stopped me and said
"Please stay here, we'll take care of the patient for now. Can you go to that desk and fill out forms" She pointed to the desk in a lobby across the hall.
And when they closed the door, I took a deep breath and prayed
"Please Grandma, please be okay, come back home with us"
With tears and sweat on my face and body, I took another glimpse against the door where they took Grandma. I walked to the lobby and somebody assisted me with filling out information.
Then I saw Aunt Jane and Chuna running towards me as I was on the desk. Aunt Jane put her hand on my shoulder
"Honey, how was it?" I saw the worried face of Aunt Jane and Chuna hugged me from behind.
"They took her in that room and took tests" As they can see I'm still trembling. Aunt Jane hugged me and caressed my back
"Don't worry Jun, everything's going to be all right, we'll be here" After hearing that I found myself crying without a sound, I could feel the warm tears flowing down my cheeks from my eyes.
We had been waiting in the corridor for quite some time when I saw the group of nurses rolling the bed of Grandma again out in the hallway. I heard her, which was now a weak cry. I immediately came to them as they rolled passed me. I was determined to follow them when somebody tapped my shoulder, it was the doctor.
"Are you the relative of the patient?" I felt Aunt Jane and Chuna walked near us
"Yes, yes… I'm her grandson"
"How old are you, do you have a parent with you?"
"I'm 20, and my Mom is on her way here. She is Aunt Jane, our neighbor" I exclaimed, then the doctor made a quick sigh.
"We found out that her hips were broken and we are now rushing her to the operating room" She held out a paper form
"I hope you sign here for us to continue the medical procedure" I didn't give a second thought. I took her pen and signed the form, and she said
"Thank you, we'll do our best." Then she ran out again, we followed her and we came to the end of another hall. I didn't realize that Chuna and Aunt Jane were just following me from behind, I just felt them sitting on the seats beside the operating room.
Then I realized this place is somewhat familiar.
"Yes, this the place… this is where Grandpa was before"
"It was the same room…" I roamed my eyes and I saw the digital clock in the middle of the hallway it said 11:05 AM
It felt like there's a cold bucket of water had been dumped on me, Aunt Jane saw my flushed face and pulled me lightly.
"Honey, why don't you sit first, and let's wait for the news? You're Mom must be on her way too" I sat beside Chuna and I hugged her. Taking refuge from her embrace.
Moments later, we saw Mom walking towards us, with her office attire. When she saw us, she put down her bag beside us and hugged me and Chuna. Then she went to Aunt Jane.
"Thank you so much for taking care of my family" I saw Aunt Jane take Mom's hug too and heard them explain the situation to each other.
"How long has she been in there?" Mom asked and I took a glance at the digital clock. It's already 4:16 PM
"Oh my God, it's been that long?" I answered Mom
"It's about 5 hours already."
"I thought it was just an hour or two when Grandma entered the room, time went by fast. It's just that the next thing I knew Mom was coming from the corner after I sat on the seat earlier."
Moments later, I saw the green light of the operating room signal on top of the door turned off. We all stood from our seats and waited for the doctor to come out. And when she arrived, we surrounded her.
"We made an immediate operation on her right hip. We made progress in taking care of her shuttered bones. That part has been successful, she's been strong all throughout but her body got weaker by the minute. She went into cardiac arrest in the middle, but she was revived after 20 minutes."
"All of us were focused on what she was saying" She continued still waiting for good news… but it didn't come.
"In the end, we decided not to continue the operation for it was taking a toll on her body but after a few minutes, her body is progressing to good results. So we decided to continue, after an hour we finished the operation but right after we were prepping her for recovery. She went into another cardiac arrest, and we tried to revive her for over half an hour and that's where we lost her" The doctor sighed so deeply and I heard Mom start to sob. My eyes started to get blurry too and I felt tears rolling down my face. I just looked at Chuna and saw her confused face looking towards all of us.
"…Time of death 5:45 PM" My Mom slid down slowly on the floor, I caught her and carried her to the seat. I took Chuna and hugged her. I felt her embrace getting harder as my sobs got a little bit louder.
I just can't believe, we're going through this again. I prayed a little
"Grandma, why… why did you leave us? It hasn't been that long since Grandpa left us. What are we supposed to do now?"
The next thing I learned was that we were in front of Grandpa's and Grandma's columbarium. We are still staying at our grandparent's house but we don't know yet our next move. I can still smell Grandma's scent in the house, especially in her room. Chuna is also doing her best to cope and I can see that she understood what was happening better this time around. She's more mature and she hugs me every time she sees me zoning out.
"You're all the strength I have in this world now." I thought as I saw her preparing breakfast.