A Sulawesi Romance

Chapter 24

A/N: The image above does not belong to me. It belongs to the person who uploaded it on the internet.

Mr. Tara Tipa's (Gun's Stepfather) POV

"Please sign on the bottom of this page, sir," the nurse pointed to the big letter X with a line beside it.

It was a document that stated that if my wife went into full cardiac arrest that no heroic measures were to be attempted, no aggressive treatments, no life supports were to be given. My wife had disclosed to me early in our relationship that she had a heart problem and she had verbalized to me that if ever her heart failed her one day, she didn't want to be resuscitated. I had tried to argue against her decision but she said that it was what she wanted.

Now I had no choice but to respect her wishes.

"You should go home and rest, sir," the nurse advised me after I signed the document and handed it back to her. She must have noted my haggard look, the heavy bags under my eyes, the dark circles around them, and just my overall tired look.

I had never left my wife's side, never slept a wink. I just sat beside her, holding her hand, willing her to move at least one finger.

I shook my head at the nurse's suggestion. If my wife were to breathe her last, I wanted to be beside her when it happened.  I wasn't going to let her start on her journey to the other side without me being there to see her off. Her ungrateful disloyal son had left her, uncaring that she had a heart problem.

I had to make up for her son's absence. I admit that I might have been the reason for her son's departure. I tended to be overly critical of him. It was just because I felt that he was not as attentive to his mother's needs as I believed a son should be.

Where was he right now? I had made a quick urgent call to the owner of the company that he was working for. I will never forgive him if his mother dies without him by her side.

I started to feel weak. I went back inside my wife's room after I signed the document at the nurse's station.

I sat on the chair beside the bed, held her hand and leaned forward to whisper to her, "I love you, sweetheart. Hang on in there. Gun is on his way. You will see him soon. Be patient. Just a few hours more."

My heart jumped when I felt her pinky finger twitch.

I ran to the nurse's station to let the nurse know. The nurse went inside my wife's room with me. The nurse assessed her thoroughly and studied the beeping machines attached to her.

She turned to me with a compassionate look in her eyes.

"Patients in a coma have these intermittent jerky movements usually in one of the fingers. It could or could not be a sign that she will recover soon," she explained. "For now her condition has remained the same. I will continue to monitor her. In the meantime I really urge you to go home and get a much needed rest. You look like you're about ready to collapse."

I could feel my knees getting weaker and weaker. Maybe the nurse was right. Maybe I should get a few winks, freshen up. nourish myself with a quick meal and then come back to my wife's side right after.

I turned to the nurse.

"I will follow your advice," I said to her. "But please, if there's any change in her condition, whether good or bad, please contact me right away."

"I will," the nurse promised.

I thanked her and made my way out of the unit.

I had just stepped out of the elevator when it reached the ground floor and was slowly walking towards the lobby exit when I saw Gun and the villa owner's son walk in through the lobby door.

Before they could reach me, I collapsed on the lobby floor.