Till death do us part

Chapter 42: Questions - Age 35

Cora's POV

"So today the sun is shining," I said as I was looking outside the window. "This would be the perfect day to take Hope to the park." I then got quiet as I thought about Hope. I wondered how she was doing. I hadn't seen her in a while...

"Cora?"

I looked to the door and saw my brothers. I immediately went to them and hugged them both. I pulled them so close. It felt good to see people and to talk to people. People that mattered. People that cared about me. About Rose.

"How are you?" Anthony asked. He always asked about me first, before asking about Rose. Even though she was in the hospital, not me.

I looked at him before looking at Rose. "I just want her to wake up."

"We do too," Miles said before looking at Rose. "It's been a while now..."

Anthony nodded. "We're worried, Cora," He said, gaining my attention. "You've been here for 3 weeks already," He gave me a worried look. "We understand you want to be with her but maybe you should go home and rest a bit."

Miles nodded. "We'll watch her while you're gone."

"That's very nice of you two," I sat down next to Rose's bed. "But I have to stay here. This is where I have to be now."

They shared a look.

"Guys," I said, gaining their attention. "I'll be fine," I looked at Rose. "As long as she's by my side, I'll be fine."

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"No, nothing," I sighed and looked at Rose again. "I don't think we'll see a change soon." I said into the phone.

"Do they know anything?" Rose's dad asked. He sounded quite desperate. "They must be able to give some information, right?"

"I'm afraid not," I sighed. "I'm sorry."

It was silent for a bit at their end of the phone call. It seemed they didn't know what else to say or ask. "Cora," Rose's papa said softly. Then it got silent again. "Thank you." With those two words, I knew what they meant. They thanked me for being with Rose because they couldn't do it. They visited Rose once but couldn't handle seeing Rose this way. Instead, they called every day for a check-up. Unfortunately, I could never tell them anything new.

"You're welcome," I simply said. "I'll talk to you tomorrow."

"Yeah." They then hung up.

I sighed and looked at Rose again. "Why don't we make sure we've got good news for them tomorrow?" I smiled a bit. "It'd be nice if you'd wake up," I sighed a bit. "I'm sure they'd love to hear that."

Suddenly my phone beeped. I looked at it and saw a message from Dara: 'Hey Cora, I hope everything is alright over there. Over here, Hope is doing great. She's being strong considering... But she would like to talk to her mom. Can you call me when you're free?'

"I better talk to our daughter," I looked at Rose then. "I'll be just outside the room, ok?"

I got up and stepped out of the room. I called Dara and she picked up almost immediately. "Cora," She sounded relieved. "Thank you for this."

I nodded, even though she couldn't see it. "Of course, Hope must have many questions."

"She does actually," I heard Dara call Hope. "She'll be right here."

I nodded again.

"Mom?" I heard Hope ask shyly.

I smiled a bit. "Hey muffin," I looked down, I felt like a bad mother for not being with her at a difficult time like now. "How are you?"

She made an 'I don't know' - humming noise and I knew she was upset.

I sighed deeply. "I'm sorry, muffin," I gulped. "I know it hasn't been easy for you either."

"Is mom really sick?" She asked with the sweetest voice.

I gulped again, trying to keep the tears in. "Yes," I glanced back inside the room, at Rose. "She's really not doing well," I looked down. "She needs to rest a lot so she can get better."

"When will she be better?"

I shrugged. "I hope soon," I gulped again. "So she can hug you again. I'm sure she'd like that."

"Me too," She let out a sigh. "When can I see mom?"

I looked away, at nothing in particular. I couldn't hold back the tears anymore, they were streaming down my face. "I don't know, muffin," I said, trying not to sound like I was crying. "I'll tell you as soon as you can, ok?"

She hummed a yes.

"Can I speak to Dara again?"

She hummed another yes.

"I love you, muffin," I said quickly. "Your mom does too."

"I love you too, mom." She said before I heard her passing the phone.

"Hey," Dara said. "How was it?"

I let out a breath I didn't know I was holding in. "I feel so bad about the whole situation for Hope," I gulped. "I wish I could comfort her."

"Should I bring Hope for a visit?" Dara suddenly suggested. "She can visit Rose too. It may be a good thing for all of you."

"No," I quickly said. "I don't want Hope in the hospital."

"Why not? It could help all of you."

"No." I once again said quickly.

"Why not, Cora?"

I gulped. "Because only bad things happen in hospitals."

She let out a breath. "Ok," She paused a bit. "I'll try to explain it to Hope as best as I can," She sighed. "I'll take care of her in the meantime. I'll make sure she has all the support she needs."

"Thanks, Dara," I looked at Rose again. "It means a lot to me, to us."

"Of course," I heard some noise at her end of the call. "I have to go, I'll talk to you later."

"Ok, bye," I then put my phone away and walked back to Rose. I let out a breath and sat down next to her bed. "I just talked to Hope," I smiled a bit. "She misses you a lot and loves you."

Rose, of course, didn't say anything back. She still didn't respond to anything. I just loved to talk to her, I believed she may hear me, somewhere.

"Get some rest, Rose," I took the tv remote then. "I'm right here, ok?" I then turned my attention to the tv and tried to focus on a random series instead of on the situation I was in now.

Suddenly, I saw Rose move. I shut down the tv immediately and gave all my attention to Rose. Was she waking up? Was it really happening?

"Rose?" I got up and leaned over her. "Rose, are you there?"

She started moving a bit more. Her hand started moving, feeling around as if she was looking for something.

"I'm here, Rose," I smiled while tears were forming in my eyes. "I'm right here." I pushed the button to call the nurses.

Then, her eyes opened slowly. She blinked a few times, letting her eyes adjust to the light.

"Hey," I smiled more. I caressed her face gently. "There you are."

She looked around before looking at me. Then she screamed, causing me to jump backward.

"Rose," I motioned her to calm down. "It's ok, you're safe here."

She breathed heavily, looking around, before looking at me. "Who is Rose?" She asked. "Who are you?"