The Three Months Rule !

Chapter 5

A breezy morning and a cup of coffee is all Sivaangi needs to create a good mood for the day. She began this morning sipping the coffee which was delivered directly to bed by her mom. She couldn't be pampered more.

The view from the balcony made her curve a smile. A beautiful couple with their daughter walking her to school. A core memory of her dad walking her to school every morning flashed infront of her. A loss that she or her mom could never get through.

"Sivaangi ma...Sivaangi ma", Geetha ma's voice broke Sivaangi from the daydream.

"Coming", Sivaangi answered as she glanced at her watch.

7:43AM

"Ahh shoot, I'm late again", she mumbled and grabbed her bag, as she went down hoping her mom will be there at the dining table, just like every other morning. But to her surprise, she's not there. The food on the plate was abandoned.

"Ma..", Sivaangi called.

Before she could call for the second time, she heard a distant coughing. She immediately recognised that it was Geetha ma and ran towards the kitchen.

Geetha ma leaned over the sink and was coughing uncontrollably.

"Ma ! Wha...what happened ?", Sivaangi ran towards Geetha ma.

As soon as she reached the sink, Sivaangi almost blacked out with the scene. The sink was splattered with blood from Geetha ma's coughing. Sivaangi panicked as she never experienced anything as horrifying before.

----------------at the hospital-----------------

"Ma, are you okay ?", Sivaangi rushed in to the ward as soon as she got the permission.

Geetha ma weakly smiled and nodded. She had no strength to talk. Sivaangi held her hand as she cried. Everything happened so quickly that she didn't have time to process what's even going on.

"You will be okay ma, don't worry", Sivaangi said to her mom wiping her own tears.

Geetha ma dozed off due to the medication. Sivaangi sat beside her with a heavy heart, alone and with no idea what to do. That's when she remembered that she didn't inform the office about her absence. She took out her phone and the first thing she noticed was 5 missed call from an unknown number. She called the number assuming it's an office call.

"Hello..?", Ashwin said from the other side of the phone.

Calling someone for 5 times is definitely not his thing but Sivaangi's absence made him some kind of way. He worried, for the first time in months. He worried if she's okay.

"Hello ?", Sivaangi asked.

"Hey...it's Ashwin", Ashwin answer hesitantly.

"Sir..sorry Ashwin, I'm sorry I failed to inform about my absence today...I..", Sivaangi stuttered.

Ashwin sensed the trembling in her voice.

"Is everything okay ?", Ashwin asked genuinely concerned.

"It's my amma, she's not well... we're at the hospital now", Sivaangi answered.

"What's wrong ? Is she fine ?", Ashwin asked.

"I'm not sure, the reports are not here yet", Sivaangi said.

"Ms. Sivaangi ?", a nurse called from the distant.

"I think the reports are here", Sivaangi hung up the call. Even if it feels weird to be talking to Ashwin on the phone for the first time, Sivaangi had no time to think about it.

Sivaangi entered the doctor's room praying that her mom should be fine. She greeted the doctor and took a seat. She was visibly nervous.

"Are you Mrs. Geetha's daughter ?", doctor asked.

"Ye..yes", Sivaangi stuttered.

"Please listen to this carefully and please call down. Take a deep breath", the doctor said.

Sivaangi just nodded.

"Mrs. Geetha is diagnosed with lung cancer".

To be continued...