Don't worry, my love, I am always with you no matter what.
Charlotte's eyes fluttered open, and she was blinded by the fluorescent lights above. She moved her head slightly to her left and saw a group of men putting on a blue overall, with nose maks, gloves and a hair net. They were currently hovering above her with what resembled a small, sharp butter knife. She turned to her left to the nurses checking her vitals and saying a bunch of things she was too weak to process.
''The heart rate is stable, and her blood pressure is normal…''
Charlotte cringed as she tried to adjust to the lights pushed directly over her face. What exactly is going on? Why can't she move her body, and why is her body begging her to fall asleep again?
She took in quick breaths and turned to her sides.
Where is Ree-ree?
''Huh?'' One of the nurses in the room almost entered her face as she leaned close. ''She is awake, doctor.''
The one with a dark blue overall turned to observe her before saying to the nurse, ''Increase the dose.''
''Yes, doctor.''
The world around her moved in a blur. She sighed deeply as her eyes fell close.
''The surgery was a success.'' The doctor announced to the mother of the patient as they entered the doctor's office. ''However,''
Miranda held on to her chest, expecting the worst. It has been another five years since they have been battling with her brain tumor and Charlotte has been in and out of coma. It had been the most emotional stage of her life, as she felt like god was getting back on her for brutally murdering her husband a long time ago with Charlotte's mountain of sicknesses.
''She is not out of danger yet. There are more tumors, and they are growing fast at places it would be so hard if not impossible to remove at certain regions of her brain. One is partially blocking an essential blood vessel in her brain, and we are still trying to understand the reason behind her frequent unresponsiveness. We had mutually agreed to begin treatment regardless of her present state a long time ago, but I dare to inform you that we might lose her earlier than we think.''
Miranda broke down into a painful sob. She was really being called out for her sins.
''Charlotte, as she is, is not responding to any of our medications to bring her out of this recent comatose state she went into hours after her surgery. Her body is very sensitive and a part of her brain is being heavily affected by one of her tumors. Based on our calculations…she wouldn't survive another three months except a miracle happens.''
The man was awfully blunt with her for a doctor. He didn't even give her time to process one bad news before he is giving her another as it is hot in his mouth.
She left the doctor's office with trembling hands, one of them holding on to the wall for support. Her family in France had visited her many times, and her lover wasn't angry that she didn't tell him she had a daughter before meeting him. He had been generously paying for all of Charlotte's treatments. Flying down here once every three months to visit them. Playing the fatherly role to her on her sick bed. The role she wickedly denied her a long time ago.
He offered to have her transferred to some of the best hospitals he could think of to have her treated, but the doctor in charge over here advised against that. Charlotte was in a very ''sensitive state.'' so he stated. Any minor inconveniences could have her sleeping and never waking up again.
Miranda slowly moved over to the private ward her daughter has been moved into for more than two weeks now for recovery. She froze at the entrance to see her daughter already awake and breathing through the aid of the tubes placed under her nose. A band-aid was wrapped around her bald head as her eyes gazed longingly through the window at the twinkling night sky. Her mother moved from her transfixed spot to sit beside her daughter's bed in disbelief and sadness. Anytime she wakes up briefly from her coma, she stares in this direction for hours without saying anything or being aware of her environment.
Her lips parted as her eyes moved in what resembled physical exhaustion and pain due to the tumors in her head, threatening to take her life.
Charlotte stared lifeless, before letting her eyes fall again in another attempt to fall into that deep sleep so she could be with Ree-ree. She had been going back there and waking up, but he wasn't there like he said.
The sudden feel of someone's hands tightly around hers caused her to reopen her eyes and be met with the sobbing form of her mom. Who looked like she was indeed going to die.
Charlotte doesn't even know what was happening. Why was she spending more than a few days in this hospital, and she hasn't been discharged yet anytime she wakes up? Her head felt like it was a large rock seven people were currently trying to blast into smaller stones.
Was fainting once at a diner such a big deal that the doctors here are still keeping her hostage?
How was her mother suddenly beside her and holding on to her like she ever genuinely cared about her welfare?
The only way to be with Ree-ree permanently in that world she travels to when she sleeps is to sleep permanently.
She blinked at her mother and asked, ''What happened to my hair…?''
Miranda only cried harder in pain. Not knowing how to start explaining it to her daughter that she had been seriously ill for more than five years now and was soon going to die.