Till death do us part

Chapter 33: Just forgetful? - Age 31

Cora's POV

In the days that followed, Rose changed. It's like that incident with Hope changed her. It's like nothing was the same anymore.

I had called a doctor and made an appointment for Rose. We would go there this afternoon, it's why I had taken a day off work. The past few days, I didn't want to go to work. I worried constantly. About Rose, about Hope, about everything. I worried she might forget something else.

It was Friday today, 8 am. I had woken up early but decided to stay in bed. I watch Rose as she was finally asleep. She had been having bad nights. She would move around all night. She was restless. And in the mornings, she would be exhausted. So, I was really happy to see her sleep right now.

As I was watching her, I couldn't help but think about her. About her memory. What would be wrong? I always thought she was just forgetful. Just forgetful, it sounds silly but it could be the beginning of so much worse. What if she was developing dementia, or alzheimer's? What would we even do about that?

And what about Hope? She would have to grow up with a mother who'd forget about her constantly... Would Rose also forget about me? And about our friends and family?

I shook my head slightly to get rid of those negative thoughts. Maybe it wasn't anything like that. Maybe it was something insignificant. Something minor. Yeah, it could be nothing at all.

After a few minutes, Rose opened her eyes and looked at me. I wondered if she felt my stare on her.

"Good morning, Rose," I smiled at her and pulled her closer to me. "How did you sleep?"

She looked down a bit. "I don't know," She sighed deeply. "I didn't realize I fell asleep."

"It's good you slept," I said, gaining a small nod from her. "You needed it," I smiled a bit more. "Well, I took the day off today so maybe we can do something fun."

She looked at me. "When do we have the appointment?" She frowned a bit. "It was today, wasn't it?"

I slowly nodded. "This afternoon."

"We should prepare for it," She gulped a bit. "I don't think we'll have time to go out."

"Of course, we've got time," I pulled her even closer to me. "We're going to relax and then we'll go to the doctor's, ok?"

I could tell she wanted to refuse my offer but she didn't. She nodded. I think she wanted to please me.

I pecked her lips before getting out of bed. "I'll be right back."

She nodded again.

I left the room and walked to Hope's room. I figured she must be awake as well. When I arrived at her room, I knocked on the door and gently opened it. "Muffin," I said softly. "You awake?"

"Mama!" She smiled at me. Her beautiful smile could light up an entire room. It was the most beautiful thing to wake up to.

"Good morning, muffin," I smiled as I walked to her. "Have did you sleep?"

"Gweat," She got up. "But I'm hungwy!"

"You're hungry?" I repeated but with the correct pronunciation. "Let's get you something to eat then."

I pulled her up and carried her downstairs. I carried her in a way that she could pretend to fly around. She loved that.

When we arrived downstairs, I put her back down. "So, what do you want to eat?" I looked around. "Cereal?"

She shook her head.

"Toast?"

She shrugged.

I chuckled. "Pancakes?"

"Pancakes!" She jumped around the kitchen.

I smiled at her. "I'll make some for you if you help me make some for your mom."

She stopped jumping around and looked at me. Suddenly, she became serious. It's almost as if she knew something was wrong with her mom. She simply nodded.

We made the pancakes. I made them while Hope was tasting the batter. She loved that. After that, she ate some pancakes and then helped me make a nice tray with breakfast items for Rose.

"Let's surprise your mom," I said before we slowly got upstairs. We walked to our bedroom. "1... 2... 3..." I counted with Hope. "Surprise!" We both said as we burst into the room.

Rose immediately sat up and smiled. 

Hope jumped on bed and hugged Rose. "Suwpwise, mom!"

I sat down next to Rose and showed her the tray Hope and I made for her. "We made this for you, Rose."

Rose looked at it, afterwards she smiled at us. It was a safe smile. She wanted to make us feel at peace, she wanted to fool us. By now, I could see she was trying her best to fake a smile. And I wondered why.

"Eat!" Hope said enthusiastically.

Rose smiled at Hope and started eating a bit.

Together, all three of us started eating the items on the tray. We talked a bit and laughed. Hope was enjoying this time together. Rose was trying her best to enjoy it but I could tell she was consumed with thoughts. I was really worried about her.

After breakfast in bed, I took Hope downstairs again. I turned on the tv before going back upstairs. I walked to our room and saw Rose had hidden herself underneath the sheets.

I walked to the bed and went underneath the sheets. "Hey," I said as I saw her. "Are we playing hide and seek with Hope?"

I somewhat expected her to laugh a bit but she simply looked away.

"Rose," I pulled the sheets off our heads so I could see her clearly. "What's wrong?"

She looked down. "I'm scared."

I frowned a bit. "Why?"

She looked at me then. It seemed she thought I had said something stupid. "The doctor's appointment this afternoon."

My frown disappeared immediately. Suddenly, I understood. "You're expecting bad news?"

"Wouldn't you?" She sighed deeply. "Who forgets their child, Cora?" She sighed again. "Something must be really wrong."

"You don't know that, Rose," I caressed her face then. "It could be nothing."

"It will be something," She looked me in the eyes. "I'm just thinking constantly what it could be. I hope it's nothing too bad. I hope we'll be able to deal with it."

"Whatever it is," I gulped a bit as I suddenly realized Rose's issue may be indeed more severe than I thought. "We'll deal with it together," I gulped again. "Ok?"

She smiled a bit. "Ok."